The Independent (UK)'s Scores
- Music
For 2,194 reviews, this publication has graded:
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47% higher than the average critic
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4% same as the average critic
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49% lower than the average critic
On average, this publication grades 3 points lower than other critics.
(0-100 point scale)
Average Music review score: 70
Highest review score: | Hit Me Hard and Soft | |
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Lowest review score: | Donda |
Score distribution:
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Positive: 1,177 out of 2194
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Mixed: 988 out of 2194
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Negative: 29 out of 2194
2194
music
reviews
- By Date
- By Critic Score
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- Critic Score
Paul Simon's ruminations here on love, age and encroaching mortality have a valedictory flavour about them.- The Independent (UK)
- Posted Jun 10, 2011
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With the striking falsetto of Peter Silberman dominating their songs, The Antlers may be America's equivalent of Wild Beasts.- The Independent (UK)
- Posted Jun 10, 2011
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- Critic Score
Unlike previous Vetiver albums, for The Errant Charm, songwriter Andy Cabic entered the studio with vague ideas rather than finished songs, and it shows.- The Independent (UK)
- Posted Jun 10, 2011
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As on A&M's albums, he's captured the trio's charm and lightness of spirit within infectious grooves built around Sam's cyclical acoustic guitar riffs, with the individual raps supported by their warm, uplifting harmonies.- The Independent (UK)
- Posted Jun 7, 2011
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Circuital opens with a gong and orchestral fanfare, appropriately so for what may be My Morning Jacket's best album.- The Independent (UK)
- Posted Jun 6, 2011
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The overall impression is of someone trying to disguise their true emotions with comic bluster: in that sense, ironically, it's a more macho album than Humbug, despite its lighter touch.- The Independent (UK)
- Posted Jun 6, 2011
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Clearly, these New York math-rockers have yet to learn the values of de- cluttering, with most of these dozen pieces involving furious industry to no great advantage.- The Independent (UK)
Posted Jun 3, 2011 -
- The Independent (UK)
- Posted Jun 2, 2011
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Whatever their origin [his guitars], he manages to wrestle compelling riffs from them.- The Independent (UK)
- Posted Jun 1, 2011
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Hip young American male/female duo Cults look to classic 1960s pop history for the 11 bite-sized pop nuggets of this impressive debut.- The Independent (UK)
- Posted May 31, 2011
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There's an ease and comfort about the songs that suggests they fell into place naturally, rather than suffering endless alterations; and the band seem content to let them breathe and take on a life of their own, rather than freight them with unnecessary adornment.- The Independent (UK)
- Posted May 26, 2011
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Musically, she strays a little too far from her folkie comfort-zone, with varied results- The Independent (UK)
- Posted May 20, 2011
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there's ultimately nothing distinctive here to grab the imagination. The singer has obviously modelled his every inflection on Bono, and the guitarist likewise over-employs Edge-style arpeggiated riffs; but they lack U2's broader ambition and sense of purpose.- The Independent (UK)
- Posted May 20, 2011
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Gently wrought from strands of acoustic guitar, mandolin, violin and harp, encountering the genteel Demolished Thoughts after Thurston Moore's more abrasive work with Sonic Youth is akin to hearing Paris 1919 after John Cale's rampaging Velvet Underground period.- The Independent (UK)
- Posted May 19, 2011
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The more often she changes, and the broader she spreads her net musically, the less distinctive her art becomes.- The Independent (UK)
- Posted May 19, 2011
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John Martyn's valedictory recordings have a suitably weary presence that makes even such legendary laidback soporificos as J J Cale and Leonard Cohen seem positively sprightly by comparison.- The Independent (UK)
- Posted May 19, 2011
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There's a consistency and homogeneity about the 11 tracks (seven from The Red Shoes, four from The Sensual World) which echoes her work on Aerial, and which lends the project a character entirely its own.- The Independent (UK)
- Posted May 18, 2011
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Friendly Fires' follow-up to their Mercury-nominated debut is a huge disappointment.- The Independent (UK)
- Posted May 16, 2011
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The best tracks are the more thoughtful reflections on youthful memories, such as "Illusion" and "Snap"; the worst is the turgid pomp-rock-rap crossover "Written in the Stars", ominously scheduled as his next single.- The Independent (UK)
- Posted May 16, 2011
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Norah Jones and Jack White sing on three tracks apiece, respectively languid and predatory, the end result being a short but perfectly-formed portal to a different state of musical mind.- The Independent (UK)
- Posted May 16, 2011
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It's a soothing, chillsome experience, though some tracks do strangle themselves in repetitive accretions.- The Independent (UK)
- Posted May 16, 2011
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With the slight caveat that Laurie's vocals never quite cast off their Englishness (and why should they?), this is a commendable effort which at its best furnishes considerable enjoyment.- The Independent (UK)
- Posted May 12, 2011
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Lyrically, there's a pervasive fascination with California outsider culture that soon palls, though the troubled relationship excavated in "Marked" suggests a deeper vein of inspiration may yet be mined.- The Independent (UK)
- Posted May 10, 2011
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It's still suffused with a retro 1960s vibe, but this time the garage-pop influences prevail, with a sizeable side-order of psychedelia courtesy of the edgy West Coast lead guitar that streaks tracks.- The Independent (UK)
- Posted May 10, 2011
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With Stone Rollin', he broadens his outlook to take in various other R&B styles, without shifting more than a few years either way.- The Independent (UK)
- Posted May 9, 2011
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Overall, Smother finds Wild Beasts hurdling that difficult third album with some aplomb.- The Independent (UK)
- Posted May 9, 2011
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He's no fool: the result is an even more potent clutch of instrumentals, punctuated with the occasional vocal from Sharon Jones and some surprising male singers, including The National's Matt Berninger and Lou Reed.- The Independent (UK)
- Posted May 6, 2011
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Singer Julie Baenziger, aka Julie Ann Bee, whose debut album reveals a similar mix of emotional openness and affinity for the natural world as Laura Veirs, with something of Veirs's inquistive approach to musical textures, too.- The Independent (UK)
- Posted May 6, 2011
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It's a cartoon of emotion: even when whispering, there's a stage intimacy about her delivery; and at full blast, she has the emotive subtlety of a foghorn, though that may be to surmount the barrage of thundering tom-toms and pounding pianos with which she's been saddled.- The Independent (UK)
- Posted May 6, 2011
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- The Independent (UK)
- Posted May 4, 2011
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