Urb's Scores
- Music
For 1,126 reviews, this publication has graded:
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63% higher than the average critic
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2% same as the average critic
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35% lower than the average critic
On average, this publication grades 0.2 points higher than other critics.
(0-100 point scale)
Average Music review score: 73
| Highest review score: | The Golden Age of Apocalypse | |
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| Lowest review score: | This Is Forever |
Score distribution:
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Positive: 856 out of 1126
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Mixed: 256 out of 1126
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Negative: 14 out of 1126
1126
music
reviews
- By Date
- By Critic Score
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The crew's 1982-ish rhyme schemes and vapid lyrics reach new lows. [Oct 2003, p.85]- Urb
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A curious but highly enjoyable mix of experimental beats and good old-fashioned guitar rock. [Jul 2003, p.92]- Urb
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It goes down like a cold fresh glass of Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince, circa 1988. [Sep 2003, p.102]- Urb
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The band seems more comfortable in the studio than ever. [Aug 2003, p.88]- Urb
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The most inspired batch of caffeine-fueled and jumped-up party favors you'll hear all year. [#104, p.95]- Urb
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All it takes is a spin of their high-steppin' full-length debut to realize that these ladies are worthy of the praise. [Sep 2003, p.101]- Urb
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The extended running time of Young Miss America starts to act against Lafata toward the full-length's end. [Jun 2003, p.93]- Urb
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The record exudes a childlike exuberance in the early going, before descending into a Shadow-esque gloom. [Jul 2003, p.93]- Urb
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It's a raucous rave-up of arena rock riffs over funky disco beats, the kind of freaky dance-rock jams that belong on the jukebox in every gay biker bar in America. [Jul 2003, p.91]- Urb
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The camp is still there, only now there's a newfound confidence (not to mention skill level) that make this one a winner. [Aug 2003, p.90]- Urb
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Simultaneously builds and deconstructs the strides made with Pause, resulting in an even more organic blend of quiet but muscular compositions. [Jun 2003, p.93]- Urb
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Incessantly innovative, it's charming as hell for about the duration of a sidelong glance. [Aug 2003, p.89]- Urb
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It's less angular than Fear of Fours but just as convincing--tiny music that thinks very, very big. [Jul 2003, p.93]- Urb
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Still more for headphones than headspins, but offering plenty for the heads. [#104, p.96]- Urb
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Far from forgettable, Black Cherry falls a bit short of the sum of its parts but is valuable for its more daring numbers. [#104, p.96]- Urb
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Draft's second half will hold more sway over those pining for the minor-key melodiousness of works through Tri Repetae++. [Jun 2003, p.93]- Urb
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Adult. have fully realized their vision with a sound that's more alive and panoramic. [#104, p.95]- Urb
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Laptop pop that shimmers, shakes and twists like the precocious child of Aphex Twin, Spiritualized and the Beatles. [Aug 2003, p.89]- Urb
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Is not a very interesting album for a number of reasons. [Jun 2003, p.94]- Urb
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It's the album many heads wished Lauryn Hill had come back with instead of that weepy acoustic exercise. [Mar 2003, p.94]- Urb
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Skimskitta is starkly personal, increasingly hermitic, resulting in only a handful of immediate rewards. [Mar 2003, p.94]- Urb
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A failed merger of trip-hop's smoky grooves and psychedelic rock's galactic textures. [Mar 2003, p.94]- Urb
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A bewitching brew of triumphant introspection that, while not unprecedented, is still plenty personal. [Mar 2003, p.95]- Urb
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In spite of some awkward moments, though, Tomorrow Right Now is a dynamic endeavor from a compelling artist. [Mar 2003, p.93]- Urb
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While conscious rap often comes off as dour, this is a thoroughly enjoyable record, dignified and jiggy all at once. [Mar 2003, p.94]- Urb
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The album feels like a series of diminishing returns. [Feb 2003, p.93]- Urb
