CMJ's Scores

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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
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    • 77 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Deerhoof Vs. Evil
    Deerhoof Vs. Evil is a stylishly composed work done from four gifted musicians who are more than happy to be sarcastically snarling at you the whole time.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Not Yet
    Montonix's latest installment is just as spirited as its live shows, but doesn't include all the sweat and fear of burning to death.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Gutter Rainbows
    Kweli blends a gritty outlook with a genuine interest in social issues to create an album that sounds refreshingly idealistic in a world still reeling from Kanye West's bombastic record.
    • 67 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Ducktails III: Arcade Dynamics
    This is part of Arcade Dynamics' charm: The release is pop-friendly with few tracks making the three-minute mark, until the fuzz of ambient outro "Porch Projector" kicks in.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Cloud Nothings
    Musically the album is a quick burst of 11 bubbly songs that never take a dark turn or venture into a minor key.
    • 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.
    • 67 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Friends for Now
    Wrapped in layers of reverb and nonchalance, the ten-track release steps in a more layered direction compared with the sunny distortion played out on its self-titled EP debut last year.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    The King Is Dead
    The band plays it safe here, but after going way off to left field on its last release, this isn't a bad thing.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Dye It Blonde
    Dye It Blonde blows away the fuzz and polishes the scratchy sounds off their last recordings, revealing a whole lot of something we didn't hear before.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Native Speaker
    Difficult to place in just one genre, Braids creates a colorful atmosphere around its songs that completely immerse the listener in its movement.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Cape Dory
    Every detail of Ray's second full-length alongside Her Happy Hookers is imparted with vigor--be it her razor-edged howling, or the biting lyrics that comprise them.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Play It Strange
    It seems that this band really is fresh and only, for it has music brimming with originality via masterful combinations of genres.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Tron: Legacy
    By blending past and present (and future), Daft Punk has created an album that speaks not only to the movie it scores, but also to the evolution of music that has allowed them to create the album in the first place.
    • 87 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Airtight's Revenge
    It's a complex listen that strays from the tropes of standard R&B.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    False Priest
    On False Priest, Brion drastically widens the canvas, giving the music a newfound clarity, symphonic sweep and thick low-end.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Root For Ruin
    Root For Ruin is the best synthesis of its pop and oddball sides yet, with flailing, manic surges serving as comfortable bedrocks for solid melodic hooks.
    • 83 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Grinderman 2
    Cave's noisy, dentist-drill guitar work is still prominently featured, but occasionally it takes on pedal-warped psychedelic tones as the songs stretch out beyond the band's typical garage-rock template.
    • 67 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Barking
    Eight satisfying songs of rhythm and groove later, Underworld pulls a fast one, yanking the cord with album finale "Louisiana," which features beautiful keys, languid vocals and a gentle, time-keeping beat that lulls listeners into the blissful ether.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Album of the Year
    The MC attacks his words diligently with rabid vigor, giving Album the forceful push of someone carrying the weight of loved ones lost.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Pop Negro
    El Guincho dons his best Animal Collective costume on his third full-length, an album filled with Afrobeat and tropical rhythms. Yet it doesn't sound derivative in the least.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    You Are Not Alone
    Despite reaching her eighth decade, Staples is making music that is strikingly modern, but the defining concept of the album is timeless: unadulterated hope.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Sleep Forever
    Forever is a journey through the darker parts of the human mind. Death, love and a strange sense of optimism resonate through the reverb.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    King Night
    In the end, the album proves that it is the night that is the king of the dark.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Everything in Between
    The album fights back against the tide of boring, quiet music, and nearly every song feels like a throat-rupturing protest against standing still.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    No Ghost
    The entirety of No Ghost is filled with poetic verses about the usual triumphs and failures of love, and taken together amounts to an emotionally mature piece of work with a healthy amount of upbeat, exciting tracks to go with it.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    The Age of Adz
    The combination is ethereal and transcendent.
    • 60 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Shobaleader One: d'Demonstrator
    By the time that the closing track has concluded its schizophrenic barrage of drumming, the album has exhausted and enthralled its listeners, who will be ready to press rewind and live through it again.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    The Fool
    With a sound that comes off as natural, Warpaint represents a much needed departure from the ubiquity of synth-pop, and The Fool is a welcome detour.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Foreign Landscapes
    Foreign Landscapes is a sonic mind-map that finds him dancing across geographical locations by way of his prepared piano (which, in layman's terms, refers to when objects are placed inside the guts of the instrument) and input from San Francisco's 12-piece string and wind Magik*Magik Orchestra.
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