DIY Magazine's Scores
- Music
For 3,073 reviews, this publication has graded:
-
54% higher than the average critic
-
4% same as the average critic
-
42% lower than the average critic
On average, this publication grades 0 points higher than other critics.
(0-100 point scale)
Average Music review score: 73
Highest review score: | Not to Disappear | |
---|---|---|
Lowest review score: | Let It Reign |
Score distribution:
-
Positive: 2,170 out of 3073
-
Mixed: 890 out of 3073
-
Negative: 13 out of 3073
3073
music
reviews
- By Date
- By Critic Score
-
- Critic Score
Asking familiar questions in downright bizarre ways, with a musical palette that continues to revel in awkwardness, slipperiness, and experimentation, Cate Le Bon is a dab hand at holding a warped mirror up to life, and reflecting things in unexpected ways by now.- DIY Magazine
- Posted Apr 15, 2016
- Read full review
-
- Critic Score
Levine has done a wonderful job of creating a work whose humble beauty easily can captivate you if you let it.- DIY Magazine
- Posted Apr 17, 2012
- Read full review
-
- Critic Score
The Coral may have been at this game for nigh-on two decades but there’s scarcely a moment here that seems tired or phoned-in. Instead, the Wirral lads have added another fascinating work to their canon.- DIY Magazine
- Posted Aug 17, 2018
- Read full review
-
- Critic Score
How the listener takes Death Magic defines everything, but once again, even at their most open and exposed HEALTH completely defy definition.- DIY Magazine
- Posted Aug 7, 2015
- Read full review
-
- Critic Score
Too Bright is a diverse, multi-faceted and all-absorbing slice of sheer mastery.- DIY Magazine
- Posted Sep 16, 2014
- Read full review
-
- DIY Magazine
- Posted Mar 27, 2014
- Read full review
-
- Critic Score
Utilising a considered selection of guest vocalists, it takes a keener focus on rap and afrobeats, making good on the breadcrumb trail of singles that have tided fans over in the five-year album interim.- DIY Magazine
- Posted Aug 27, 2020
- Read full review
-
- Critic Score
Picking favourites out of Segall’s catalogue is purely a matter of taste but Manipulator settles right in with his finest work, and will serve as an excellent entry point for newcomers to the weird world of Ty Segall.- DIY Magazine
- Posted Aug 22, 2014
- Read full review
-
- Critic Score
Circling around Eva’s sharp, twangy vocals, the band’s second album is a gargantuan step forward, and one packed full of iron-clad mantras.- DIY Magazine
- Posted May 24, 2019
- Read full review
-
- Critic Score
Orla Gartland’s debut is an intricate, carefully-constructed collection, blending together indie-pop, folk and alternative rock. She masterfully layers sounds so not even a hand-clap feels out of place and even empty space is used well.- DIY Magazine
- Posted Aug 17, 2021
- Read full review
-
- Critic Score
A luscious, rich selection of otherworldly tracks, disparate in nature but still oddly cohesive. And it’s as timeless as that dreamy world JK Rowlin- DIY Magazine
- Posted Jun 3, 2016
- Read full review
-
- Critic Score
Both lyrically and musically it looks backwards to move forwards, in tone adding to Evan’s beautiful and delicate melodies, and although he doesn’t quite find the light at the end of the tunnel, he certainly knows it’s been switched on.- DIY Magazine
- Posted Sep 18, 2020
- Read full review
-
- DIY Magazine
- Posted Jul 28, 2016
- Read full review
-
- Critic Score
‘Collapsed In Sunbeams’ is an excellent character study, of both Arlo herself and the people who orbit around her.- DIY Magazine
- Posted Jan 28, 2021
- Read full review
-
- Critic Score
It's an extremely fine album that is without doubt her best work yet.- DIY Magazine
- Posted Oct 15, 2012
- Read full review
-
- Critic Score
Lyrically precise, and musically enriched with radical keyboard flourishes and arresting song-structures, what is most impressive about ‘Civilisation II’ is how KKB manage to tackle such worldly themes without ever sounding contrived. It’s a testament to a band continuously looking to innovate.- DIY Magazine
