CMJ's Scores

  • Music
Select another publication »
For 728 reviews, this publication has graded:
  • 67% higher than the average critic
  • 6% same as the average critic
  • 27% lower than the average critic
On average, this publication grades 1.4 points higher than other critics. (0-100 point scale)
Average Music review score: 74
Highest review score: 90 Harmonicraft
Lowest review score: 30 IV Play
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 663 out of 728
  2. Mixed: 64 out of 728
  3. Negative: 1 out of 728
728 music reviews
view
per page
    • 73 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Sunshine
    Sunshine shows a strong working dynamic between the two members of Talk Normal that can only continue to strengthen.
    • 85 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Muchacho
    As Phosphorescent continues to evolve as a project, widening its range and sharpening its lyrical acumen, that commitment has become more apparent, culminating in his best album yet.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Floating Coffin
    Floating Coffin sees Dwyer and company pulling off another successful paradigm shift, a step toward the sinister but with ample amounts of the flower-power charm that made them such favorites among psych snobs in the first place.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Tremors
    Tremors makes it clear that he has plenty of his own material to work on. His reliable vocals lead us through the enjoyable confusion that the album establishes, ever cool and whole-hearted, with a genuine sense of emotional investment.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Gossamer
    The end result is an infectious pop album every bit as bright and dreamy as Manners yet far more straight-up, dark, honest and vulnerable.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Other Voices [EP]
    Other Voices EP is a concentrated dose of American teen fun.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Only in Dreams
    The result is a terrific, fun and most of all, genuine follow-up from one of the best surf pop bands of recent memory.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Aabenbaringen Over Aaskammen
    Ultimately, under the unifying sound of Casiokids' youthful pop, African, Asian and Norweigan influences combine in blissful harmony to create the ultimate musical expedition.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Half of Where You Live
    Half Of Where You Live sidesteps the dreaded sophomore slump by staying true to the impulse that guided Gold Panda’s initial recordings: honesty.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Sand+Silence
    Rosebuds have a smooth, beyond approachable, ear-massaging loveliness, this time honed with a production clarity of near Steely Dan-like proportions, if on an indie level. Instrumentation remains fairly minimal, delicately played and mixed to perfection.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Tied to a Star
    This album’s most striking moments often come when Mascis commits unreservedly to the ballads.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Hummingbird
    They were scratching at the surface of their emotional capabilities on their debut. With Hummingbird, Local Natives show that they can dig deeper.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Dry Land is Not a Myth
    Dry Land Is Not A Myth blows by in what feels like an instant, but it is so easily engrained into your memory, you'll find yourself humming it all day.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Underneath the Rainbow
    Within what the Black Lips claim is the their most rootsy release are sly, glam-tastic details dished out with a sometimes laggard energy. It makes for an album that digs in deeper with each listen, like cool new boots trudging through mud.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Obsidian
    This is the aching beauty of Obsidian: its ability to be so matter-of-fact and reposition the taciturn as commonplace.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Stay Gold
    There doesn’t appear to be much room for hope, but they execute their sadness so beautifully that it’s easy to accept their blue moods.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Overgrown
    Blake’s best moments on Overgrown occur when he finds that balance between the upbeat hip-hop rhythms and the down-tempo acoustics that so brilliantly parallel his voice.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Alone For the First Time
    Though Hemsworth’s style tends to favor chirping cheeriness, Alone For The First Time is solidly a winter album, and it’s just what we needed right now.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Ohnomite
    In the end, Oh No brings life back to Moore and his Dolemite legacy.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    The Inner Mansions
    It is an unapologetically gorgeous piece of work and one that is better appreciated without considering the confines of its genre or how the chillwave brand has become passé in most circles.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Freeclouds
    Freeclouds seems to be a culmination of many different ideas and styles all brought together in one album, and this diversity of sound is exactly what makes the album work so well.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Wonderland
    Altogether, it’s some irresistible glitter-on-the dancefloor delirium.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Wakin on a Pretty Daze
    Despite the length of the album, it’s gratifying to cup your hands over your eyes and squint into Vile’s self-effacing and self-reflexive world. There’s something invigorating about hearing a mind loop back on itself in constant pursuit of a question it never even knew it asked.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Nootropics
    Despite the lack of direct emotional content in the shrouded lyrics, the music has an ache to it, a yearning that suggests a desire to connect but an inability to make a connection.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Nothing [EP]
    His song progression is static, manic and as mutely thrilling as ever.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Here and Nowhere Else
    There’s a sense of maturity and control present, without losing their trademark edge.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    No Kings
    No Kings provides a kind of artistic oasis, a glimpse into how great hip-hop can be when placed in talented hands.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Teenage And Torture
    Much like the disordered thought patterns that come before sleep, dream-like backing vocals and twangy instrumentals transport us into another reality.
    • 83 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Fear Fun
    Some might listen to Fear Fun and hear a man feeling sorry for himself, but with melodies so sweet and sentiments so comically self-loathing, this album won't suffocate you with sadness.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    The Golden Age of Apocalypse
    The Golden Age Of Apocalypse is all warm vibes and morning sex instead of Cosmogramma's seriously zonked and far-out space grooves-light and airy melodies carried out on bass with the tinkle of synth and keyboard, clear uptempo drumlines and a high soul-influenced singing voice doused in reverb.
Page: