No Ripcord's Scores
- Music
For 2,724 reviews, this publication has graded:
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43% higher than the average critic
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3% same as the average critic
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54% lower than the average critic
On average, this publication grades 2.8 points lower than other critics.
(0-100 point scale)
Average Music review score: 70
Score distribution:
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Positive: 1,898 out of 2724
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Mixed: 750 out of 2724
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Negative: 76 out of 2724
2724
music
reviews
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- Critic Score
His synth work on this record is nothing short of remarkable, and his ability as a producer is further enhanced to a level at which he has no contemporaries. Parker is a once-in-a-generation talent, and this album is conclusive evidence of it.- No Ripcord
- Posted Jul 27, 2015
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For the most part, Code Orange leans upon evocative writing that pairs heaviness to thoughtful lyricism. While there are a handful of phrases that feel sloppy or obvious (“The digital knife's edge that cuts us all” on In Fear, or Cold.Metal.Place’s “The fire burns down our 3D world”), Code Orange’s self-seriousness almost entirely works because of how badass they are.- No Ripcord
- Posted Apr 6, 2020
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He pushes his songs forward with just the right amount of old and new—all without losing his adventurous drive. He takes us into the darkest hallways of his mind with, ironically, a rejuvenated zest.- No Ripcord
- Posted Aug 10, 2021
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With her lowkey yet glistening collection of songs, she jumps back into the light with clearheaded confidence and a more mature outlook.- No Ripcord
- Posted Jan 31, 2022
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The listener brings just as much to this music as Stith does, which is the peculiar genius of his creation.- No Ripcord
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This is a brilliant and varied album, risky and excessive at times, yet compelling and open throughout.- No Ripcord
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As madcap of a concept as ULTRAPOP appears to be, its musical thrust feels purposeful in its creation and curation.- No Ripcord
- Posted May 17, 2021
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By pushing pop into the dreary without all the drab, Iron and Wine strikes a balance of truth and hope that can get muddled by a scene dominated by pessimists.- No Ripcord
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Clearly, songs is the more developed album of the pairing here and one that those already under Lenker’s spell will treasure and contrast to her earlier work.- No Ripcord
- Posted Oct 23, 2020
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Snaith's gradual evolution is more than evident in Suddenly, a reflective and also outgoing mood piece that shares insight into what he's learned in the six years he's been away since 2014's Our Love.- No Ripcord
- Posted Mar 2, 2020
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All these songs stand out for their craftsmanship and collaboration, not only between three artists but also three friends.- No Ripcord
- Posted Nov 12, 2018
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Modern Vampires of the City is nothing short of a pop music achievement, a standout album in a year full of standout albums.- No Ripcord
- Posted May 15, 2013
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I can tell that you are dubious, but I can assure you, gentle listener – these are the goods.- No Ripcord
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The album frequently descends into seemingly chaotic feedback and amp fuzz but the dirt is very much artfully, deliberately applied.- No Ripcord
- Posted May 7, 2015
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Dream River is probably as evocative a record as Callahan has ever made, and that really is saying a great deal when considering his extensive back catalog.- No Ripcord
- Posted Dec 30, 2013
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Shellac delivers a very spare and assaultive listen, 33 minutes that fly by and demand repeated listens.- No Ripcord
- Posted Sep 25, 2014
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They deliver one unforced, shout-out anthem after another—mirroring the immediate tunefulness of their Canadian counterparts Japandroids' Celebration Rock. Does the celebration get too rowdy for its own good? Well, sometimes. The hook-driven energy can get way ahead of you if you're not fully committed to it. Even so, there's a lot to ponder in their resistance with closer inspection.- No Ripcord
- Posted Jan 27, 2023
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It’s unfortunate that the familiar sound of some of these tracks, the nagging suspicion that you heard this once before, is always hiding in the background, because there’s worthy enough material here.- No Ripcord
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There are four reasons why this album is necessary: firstly, it will make any party you happen to be soundtracking sound very clever. Secondly, following the samples and contributions will open up a whole world of modern and traditional music from the Southern Cone to you. Thirdly, both live and on stage, tracks like Pa'bailar rock a squeezebox like you've never heard. And, finally, Ry Cooder is nowhere in sight.- No Ripcord
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Route One or Die is many things--immense, joyful, weird and above all aptly titled, as you'd be hard-pressed to find another debut album released this year --British or otherwise--that sounds so completely vibrant and alive.- No Ripcord
- Posted Aug 16, 2011
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In spite of the album's wilfully hard-to-stomach intensity, [it] will appeal to fans of art music of many different backgrounds.- No Ripcord
- Posted Dec 7, 2011
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For a debut LP that relies so heavily on a sound that is considered by some as fossilized, this is a very good effort. Urth is meticulously intricate in its more labyrinthine moments, and categorically barbarous for the rest of it.- No Ripcord
- Posted Sep 1, 2015
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With this record, there is Britpop, Radiohead, Spiritualized, grunge, trip-hop and more basking under an astral, space-rock umbrella, and Pumarosa have turned it all into a contorting, ornamental obelisk.- No Ripcord
- Posted Jun 19, 2017
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I Romanticize bobs around with a collage of springy trinkets that both confound and fascinate, though never without trying to make sense of his eccentric impulses.- No Ripcord
- Posted Jul 19, 2017
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With producer Andrew Schneider tweaking the knobs, his experience producing Unsane certainly applying here, KEN mode elevates their sonic outcry, hitting levels of discomfort with the subtly seasick Learning To Be Too Cold, thrash-bred Not Soulmates, and the manic combination of sounds in Fractures In Adults.- No Ripcord
- Posted Oct 19, 2018
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These remarkably self-assured ten tracks stand on their own with joyful inventiveness, as McGreevy tries to make sense of his past mistakes (Old Times) and alcohol-induced pseudo-intellectual babbling (Fit to Burst) through their joyous outbursts.- No Ripcord
- Posted Nov 15, 2021
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Fairweather Friend is a great record, a genre standout deserving of adoration and acclaim beyond the niche of specialist blogs and, let’s be honest, the No Ripcords of the world. Great songs are still great songs in 2024. If you like those, you’ll love The Umbrellas.- No Ripcord
- Posted Feb 5, 2024
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Only one year later and we have Two Dancers an album so laden with lush densities and provocative melodies that you would be forgiven for thinking this album had taken ten years to make.- No Ripcord
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Petals for Armor succeeds best at sustaining a mood throughout, capturing the chaotic ups and downs of depression. Some moments are sugary sweet, while others are biting and angry, but the album keeps things healthy by switching between infectious pop tunes and mellow art-pop parts.- No Ripcord
- Posted May 13, 2020
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- Posted Jul 5, 2012
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It’s a wondrous gem of an album that, even at its most lustrous, manifests itself with biting precision.- No Ripcord
- Posted Aug 24, 2017
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Magus captures well the force of its players throughout its near 90-minute runtime, the culmination of which occurs in the album’s final track, Supremacy.- No Ripcord
- Posted Oct 19, 2018
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Pierce commits to an intricately layered masterwork that brims with beauty at every turn. He has come close to writing a Motown-inspired ballad-like Let it Bleed (For Iggy) before, but here, in typically unorthodox fashion, Pierce nails down that aesthetic while serving up Britpop grandeur this side of Blur’s The Universal.- No Ripcord
- Posted Apr 25, 2022
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A glorious triumph.... The Decemberists deserve to become your new favourite band.- No Ripcord
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FLOTUS is much more than another genre effort, where Wagner deeply alters his usual country bearings and gives it a new and unexpected orientation.- No Ripcord
- Posted Nov 8, 2016
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Ekstasis abounds with originality and depth; soars and sinks; expands and implodes; evolves and dissipates; crackles and breaks all within one cohesive sound.- No Ripcord
- Posted Mar 21, 2012
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Celebration Rock's high-tempo riff rock concerns itself with energy and embraces our serendipitous run-ins with those good times worth remembering.- No Ripcord
- Posted Jun 5, 2012
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This isn’t political, but it is personal, comical, sad, satirical, intelligent and refreshingly honest.- No Ripcord
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She heads into more accessible waters —on tracks like Down on Me and Confessions, Davis softens her pop-meets-classical mishmash with a mellifluous inflection that gives clarity to her self-empowering message. And like a memoir of sorts, she goes through stories that range from her birth to the present day.- No Ripcord
- Posted Dec 6, 2019
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The record stands as the most shocking thing the Odd Future collective has put out to date: a R&B record with crossover potential without sacrificing soul that creates a complete picture of its author, warts and all.- No Ripcord
- Posted Apr 15, 2011
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Sheer Mag’s heady mixture of influences shouldn’t work. And yet, their tireless curiosity and genuine affection for rock song forms is what separates Need to Feel Your Love from sounding like a conventional tribute.- No Ripcord
- Posted Jul 17, 2017
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Despite Holter's all-around meticulousness, Aviary never comes across as careful or rigorous. She engages in artful replication, seeking to understand those voices she successfully reconstructs with a feeling of apprehension and anticipation. And in the process, leaving her own imprint for others to also discover in centuries to come.- No Ripcord
- Posted Oct 26, 2018
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He’s on a full-on conversationalist binge on Sky, though it’ll demand your extra attention since the album’s turbulent production tends to obscure most of his learned reflections. In spite of this, it wouldn’t be a true Mould record if it didn’t hit you with that pummeling, noisy sheen.- No Ripcord
- Posted Mar 28, 2016
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These are songs that you feel more than listen to. Everyone has encountered some sort of mental illness, addiction or crisis of faith, whether in your life or another’s. Not only does Baker prove that you’re not alone, but she finds a way to make it better.- No Ripcord
- Posted Nov 7, 2017
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- Posted Feb 7, 2014
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Relying less on atmosphere, tracks like Savage Nomad and Negro Spiritual reveal a rawness that balances his brisk delivery and minimal samples with renewed urgency. It comes with a caveat, though, as taking a more formalist direction puts the focus on technique rather than subject matter. And that's okay.- No Ripcord
- Posted Oct 17, 2019
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These guys are still writing and playing at the top of their game, making another album that’s just as brutal as Stage Four, if not a little more palatable for everyday listening.- No Ripcord
- Posted Oct 9, 2020
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My Father Will Guide Me Up a Rope to the Sky is an advance for Swans, and Gira comes across as less of an eccentric noise-generator, and more of a presence that requires our attention.- No Ripcord
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There's nothing here with quite the same catchiness that The Field somehow achieved on the head-nodders A Paw In My Face or The More That I Do, but each track is a fascinating experiment in sound, and this is perhaps his strongest record yet.- No Ripcord
- Posted Oct 5, 2011
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- Posted Nov 28, 2012
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- Posted Apr 4, 2012
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Old is all about developing the character of one very conflicted dude, and to me that’s its crowning achievement; it’s not his “split personalities” as much as the inner turmoils that fizz around within any complex character, but which you hardly ever hear so convincingly captured on a single record.- No Ripcord
- Posted Oct 21, 2013
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You can hear how she gradually tempers her busy thoughts, setting her mind at ease with a sense of renewal. And in her clean, unembellished melodies, reminding us that we can take our true selves whichever way we choose to roam.- No Ripcord
- Posted Oct 17, 2019
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On Tempest, Dylan easily puts to rest those detractors who claim that he's merely standing on the shoulders of greater artists.- No Ripcord
- Posted Sep 17, 2012
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On Heavy Lifter, Martin and Taylor continue to lean on each others’ strengths while also allowing room for pushing out prior boundaries. By expanding the sandbox, Hovvdy open up possibilities that promise more good things to come. If you’ve missed the duo’s prior releases, Heavy Lifter is a good place as any to get on board.- No Ripcord
- Posted Oct 17, 2019
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- Posted Apr 24, 2012
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Wolf Parade is a great band, and while one will automatically think of Brock when they first hear You Are a Runner I Am My Father’s Son, (or any song featuring the first of the band’s two vocalists, Jason Krug,) many of the album’s strongest moments actually come when they more closely resemble other bands.- No Ripcord
