No Ripcord's Scores

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For 2,825 reviews, this publication has graded:
  • 43% higher than the average critic
  • 3% same as the average critic
  • 54% lower than the average critic
On average, this publication grades 2.8 points lower than other critics. (0-100 point scale)
Average Music review score: 70
Highest review score: 100 Strawberry Jam
Lowest review score: 0 Scream
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1,983 out of 2825
  2. Mixed: 765 out of 2825
  3. Negative: 77 out of 2825
2825 music reviews
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    • 88 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Black Tambourine
    The narratives it employs are true to life, the reverb drenched instrumentation was rightfully summoned, and the substitution of dark undertones over lighter sensibilities that such genre was commonly known for were ditched with good reason. No wonder Slumberland has wholeheartedly embraced Black Tambourine's influence to their label. That's good enough reason to bring another of independent music's long forgotten cult stories into the forefront.
    • 88 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    I Am A Bird Now
    This will surely be counted as one of the most remarkable, individual, and adorable albums of the year.
    • 88 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Kindred [EP]
    The most noticeable difference from his previous work is that the three are symphonic, they have parts, and those parts are distinct, either marked by a certain loop, bass ostinato, drone, or tempo.
    • 88 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You
    The result is the most compelling case in years on the potential of the journey—the insights to be gleaned, the friendships to be strengthened, your own potential waiting to be untapped. Albums like DNWMIBIY make you believe in magic again.
    • 88 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Arular
    What makes M.I.A. so good is her simplicity. Not quite electro-clash, not quite hip-hop, not quite grime, she's a world onto herself with little more than a groovebox and her voice to sustain her.
    • 88 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Negative Capability
    On Negative Capability, she captures John Keats's timeless view on artistic beauty with genuine conviction.
    • 88 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Shepherd in a Sheepskin Vest
    Abstractions give way to specifics, and the result is a cascade of feelings, ideas, and images overlapping and enhancing each other in the listener's mind.
    • 88 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    For Emma, Forever Ago
    Although For Emma, Forever Ago works best as a concise listen, as each song segues naturally into the next, tracks like 'Blindsided' and 'For Emma' quickly rise as shining standouts.
    • 87 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Plunge
    The electronic work is fantastic throughout Plunge, never adhering to presets and making full use of every beat, burst and throb. When coupled with Dreijer’s slick, razor-sharp vocal you have a monster of a record that gets more impressive with every listen.
    • 87 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Everything Harmony
    Their enthusiasm truly does show. And with tracks as catchy as these, it's pretty clear that the brothers have done their homework through the years and then some.
    • 87 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Fleet Foxes
    Fleet Foxes is certainly a very good record, but it is kept from greatness by its failure to capture the communal feeling of its excellent, buzz-building live shows.
    • 87 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Dirty Computer
    It's the full-on pop record that Monáe had been hinting at for years, and though some of her stylistic choices may not age well--especially when she veers into trap territory - she approaches them with a kind of flighty confidence.
    • 87 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Person Pitch
    The beautiful melodies and harmonies don’t actually go anywhere, they just kind of float in and out of earshot, failing to develop or do anything harmonically interesting.
    • 87 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Blackstar
    With Blackstar, Bowie disengages himself once again from popular opinion and scoffs at the idea of taking the righteous path, finding inspiration in what is immoral and contentious. But in doing so he also finds an artful niche that suits his sixty nine years of age.
    • 87 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    M B V
    mbv follows its predecessor without aggrandizing its past resources, and as such, delivers a wallop of sweet, sweet distortion in a way that comes naturally to them.
    • 87 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    U.F.O.F.
    The band fills U.F.O.F. with a rich tapestry of textural tones, almost to the point of oversaturation. It's so embedded in their songs that they somehow get lost in their creation, filled with awe and wonder (and some healthy pretension).
    • 87 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    My Woman
    What makes My Woman great isn't the new synths or the rockier tone. It's Olsen herself, filling these songs with the love, desire, anguish and acceptance that comes from her perspective as a woman.
    • 87 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Microshift
    Microshift clearly demonstrates that Hookworms are operating on a new level.
    • 87 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Nothing's About To Happen To Me
    That Nothing’s About to Happen to Me feels both self-contained and expansive speaks to how Mitski moves to her own rhythm.
    • 87 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Hoopla
    The sturdy, timeless pop Edkins accomplishes often gets taken for granted, which, really, is the doomed story of power pop in a nutshell. But for a good 30-plus minutes, he convinces you that its ability to please is undeniable.
    • 87 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Blonde
    For every low point there’s the unquestionable standouts.
    • 87 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!!
    It’s a vital record, one that’s Nick Cave through and through, and whether he’s exploring his garage roots or his spooky, narrative tendencies it’s at all points a triumph.
    • 87 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    An Overview on Phenomenal Nature
    It feels carefully tailored to a fault, making it practically impossible to find its flaws—especially if you find the interchangeable poetic sing-speak of Hard Drive endearing. Nevertheless, this is solipsism of the highest caliber: gentle, hypnotic, fastidious, but above all else, hard to resist.
    • 87 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Secret Love
    There’s plenty to dissect throughout Secret Love, whether it’s through stumbling onto its non-sequitur zingers or consciously untangling its deeper concepts. There’s no wrong way to approach it; it really works both ways.
    • 87 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Too Bright
    Few artists in this day in age take self-expression through art to heart like Hadreas does as Perfume Genius, and with the sensitive confidence that radiates from Too Bright, he’s mastered in a way few artists never do.
    • 87 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    And in the Darkness, Hearts Aglow
    Mering has concocted a successor to Titanic Rising that any gambler worth their salt would have no doubt taken the under on. That Mering topped her own prior masterwork is its own reward and one we are no doubt not worthy of.
    • 87 Metascore
    • 100 Critic Score
    The Seer
    The Seer is 30 years' worth of effort, a unique and exciting height earned after decades of creation, experimentation and unconventional musical disassembly.
    • 87 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Purple Mountains
    It's a new start for an artist who many had proclaimed early retirement. And even if he hasn't cheered up, his return does feel consistent with his downtrodden nature—and we can only listen as it all unfolds.
    • 87 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Puberty 2
    Mitski’s boldness is hugely impressive, and couple that with the fact the record is so expertly mixed and edited, she has produced one of the year’s more complete LPs.
    • 87 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    You Will Never Be One of Us
    All in all, this is another first-rate effort from one of the most deviant voices in hardcore.
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