Blurt Magazine's Scores
- Music
For 1,384 reviews, this publication has graded:
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57% higher than the average critic
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3% same as the average critic
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40% lower than the average critic
On average, this publication grades 0 points higher than other critics.
(0-100 point scale)
Average Music review score: 73
Highest review score: | George Fest: A Night to Celebrate the Music of George Harrison [Live] | |
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Lowest review score: | Collapse |
Score distribution:
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Positive: 950 out of 1384
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Mixed: 427 out of 1384
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Negative: 7 out of 1384
1384
music
reviews
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- Critic Score
The first sketches of songs that would later buttress both Dylan and the Band’s songbook--“Tears of Rage,” “Nothing Was Delivered,” “I Shall Be Released,” You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere,” Don’t Ya Tell Henry,” “Quinn the Eskimo,” “Million Dollar Bash,” “Lo and Behold!” and the like--offer a treasure trove of revelation, making the anticipation for acquisition well worth the wait.- Blurt Magazine
- Posted Nov 4, 2014
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If you’ve never experienced Lucinda Williams before, this is a discovery worth making and music that will live in your heart and mind long after the disk stops spinning.- Blurt Magazine
- Posted Mar 7, 2014
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There is nary a pair of finer testaments to the purity of the original SP sound than the group's first two albums, both of which have been beautifully remastered and generously expanded [here].- Blurt Magazine
- Posted Jan 4, 2012
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1970-1975 You Can Make Me Dance, Sing or Anything is as inspiring as its title implies and absolutely essential to boot.- Blurt Magazine
- Posted Oct 16, 2015
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Every bit as riveting as the groundbreaking music is the ever-present studio chatter.- Blurt Magazine
- Posted Nov 7, 2011
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The good folks at Shout Factory didn’t opt to only offer these discs a second time around, but instead provided added enticement via two bonus extras, a stunning live recording from Nashville’s Polk Theater, recorded around the same time as I Feel Alright, and a live DVD from the Cold Creek Correctional Facility where Earle had earlier been incarcerated.- Blurt Magazine
- Posted Sep 5, 2013
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Skeleton Tree is a testament to his art, his flaying honesty and his persistence in the wake of devastating loss.- Blurt Magazine
- Posted Oct 24, 2016
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- Blurt Magazine
- Posted Aug 3, 2012
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- Blurt Magazine
- Posted Aug 15, 2011
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Taken as a whole, the two-CD incarnation of Life's Rich Pageant makes a case for the album taking its rightful place alongside such obvious classics as Murmur and Out of Time.- Blurt Magazine
- Posted Aug 3, 2011
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- Blurt Magazine
- Posted Nov 23, 2011
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Since that time in 1991, U2 has had other weighty tracks, sensualist personal soliloquies and dense production - but nothing better than this truly real thing.- Blurt Magazine
- Posted Nov 18, 2011
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Taken in tandem, both CD and DVD provide an intriguing look at an album that ranks as one of the most dramatic accomplishments in modern Rock realms.- Blurt Magazine
- Posted Mar 10, 2012
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- Blurt Magazine
- Posted Jul 19, 2012
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Hearing it all together, over four discs, his innovations don’t seem as radical as they might have been considered at the time, but they’re nonetheless fascinating to devour.- Blurt Magazine
- Posted Sep 14, 2015
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Pull Up Some Dust and Sit Down (Nonesuch/Perro Verde) ranks not only among his very best releases, but among the best socio-political albums ever made.- Blurt Magazine
- Posted Oct 3, 2011
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There’s rarely been an addition to Cohen’s canon that couldn’t be deemed essential, but in truth, none could be called more revelatory or revealing than this.- Blurt Magazine
- Posted Jan 6, 2017
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This collection should be as essential to your listening rotation as your favorite album from any of the bands who continually drank from the unique brand of introspective intensity pioneered by these unsung heroes of indie rock's mean season.- Blurt Magazine