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Her wordplay ducks and weaves among the braided guitar melodies and idiosyncratic rhythm section with a razor-sharp cutting edge, with varying levels of daintiness, allowing the dangerously catchy melodies and thicker-bodied hooks to amass into a fantastically fluid LP.- No Ripcord
- Posted Apr 24, 2015
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I don't think it would be a stretch to say The Men were picking up where The Replacements left off.- No Ripcord
- Posted Mar 7, 2012
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Most of Attack on Memory has an abrasive, shrewd backbone, but it's those moments where Baldi hones his sweet touch where the album finds a satisfying balance of surprise and comfort.- No Ripcord
- Posted Jan 20, 2012
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It makes for something of a experimental jam session where its members are trying to perfect a unified sound alongside different lyrical approaches, which strike a fine balance between campy sci-fi imagery and silly, doom-laden metal tropes. And yet, once it’s fused all together it comes across as one big slab of raucous, careening psychedelia. King Gizzard are still grounded to their garage roots.- No Ripcord
- Posted Apr 28, 2016
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The mixtape-like sequencing of Saturn occasionally minimizes her ability to write hit after hit--there's hardly a dud here--even if she just misses the mark at producing a more involving mood piece.- No Ripcord
- Posted Nov 14, 2018
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His irrepressible, grizzled vocal is the master key to the soul that is often kept hidden behind the pewter façade, and it’s the desire for more glimpses into it is what makes Gargoyle as affecting as it is.- No Ripcord
- Posted May 17, 2017
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Wildflower is simply a joy, an euphonious hour-long journey that exists in some wonderfully naive and blissful alternate universe. It’s an aural paradise you’ll never want to leave.- No Ripcord
- Posted Aug 10, 2016
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Faking the Books... is to Tridecoder and Scary World Theory as OK Computer was to The Bends – a quantum evolutionary leap that, taken consecutively, quite takes your breath away.- No Ripcord
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With Skying, The Horrors continue to explore familiar territory whilst refining their idiosyncratic slant like proficient tastemakers.- No Ripcord
- Posted Jul 12, 2011
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Lisbon is up to the band's usual high standards; if you've followed their career closely that's really all you need to know.- No Ripcord
- Posted Dec 13, 2010
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While no commercial crossover will be gained from Eye Contact, Gang Gang Dance have released one of the most captivating albums of the year, each song different yet cohesive, challenging and ultimately highly rewarding.- No Ripcord
- Posted Jun 10, 2011
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What makes all this work, however, is Iceage’s commitment to darkness. Their signature, dirgey melancholia broods through standouts like Catch It and the title track, reminding listeners that while Iceage are willing to embrace pop, they’ll never do it with a smile.- No Ripcord
- Posted Jul 18, 2018
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Both cynical and biting, Nothing Feels Natural is a timely and involving call to arms that promises great things from Priests sooner rather than later.- No Ripcord
- Posted Feb 13, 2017
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Grinderman 2 follows with more of a racket, still the full-throttle guitar-driven rock meant to separate men from boys.- No Ripcord
- Posted Dec 21, 2010
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It’s not always the most memorable listen, though through its free-flowing divagations we finally begin to feel more empathy for an artist who’s too perceptive to hide behind his taut guitar accents.- No Ripcord
- Posted Jul 6, 2016
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Devour is best experienced from front to back. Shifting from Chardiet’s possessed screams (Spit It Out), to the dial-up-modem-from-Hell (Self-Regulating System), to grotesque static (Deprivation), Devour is shockingly sublime, like some warped, morally corrupt gradient. What’s equally mystifying is how textured and thematic these songs are, subtleties and surprises that are only revealed through brave, dedicated consumption.- No Ripcord
- Posted Sep 20, 2019
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What she's gained in the process is more focus and confidence, and as PAINLESS proves, an intriguing foreshadow of things to come.- No Ripcord
- Posted Mar 11, 2022
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Lykke Li holds to her regal aesthetic and simple drum and bass lines doggedly; whether stripped down or ramped up she has a well crafted, appealingly consistent sound, and it's what she puts over this that completes it.- No Ripcord
- Posted Mar 1, 2011
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With this latest effort, Superchunk have proven just that, and done so in their own insightful, rocking way and without compromise. All hail the kings (and queen).- No Ripcord
