The Wire's Scores
- Music
For 2,880 reviews, this publication has graded:
-
51% higher than the average critic
-
7% same as the average critic
-
42% lower than the average critic
On average, this publication grades 0.8 points higher than other critics.
(0-100 point scale)
Average Music review score: 74
| Highest review score: | SMiLE | |
|---|---|---|
| Lowest review score: | Amazing Grace |
Score distribution:
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Positive: 2,405 out of 2880
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Mixed: 455 out of 2880
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Negative: 20 out of 2880
2880
music
reviews
- By Date
- By Critic Score
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- Critic Score
The addition of Morgane Diet’s seraphic vocals provides an emotional access point, filtering a grand cosmic aesthetic into a relatable and human scale. [Nov 2021, p.64]- The Wire
Posted Dec 20, 2021 -
- Critic Score
While Harris’s voice has become more manoeuvrable, the combination of echo, layering and breathy delivery push the literal meaning of her lyrics just out of reach. Instead the words are like a lure, drawing you further into the space between unfurling sequences of hesitant notes and quiet cries. [May 2018, p.49]- The Wire
Posted Jul 12, 2018 -
- Critic Score
Most of Raw Solutions is a working-through of moves from Chicago House from Juke to footwork to Ghetto House, and while well done, doesn't leave its own stamp as an outside interpretation. [May 2013, p.66]- The Wire
Posted Jun 5, 2013 -
- Critic Score
The astonishing thing about Deap Lips is that it sounds nothing like either constituent band, though Troy’s nasal vocal sometimes gives it away. [Sep 2020, p.52]- The Wire
Posted Nov 6, 2020 -
- Critic Score
The elegantly bruised production is so captivating that I'm left longing for Ripatti to once again sink the vocals intot he subliminal and the sublime, as he did on "Vocalcity." [Nov 2008, p.66]- The Wire
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- Critic Score
Chasny’s vocals in particular, hushed and double-tracked, tend to sound like the performance of awed transport rather than awed transport itself. In that sense Threshold’s instrumental numbers--which on so many albums feel like interludes or filler--are standouts. [Mar 2017, p.54]- The Wire
Posted Jun 2, 2017 -
- Critic Score
Delicacy replaces density here, but his capacity to unnerve remains on these sedately mournful chamber pieces. [#231, p.74]- The Wire
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- Critic Score
Both J Dilla and the recently revived Oval come to mind at moments of Silver Wilkinson, but this is a sound as English as Virgina Astley. [May 2013, p.66]- The Wire
Posted Jun 5, 2013 -
- Critic Score
For the most part it works, weaving a dark atmosphere of foreboding and dread through the songs. [#240, p.68]- The Wire
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- Critic Score
The outcome is a record you could forget you're even listening to. [Nov 2016, p.66]- The Wire
Posted Nov 8, 2016 -
- Critic Score
No great leap forward, but with a sound this distinctive, that's not yet a problem. [#205, p.59]- The Wire
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- Critic Score
It's as timeless in its own small way as the Chicago canon that inspired it. [Jun 2012, p.46]- The Wire
Posted Jul 24, 2012 -
- Critic Score
Though not all the tracks are fully realised, Molina was clearly pushing into new territory: that he never got there is a tragedy. [Sep 2020, p.57]- The Wire
Posted Nov 6, 2020 -
- Critic Score
The new songs continue to hold the line narrative of the last few Yo La Tengo records without adding much new. But at moments when the performance is so assured, the hairs stand up and you're reminded anew of how the group got you to care. [Aug 2015, p.56]- The Wire
Posted Aug 6, 2015 -
- Critic Score
Sometimes the music lingers too long in the in-between places, as though it’s not sure where it’s going. It probably doesn’t make sense for music that deals in ambivalence to be settled in itself, but some listeners may require a tiny bit more to believe in. [Jul 2024, p.50]- The Wire
Posted Jun 25, 2024 -
- Critic Score
Only time will tell which albums will ring out as genuine artefacts and which will be revealed as little more than sound and fury, signifying nothing. [Apr 2017, p.46]- The Wire
Posted Jun 2, 2017 -
- Critic Score
It's on tracks like the ethereal, 15 minute "Oh Shadie" where the group's acid washed sound really takes off. [#232, p.74]- The Wire
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- Critic Score
It's as arch, infuriating and entertaining as the duo's name would lead you to expect. [Jun 2012, p.46]- The Wire
Posted Jul 24, 2012 -
- Critic Score
he duo of Alexander Tucker and Daniel O’Sullivan come closer than on any previous effort to reconciling the two halves of their musical personality. [Oct 2016, p.52]- The Wire
Posted Nov 8, 2016 -
- Critic Score
The first few listens don’t disclose the full complexities of Simon’s work – it remains semi-horizontal and distant, like a tired shrug. But after several repeats, the circular motifs begin to, if not get under the skin, then at least claw at it a bit. [Mar 2018, p.44]- The Wire
Posted Feb 23, 2018 -
- Critic Score
It’s a strange brew, some distance from the monumental party music that has tended to characterise the duo’s three previous albums. [Jul 2020, p.50]- The Wire
Posted Jul 10, 2020 -
- Critic Score
It works enough to be a strangely enjoyable and admirable record. [Jun 2012, p.48]- The Wire
Posted Jul 24, 2012 -
- Critic Score
If Atrocity Exhibition doesn’t connect with quite the same power, it’s not for lack of commitment or craft. [Oct 2016, p.53]- The Wire
Posted Nov 8, 2016 -
- Critic Score
Dense, frustrating, perplexing and fun on record, Demdike's sound works best when bleeding osmotically into strange visuals. [Jan 2017, p.63]- The Wire
Posted Dec 21, 2016 -
- Critic Score
Contact may be more consistent than earlier albums, but some of the edges have been filed down and some of the physical intimacy that had such an impact by virtue of being too close for comfort is dialled down. [Apr 2017, p.47]- The Wire
Posted Jun 2, 2017 -
- Critic Score
The album suffers a little from its 14 song duration. The Mael wit works best when it’s tightly presented. [Jul 2020, p.52]- The Wire
Posted Jul 10, 2020 -
- Critic Score
Most of what they play live here is more serene and thoughtful. Not that Pirog is incapable of letting the sparks fly, particularly on “The Inner Ocean” where he opens up with an electric guitar stormer worthy of Sonny Sharrock. “Crowds And Power” perhaps references Fugazi’s glory days. “The Weaver” subtly winds the album down with Pirog on acoustic guitar and an unexpected flurry of orchestral strings. [May 2018, p.60]- The Wire
Posted Jul 12, 2018 -
- Critic Score
Ultravisitor feels like another work in progress, another messy, powerful, occasionally remarkable, sometimes infuriating attempt to create a true, detailed, authentically multifaceted musical autobiography. [#241, p.52]- The Wire
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- Critic Score
It's good enough, in fact, for it not to matter much that it basically peaks at the start. [May 2026, p.52]- The Wire
Posted Apr 8, 2026 -
- Critic Score
There are arrangements within this album that compel due to the precision and control exerted over the sound design. Lopatin creates earworm upon earworm that seem to spiral into each other. As always, however, it seems as though he is holding back – I wish he would give in more to the stupidity teased at the beginning of “Plastic Antique”, where he uses a delayed, plodding synth to introduce the track. This reticence permeates the release, adding a layer of alienation. [Oct 2023, p.50]- The Wire
Posted Sep 29, 2023