- Posted Apr 22, 2021
- Read full review
-
- Critic Score
Like punk Doogie Howsers, MOURN use intellect and talent beyond their years to muscle their way in amongst the grown-ups and blow them all out of the water.- DIY Magazine
- Posted Feb 17, 2015
- Read full review
-
- Critic Score
Afraid Of Heights is a far stronger and much more accomplished effort, sounding more like an apposite album than any of Wavves' back catalogue.- DIY Magazine
- Posted Mar 19, 2013
- Read full review
-
- Critic Score
Sisyphus is easily the boldest project to come from any three of its members, and that’s saying a lot.- DIY Magazine
- Posted Mar 14, 2014
- Read full review
-
- Critic Score
Oasis bled into mediocrity faster than you can say 'Blur were better', but just occasionally on Spacehopper in Tripwires you can see the same ambition and pop nous that made their early tracks such a thrill to the mainstream.- DIY Magazine
- Posted Jun 21, 2013
- Read full review
-
- Critic Score
Like always, Little Mix shine best when they are deep in their millennial sass. Never shy about breaking a fourth wall in the name of female empowerment.- DIY Magazine
- Posted Nov 5, 2020
- Read full review
-
- Critic Score
Sundara Karma might have set their sights high by naming their record for a man whose ambition spread to creating a whole system of writing, but Ulfilas’ Alphabet matches every lofty idea the band set themselves and then some.- DIY Magazine
- Posted Mar 5, 2019
- Read full review
-
- Critic Score
A sense of an increasingly assured outfit emerges, shifting tempo with offbeat irregularity, their earlier inclination towards indie-leaning jangle-pop falling by the wayside, substituted with a definition that sets the band on an ever more consistent path.- DIY Magazine
- Posted Jul 8, 2021
- Read full review
-
- Critic Score
This opening statement from a band emerging as one of Britain’s most inspired and uncompromising, could just be a strong starting step in a vivid and unconventional journey.- DIY Magazine
- Posted May 24, 2019
- Read full review
-
- Critic Score
Granted, at some points it does feel a little unrelenting, but the sheer ferocity of this record illustrates a band intently focused on the future, and breaking through to the next level.- DIY Magazine
- Posted Oct 21, 2022
- Read full review
-
- Critic Score
Coloring Book is exactly the kind of record necessary to elevate an artist from viable to visionary.- DIY Magazine
- Posted May 18, 2016
- Read full review
-
- Critic Score
The Savage Heart couldn't be more vital. What The Jim Jones Revue do is good. The way they do it is nothing short of brilliant.- DIY Magazine
- Posted Jul 29, 2013
- Read full review
-
- Critic Score
There’s still plenty of room for Fear of Men to grow, but without outside influence, they’re already masters of a unique craft.- DIY Magazine
- Posted Jun 3, 2016
- Read full review
-
- Critic Score
Exploring all that we give up about ourselves to make others feel comfortable, Shamir’s new take on pop songwriting is one that finally suits. Leaving enough scuffs around the edges to mark it out as his own, this is more than just album seven - it’s the start of a whole new era.- DIY Magazine
- Posted Oct 2, 2020
- Read full review
-
- Critic Score
He combines whispering brush patterns and flecks of industrial glitch in the cerebral ‘Foreplay’ yet writes the perfect neo-soul pop song in ‘The Loop’, exemplifying his cross-disciplinary skill, and ability to marry fluid performance with tonal nuance.- DIY Magazine
- Posted May 3, 2022
- Read full review
-
- Critic Score
A rollercoaster ride of diverse influences, the album takes us everywhere from nods to the freewheeling indie rock of ‘90s Jesus and Mary Chain (‘Dear Saint Cecilia’) to glossy, sixties-inflected love letters (‘Drink Rain’), via handsome, string-backed introspection (‘Love Kills Slowly’) and, on the standout ‘High & Hurt’, there’s a thrilling rework at the midpoint of the classic hymn ‘Will the Circle Be Unbroken?’ that imbues it with moody menace.- DIY Magazine
