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From the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.

Pushin' Against a Stone

Valerie June

2013

Pushin' Against a Stone
Album Summary

This album has been submitted by a user and is not included in any edition of the book.

Pushin' Against a Stone is the third album by American singer Valerie June. It was released on August 13, 2013 by Sunday Best Recordings label. The album was co-produced by The Black Keys' member Dan Auerbach and Kevin Augunas. Pushin' Against a Stone garnered critical acclaim from music critics. Metacritic assigned an averaged Metascore of fourteen selected mainstream critics to the album of an 81, meaning it has attracted "universal acclaim". The Independent's, Andy Gill rated the album a perfect five stars, and said her music defies classification, which makes her music so stimulating. Jason Schneider of Exclaim! rated the album nine out of ten, and noted this was "a rare case when a young artist's natural instincts are spot-on."

Wikipedia

Rating

3.09

Votes

66

Genres

  • Soul

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Reviews

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Sep 15 2024
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5

This is a great folk/soul album. I don’t think many people realize how much influence black folks have had on what we consider to be American folk music. Much of what AP Carter and Alan Lomax codified as American folk music was directly recorded from black people in the rural south. As someone who plays traditional American folk music, I care about the truth of where our music comes from and whose story is being left out. Valerie June is reclaiming that story and I’m glad she’s represented here. Thank you to whoever included her!

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Sep 12 2024
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3

Something fully new to me, which is always nice. I sort of vacillated over whether I felt like the old timey vocal style was too much of an affectation. It seems like she probably came by it honestly and I ended up feeling like I generally liked it, but that it might wear thin at length. The instrumentation did the job but a lot of it felt fairly nondescript.

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Sep 20 2024
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3

It's an unbelievably calm album, straddling a few different genres. It's old school, but with a new world feel. Interesting listen.

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Oct 12 2024
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2

Dan Auberbach is the master of spending a small fortune to make something sound like it was authentically recorded badly in 1964, isn't he? Beautiful voice, lovely melodies, but the production left me very cold. I'll definitely listen to more from the artist, but I want to hear how she sounds when not forced to perform through pretentiously vintage kit!

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Sep 12 2024
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4

I really liked this a lot. Very unexpected, given that the genre listed is Soul. Sounds much more traditional folk/Americana to me, and I like it. 4 stars.

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Sep 12 2024
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4

Rating: 7/10 Best songs: Wanna be on your mind, You can’t be told, Somebody to love

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Sep 12 2024
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4

Wow just a delightful mix of Blues, R&B, gospel, and Bluegrass. Utterly unique and utterly American.

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Sep 12 2024
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4

Amazing voice. Very calming music. Loved it

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Sep 20 2024
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4

Her vocal style really works for me and the bluesy and soulful arrangements are enjoyable. Wanna Be On Your Mind and Pushin' Against a Stone work best for me. Though there are a few tracks that are kinda 'meh', there is enough passion and power in the style that made it an enjoyable surprise.

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Sep 12 2024
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3

Rootsy. Don’t really warm to her slightly whiny voice.

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Sep 12 2024
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3

I like the more soulful songs, but I don't like the folky ones nearly as much, especially the sparer, slower ones.

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Sep 20 2024
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3

Liked this, listened to it multiple times already. it goes a bit too country at times but overall really nice music 3.4

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Oct 26 2024
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3

This was a pretty cool and unique of soul, R&B with a bit of rock and folk. It had a lot of different tempos. The j instrumentals were solid and June has a very nice voice. All in all it was pretty nice to hear something new and this good while still being modern. 7.0/10

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Oct 27 2024
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3

Recording feels a bit awkward at times

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Oct 27 2024
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3

This was an enjoyable surprise. It has an almost timeless quality due to all of the genres Valerie June plays in. Her vocal style grated on me a little bit, both too much and not enough for what she was trying to do with it. Fave Songs: Pushin' Against a Stone; Trials, Troubles, Tribulations; Workin' Woman Blues; Tennessee Time

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Sep 12 2024
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2

Singer/songwriter is one of my least favorite genres. She has talent, for sure, but it's not my jam. Worth a listen though.

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Sep 12 2024
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1

This LP had an uphill battle already as singer-songwriter is one of my least favorite genres, but it was so vapid and poorly constructed that it actually made me a little angry. June has little to offer in the way of original songwriting, with most of these being timid covers of greats gone by. Much worse, her take on these classics is the softest, most quavering vocal I’ve heard in a while - it’s almost as if she’s afraid to raise her voice above a whisper lest someone know she’s singing. I wanted to attribute this to bad mixing, but even on the very few tracks that have a tempo above a crawl her vocals barely rise above the instrumentals. Just an uninspired, insipid LP overall that brings nothing new to the table.

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Sep 12 2024
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1

It bored me terribly, it's not for me. Even the stronger tracks didn't make a difference that excited me, I think it's for more niche tastes.

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Sep 12 2024
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1

Oh, no. No, no, no, no, no...... no. End of album update: fuck, no. 1/5.

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