XLR8r's Scores
- Music
For 387 reviews, this publication has graded:
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64% higher than the average critic
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3% same as the average critic
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33% lower than the average critic
On average, this publication grades 2.8 points higher than other critics.
(0-100 point scale)
Average Music review score: 76
Highest review score: | Awake | |
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Lowest review score: | Audio, Video, Disco |
Score distribution:
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Positive: 354 out of 387
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Mixed: 31 out of 387
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Negative: 2 out of 387
387
music
reviews
- By Date
- By Critic Score
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- Critic Score
Tycho's new album only has eight songs on it, but each one is like its own laid-back journey through time, with probably the coolest dude ever as your spirit guide. That's like super classic album status right there.- XLR8r
- Posted Apr 1, 2014
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- XLR8r
- Posted Mar 17, 2014
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- Critic Score
While there very well could be a single or two from this record that eventually does break through to join the current wave of club crossover hits, Glow, as an album, does not live up to its promise, regardless of whether it's evaluated in "mainstream" or "underground" terms.- XLR8r
- Posted Mar 11, 2014
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Listening to Wave 1, there appears to have been no grand overhaul during the time Haley has spent on semi-lockdown, but neither has there been total creative stasis.- XLR8r
- Posted Feb 18, 2014
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- Critic Score
Ultimately, only time will tell, but as things stand now, his Death After Life LP is unquestionably a strong and inventive first full-length.- XLR8r
- Posted Feb 11, 2014
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- Critic Score
Illum Sphere's debut LP may be an elegantly produced collection of noir beat vignettes, but his next one could be a whole lot more.- XLR8r
- Posted Feb 10, 2014
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- XLR8r
- Posted Feb 7, 2014
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- Critic Score
While this is a challenging, compelling record from a singular producer, it is a less exploratory effort than we've come to expect from her.- XLR8r
- Posted Feb 6, 2014
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- Critic Score
As a series, Pop Ambient may gradually be losing its vitality, but its musical perspective does not have to. Moving forward, an adjustment to the delivery platform would do much to make Pop Ambient's sound more relevant.- XLR8r
- Posted Jan 28, 2014
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- Critic Score
The LP has a padded running time; 52 minutes is a long-ish album by any measure, but this one could have benefited from some serious editing.- XLR8r
- Posted Jan 28, 2014
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Though his misses may make Ghettoville appear lopsided and drab, every on-point production buried in the heap makes mucking through Cunningham's warped ideas rewarding work.- XLR8r
- Posted Jan 27, 2014
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- Critic Score
Fabriclive 73 has a formidable sense of both style and consistency--qualities that don't necessarily ooze glamor, but are slowly and steadily carving out new territory in the interstices of rapidly collapsing genres.- XLR8r
- Posted Jan 22, 2014
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With over 30 releases this year alone, L.I.E.S. isn't always an easy label to keep up with, but the embarrassment of riches contained within Music for Shut-Ins suggests that the effort may well be worth it.- XLR8r
- Posted Dec 20, 2013
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Minor complaints aside, Hardcourage is an excellent effort, and, if the crossover attempts prove successful, it just might be the album that gets a wider audience talking about FaltyDL.- XLR8r
- Posted Dec 17, 2013
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In the end, his attempt to tackle the alienating, intense feelings related to this subject turns out to not only be insightful and emotional, but oddly graceful as well.- XLR8r
- Posted Dec 17, 2013
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More so than any of his other releases, Burial seems to have something to say throughout Rival Dealer, and that message helps tie together the record's diverse 28 minutes and give its three tracks the impact of a full-length album.- XLR8r
- Posted Dec 17, 2013
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At a time when dance music's past is often treated with elegiac reverence, the fact that Re-Engineering takes a clever, witty, and irreverent approach to its influences feels bracing rather than tired.- XLR8r
- Posted Dec 16, 2013
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Zunkuft may be even more sleep-inducing than the average ambient album, but it's worth admiring for its robust, and not humorless, conceptual solidity.- XLR8r
- Posted Dec 5, 2013
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- Critic Score
The LP's 11 tracks play like a string of variations on two or three ideas, but most of Murray's and Smith's experimenting is strong enough that Syndrome Syndrome sounds more like a collection of singles written by a veteran outfit dedicated to perfecting one beloved sound.- XLR8r
- Posted Dec 5, 2013
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- Critic Score
Van Hoesen does leave some room for improv, but it's a bit too low-key to feel like anything's at stake.- XLR8r
- Posted Dec 5, 2013
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- Critic Score
Knowing what he is capable of with his band, though, one can't help but feel a little unfulfilled by his solo effort. If anything, SUM/ONE's moments of constriction emphasize how vital the expansive jam aspect is to Gang Gang Dance.- XLR8r
- Posted Dec 5, 2013
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Psutka's production on A/B Till Infinity is evocative and daring, and combines a future-oriented polish with an austere sense of simplicity, solidifying Egyptrixx's distinctiveness amongst a new crop of surface-obsessed underground producers.- XLR8r
- Posted Dec 3, 2013
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Despite clocking in at under 15 minutes, the plethora of ideas Teengirl Fantasy displays on Nun shows that the pair is unwilling to rest on its laurels and ultimately represents a bold step forward.- XLR8r
- Posted Nov 26, 2013
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Spaces is still a wonderful document of the powerful force that Nils Frahm is as a performer. At the same time, the album in some ways seems like a missed opportunity--no one has questioned the man's ability as a live act (quite the opposite, actually), so the record can't help coming off like a bit of a "gimme."- XLR8r
- Posted Nov 21, 2013
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As much as Livity Sound has something for everyone, there's no denying how carefully defined a sound these three have honed.- XLR8r
- Posted Nov 20, 2013
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Talabot's DJ-Kicks proves to be an essential listen, not only because it is an immaculate mix in its own right--one which moves swiftly through a graceful arc--but also because there is just so much vital music to take in over the course of its 70-plus minutes.- XLR8r
- Posted Nov 18, 2013
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The EP is an exhausting listen, one that offers an experience of immersion, not itemization. Autechre hasn't lost a step, and this EP is certainly memorable.- XLR8r
- Posted Oct 31, 2013
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Chance of Rain will likely prove less controversial than Quarantine, but by no means is it a less challenging record.- XLR8r
- Posted Oct 28, 2013
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- Critic Score
Wenu Wenu's success lies in its ability to cleave memorable passages from homogenized surroundings.- XLR8r
- Posted Oct 23, 2013
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- XLR8r
- Posted Oct 22, 2013
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