- Posted Jan 10, 2012
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They represent such a cool transitional period in Davis's career, as radical a creative juxtaposition to the jazz community as Bob Dylan blowing the minds of the folkies with the crackle of a guitar amplifier.- Blurt Magazine
- Posted Feb 8, 2013
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The the three original albums -- I Just Can't Stop It, Wha'ppen? and Special Beat Service, from '80, '81 and '82 respectively, still hold together well....The Complete Beat offers completists an ideal opportunity to ditch that well-worn vinyl and get in the groove with a compendium that puts all the music in one place.- Blurt Magazine
- Posted Jul 20, 2012
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- Blurt Magazine
- Posted Jan 3, 2012
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Ork Records: New York, New York opens a window to the past that you can’t go through or even really see through, but it is just wide enough to let the music in and that is a very good thing indeed.- Blurt Magazine
- Posted Dec 11, 2015
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Isidore doesn't really feel like a "side" anything. It's a main event.- Blurt Magazine
- Posted Apr 23, 2012
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There are any number of landmark albums that critics are quick to label as essential, but given the fact No Depression jumpstarted an entire genre, none deserve that label more. The kudos earned by this good Uncle are clearly well earned.- Blurt Magazine
- Posted Feb 6, 2014
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These two LPs still sound vital two decades later, just as the copious musician tributes and journalist essays in the accompanying pamphlet declare.- Blurt Magazine
- Posted Jan 15, 2014
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The label unearthed a stellar collection of songs the band recorded over two night in 1968.... The CD set capturing all four shows is where you should spend your money.- Blurt Magazine
- Posted Jul 17, 2015
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With this supremely supple and joyous display of early innocence and promise, Aztec Camera showed they already come into their own.- Blurt Magazine
- Posted May 16, 2014
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Love ‘em or loathe ‘em, they provide the clearest picture of what Gira and Swans are trying to do.- Blurt Magazine
- Posted May 19, 2014
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Co-written and produced by his missus Kathleen Brennan, Waits' songs--Bad as Me included--find their center immediately and stick like a record's skip.- Blurt Magazine
- Posted Oct 31, 2011
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Interspersed in between the renditions throughout the course of Accelerando... are five outstanding Iyer-penned performances.- Blurt Magazine
- Posted Jun 21, 2012
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Like all of his best work, Fantasizing About Being Black makes an impact on the soul that will be felt until the end of one’s days.- Blurt Magazine
- Posted Mar 28, 2017
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[An] excellent record that anyone who wants to hear the graceful way by which hip-hop should age should add to their collections right away.- Blurt Magazine
- Posted Jan 3, 2012
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While none of the songs are deeply political or poetic like the wartime bands that predated Tame Impala, they are no less poignant and often delve into a reflective sadness of longing to belong.- Blurt Magazine
- Posted Nov 27, 2012
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Staunch and undeterred to the brink of defiance, Complicated Game finds McMurtry’s rugged resilience again setting the tone.- Blurt Magazine
- Posted Feb 24, 2015
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The finished product is a beautifully fluid fusion of dub, jazz and micro-house zone-outs that continues to exemplify Oswald's two-decade strong aptitude as one of the great masters of repetitive groove theory.- Blurt Magazine
- Posted Sep 19, 2012
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He may not be looking to “kill Saturday night” anymore but, with Upland Stories, Fulks has composed songs that are richer and more rewarding.- Blurt Magazine
- Posted May 13, 2016
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Something More Than Free is like a novel set to music, each of its 11 songs a separate chapter that, when absorbed in full, leave you with the same kind of psychic shift a good book sets into motion.- Blurt Magazine
- Posted Sep 14, 2015
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Yes, it's a fine album.... It's during the songs that shift the focus from chaos to ethereal mirth that the listener can fairly wonder about whether this album should be judged as simply a regular new offering or an (almost) lost treasure.- Blurt Magazine
- Posted Feb 19, 2013
