NOW Magazine's Scores

  • Music
Select another publication »
For 2,812 reviews, this publication has graded:
  • 43% higher than the average critic
  • 2% same as the average critic
  • 55% lower than the average critic
On average, this publication grades 6.9 points lower than other critics. (0-100 point scale)
Average Music review score: 66
Highest review score: 100 Miss Anthropocene
Lowest review score: 20 Testify
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1,287 out of 2812
  2. Mixed: 1,452 out of 2812
  3. Negative: 73 out of 2812
2812 music reviews
view
per page
    • 74 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Hold It In
    It’s their most accessible release in ages. The Melvins hit the riff-heavy heights of their foundational 90s records while freewheeling into plenty of experimentation (like chimes and accordions on The Bunk Up) and straight-up curiosities.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Roots & Crowns
    Even at its most pieced-together and deconstructed, Califone's music feels organic.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Where You Go I Go Too
    When you consider that the first song is only a minute shy of half an hour long, this collection of epic ambient disco revisionism definitely counts as a full-fledged artistic statement.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Wondrous Bughouse
    A few tracks ease into each other too easily and are forgettable, but there’s still an overall sense of growth and fruition.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    La La Land
    The album basks in sun-drenched classic rockisms while managing to sound leagues above throwback jam bands like Phish.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Past Life Martyred Saints
    It's not always the most comfortable thing to listen to, but like the proverbial car crash, it's hard to tear yourself away.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Turning [Live]
    Each performance bursts with unadulterated emotionalism as Hegarty's voice swoops and swells around the impeccable-sounding band.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    The Magic Whip
    hat mix of worldly and familiar references, moods and textures ensures that The Magic Whip buzzes with urgency, even at its most serene and existential (or when Albarn rehashes his banal reservations about modern times).
    • 88 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    You're Dead!
    You’re Dead! is experimental and often ambient, but has so much attention to detail and raw talent (Herbie Hancock, Angel Deradoorian, Kendrick Lamar) that it could never be background music.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Home Before Dark
    This is understated folk pop, and as a result, some may be disappointed by the lack of big pop hooks. However, for those of us who always found Diamond overwrought and too extroverted, this restraint is refreshing and welcome.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Noctunes
    There's little sonic variation, but that approach puts the focus where it should be: on the raw emotion of his singing.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Hozier
    The more steeped Hozier gets in Southern influence the better: slow, hymnal Work Song disguises a love ballad as a spiritual to blissful effect, a perfect showcase for his rich, resonant alto.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    And After That, We Didn't Talk
    Even with quick, dense and precisely rhythmic flows, his rapping is like verbal dancing. Its joyous and romantic moments make the album feel more like a thematic refinement than a musical one.
    • 66 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Everywhere At Once
    He’s still expanding his vocal range, but this hour of soulful, sugary funk will accompany your summer parties quite well.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    The Hundred in the Hands
    Arriving ahead of a full-length, this five-song EP confirms our suspicion of the duo's pop genius.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Electric
    A vigorous 11-song collection that keeps the lyrics and melodies straightforward, allowing the complexity and uniqueness of his guitar-playing to burst through.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Guns Don't Kill People...Lazers Do
    The large cast of vocalists are quite upfront in the mix, and the quality of the songs tends to depend on their talent, but for the most part it’s a strong collection of bangers, with few missteps.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Tomboy
    It's really only when you find the time to sit down and listen to it all that it starts making sense. Yes, this may require some patience, but you will be rewarded.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Xen
    Moments of softness and even warmth make Ghersi’s debut album a more varied, mature and easier listen than last year’s unforgiving &&&&& mixtape.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Wincing The Night Away
    Not everything works... but even the flawed experiments make for an enjoyable listen.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Caught In The Trees
    With help from bandmates Eric Fisher and Jenna Conrad, his eighth full-length could be the album to finally propel the little known guitarist to Arcade Fire-like heights.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    The Place I Left Behind
    Builds on the quiet drama of their warm, melancholic, sometimes creepy sound.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Death Dreams
    As always, the main appeal lies in how honest and real it all feels.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Yes Lawd!
    This is an album about feeling good, and the freewheeling abandon .Paak brings to his delivery is matched by Knxwledge, who keeps up with him by absorbing as many sounds, voices, eras and influences as he can.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    2
    Countless acts have shamelessly imitated the Velvet Underground, but DeMarco has come up with a new tweak to that formula, coming closer to a lighthearted Modern Lovers feel without sacrificing the edginess and darkness of the VU.
    • 65 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    High On Jackson Hill
    The disc sometimes lacks sonic oomph, and the mid-section is less unique, borrowing new wave staccato guitars and sing-yelping styles from fellow Victorians Hot Hot Heat. Things pick up again at the end with three slices of relaxed indie pop.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Depression Cherry
    It's a downtempo album, especially its sleepier last third, but unlike its title suggests, it's not even a little depressing.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    99.9%
    As much as Kaytranada seems to be referencing genre staples and styles, his constant flights of rhythmic fancy make his music seem genre-averse. And when he connects with a vocalist or drummer who shares that sensibility, 99.9% really glows.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Watch Me Fall
    Garage punk hero Jay Reatard has grown up, and, surprisingly, this has turned out to be a very good thing indeed.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Never Were the Way She Was
    Never Were The Way She Was is stunning, understated and poignant, evoking isolation and yearning for some unnamed thing. Despite some less successful detours, it's a monster of a journey that calls to mind a windswept, brutal white North fraught with life.
Page: