Pitchfork's Scores

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For 12,713 reviews, this publication has graded:
  • 41% higher than the average critic
  • 6% same as the average critic
  • 53% 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 Sign O' the Times [Deluxe Edition]
Lowest review score: 0 nyc ghosts & flowers
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 10,450 out of 12713
  2. Mixed: 1,949 out of 12713
  3. Negative: 314 out of 12713
12713 music reviews
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    • 74 Metascore
    • 64 Critic Score
    See You In Magic
    If the herky-jerky new-waver 'Total Bloodbath,' and the 'Ticket to Ride'-styled charmer 'Partner in Crime' find Reis comfortably adapting to the pop approach, the mix can also leave Reis hanging out to dry, particularly on the smooth '70s-Stones strut 'You've Got Nerve,' where the droning qualities of his rasp are overemphasized by a chorus that simply repeats the title ad infinitum.
    • 67 Metascore
    • 67 Critic Score
    From The Valley To The Stars
    From the Valley to the Stars has hills that rise close to "El Perro del Mar's" peaks, and its cohesive vision is a pleasure to behold. At the same time, though, it harps on its themes with an overzealous single-mindedness, occasionally letting flimsy stuff support an overarching conceit that requires foundations of marble.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 65 Critic Score
    Pyramids
    Sure, they're a very raw talent, but a formidable talent nonetheless, and this record's peaks hint at even greater musical epiphanies to come.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 78 Critic Score
    Liars And Prayers
    Liars and Prayers' success is owed as much to the band as its leader, but in the end, there's still no doubt about who's working on whose watch.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 68 Critic Score
    Worldwide
    A great deal of Death Set's charm lies in how their toothsome double-guitar attack is deliberately undermined by their tinkertoy beats and new-waved keys; when the band try to overcompensate with the aggro.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 85 Critic Score
    Saturdays=Youth
    Saturdays=Youth meaningfully diversifies M83's catalog while retaining Gonzalez's indelible fingerprint.
    • 65 Metascore
    • 49 Critic Score
    Konk
    Konk feels like a mere cowardly act, a TPS report from a band that strives to be nothing more than British pop's ultimate company men.
    • 59 Metascore
    • 23 Critic Score
    You Have No Idea What You're Getting Yourself Into
    So this record's creative and artistic value is pretty much nil--in fact it only just hits competent.
    • 51 Metascore
    • 26 Critic Score
    My Bloody Underground
    More so than the album's overall malaise and inconsistency, it's this ridiculous (and in some cases, offensive) attempt at "edginess" that's most off-putting.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 69 Critic Score
    Live in Liverpool
    It highlights their strengths (that voice, those beats, that authentic giving-it-their-all vibe) and hides their weaknesses (lack of songwriting breadth and dynamic diversity) making it sound like there's no place more fun than a Gossip concert, and no better host than Beth Ditto.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 73 Critic Score
    So Embarrassing
    So Embarrassing is a bold change in direction for Capillary Action, but one that pays off as well as one could hope.
    • 87 Metascore
    • 84 Critic Score
    Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!!
    The Bad Seeds sound even edgier and more sophisticated on Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!, providing a fitting pulpit for their bandleader's ravings.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Ghosts I-IV
    Even if every one of these tracks stands as a formal experiment unto itself, after an hour or two these half-formed ideas begin to bleed indistinctly into each other, evolving into puddles of vaguely ominous aural mush.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Mountain Battles
    If "Title TK" was a tentative first step back into the public eye, Mountain Battles finds Kim and Kelley proudly venerating the Breeders' battle-scarred history and bull-headed perseverance.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 59 Critic Score
    Antidotes
    These moments of misplaced weight make Antidotes hard to recommend, but there are good ideas and moments all over the record.
    • 61 Metascore
    • 59 Critic Score
    Walk It Off
    Walk It Off attempts "The Loon's" indie patchwork using fewer and larger pieces, causing less-than-stellar ideas and riffs to suddenly become load-bearing pillars for painfully linear three-minute pop songs.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 77 Critic Score
    Do It!
    Clinic play with a renewed sense of the same eerie raucousness that drew people to them in the first place; this would be an easy second-album recommendation for a new fan after they've initially discovered and absorbed "Internal Wrangler."
    • 74 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Rabbit Habits
    Habits has little to apologize for, no serious blemishes or ill-advised shifts in direction.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 65 Critic Score
    Colin Meloy Sings Live!
    It's as if a bunch of people have gotten together to try and create a communal experience they don't quite believe in. It's a little depressing here, but elsewhere, the sense of irony serves the album well.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 88 Critic Score
    In Ghost Colours
    Regardless of what kind of audience it ultimately finds, though, In Ghost Colours earns its smiles with a combination of ingenuity and easiness that you don't often come by, and for that, even in April, it already feels like a triumph.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 62 Critic Score
    Neptune
    The Spirit still play hard-to-get, which helps to avoid any ridiculous moments on this polished sophomore effort, but they're often too stand-offish to even challenge the listener, let alone push the envelope that their influences have so neatly prepared for them.
    • 65 Metascore
    • 66 Critic Score
    X
    Likability has got Kylie Minogue this far, and it pulls her through again--even the weak tracks on X have a sparky enthusiasm that makes their magpie modernism sound less cynical.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 84 Critic Score
    Hold On Now, Youngster
    This debut is unusually taut and polished, with hooks, crescendos, and clever turns of phrase nearly always in the right place.
    • 63 Metascore
    • 52 Critic Score
    Last Night
    In the end, lost amidst the faithfully reproduced house piano progressions and familiar melodies is anything signaling that those epiphany-filled late nights were actually, you know, fun.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Attack & Release
    Maneuvering between the King of Rhythm's joie de vivre and their crestfallen, crossroads-blues heritage, Attack and Release subtly expands the Black Keys sound.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 67 Critic Score
    Accelerate
    Accelerate's broad strokes, big riffs, and beefy production (the album was reportedly recorded in "just" nine weeks) are admirable, as is the disc's concision, but its success is still more as a step forward than a slam dunk.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 53 Critic Score
    Gods Of The Earth
    For the most part, it's all the same old bong-thrash, save for the record's one non-heavy trick: English-jig folk.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    April
    The album draws its power not simply from the quality of Kozelek's songwriting, but from the close intertwining of words and music, which makes his albums much more essential than any book he could ever publish.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 65 Critic Score
    Electronic Projects for Musicians
    There are a number of somewhat bland mid-tempo tracks and a few sketchy incidental things, like the ultra-brief vocal exercise 'Thank You Very Much,' but this is a worthy addition for Apples fans who haven't already tracked down every flexi-disc, Japanese import, and vinyl edition in the band's large catalog.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 66 Critic Score
    Funplex
    While Funplex's super-sized dance pop can't quite compare with the band's best moments, there's plenty of residual B-52's-ness to satiate longtime fans.
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