- Posted May 6, 2021
- Read full review
-
- Critic Score
'Time Team' is a hugely rewarding album that delivers rich emotional laden electronic music with a human heart and an impressive debut.- DIY Magazine
- Posted May 7, 2012
- Read full review
-
- Critic Score
Tempest has delivered a compelling, thought-provoking insight into our troubled times.- DIY Magazine
- Posted Oct 5, 2016
- Read full review
-
- Critic Score
A bewitching, and surprisingly diverse debut, it looks like Jillian Banks more than lives up to the hype.- DIY Magazine
- Posted Sep 4, 2014
- Read full review
-
- Critic Score
Delicate, enchanting, and altogether intangible, Memory Of A Cut Off Head is a venture into the unexpected.- DIY Magazine
- Posted Nov 17, 2017
- Read full review
-
- Critic Score
It's an immersive album, without ever fading away from your immediate attention- DIY Magazine
- Posted Nov 28, 2012
- Read full review
-
- Critic Score
At once escapist and heavily personal, it’s a dark, pop-perfect, melancholic fantasy.- DIY Magazine
- Posted Oct 11, 2023
- Read full review
-
- Critic Score
Essentially, what each track on At Hope’s Ravine has in common, is the blistering intensity with which it’s delivered, culminating in the ever-intensifying title track and the cathartic sonic explosion with which it bows out. A staggering debut album.- DIY Magazine
- Posted Feb 26, 2016
- Read full review
-
- Critic Score
Unusually consistent while still admirably varied, Chaosmosis is one of the early delights of the year.- DIY Magazine
- Posted Mar 18, 2016
- Read full review
-
- Critic Score
Joanna Gruesome have adapted, honed and stretched their sound on Peanut Butter, and though nothing here sticks in the brain quite like ‘Sugarcrush’ or ‘Secret Surprise’, their tip as one of Britain’s brightest new hopes is more than backed up on this showing.- DIY Magazine
- Posted May 8, 2015
- Read full review
-
- Critic Score
No doubt some old fans will continue to decry this latest chapter in Rolo Tomassi’s seemingly endless search to scratch their inner itch, but make no mistake; this is a confident return to form.- DIY Magazine
- Posted Jun 2, 2015
- Read full review
-
- Critic Score
Among its mix of roistering anthems and melodramatic balladry, ‘9’ exudes a supple confidence throughout, engaging in some of the most enthralling Australian psychedelia to emerge from 2021 (of which there is plenty).- DIY Magazine
- Posted Oct 4, 2021
- Read full review
-
- Critic Score
Although previous work has never shied away from her individual experience, here Laura elevates her lyricism to new heights.- DIY Magazine
- Posted Oct 2, 2020
- Read full review
-
- Critic Score
'The Tarnished Gold' is a tighter, more familiar album from a band that have always done their own thing, and it's a very well-worked compromise – this is fantastic stuff.- DIY Magazine
- Posted Jun 27, 2012
- Read full review
-
- Critic Score
It won’t be quite as divisive as its predecessor - not least because this iteration of Black Country, New Road has ceased to exist before it’s even been heard - but ‘Ants From Up There’ might yet win over those stifled by hype first time around.- DIY Magazine
- Posted Feb 3, 2022
- Read full review
-
- DIY Magazine
- Posted Feb 23, 2015
- Read full review
-
- Critic Score
The Dots is an outright success. It combines forward-thinking sound design with complex songwriting, and an astute taste for pop hooks with rich, intelligent lyrical content. It’s a joy to experience.- DIY Magazine
- Posted May 24, 2019
- Read full review
-
- Critic Score
Whether it be these jacked-up moments or those hazy, sinking flurries such as the freakish downer ‘Merry Nightmare’, everything Scott has written on Sunshine Redux encapsulates all of his best qualities. This time though, those qualities are amplified, pristinely-recorded and have even caught the sun a bit.- DIY Magazine