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Taking the classic British penchant for hiding burning emotion with sardonic reserve and painting with expertly sculpted craft, Howard turns & the Night Mail into a new classic.- Blurt Magazine
- Posted Sep 8, 2015
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Listening to this stunning album will provide you with your own moment of clarity. Don’t let it slip away.- Blurt Magazine
- Posted Jun 13, 2013
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As the title suggests, The River & The Thread manages to surge and sway all at the same time. Indeed, it doesn’t get much better than this.- Blurt Magazine
- Posted Jan 14, 2014
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- Blurt Magazine
- Posted Mar 28, 2014
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[The Seer is] everything for which Swans stands, wrapped up in one intense package.- Blurt Magazine
- Posted Sep 4, 2012
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The word “essential” is bandied about quite a bit these days in reference to landmark recordings. Yet, here it applies in every sense. CSNY 74 is one for the ages.- Blurt Magazine
- Posted Aug 11, 2014
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This is a dazzling album, steeped in soul and brimming with an uncommon musicality, all rhythmic urgency and compelling melodies and anthemic choruses.- Blurt Magazine
- Posted May 29, 2013
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Ultimately American Ride resounds like a victory cry--urgent, enduring and unfailingly affecting.- Blurt Magazine
- Posted Jun 25, 2013
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No other LP is more evocative of the raw essence of the Smashing Pumpkins' unique fusions of feels than this ten track collection, by far and away the most collaborative album in their canon.... This deluxe edition of Gish is chock-a-block with quality bonus material.- Blurt Magazine
- Posted Jan 4, 2012
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Jamie XX has rearticulated dance music once again. This is an album that surfs from one emotional peak to the next. It’s an album I was actually sad to have end.- Blurt Magazine
- Posted Jun 3, 2015
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These slow-rolling, Southern-bred sentiments serve him well, and indeed Gone Away Backward appears to be a fine step forward.- Blurt Magazine
- Posted Aug 27, 2013
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Though still unquestionably a powerhouse, Royal Thunder proves itself too versatile on WICK to be slipped into an easily labeled box.- Blurt Magazine
- Posted May 23, 2017
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All the Bon Iver albums sound like little self-contained islands, and this is the one that sounds the most like a fire ravaging through the greenery and growth of the previous two. Sit back and let the flames burn bright and beautiful.- Blurt Magazine
- Posted Oct 6, 2016
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The result of the collaboration is a gorgeous set of songs set in late-night bars after work, as denizens tell their stories with the appropriate tenor of resignation and hope.- Blurt Magazine
- Posted Jun 18, 2014
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Iyer really makes an effort here to highlight all sides of his musical skills, letting two decades of experience boil into an exceptionally tasty dish. Iyer has already proven himself a jazz master, but with Far From Over, he takes his talent as composer, player and bandleader to new heights.- Blurt Magazine
- Posted Aug 31, 2017
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Akin to For Emma, Bon Iver breaks the listener's heart. And to experience an album (an oft-dreaded sophomore album, no less) that evokes such deep emotion is a welcomed pain.- Blurt Magazine
- Posted Aug 3, 2011
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Despite the duplications from previous collections and a heavy emphasis on dubious alternate mixes, true devotees will likely still find Made in California an essential acquisition.- Blurt Magazine
- Posted Sep 20, 2013
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He came out the other side with a hard-won wisdom, emotion and sense of craft that, like soul music, never goes out of style.- Blurt Magazine
- Posted Jul 15, 2013
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The album is a good beginning for Will Toledo and crew one on which they’ll hopefully build upon. Some of the tracks though seem too reek of an “indier” than thou attitude that’s best left at the door.- Blurt Magazine
- Posted Jun 17, 2016
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To fully appreciate the album, it needs close attention. The magic comes when the members of the quartet start bumping each other up to the next musical level, and it helps to discover the steps they take to do that.- Blurt Magazine
- Posted Jul 15, 2013
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- Blurt Magazine
- Posted Mar 21, 2012
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What is the Meaning of What is a copious groove intensive monster of a dance-punk record.- Blurt Magazine
