The Wire's Scores
- Music
For 2,617 reviews, this publication has graded:
-
51% higher than the average critic
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7% same as the average critic
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42% lower than the average critic
On average, this publication grades 0.6 points higher than other critics.
(0-100 point scale)
Average Music review score: 73
| Highest review score: | Spiderland [Box Set] | |
|---|---|---|
| Lowest review score: | Amazing Grace |
Score distribution:
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Positive: 2,167 out of 2617
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Mixed: 430 out of 2617
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Negative: 20 out of 2617
2617
music
reviews
- By Date
- By Critic Score
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- Critic Score
They make it sound easy, and there are moments where that ease works in their favour. “Exalted” has the same gliding grace as the best moments on Moore’s last album of songs, The Best Day; conversely the way Shelley and Googe bear down on “Aphrodite” is quite satisfying. Still, the record could have used a more contrarian filter. [Jun 2017, p.67]- The Wire
Posted Aug 8, 2017 -
- Critic Score
There is still a sense here of a group magisterially marking time, shying away this time round from any grand, rhetorical, countercultural purpose. [Dec 2007, p.63]- The Wire
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- Critic Score
At her best she lives up to the statement of intent on “This Sound” where her style is pitched as physical, literal but metaphysical, mystical and medicinal. ... But by the time she implores us to “do yourself a favour and eat some shrooms”, she sounds dangerously like just another hippy with too much faith in her medicine. [Jun 2021, p.- The Wire
Posted Jun 29, 2021 -
- Critic Score
It refuses any stylistic centre that might tie together its genre signifiers. [Mar 2015, p.58]- The Wire
Posted Mar 11, 2015 -
- Critic Score
Topped off with signature twin guitar harmonies, the album is often a blast, if a bit unbalanced overall. [Oct 2021, p.58]- The Wire
Posted Dec 20, 2021 -
- Critic Score
The issue with Pusha’s fourth solo album isn’t his insistence on portraying a heartless American striver as if he’s the rap game Al Pacino – it’s that he’s unable to consistently conjure the menacing intensity that enlivened his work with with twin brother Malice as Clipse. [Jun 2022, p.52]- The Wire
Posted Jun 14, 2022 -
- Critic Score
In classic Simz style the journey’s more fulfilling a little further down the rabbit hole. ... But ultimately it’s hard to escape the comedy of such grand ambition also spawning the corniest voiceover since Prince invited Kirstie Alley to vandalise his symbolically titled 1992 album, and a cringe so intense it threatens to undermine everything.- The Wire
Posted Aug 31, 2021 -
- Critic Score
Those who were there the first time round will enjoy playing spot-the-sample on these hyperactive cut ’n’ shuts; for anyone else, it’s a strange one. Inarguably fun, but you’re left scratching your head, wondering why. [Jun 2017, p.74]- The Wire
Posted Aug 8, 2017 -
- Critic Score
The moody bits are surrounded by so much that is abstract that their affective properties seem a matter of happenstance rather than expression. [Mar 2015, p.46]- The Wire
Posted Mar 11, 2015 -
- Critic Score
It's actually more pleasurable to pick a track at random and leave it on loop. [Sep 2011, p.56]- The Wire
Posted Dec 5, 2011 -
- Critic Score
Some tracks go on far longer than is comfortable, some peter out prematurely, some wander off in a direction that doesn’t immediately make sense. But even without the context of Troxler’s career, that’s fine. It’s obviously a personal record, with a distinctive sound palette, expressing some fairly profound and fun experiences. [Jun 2019, p.58]- The Wire
Posted Jun 25, 2019 -
- Critic Score
Farrell’s production is funky and deep throughout, but it’s sometimes a touch too downbeat; Kidjo is imperious on the chemically propelled “Dombolo”, Nneka spits controlled fire on the dubby “La Dame Et Ses Valises”, but tracks like “Wedding” and “Nebao” are sonic tar pits from which their stars struggle to escape. [Jun 2017, p.76]- The Wire
Posted Aug 8, 2017 -
- Critic Score
The veneer slides aside to reveal more palpable excitement with the arrival of MCs from the UK grime contingent. [Mar 2015, p.48]- The Wire
Posted Mar 11, 2015 -
- Critic Score
With its introversion and focus upon the everyday in both subject matter and imagery, the appeal of Shedding Skin depends partly on your appetite for people watching. [Mar 2015, p.48]- The Wire
Posted Mar 11, 2015 -
- Critic Score
The album suffers at points from fastidiously clean production; it’s not just lo-fi romanticism to want to hear musicians of Vieux’s calibre in settings that are less polished. [Jun 2017, p.76]- The Wire
Posted Aug 8, 2017 -
- Critic Score
Rather than the sound of people battering against existing structures, Social Climbers exude comfort. [Sep 2011, p.58]- The Wire
Posted Dec 5, 2011 -
- Critic Score
While some will label these 12 pieces as evidence of Alex Paterson’s genius, the majority definitely won’t, and although it’s a well-produced work, it doesn’t bend or expand expectations. [Sep 2018, p.54]- The Wire
Posted Aug 8, 2018 -
- Critic Score
There’s a silliness and lightness to CEL that is often charming, but can stray into tweeness, and its lack of a deeper pull doesn’t necessarily warrant repeat listens. An interesting conceptual exercise but unlike a lot of the krautrock it is reminiscent of, nothing to stir the heart or body. [May 2020, p.50]- The Wire
Posted Dec 23, 2020 -
- Critic Score
They have a certain beauty, but it all feels sterile, airless. [Sep 2011, p.59]- The Wire
Posted Dec 5, 2011 -
- Critic Score
The original running order is slightly shuffled, but starting with "Raw Power" wasn't such a good idea, as it mostly serves to highlight the way the album sags in its second half. But ending with a roaring "I Got A Right" salvages the set. [Jun 2011, p.48]- The Wire
Posted Aug 12, 2011 -
- The Wire
Posted Dec 5, 2011 -
- Critic Score
Listening in one session is like wolfing a hurried seven-course meal with post-dinner coffee and is roughly as messy. [Sep 2013, p.65]- The Wire
Posted Dec 10, 2013 -
- Critic Score
A usually sharp MC, Murs sounds conflicted throughout, a little too anxious to be loved by everyone. [Dec 2008, p.74]- The Wire
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- Critic Score
Nice enough, and the climax of the title track is truly transportive, but no real departure from previous form. [Mar 2015, p.56]- The Wire
Posted Mar 11, 2015 -
- Critic Score
It's all elegantly executed and often beguiling, but just too clean and predictable to be really involving. [#228, p.62]- The Wire
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- Critic Score
Glasper is undoubtedly a class act, but the lacks the wildness a Madlib or a Flying Lotus might have brought to this project. [Jun 2016, p.54]- The Wire
Posted Jul 18, 2016 -
- Critic Score
[Forster] leans perilously close to airbrushed AOR when left too much to his own devices, but mostly the intoxicating richness and unashamed opulence of their epic space rock wins through. [#247, p.70]- The Wire
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- Critic Score
It's an extremely listenable record, full of stray moments of delightful mischief, but it's as innovative as a favourite old armchair. [1/2001, p.63]- The Wire
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- Critic Score
In many ways this is his finest outing since The Boatman's Call. [#247, p.55]- The Wire
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- Critic Score
There's still plenty to enjoy on Tassilli, but desert blooms fade fast when overwatered. [Sep 2011, p.65]- The Wire
Posted Dec 5, 2011