- Posted Apr 24, 2015
- Read full review
-
- Critic Score
‘Bright Magic’ flourishes at its most calm and erupts at its most fervent, lending itself neatly to a state of anxious tension, sonically chronicling the faded walk back from the club, when dawn and dusk blur into irrelevance.- DIY Magazine
- Posted Sep 24, 2021
- Read full review
-
- DIY Magazine
- Posted Jun 21, 2013
- Read full review
-
- Critic Score
Trevor Powers has crafted an album full of malice and aggression that it lives up to its title, but it is peppered with themes of hope and optimism.- DIY Magazine
- Posted Aug 17, 2018
- Read full review
-
- Critic Score
With short tracks, skits and interludes admittedly Yes Lawd! does feel a bit more like a mixtape than an album at times but that’s simply the NxWorries way. In a pairing with this much chemistry, they can be forgiven for getting a little carried away.- DIY Magazine
- Posted Oct 20, 2016
- Read full review
-
- Critic Score
Packed full of bright ideas and moreish hooks, ‘Dead Hand Control’ is a hopeful document about finding peace in your relationships and immediate surroundings, even when the world is on fire.- DIY Magazine
- Posted Jan 28, 2021
- Read full review
-
- Critic Score
Colourful, brilliantly messy, and a fully committed hodge-podge of psych and spacecake croons, ‘Awaken, My Love!’ is unlikely to shed further light on exactly what Childish Gambino is at heart, but by now, Glover’s erratic approach is surely part of his central appeal.- DIY Magazine
- Posted Dec 2, 2016
- Read full review
-
- Critic Score
Life Without Sound feels more confident, the songs themselves coming from a more positive position.- DIY Magazine
- Posted Jan 27, 2017
- Read full review
-
- Critic Score
Sneaking under the half-hour mark, Time & Space is a comprehensive thrash that places Turnstile as the most inventive, forward-thinking band in hardcore.- DIY Magazine
- Posted Feb 23, 2018
- Read full review
-
- Critic Score
Bold, experimental, and an absolute delight, Bombay Bicycle Club cycle the road less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.- DIY Magazine
- Posted Feb 5, 2014
- Read full review
-
- Critic Score
By taking the time to delve back into his rap upbringing, he’s progressed further, gleefully throwing a ton of ideas at the wall and finding that nearly all of them stick.- DIY Magazine
- Posted Jul 9, 2021
- Read full review
-
- Critic Score
The Shape Of Things is another compelling collection of clever electronic pop.- DIY Magazine
- Posted Mar 19, 2012
- Read full review
-
- Critic Score
For some, this might be too tame. An album full of ‘Bluish’ rather than ‘Fireworks’. But for others, that means it’s the most accessible.- DIY Magazine
- Posted Feb 3, 2022
- Read full review
-
- Critic Score
MAGDALENE is an album of ideas bristling against one another. Sometimes, there is the feeling that less could have been more, but when everything aligns, there are true moments of wonder to be found.- DIY Magazine
- Posted Nov 7, 2019
- Read full review
-
- Critic Score
Nestled in these adrenalised, highly evolved songs are bright pop hooks, showing that other artists could compete with Doldrums, but they wouldn’t be able to keep up.- DIY Magazine
- Posted Apr 6, 2015
- Read full review
-
- Critic Score
This solitary endeavour - which she describes as sitting in front of a mirror and staring at herself - results in near-complete reinvention, all while retaining melodic guts and expanding the malleability of her misfit artistry.- DIY Magazine
- Posted Feb 22, 2024
- Read full review
-
- Critic Score
It makes for a quiet reinvention in the face of adversity, with Le Bon as stylistically light on her feet as ever.- DIY Magazine
- Posted Feb 3, 2022
- Read full review
-
- Critic Score
