Rebuilt by Humans

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All Music Guide - Jon O'Brien
Famed for his fiddly finger-plucking, guitar-patting, and intricate arrangements, ginger-haired dreadlocked surf-dude Newton Faulkner became an unlikely fixture at the top of the charts in 2007 with his debut album, Hand Built by Robots. With a title inspired by an operation on a wrist injury just prior to recording, his sophomore album, Rebuilt by Humans, continues to revive the noble tradition of the one-man band, but also sporadically introduces a wider array of instrumentation to create a slightly more expansive and eclectic sound. There's nothing as radical as his Green Day covers band beginnings, but the proper opening track "Badman," a Peter Gabriel-esque ode to the ...
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Editorial Reviews

All Music Guide - Jon O'Brien
Famed for his fiddly finger-plucking, guitar-patting, and intricate arrangements, ginger-haired dreadlocked surf-dude Newton Faulkner became an unlikely fixture at the top of the charts in 2007 with his debut album, Hand Built by Robots. With a title inspired by an operation on a wrist injury just prior to recording, his sophomore album, Rebuilt by Humans, continues to revive the noble tradition of the one-man band, but also sporadically introduces a wider array of instrumentation to create a slightly more expansive and eclectic sound. There's nothing as radical as his Green Day covers band beginnings, but the proper opening track "Badman," a Peter Gabriel-esque ode to the beauty of nature, full of twanging blues riffs, fuzzy synths, and pounding rhythms and recalling the funk-rock output of his previous band, Half a Guy, and the Levellers-meets-Frankmusik leanings of "Won't Let Go," blending sharp Celtic folk strings with urgent '80s-inspired electro beats, show that Faulkner is more than capable of stepping outside his comfort zone. It's a shame that Rebuilt by Humans doesn't do that more often, as when he reverts back to his everyman troubadour inclinations there's not much to differentiate him from the plethora of acoustic singer/songwriters already out there. The lilting guitar hooks, country-style harmonica, and overall laid-back vibe of "Lipstick Jungle" evokes the breezy beachside folk-pop of Jack Johnson; the driving anthemic chorus of lead single "If This Is It" echoes the epic melancholic rock of Snow Patrol; and closing track "I'm Not Giving Up Yet" is the kind of stripped-down poetic ballad you'd expect to find on the first Damien Rice album. While never short of a rousing chorus or emotive heartbreak-themed lyric, you do wish that producer Mike Spencer (Jamiroquai, Kylie Minogue) could have persevered with its occasional forays into more adventurous territory, while five largely instrumental interludes, which unnecessarily pad out the album, do little to dispel the sense of fatigue that wears in by the umpteenth "just me and my guitar" track. Rebuilt by Humans will satisfy those expecting another fix of free-spirited acoustic stoner pop, but its flashes of genre-straddling invention indicate that Faulkner's sophomore album could have been so much more.
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Product Details

  • Release Date: 10/6/2009
  • Label: Rca Victor Europe
  • UPC: 886975718924
  • Catalog Number: 7571892
  • Sales rank: 10,035

Tracks

Disc 1
  1. 1 Intro (Interlude) (0:32)
  2. 2 Badman (3:07)
  3. 3 I Took It out on You (2:55)
  4. 4 Hello (Interlude) (0:31)
  5. 5 If This Is It (4:02)
  6. 6 Resin on My Heart Strings (4:08)
  7. 7 Lipstick Jungle (4:17)
  8. 8 Been Thinking About It (3:29)
  9. 9 Let's Get Together (2:41)
  10. 10 She's Got the Time 2 (Interlude) (1:16)
  11. 11 Won't Let Go (3:34)
  12. 12 Resin Theremins (Interlude) (0:27)
  13. 13 First Time (3:40)
  14. 14 Over and Out (3:19)
  15. 15 Cheltenham (Interlude) (0:48)
  16. 16 So Much (3:40)
  17. 17 This Town (3:33)
  18. 18 I'm Not Giving Up Yet (3:55)
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Album Credits

Performance Credits
Newton Faulkner Primary Artist, Bass, Guitar, Piano, Drums, Keyboards, Theremin, Vocals, Background Vocals, Melodica, Moog Synthesizer, Vocoder, Jupiter 8
Mike Smith Saxophone
Solá Akingbolá Percussion
Beth Porter Cello
J. Neil Sidwell Trombone, Trumpet
Simon Hale Conductor
Mike Spencer Guitar, Background Vocals
Perry Mason Lead
Matt Eccles Drums
Lizz Lipscombe Violin
Adam Argyle Guitar
Emma Hooper Viola
Matt Johnson Piano
Sue Lord Violin
Eben Smith Drums
Technical Credits
James Barnes Management
Pete Hofmann Engineer
Matt Hyde Engineer
Simon Hale String Arrangements
Mike Spencer Programming, Producer
Bryan Mills Engineer
Newton Faulkner Composer
Adam Argyle Composer
John C.F. Davis Mastering
Finn Eiles Engineer
Craigie Dodds Composer
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