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Their free form approach is certainly amusing, perhaps too cerebral at times, but that’s just another way of reinforcing they want us to figure out what they’re aiming for.- No Ripcord
- Posted Jun 26, 2014
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Although Marika Hackman’s covers album lacks for originality in the title department, she more than makes up for it over the course of the ten tracks.- No Ripcord
- Posted Dec 16, 2020
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Centralia finds Mountains in their finest form yet, indicating a new level of comfort in the space they've been carefully carving out over the past decade.- No Ripcord
- Posted Feb 1, 2013
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She’s emerged from the thickets of Laurel Hell more assured than ever before.- No Ripcord
- Posted Mar 8, 2022
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Even if this type of thing isn’t your bag, it’s really pretty irresistible and is worth a shot.- No Ripcord
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From start to finish, The Hunter is a collection of songs that inadvertently expands their repertoire and capabilities while they turn off their heads and let their fingers tell the story.- No Ripcord
- Posted Oct 5, 2011
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In the case of Blackjazz, Shining spreads lyrical passages across songs, repeats song titles with different music attached: they basically create an environment that can only be understood as a whole.- No Ripcord
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It feels like they've been doing this for years, and while they quite literally all have, the way they have formed and moulded that sum of past experience into one new entity is nothing but impressive.- No Ripcord
- Posted Sep 22, 2011
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Snaith is able to hold onto his Caribou identity despite the new techno influences. His new album Swim reaffirms the supreme artistic capability that is Caribou.- No Ripcord
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There is a monumental feeling of strength and courage in their music that is impossible to deny.- No Ripcord
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Aside from dubstep-resembling "I Don’t Love You Anymore”, a breakup song that doesn’t really mesh within the political context of Hopelessness, there’s hardly any fault to find in Hegarty’s incredibly imaginative portrait of a world that’s in dire need of some reformation.- No Ripcord
- Posted May 2, 2016
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Ultimately, The Balladeer is a solidly enjoyable record, one that captures McKenna’s voice and style nearly perfectly.- No Ripcord
- Posted Jul 28, 2020
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Under Color of Official Right is built with a steely fortitude, treating its subjects with respect and bluntness even if there’s nary a hopeful or comforting prospect to look forward to.- No Ripcord
- Posted Apr 14, 2014
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It Still Moves is the kind of album that can inspire both wonder and respect in equal measures.- No Ripcord
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While every song here makes note of the relationship at the center of School of Seven Bells, this is not a downbeat album. Instead, it's a record that showcases everything the band is about.- No Ripcord
- Posted Feb 29, 2016
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This is one of the few releases of 2008 that shook me out of my complacency and forced me to accept it on its own terms.- No Ripcord
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For the first time is usually nonsensical, frequently transcendent, and compulsively listenable. Everything that sprung to mind is on the wax here, but BC, NR don’t forget to make it catchy and groovy. In nailing that balance, they’ve given us the year’s first capital-G Great record.- No Ripcord
- Posted Mar 12, 2021
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While it may not attain the dizzy heights of I'm New Here, Smith's deftness ensures that We're New Here is far more than just a vanity project- No Ripcord
- Posted Mar 31, 2011
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There’s so much here to enjoy, we can tolerate the occasional lyrical overreach.- No Ripcord
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If Anything was good, but this is the work of a band who are well on their way to establishing themselves as key cogs in their category.- No Ripcord
- Posted May 10, 2016
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Sure, there aren’t quite the visceral heights that the best tracks on w h o k i l l provided, but you will not be thinking that during Nikki Nack’s best moments. Listen to the words she says, let them sink into your head.- No Ripcord
- Posted May 6, 2014
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Soused, with its impenetrable construct and heavy ambition, delivers on many fronts, most notable of which is in its thoughtfully composed immensity.- No Ripcord
- Posted Oct 29, 2014
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