IV
Studio album by
BadBadNotGood
ReleasedJuly 8, 2016
RecordedFall 2015–Spring 2016
Studio
Genre
Length50:33
LabelInnovative Leisure
ProducerBadBadNotGood
BadBadNotGood chronology
Sour Soul
(2015)		 IV
(2016)		 Spotify Live EP
(2017)
Singles from IV
  1. "Speaking Gently"
    Released: April 13, 2016
  2. "Time Moves Slow"
    Released: May 17, 2016
  3. "Confessions Pt II"
    Released: June 1, 2016
  4. "Lavender"
    Released: June 15, 2016
  5. "In Your Eyes"
    Released: June 30, 2016

IV is the fourth studio album from Canadian jazz instrumental hip hop band BadBadNotGood. It was released on July 8, 2016. It features collaborations with Future Islands frontman Sam Herring, saxophonist Colin Stetson, Haitian-Canadian musician Kaytranada, American hip hop artist Mick Jenkins, and Canadian singer-songwriter Charlotte Day Wilson.

It is also the band's first album to feature longtime touring partner and collaborator Leland Whitty as a formal member of the band.[3]

Background and recording

Colin Stetson is featured on "Confessions Pt II"
Sam Herring is featured on "Time Moves Slow"

In an interview with Howl & Echoes, the band described IV's conception and recording process:[4]

Since we recorded and released III, we’ve been writing tons and tons of stuff inspired by all different sources. We were touring heavy after the release so we got exposed to a huge range of really talented artists at different festivals, and had many friends putting us on to great music from the past also. We wrote a whole batch of songs that were instrumentals early on in 2015, and recorded a few of them. After sitting on those for a while we decided to start from scratch, so starting in fall 2015 we began writing and recording the songs that became IV. We had a bunch of sessions booked with the very talented artists that appear on the album, and had some amazing creative times with them. There was no defined direction when we started, and we reached a point when we had so many different styles of song that we didn’t know what the album would even sound like all together! For a while we were still going to make it an all-instrumental album, and then we tossed together a salad of some of the amazing featured tracks, along with some instrumentals and it ended up working out!

With the album's cover art, Katie Hawthorne of The Skinny said: "Every single instrument used is listed with pride on the record's cover, and the [band] stand chests bare, towels around waists, bro-ing out."[2]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
AnyDecentMusic?7.5/10[5]
Metacritic77/100[6]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[7]
Consequence of SoundB[8]
DIY[9]
Exclaim!9/10[10]
The Irish Times[1]
The Observer[11]
Pitchfork7.1/10[12]
Q[13]
Spin7/10[14]
Uncut7/10[15]

IV received favorable reviews from contemporary music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 77, based on 16 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews".[6]

Mackenzie Herd of Exclaim! praised the album, stating, "Each song possesses rhythmic and melodically intricate properties that sound somehow both rehearsed and spontaneous. So, while IV is extraordinary for delivering fresh music that elaborates on their past work, it feels particularly exceptional because of its forward momentum."[10] Paul Simpson of AllMusic gave the album a favorable review, stating, "It's easy to see why BBNG are the type of jazz group that appeals to people who normally don't care for jazz. They're music lovers, first and foremost, and they're directly in tune with what's happening in the music world. They blend numerous influences and don't conform to any traditions. More than anything, their music is exuberant and immensely enjoyable."[7] Carl Purvis of No Ripcord praised the vocals of Herring and Wilson, concluding that: "BBNG have always been fluent and sonically articulate, but enlisting the talents of suitable vocalists to thicken their smokescreen strengthens their suit."[16]

Jamie Milton of DIY was more critical of the album, stating, "There’s not a great deal tying these songs together, aside from BBNG’s pursuit of the new. Collaborations aren’t here to generate headlines or set pulses racing - each serves its own noble purpose. Taken on their own, each track solidifies the group’s wild imagination, but IV is tough to stomach as the free-flowing, full-bodied juggernaut that it is."[9]

Accolades

Publication Accolade Year Rank
Rough Trade Albums of the Year 2016
BBC 6 Music Albums of the Year 2016
1

Track listing

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."And That, Too."
  • Chester Hansen
  • Matty Tavares
  • Alex Sowinski
  • Leland Whitty
4:35
2."Speaking Gently"
  • Hansen
  • Tavares
  • Sowinski
  • Whitty
4:07
3."Time Moves Slow" (featuring Sam Herring)
  • Hansen
  • Tavares
  • Sowinski
  • Whitty
  • Sam Herring
4:33
4."Confessions Pt II" (featuring Colin Stetson)
  • Hansen
  • Tavares
  • Sowinski
  • Whitty
  • Colin Stetson
6:24
5."Lavender" (featuring Kaytranada)
  • Hansen
  • Tavares
  • Sowinski
  • Whitty
  • Kevin Celestin
3:21
6."Chompy's Paradise"
  • Hansen
  • Tavares
  • Sowinski
  • Whitty
3:56
7."IV"
  • Hansen
  • Tavares
  • Sowinski
  • Whitty
7:03
8."Hyssop of Love" (featuring Mick Jenkins)
  • Hansen
  • Tavares
  • Sowinski
  • Whitty
  • Jayson Jenkins
3:19
9."Structure No. 3"
  • Hansen
  • Tavares
  • Sowinski
  • Whitty
4:13
10."In Your Eyes" (featuring Charlotte Day Wilson)
  • Hansen
  • Tavares
  • Sowinski
  • Whitty
  • Charlotte Day Wilson
4:11
11."Cashmere"
  • Hansen
  • Tavares
  • Sowinski
  • Whitty
4:51
Total length:50:33

