Dagger Paths

Last updated

Dagger Paths
Dagger Paths Forest Swords.jpg
EP by
Forest Swords
Released1 March 2010 (2010-03-01)
Length34:05
Label Olde English Spelling Bee
Producer M. Barnes
Forest Swords chronology
Fjree Feather
(2009)		Dagger Paths
(2010)		 Engravings
(2013)

Dagger Paths is an EP by English record producer and visual artist Matthew Barnes under the pseudonym Forest Swords. [1] It was released on 1 March 2010, through Olde English Spelling Bee. [2] It received critical acclaim. [1]

Contents

Background

Dagger Paths was recorded on the Wirral Peninsula and Liverpool. [3] It includes a cover version of "If Your Girl Only Knew", a song written by Timbaland and Missy Elliott and recorded by Aaliyah. [3] Music videos were released for the songs "Miarches" and "Glory Gongs". [4]

Release

Dagger Paths was originally released on 1 March 2010, through Olde English Spelling Bee. [2] It was reissued on 22 November 2010, through No Pain in Pop. [5] The reissue edition includes two extra tracks from a 7-inch single: "Rattling Cage" and "Hjurt". [6] Limited edition package of the reissue edition also comes with a bonus disc, [7] containing early Forest Swords songs, remixes by other artists, and a lengthy Forest Swords mix. [6]

The six early Forest Swords songs found on the reissue edition's bonus disc were later officially released in 2011 as the Fjree Feather EP, through No Pain in Pop. [8] They had first appeared on a self-released EP of the same name, prior to Dagger Paths. [9]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
AnyDecentMusic?7.6/10 [10]
Review scores
SourceRating
Drowned in Sound 9/10 [11]
Fact Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svg [12]
Loud and Quiet 3/10 [13]
Pitchfork 7.9/10 [14]
Pitchfork8.4/10 [6]

Simon Hampson of Fact stated, "As Forest Swords plugs away relentlessly at his glacial riffs, with percussion bursting through like artillery fire, there's this really affecting sense of being witness to some very private act of catharsis." [12] He added, "This is an overwhelmingly sad record, but at the same time a curiously hopeful one – the stunning cover of Aaliyah's 'If Your Girl', for example, is all dying-ember drones and ghostly hums until it suddenly flutters away into an almost ecstatic crescendo." [12] In a review of the reissue edition, Marc Masters of Pitchfork commented that "All the elements and styles that Barnes collects like a magnet quickly align toward one unmistakable musical vision." [6]

Accolades

Year-end lists for Dagger Paths
PublicationListRankRef.
DIY Albums of the Year 2010
40
Drowned in Sound Albums of the Year 2010
44
Fact The 40 Best Albums of 2010
1
Pitchfork The Top 50 Albums of 2010
48

Track listing

All tracks are written by M. Barnes, except "If Your Girl" by T. Mosley and M. Elliott.

Dagger Paths track listing
No.TitleLength
1."Miarches"6:23
2."Hoylake Misst"7:52
3."Visits"3:31
4."Glory Gongs"6:24
5."If Your Girl"6:26
6."The Light"3:29
Total length:34:05
No Pain in Pop edition additional tracks
No.TitleLength
7."Rattling Cage"3:51
8."Hjurt"4:10
Total length:42:10
No Pain in Pop limited edition bonus disc
No.TitleLength
1."Down Steps"5:59
2."Red Rocks Fogg"6:22
3."Kaibasa Claps"6:07
4."Trust Your Blood"6:15
5."Riverbed"5:34
6."Bones"5:27
7."Rattling Cage" (Becoming Real remix)3:45
8."Miarches" (Turnbull Green's Skywalker OG remix)4:19
9."Hjurt" (Pariah refix)3:12
10."Rattling Cage" (Dro Carey 'Neon Hudrat' mix)4:17
11."Remixtape"23:27
Total length:74:48

Personnel

Credits adapted from liner notes. [19] [20]

References

  1. 1 2 Phares, Heather. "Forest Swords". AllMusic . Retrieved 17 March 2025.
  2. 1 2 "Forest Swords - Dagger Paths". Bleep . Retrieved 17 March 2025.
  3. 1 2 Mulvey, John (11 October 2010). "Forest Swords: "Dagger Paths"". Uncut . Retrieved 16 July 2025.
  4. ↑ "Forest Swords - videos". YouTube . Retrieved 16 July 2025.
  5. ↑ Fitzmaurice, Larry (22 November 2010). ""Hjurt (Pariah Refix)"". Pitchfork . Retrieved 17 March 2025.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Masters, Marc (1 December 2010). "Forest Swords: Dagger Paths [Expanded Edition]". Pitchfork . Retrieved 17 March 2025.
  7. ↑ Fitzmaurice, Larry (3 November 2010). ""Rattling Cage (Dro Carey 'Neon Hudrat' Mix)"". Pitchfork . Retrieved 17 March 2025.
  8. ↑ Gaerig, Andrew (23 June 2011). "Forest Swords: Fjree Feather". Pitchfork . Archived from the original on 4 November 2011. Retrieved 17 March 2025.
  9. ↑ "Forest Swords drops Fjree Feather EP". Fact . 17 May 2011. Archived from the original on 23 May 2011. Retrieved 17 March 2025.
  10. ↑ "Dagger Paths by Forest Swords". AnyDecentMusic?. Retrieved 17 March 2025.
  11. ↑ Gibb, Rory (1 December 2010). "Album Review: Forest Swords - Dagger Paths". Drowned in Sound . Archived from the original on 8 September 2011. Retrieved 17 March 2025.
  12. 1 2 3 Hampson, Simon (26 November 2010). "Forest Swords: Dagger Paths". Fact . Archived from the original on 25 October 2011. Retrieved 17 March 2025.
  13. ↑ Walton, Sam (2011). "Forest Swords - Dagger Paths". Loud and Quiet . Archived from the original on 4 February 2011. Retrieved 17 March 2025.
  14. ↑ Masters, Marc (24 June 2010). "Forest Swords: Dagger Paths". Pitchfork . Retrieved 17 March 2025.
  15. ↑ "DIY Albums Of The Year: The Winner Is..." DIY . 17 December 2010. Archived from the original on 25 June 2018. Retrieved 17 March 2025.
  16. ↑ "Drowned in Sound's albums of the year 2010: 50-11". Drowned in Sound . 2 December 2010. Archived from the original on 28 September 2023. Retrieved 17 March 2025.
  17. ↑ "The 40 Best Albums of 2010 (page 4)". Fact . 30 November 2010. Retrieved 17 March 2025.
  18. ↑ "The Top 50 Albums of 2010". Pitchfork . 15 December 2010. Retrieved 17 March 2025.
  19. ↑ Forest Swords (2010). Dagger Paths (CD booklet). No Pain in Pop.
  20. ↑ "Dagger Paths EP (Remastered and Extended) | Forest Swords". Bandcamp . Retrieved 16 July 2025.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.