A Mad & Faithful Telling

A Mad & Faithful Telling
Studio album by
DeVotchKa
ReleasedMarch 18, 2008 (2008-03-18)
RecordedWavelab Studio, Tucson, AZ
NFA, Denver, CO
GenreIndie folk, gypsy punk
Length42:08
LabelAnti-
Producer
DeVotchKa chronology
Curse Your Little Heart
(2006) 		A Mad & Faithful Telling
(2008) 		I Love You Phillip Morris
(2009)

A Mad & Faithful Telling is the fifth studio album from the American band DeVotchKa. It was released by Anti- on March 18, 2008. The band's largest tour to date, in support of the album, began on April 26, 2008 at the music festival Coachella.[1]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic78/100[2]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[3]
Robert ChristgauB−[4]
Kevchino9/10[5]
Music Emissions[6]
Pitchfork7.7/10[7]
Rolling Stone[8]
Tiny Mix Tapes[9]

On the review aggregator Metacritic, A Mad & Faithful Telling has a score of 78 out of 100 based on 22 critics' reviews, indicating "generally favorable" reception.[2]

Todd Lavoie of the San Francisco Bay Guardian noted that "A Mad and Faithful Telling throbs and buzzes like a breathless raconteur, its 42 minutes brimming with sentimentality and spectacle",[10] and included the album in his top 10 for 2008.[11] Writing for The Austin Chronicle, Austin Powell said the album "unsheathes a musical realm without boundaries", giving it four out of five stars,[12] whereas Melanie Haupt ranked it ninth on her "National Top 10" list.[13] Joe Tangari of Pitchfork ranked it 12th on his top 25 albums of 2008.[14]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Nick Urata and DeVotchKa.

No.TitleLength
1."Basso Profundo"5:14
2."Along the Way"4:01
3."The Clockwise Witness"4:37
4."Head Honcho"3:45
5."Comrade Z"2:24
6."Transliterator"4:31
7."Blessing in Disguise"5:49
8."Undone"5:03
9."Strizzalo"1:30
10."New World"5:14
Total length:42:08
iTunes bonus track[15]
No.TitleLength
11."Undone" (with the Hagerman Quartet)4:33

Personnel

  • DeVotchKa:
    • Vocals, guitar: Nick Urata
    • Sousaphone: Jeanie Schroder
    • Drums: Shawn King
    • Piano: Thomas Hagerman
  • Strings:
    • Violin 1: Tom Hagerman
    • Violin 2: Takanori Sugishita
    • Viola: Leah Nelson
    • Cello: Charles Lee
    • Hot guitar: Tom Echols
  • Oboe: Kyle Mendenhall
  • Trumpets:
  • Additional vocals:

Charts

Chart (2008) Peak
position
UK Independent Albums (OCC)[16] 26
US Heatseekers Albums (Billboard)[17] 9
US Independent Albums (Billboard)[18] 29
US Indie Store Album Sales (Billboard)[19] 10

References

  1. ^ "DeVotchKa Announce Spring Mad and Faithful North American Tour". Anti-. Archived from the original on January 3, 2010. Retrieved October 31, 2025.
  2. ^ a b "A Mad & Faithful Telling by Devotchka". Metacritic. Retrieved October 31, 2025.
  3. ^ Leahey, Andrew. "A Mad and Faithful Telling Review". AllMusic. Retrieved October 31, 2025.
  4. ^ Christgau, Robert. "Robert Christgau: CG: DeVotchKa". robertchristgau.com. Retrieved July 3, 2024.
  5. ^ Brown, Hannis. "DeVotchKa: A Mad & Faithful Telling: Kevchino Review". Kevchino. Archived from the original on November 22, 2008. Retrieved October 31, 2025.
  6. ^ Younes, Gabe (June 23, 2008). "Devotchka - A Mad And Faithful Telling Review". Music Emissions. Retrieved June 20, 2008.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  7. ^ Bowers, William (March 19, 2008). "DeVotchKa: A Mad & Faithful Telling: Pitchfork Record Review". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on March 21, 2008. Retrieved October 31, 2025.
  8. ^ Hermes, Will (May 1, 2008). "A Mad And Faithful Telling : DeVotchKa : Review". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on April 21, 2008. Retrieved October 31, 2025.
  9. ^ Holmes, Filmore Mescalito (March 27, 2008). "Tiny Mix Tapes Reviews: DeVotchKa - A Mad & Faithful Telling". Tiny Mix Tapes. Archived from the original on April 1, 2008. Retrieved October 31, 2025.
  10. ^ Lavoie, Todd (March 26 – April 1, 2008). "DEVOTCHKA A Mad and Faithful Telling". San Francisco Bay Guardian. Vol. 42, no. 26. p. 30. Retrieved October 31, 2025.
  11. ^ Lavoie, Todd (December 17–23, 2008). "Todd Lavoie's Top 10". San Francisco Bay Guardian. Vol. 43, no. 12. p. 26. Retrieved October 31, 2025.
  12. ^ Powell, Austin (March 14, 2008). "DEVOTCHKA A Mad & Faithful Telling (Anti-)". The Austin Chronicle. Vol. 27, no. 28. SXSW Music Fest Insert, p. 36. Retrieved October 31, 2025.
  13. ^ "National Top 10s". The Austin Chronicle. Vol. 28, no. 18. January 2, 2009. p. 52. Retrieved October 31, 2025.
  14. ^ "2008 Albums of the Year: Individual Lists". Pitchfork. December 19, 2008. Archived from the original on December 21, 2008. Retrieved October 31, 2025.
  15. ^ "A Mad and Faithful Telling (Bonus Track Version) by DeVotchKa". iTunes. Archived from the original on April 11, 2016. Retrieved October 31, 2025.
  16. ^ "Official Independent Albums Chart on 29/3/2008 – Top 50". Official Charts Company. Retrieved October 31, 2025.
  17. ^ "DeVotchKa Chart History (Heatseekers Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved October 31, 2025.
  18. ^ "DeVotchKa Chart History (Independent Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved October 31, 2025.
  19. ^ "DeVotchKa Chart History (Top Tastemaker Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved October 31, 2025.
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