Mazes confirm themselves as one of the most exciting British bands currently around. This is the result of what happens when three unique and brilliant minds are given the right facilities they need to make their vision happen.- DIY Magazine
- Posted Sep 4, 2014
- Read full review
-
- Critic Score
Soaring arrangements and long tracks create a journey, as engaging as it is dramatic.- DIY Magazine
- Posted Oct 15, 2013
- Read full review
-
- Critic Score
Ghostpoet has created a record that feels timeless in a way his scratchy bedroom productions could never have dreamed of.- DIY Magazine
- Posted Feb 27, 2015
- Read full review
-
- Critic Score
This is a messy, disorderly but beautifully blissful and idiosyncratic record--and that seems like the statement he’d like to make.- DIY Magazine
- Posted Jul 6, 2015
- Read full review
-
- Critic Score
With an astute sense of mischief and a knack for snazzy hooks, Best Friends’ debut full-length offering is as endearing as they come.- DIY Magazine
- Posted Jul 10, 2015
- Read full review
-
- Critic Score
They have created another cohesive body of work that’s unhurried, considered and produces all the classic components of a timeless record that embodies the very moment.- DIY Magazine
- Posted Aug 7, 2015
- Read full review
-
- Critic Score
The result is a fun collection of melodically versatile songs which celebrate the power that can be found in dwelling on the fringes.- DIY Magazine
- Posted May 26, 2023
- Read full review
-
- Critic Score
It’s older, wiser and more reflective. A wonderful surprise album whose existence in 2023 actually makes perfect sense.- DIY Magazine
- Posted Jul 19, 2023
- Read full review
-
- Critic Score
Engaging and draining, Parquet Courts have once again pushed their capabilities to the max, and as ever, the results are like nothing you’ll find elsewhere.- DIY Magazine
- Posted Dec 1, 2015
- Read full review
-
- Critic Score
There’s an abundance of over-excited jitters that keep you bouncing to each wildly mercurial moment. ‘demon time’ is an undeniable rush to your systems, and a deliciously futuristic one at that.- DIY Magazine
- Posted Sep 15, 2022
- Read full review
-
- Critic Score
The fact that Efterklang have managed to cultivate such an effortless sounding exercise in sonic geographies is sheer testament to their skill as master artisans.- DIY Magazine
- Posted Sep 24, 2012
- Read full review
-
- Critic Score
‘i’ve seen a way’ sees the band marching down their own path, and it’s one worth following.- DIY Magazine
- Posted May 26, 2023
- Read full review
-
- Critic Score
His distinctive voice, ranging from guttural lows to a glittering falsetto, is the tool he uses to sculpt out his vast sonic vision.- DIY Magazine
- Posted May 17, 2022
- Read full review
-
- Critic Score
Having made records with Johnny Marr and added all manner of elements to their sound, the band’s latest is a brilliant reminder that Ryan, Gary and Ross are at their most powerful when they strip back their sound to its scrappy core.- DIY Magazine
- Posted Aug 11, 2017
- Read full review
-
- Critic Score
This is the work of two guys simply expressing their love of music for the rest of us to enjoy--swooping from ‘60s pop to ‘00s rock while appreciating everything in between--and what a loveable collection of work it is.- DIY Magazine
- Posted Oct 23, 2014
- Read full review
-
- Critic Score
Tender without being twee, this debut LP ultimately captures a moment that is both genuine and touching.- DIY Magazine
- Posted Mar 30, 2018
- Read full review
-
- Critic Score
The record makes no attempt to shroud emotional reactions to the modern world, and it results in a thematically poignant, lyrically sharp and sonically surprising statement piece that redeems what was once used as a dismissive label.- DIY Magazine
- Posted Sep 23, 2022
- Read full review
-
- Critic Score
‘The Love Invention’ runs the gamut of immediate, dancefloor-ready electro-pop with style.- DIY Magazine
- Posted May 26, 2023
