Village Voice's Scores

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For 764 reviews, this publication has graded:
  • 47% higher than the average critic
  • 3% same as the average critic
  • 50% lower than the average critic
On average, this publication grades 5.1 points lower than other critics. (0-100 point scale)
Average Music review score: 68
Highest review score: 100 The Naked Truth
Lowest review score: 10 God Says No
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 517 out of 764
  2. Mixed: 199 out of 764
  3. Negative: 48 out of 764
764 music reviews
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    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Saturnalia
    The result's a bit grungy, sure--but there's also an undercurrent of dark, sinister country and blues that suggests they're not just rehashing old times.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Quaristice
    Quaristice demands to be heard, but stubbornly refuses to be the soundtrack of your life. That's art, and perhaps it's only pegged as "difficult" because it won't sing along with you; neither will the Chrysler Building, but that doesn't make it any less beautiful.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Alopecia
    It's his lyrics, brutally honest and often desperate, that elevate Alopecia from curiosity to conquest.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Get Awkward
    Thankfully, if anything differentiates the terrific Get Awkward from its hardly inauspicious predecessor, it's that this one may be even less complicated. Whereas the debut made room for actual relationships and a couple of headlong jams, this is a tighter, blunter assault, affording Pearl only just enough room to summarize B-movie plots or super-soak society.
    • 87 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!!
    Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!! should prove an exhilarating listen for most fans of Cave's oeuvre. It has a lot of the rawness and jagged edges of a classic Bad Seeds album, hopped up with off-kilter beats and loads of loops contributed by violinist Warren Ellis.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Transnormal Skiperoo
    Earthy rhythms provide both a welcome backbeat and a sense of history.
    • 86 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Hercules And Love Affair
    The party holds strong into the second half, where the comedown always muddles the songwriting a little. Surprise: Antony's dramatic ululations return to rescue the trawling sonics.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Street Horrrsing
    Street Horrrsing is, to your dad's ears (unless your dad is Lou Reed), a whole lot of noise. But what virtuosic, complicated noise it is.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    The Seldom Seen Kid
    The singer's Mancunian bleariness is such that the bittersweet barfly sing-along 'Grounds for Divorce' rings effortlessly real, while the quasi-spiritual questing of 'Weather to Fly' gets reined in by the sobering image of "pounding the streets where my father's feet/Still ring from the walls."
    • 75 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Mountain Battles
    In many ways, what follows is the perfect distillation of the Breeders' catalog (and Deal's attendant side project, the Amps).
    • 71 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Mr. Love & Justice
    Overall, Mr. Love and Justice is classic Bragg: frequently fantastic folk-rock that keeps both the faith and your attention.
    • 59 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Welcome To The Dollhouse
    These gals are older, more cohesive, and more enchanting than before, plus Maxim-approved.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Colin Meloy Sings Live!
    But in clearing away the ear-candy clutter that's increasingly come to define his band's records (for better or for worse), Meloy enables even observers less convinced than those caught on tape to admire the tidy architecture of his material.
    • 85 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Third
    The good news for people who love bad news is that Portishead have gotten better, too.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Kensington Heights
    Kensington Heights, like its predecessor, isn't as fiery as the best moments on the band's inconsistent breakthrough, 2003's "Shine a Light," but the Constantines still deliver bedrock strength and eternal-flame passion.
    • 65 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Hard Candy
    All in all, Hard Candy could be the greatest swan song to a pop career this side of Let It Be, if you wanna get all hyperbolic about it.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Santogold
    With her eponymous debut's deft mix of dap, punk, rock, pop, house, reggae, and hip-hop, she won't completely live down associations with the famous Sri Lankan (whom she also counts as a friend), but the result emerges as much more than a mere imitation.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    II Trill
    II Trill, is psychologically up-market, with genuinely well-appointed guest spots (that Webbie and Lupe Fiasco both sound comfortable on the same album speaks volumes) and hungry young producers offering their best tricks.
    • 66 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Crayons
    On Crayons, it’s like no time has passed at all, and of course it hasn't.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Lay It Down
    Now 62, the mighty reverend may not be able to make you spontaneously combust like yesteryear, but damn if he can't still get you in the mood with his third batch of love songs for Blue Note.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    The Devil, You + Me
    Fortunately, The Devil, You + Me shows that the Notwist been keeping their ears to the street and their asses in the studio since releasing 2002's indie-synth breakthrough "Neon Golden."
    • 72 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Swimming
    With catchy choruses (hear "Why, tell me why?/I don't know" once and it won't go away), assured self-production, and lyrics that lean on nobody's pen, it won't be long before people start comparing other bands to French Kicks, instead of the other way around.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    A Thousand Shark's Teeth
    [The album] exude grace and vocal excellence in the realm of Art Garfunkel or Kate Bush--a consequence of the earth-shattering stakes at hand. The rub is that Shark's Teeth is better than good.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Party Intellectuals
    No surprise, Ribot's versatility as a guitarist is the main draw here.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Two Men With The Blues
    Sure, the novelty helps, and if it recurs too often, the glee of hearing Nelson and Marsalis mesh will diminish. But hearing once how they play with and against each other is a real treat.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    The Coral Sea
    Like all of her wordplay--as written, sometimes spontaneously spoken, and occasionally sung--it fits.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Fate
    Highlights of Fate coming back 'round one last time give satisfying closure, but also tease what's coming when it's inevitably cued up again.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Mar Dulce
    No doubt about it, from first note to last, Mar Dulce (loose translation: "the Sweet Sea") is a most tasty dive.
    • 86 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Harps And Angels
    Newman is a master of sardonic humor, be it subtle or slapstick. Harps and Angels is further proof.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Preteen Weaponry
    Weaponry is essential: a particularly overwhelming headphones album not unlike some of Boredoms' more hypnotic work.
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