- Posted May 30, 2012
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The production, composing, arrangements, and playing makes A Kind Revolution something uniquely special in the Paul Weller catalogue. Weller is a talent like no other, and you will not be disappointed.- Blurt Magazine
- Posted May 30, 2017
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Recorded in the far reaches of the Australian Outback, it reflects those dusty environs in its stripped-down arrangements and traditional tomes.- Blurt Magazine
- Posted Nov 19, 2012
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Somehow It’s Great To Be Alive seems like the essential set, given that it boasts some 35 tracks spanning all phases of their collective career. It shows them in their true element--raucous, raw and unapologetic, a combination certain to appeal to diehard devotees and practically anyone else whose taste in music is generally affirmed by frequenting sweaty beer joints and any local roadhouse bar.- Blurt Magazine
- Posted Dec 2, 2015
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To The Sunset becomes a new plateau in a career that’s grown steadily and assuredly since the start. Indeed, its importance ought to grow over time given its unabashed enthusiasm and its unabashedly seductive set-up.- Blurt Magazine
- Posted Aug 10, 2018
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As exhibit A in a case made that Shuggie Otis is an overlooked talent, Inspiration Information + Wings of Love present powerful evidence.- Blurt Magazine
- Posted May 6, 2013
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For beautiful execution of a beautiful idea for a tribute/concept album, try The Beautiful Old: Turn-of-the-Century Songs.- Blurt Magazine
- Posted Apr 2, 2014
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Granduciel’s songs envelop you. As soon as you understand the lyrics for one song, another song buries words in hushed reverb.- Blurt Magazine
- Posted Apr 18, 2014
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His ability to arrange is masterful and, on Way Out Weather, he establishes this sort of psychedelic roots sound that exists outside of about any recognizable genre or even sub-genre.- Blurt Magazine
- Posted Oct 7, 2014
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This album is a triumph, and with it, Protomartyr has pulled off the unlikely feat of making the rock record of the year, twice in a row.- Blurt Magazine
- Posted Oct 21, 2015
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While it has been out in their native land since January and only recently been made available in this country through tiny New York-based What's Your Rupture?, this 12-track typhoon is exactly the kick in the ass our sorry punk community needs in the wake of Jay Reatard's untimely death.- Blurt Magazine
- Posted Sep 8, 2011
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Superbly performed, the show is recorded with perfect clarity by NPR’s engineers, and packaged with an extensive booklet of essays and photos. Truth, Liberty & Soul is no barrel-scraping collection of effluvia, but a vital addition to the slim catalog of a genius.- Blurt Magazine
- Posted Jul 18, 2017
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Impossible Truth feels like both an empirical observation and an epiphany, a glimpse of the glow behind the world itself.- Blurt Magazine
- Posted Apr 26, 2013
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What we have here is another excellent Chris Smither album, reason enough for celebration.- Blurt Magazine
- Posted Jul 23, 2012
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A treasure chest of riches that provides considerable new perspective on the band's processes and progress through the years.- Blurt Magazine
- Posted Jul 13, 2012
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Kozelek replicates the rhythm of our lives, the tricks of memory, and the portents we later find in seemingly banal moments.- Blurt Magazine
- Posted Apr 2, 2014
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The lack of anything that’s decidedly uptempo may be a detriment to some, but the blend of strings and acoustic instrumentation more than compensates for the subdued stance.- Blurt Magazine
- Posted Mar 29, 2017
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Though there are some slow-burners on this record; songs that might not stick on the first or second go round, they are worth the patience once they finally click with the listener.- Blurt Magazine
- Posted Jul 24, 2013
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He and his group put everything they could into every track--or at least the every one collected here.- Blurt Magazine
- Posted Jan 25, 2012
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Pink City is her prettiest, most cohesive work yet. It’s well-constructed enough to showcase the weirdness that crops up in her songs without making her seem like a novelty act.- Blurt Magazine
- Posted Sep 3, 2014
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- Blurt Magazine
- Posted Dec 7, 2011