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While its hardly an overwhelming masterpiece like Blue Lines or Protection, it still stands head and shoulders above most everything else. [Mar 2003, p.95]- Urb
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Despite the fresh reworking, tracks like "For An Angel" and "Another Way" retain the heartfelt with synthetic, catchy cores that made them such beloved trance anthems in the first place. [Mar 2003, p.99]- Urb
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The results have a better chance of ending up in mom's Volvo than your iPod. [Jan 2003, p.76]- Urb
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This impressive album sounds like the work of old souls. [Nov 2002, p.100]- Urb
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It's just all so blissed-out and soothing you won't know what to do with yourself. [Dec 2002, p.92]- Urb
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While it misses the suicidal rush of imminent destruction, Evil Heat still sounds dangerously rash. [Jan 2003, p.76]- Urb
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In many ways, Twoism is more satisfying than their more difficult second album, Geogaddi. [Dec 2002, p.88]- Urb
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Touching Down evokes the unique funk sensibilities that made his seminal V Records and Full Cycle tracks so damn fresh, while giving you the sense that England's Bristolian isn't returning to anything, since he never left it behind to begin with. [Dec 2002, p.87]- Urb
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A churning, droning, sickly sweet nouveau-electro trip. [Nov 2002, p.94]- Urb
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If American Supreme showed up today as the product of youngsters, Suicide would be called electro-clash. [Dec 2002, p.92]- Urb
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It's almost a relief when the album hangs up, like talking to a crazy and exhausting friend who didn't get the memo that we're all supposed to be zombie-d out like it's 1982 right now. [Dec 2002, p.88]- Urb
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It's clear Saint Etienne have returned from their pastoral hiatus, ready to do what they do best: distill and riff on music history's catalog with inimitable style and substance. [Nov 2002, p.98]- Urb
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The Streets' novel pairing of dance music and wordplay hits the mark more often than not, and it's a step in a potentially interesting direction. [Nov 2002, p.93]- Urb
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A wonderfully challenging album like its three predecessors. [Oct 2002, p.98]- Urb
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[The appeal] is in the warm, '70s synths that float melodies into the druggy stratosphere, giving the band's shifty downtempo rhythms and vaguely experimental production a retro-sexy touch. [Nov 2002, p.98]- Urb
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Little on RUOK possesses commercial cache, but what is that against a career-defining turn? [Nov 2002, p.96]- Urb
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The excellent Power In Numbers finds the group inching toward the future with a fuller sound and different looks. [Oct 2002, p.94]- Urb
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These Thieves have finally come into their own, developing a sound that's growing increasingly distinct. [Oct 2002, p.100]- Urb
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Another befuddling album that offers what seems to be a gigantic middle finger bookended by disrupted toe-tappy pop numbers. [Oct 2002, p.96]- Urb
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Like all exploratory trips, sometimes he has prophetic visions and sometimes he just rolls around a lot. [Oct 2002, p.94]- Urb
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It's that very punk rock-gone-underground-dance spirit that separates Swayzak's latest from the more rudimentary electro-art pack. [Oct 2002, p.98]- Urb
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Akin to classic Detroit techno in the way it delves deeper into the machines and technology to find the humanity at their core.... In 2002, Underworld has outpaced the competition and released the electronic album to beat. [Sep 2002, p.99]- Urb
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Lif's strengths as an MC make his tight narrative focus on the protagonist's plights palpable. [Sep 2002, p.104]- Urb
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Predominately shimmering and languid, at its raciest Divine Operating System achieves a poppy, disco canter that trades ass-slapping soul for sleek sensuality. [Sep 2002, p.104]- Urb
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The music pulses with a shimmering, spine-tingling blend of moodiness and vitality. [Sep 2002, p.102]- Urb
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While meticulously arranged, Mind Elevation contains its share of anonymous, carbon-copy beats. [Sep 2002, p.104]- Urb
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Once you're name-checking Supertramp and ELO as major influences, it's pretty much over. [Aug 2002, p.114]- Urb