Personnel

The album logo that appears on the back of physical copies.[18]

Credits adapted from the album's liner notes.[18]

BadBadNotGood
  • Matthew Tavares – piano (1, 4, 7, 11), Rhodes (2, 8, 9, 10), CS-60 (1, 9), crumar (3, 10), bass guitar (1), drum machine (1), Polysix (2), auxiliary synthesizer (5), Juno-60 (6); engineer, mixing
  • Chester Hansen – bass guitar (1-8, 10, 11), CS-60 (4-6, 8), piano and crumar (2), Yamaha organ (5), acoustic bass (9)
  • Alexander Sowinski – drums, percussion (1, 4–6, 11), vibraphone (10)
  • Leland Whitty – electric guitar (3, 5, 8, 10), acoustic guitar (5, 10), tenor saxophone (1, 2, 4, 6, 7, 11), flute (1, 2, 6, 10, 11), bass clarinet (1, 6), soprano saxophone (1, 6), violin (10, 11), CS-60 (1), clarinet (1), vibraphone (1), alto saxophone (2)
Additional contributors

Charts

Chart (2016) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[19] 54
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[20] 48
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[21] 106
New Zealand Heatseekers Albums (RMNZ)[22] 9
UK Albums (OCC)[23] 100
US Billboard 200[24] 178
US Independent Albums (Billboard)[25] 10
US Top Jazz Albums (Billboard)[26] 1
US Top Contemporary Jazz Albums (Billboard)[27] 1
US Heatseekers Albums (Billboard)[28] 3
US Top Tastemaker Albums (Billboard)[29] 9
US Vinyl Albums (Billboard)[30] 20
Canadian Albums (Billboard)[31] 89

References

  1. 1 2 3 Carroll, Jim (July 14, 2016). "Album of the Day: Badbadnotgood's IV – sticky, intricate, meticulous". The Irish Times. Retrieved October 20, 2019.
  2. 1 2 3 Hawthorne, Katie. "BadBadNotGood: IV - Album Review - The Skinny". The Skinny. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
  3. ↑ "Innovative Leisure Bandcamp". BadBadNotGood. Retrieved June 8, 2016.
  4. ↑ "Interview: BADBADNOTGOOD, "It's Impossible to Stick to One Sound"". 6 July 2016.
  5. ↑ "IV by BadBadNotGood reviews". AnyDecentMusic?. Retrieved October 20, 2019.
  6. 1 2 "Reviews for IV by BadBadNotGood". Metacritic. Retrieved July 31, 2016.
  7. 1 2 Simpson, Paul. "IV – BadBadNotGood". AllMusic. Retrieved July 31, 2016.
  8. ↑ Van Nguyen, Dan (July 8, 2016). "BadBadNotGood – IV". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved July 31, 2016.
  9. 1 2 Milton, Jamie (July 8, 2016). "BADBADNOTGOOD – IV". DIY. Retrieved July 31, 2016.
  10. 1 2 Herd, Mackenzie (July 6, 2016). "BADBADNOTGOOD: IV". Exclaim!. Retrieved July 31, 2016.
  11. ↑ Mongredien, Phil (July 10, 2016). "Badbadnotgood: IV review – overflowing with ideas". The Observer. Retrieved July 31, 2016.
  12. ↑ Lozano, Kevin (July 19, 2016). "BADBADNOTGOOD: IV". Pitchfork. Retrieved July 31, 2016.
  13. ↑ Howe, Rupert (August 2016). "BadBadNotGood: IV". Q. No. 362. p. 108.
  14. ↑ Joffe, Justin (July 19, 2016). "Review: BADBADNOTGOOD Refute Their Name Completely on 'IV'". Spin. Retrieved July 31, 2016.
  15. ↑ Pattison, Louis (August 2016). "BadBadNotGood: IV". Uncut. No. 231. p. 71.
  16. ↑ Purvis, Carl (July 2016). "Quick Takes". No Ripcord. Retrieved 19 February 2022.
  17. ↑ "Albums of the Year". Rough Trade. November 14, 2016. Archived from the original on November 16, 2016. Retrieved November 15, 2016.
  18. 1 2 IV (CD). BadBadNotGood. Innovative Leisure. 2016. IL 2034.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  19. ↑ "CHART WATCH #377". auspOp. July 16, 2016. Retrieved July 16, 2016.
  20. ↑ "Ultratop.be – BadBadNotGood – IV" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved July 15, 2016.
  21. ↑ "Ultratop.be – BadBadNotGood – IV" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved August 6, 2016.
  22. ↑ "NZ Heatseekers Albums Chart". Recorded Music NZ. July 18, 2016. Retrieved July 15, 2016.
  23. ↑ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved July 16, 2016.
  24. ↑ "BadBadNotGood Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved July 19, 2016.
  25. ↑ "BadBadNotGood Chart History (Independent Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved July 19, 2016.
  26. ↑ "BadBadNotGood Chart History (Top Jazz Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved July 19, 2016.
  27. ↑ "BadBadNotGood Chart History (Top Contemporary Jazz Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved July 26, 2021.
  28. ↑ "BadBadNotGood Chart History (Heatseekers Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved July 26, 2021.
  29. ↑ "BadBadNotGood Chart History (Top Tastemaker Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved July 26, 2021.
  30. ↑ "BadBadNotGood Chart History (Vinyl Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved July 26, 2021.
  31. ↑ "BadBadNotGood Chart History (Canadian Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved January 29, 2018.
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