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Patty Griffin has clearly been saving the best of her own material for a long time, making this perhaps her finest hour.- Blurt Magazine
- Posted May 9, 2013
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Steven Wilson has remixed the entire original album for this “Elevated Edition,” so Tull trainspotters will no doubt thrill to the opportunity to debate, anew, the myriad sonic nuances, nooks, hooks, hobbit-holes and crannies afforded by contemporary studio technology compared to a decade and a half ago. In one sense, the Swedish show is the main draw here--it’s been bootlegged extensively, but never with sound quality this superior.- Blurt Magazine
- Posted Dec 15, 2016
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Leonard Cohen has made the best full album of his career (song for song, sound for sound, lyrical point for point; yes, this is true) and most certainly the best album of 2012.- Blurt Magazine
- Posted Feb 6, 2012
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In the end, Pure Comedy isn’t anything close to the laugh fest the title implies, but it does provoke a deeper reaction regardless.- Blurt Magazine
- Posted Apr 14, 2017
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There were many musical spirits in the room when White and his Spacebomb band went to recording the seven farmhouse-soul spirituals found on Big Inner, but what ultimately renders this record truly special is the band's ability to synthesize all these elements into something that is uniquely their own.- Blurt Magazine
- Posted Aug 29, 2012
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- Blurt Magazine
- Posted Apr 19, 2012
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It’s an odd little record, a kind of confessional chronicle that gradually gets under your skin. In this era of fractured self-identification, Ten Hymns From My American Gothic nicely serves as a soundtrack for all the searchers and seekers out there.- Blurt Magazine
- Posted Dec 19, 2016
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It is chock-a-block with everything you have ever loved about the Boards over the last 15-some-odd years.- Blurt Magazine
- Posted Jul 3, 2013
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If this all sounds sort of strange or back-handed, that can be attributed to the fact that Strange Mercy takes a few listens to grasp, and it makes the repeat visits enticing. And that's a sign of a strong album.- Blurt Magazine
- Posted Sep 23, 2011
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As always, the pair wrap their strings and larynxes 'round each other like the intimate companions they are, aided by production so warm and inviting it's like sitting in the room with them.- Blurt Magazine
- Posted Aug 3, 2011
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As an official live document of what this guy and his compatriots are all about, I'd rank Live From Alabama among the great concert albums.- Blurt Magazine
- Posted Nov 27, 2012
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While some tracks prove unradical, it is when Astronautalis fuses heavy bluesy-rock influences with his beats that Science truly shines.- Blurt Magazine
- Posted Dec 12, 2011
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- Blurt Magazine
- Posted Feb 11, 2015
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Some long-time fans may object to Lightning Bolts new legibility, missing the communal chaos and staticky buzz that made listening to previous outings like opening a box of bees. But the maelstrom still looms, the intensity remains, it’s just a bigger, more focused sound.- Blurt Magazine
- Posted Mar 26, 2015
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Clearly not one to mess with, this confident, compelling outing suggests she can hold her own even within the top tier of alt-country's rowdier women.- Blurt Magazine
- Posted Oct 18, 2011
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The songs, then, range from spare, acoustic folk blues to full-fleshed extravaganzas, yet even the most dizzying tracks have an introspective cast.- Blurt Magazine
- Posted Jun 3, 2016
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Cancer4Cure is very much a window shattering Brooklyn rap record in every sense... [Meline is] busting loose some of the sharpest darts of his life.- Blurt Magazine
- Posted Jul 25, 2012
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It lacks consistency, but it works well often enough to make this a reasonably satisfying exercise in both 19th and 21st Century Americana.- Blurt Magazine
- Posted Feb 25, 2014
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On Lovers, Cline is effective at making re-interpreted songbook selections his own.- Blurt Magazine
- Posted Aug 17, 2016
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Eighteen tracks, usually a sign of a group that could use a little outside help cutting some of the fat, proves that the band was just hitting it’s stride. Eighteen songs and No Holiday still leaves you craving more.- Blurt Magazine
- Posted Dec 12, 2019
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