- Read full review
-
- Critic Score
It’s a record bound in frustration and release, exacerbated by the band’s continuing reliance on repetition, and as it comes to roost with the tense ‘Bite Mark’ and its tumbling conclusion TRAAMS’ return shows itself to be one that’s all the better for its slow build.- DIY Magazine
- Posted Nov 16, 2015
- Read full review
-
- DIY Magazine
- Posted Feb 22, 2019
- Read full review
-
- Critic Score
Sonically sprawling (‘80s guitar sounds are referenced on the title track; a glitchy beat flickers through ‘Another Day’; ‘Power To Undo’ brims with pop-funk chaos) yet also unafraid to find joy in simple pleasures (the most immediate moment comes courtesy of ‘Prove It To You’, a club-ready stomp), ‘WHAT NOW’ is a gem.- DIY Magazine
- Posted Feb 5, 2024
- Read full review
-
- Critic Score
Though it may come across as an innocuous affair to some, Lucid Dreaming simultaneously triumphs as both a cohesive, introspective body of work and a bona fide pop record.- DIY Magazine
- Posted Apr 14, 2015
- Read full review
-
- Critic Score
A beautiful and moving chart of a year in his life, Dan’s latest ‘Grand Plan’ has clearly paid off.- DIY Magazine
- Posted Nov 5, 2020
- Read full review
-
- Critic Score
Across its 11 tracks, ‘Raving Ghost’ finds impressive variety and fun: less a haunted relic of the past, and more a Halloweeny romp through it.- DIY Magazine
- Posted May 26, 2023
- Read full review
-
- Critic Score
It moves away from what many a critic will lazily refer to as Burial-esque, but still retains the throbbing heart that's always sat at the centre of his music.- DIY Magazine
- Posted Dec 18, 2013
- Read full review
-
- Critic Score
For such an introspective record, it sure sounds like community - a portrait of an artist ready to lean into her fears.- DIY Magazine
- Posted Jul 6, 2020
- Read full review
-
- Critic Score
Multi-faceted in both personality and musical style, ‘Access Denied’ has proven itself every bit worth the wait.- DIY Magazine
- Posted Oct 4, 2021
- Read full review
-
- Critic Score
A vital, woozy summer repose, nine tracks in the perfect sequence for drifting off on a lazy, languorous May afternoon.- DIY Magazine
- Posted Jun 5, 2012
- Read full review
-
- DIY Magazine
- Posted Oct 3, 2016
- Read full review
-
- Critic Score
An album that works to intertwine large scale issues with some deeply personal admissions from frontwoman Sadie Dupuis - all via her intoxicating and bewildering brand of lyricism - the record, instead, grapples with the anger at its core and transforms. it into something more worthwhile.- DIY Magazine
- Posted Sep 5, 2023
- Read full review
-
- Critic Score
A record that feels dynamic and vital - while still respecting the band’s legacy so far - ‘The Million Masks of God’ is astonishing.- DIY Magazine
- Posted Apr 29, 2021
- Read full review
-
- Critic Score
More power, more fury, more energy--it’s certainly a promising tone to set.- DIY Magazine
- Posted Jan 16, 2014
- Read full review
-
- Critic Score
While ‘Take it to the Max’ sounds like Battles and Gold Panda had, well... a battle. These elements only enhance rather than inhibit, proving Deacon’s ability to find the best ingredients for his eclectic recipe.- DIY Magazine
- Posted Feb 20, 2015
- Read full review
-
- Critic Score
Eternal Forward Motion pushes onward with a clear mission and unrivalled force, and much like their two previous albums, it places Employed To Serve firmly at the forefront of innovation in British hardcore.- DIY Magazine
- Posted May 23, 2019
- Read full review
-
- Critic Score
Unexpected, indulgent, and an absolute joy, ‘Metronomy Forever’ is a prophecy to get behind.- DIY Magazine
- Posted Sep 13, 2019
- Read full review
-
- Critic Score
Backed up by lyrical content that has never been more potent and relevant, this album is proof that A Tribe Called Quest never really left.- DIY Magazine
- Posted Nov 15, 2016
- Read full review