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Nearly every song here can be called seminal without the slightest flinch. [Oct 2002, p.102]- Urb
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A complex, avant-garde amalgamation of styles for only the most adventurous ears. [Aug 2002, p.116]- Urb
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Bunkka has the savvy and brass tacks to challenge even the Jedi master of music/marketing synergy, Moby. [Jul 2002, p.97]- Urb
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Cookie is a true musical treat that more than hits its mark with seriously sublime style. [Aug 2002, p.118]- Urb
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For the most part, Dirty Vegas play up the notoriety by not straying too far from the template set by "Days Gone By." [Jul 2002, p.98]- Urb
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This record sounds like nothing else in your collection. [Oct 2003, p.84]- Urb
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A fantastic reminder of the visceral power of hard-stomping, neck-snapping techno. [Jul 2002, p.100]- Urb
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Genetic World finds Telepopmusik vying with Zero 7 and Naomi as the next legendary collective. If only they'd lose tracks 6 and 7. [Jul 2002, p.102]- Urb
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A sprawling, ambitious 18-track effort that's hardly the cash-in it could've been. [May 2002, p.115]- Urb
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Updates the happy-fi Plastilina Mosh sound into a pop-friendly mix of hip-hop, funk and lounge-y atmospheres. [May 2002, p.116]- Urb
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A fabulous freeform fiesta of punky reggae and funky dance-pop. [Mar 2002, p.120]- Urb
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Musically, The Hacker provides syncopated New Wave beats with the timeless precision of a musical scholar. [Mar 2002, p.118]- Urb
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A densely brilliant sonic template. [June 2002, p.102]- Urb
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What may be most surprising here is that the Allstars have dipped their toes into the previously uncharted waters of pop songs. [Mar 2002, p.116]- Urb
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Fever makes Britney Spears seem like even more of a pop genius. Scary. [May 2002, p.116]- Urb
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Jump Leads mixes up so many tasty ingredients -- vocals, live instruments, a lysergic meltdown of beats -- that it could be the album that sees Cobby and McSherry getting the acclaim they deserve. [Mar 2002, p.115]- Urb
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Put [Monkey] on in the background and it'll sound good, but you won't necessarily notice it. [Apr 2002, p.126]- Urb
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Perhaps it's one of those unlikely Warp releases that manages to pair technical precision with an all-too-rare feeling of humanity. [Apr 2002, p.119]- Urb
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Come With Us will doubtlessly electrify their legions of fans and just as effortlessly enrage the condescending cognoscenti that loves to hate them. [#90, p.120]- Urb
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Departs from the most interesting moments of his past work and thankfully st-st-st-st-stays there awhile.- Urb
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Instead of just blowing the dust off of relics from his childhood closet, he's embraced the neon ehtos of the era and produced and actual New Wave album that still sounds eerily contemporary. [#90, p.118]- Urb
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Experimental hip-hop and moppish guitar pop *can* go hand in hand. [#90, p.118]- Urb
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Next to the Eels and Atmosphere, eclectic and earnest self-examination hasn't sounded this interesting (not to mention entertaining) in a while. [Aug 2002, p.118]- Urb
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An album full of interesting possibilities, but only a few memorable songs. [Mar 2002, p.120]- Urb
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Expansion Team reveals Dilated Peoples to be a straight-up hip-hop group, for better or worse. [Nov/Dec 2001, p.136]- Urb
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Drukqs is the most sincere album [James] has released since 1995's I Care Because You Do. [Nov/Dec 2001, p.131]- Urb
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An utterly modern, far-out reverie of an album. The whole thing works like a charm. [Oct 2001, p.128]- Urb
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This girl's gritty production and fluid time signature shifts make for an intriguing listen. [Oct 2001, p.134]- Urb
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When there are moments, they strike and wittingly pull bodies off seats. [Oct 2001, p.128]- Urb
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The Altogether is, all stated evidence to the contrary, a remarkable work. Why? Because it is the product of two brothers who, understanding that they can kid neither the audience nor themselves, mapped a musical course based on their root love -- musical energy -- and never strayed. [Sep 2001, p.147]- Urb