XLR8r's Scores

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For 387 reviews, this publication has graded:
  • 64% higher than the average critic
  • 3% same as the average critic
  • 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: 100 Awake
Lowest review score: 20 Audio, Video, Disco
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 354 out of 387
  2. Mixed: 31 out of 387
  3. Negative: 2 out of 387
387 music reviews
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    • 93 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Room 25
    With the lyrical talent she shows in places here, the more Noname challenges herself--the deeper she delves into her own mind--the more fascinating, stimulating, and thought-provoking her music will become.
    • 90 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Spaces
    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."
    • 88 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Journey of the Deep Sea Dweller, Vol. 1
    Whether you're an old fan of Drexciya or you've just arrived late to the party, Journey of the Deep Sea Dweller I is about as close to an essential compilation as you're going to get.
    • 88 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Kindred [EP]
    Throughout the Kindred EP, Burial seems curious to discover the perfect balance between gritty atmospheres and dusk-lit club music.
    • 88 Metascore
    • 65 Critic Score
    You're Dead!
    For an LP about the infinite unknown, it isn't that meditative or self-aware. Where Cosmogramma and Los Angeles made plot secondary, You're Dead! forces its cast to bend to an unwieldy storyline that ultimately only makes complete sense inside Ellison's head.
    • 87 Metascore
    • 85 Critic Score
    Fetch
    The music grows in richness with ritual, an evolution from the material scarcity and obscurity of Basic Channel releases.
    • 87 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Cocoon Crush
    Everything from the album’s sharp, shimmering opulence (its cover could be a still from Annihilation) to its thematic interactions between machine and being align it with Garland’s apocalyptic work. Objekt--whether artist, producer or mad professor--is on top of his game, and his latest creation is as beautiful as it is powerful.
    • 87 Metascore
    • 85 Critic Score
    Virgins
    In the end, Virgins only adds to the artist's growing legacy; it's another triumph for Hecker that once again strikes a resounding chord that not many ambient records can.
    • 86 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Hollowed
    There's a cohesiveness here hard to miss, an emotionally-charged aura and elegantly precise feel that runs from Hollowed's surging opening notes to its final, poignant fade.
    • 86 Metascore
    • 85 Critic Score
    New Energy
    New Energy finally feels like an album that is truly unique, and characteristic of Hebden’s style. An artist comfortable with his tools.
    • 86 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Syro
    Admittedly, Syro will probably not win over a new generation of fans like the Richard D. James album once did, but as a continuation of everything that has made Aphex Twin compelling, it's a triumph.
    • 86 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Luxury Problems
    Luxury Problems may not be as unbelievably mysterious and engrossing as his pair of 2011 EPs, We Stay Together and Passed Me By, but his craft is just as sharp here, and the results just as worthy of intense, continuous listening.
    • 86 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Space Is Only Noise
    Space Is Only Noise might be one of the most ear-opening techno records in recent memory.
    • 85 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Shaking the Habitual
    Regardless of whether they're successful or not isn't quite the point; what makes Shaking the Habitual so important is that The Knife used an important moment in their own history to truly subvert the hierarchy that both the band and the album exist in. Thankfully, they also wrote some near-perfect music in the process.
    • 85 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Knock Knock
    A record notable not only for its considerable length (16 tracks) but its sense of cohesion and staggering brilliance.
    • 85 Metascore
    • 85 Critic Score
    Glass
    On reflection, Glass exemplifies what a beautifully mysterious form ambient improvisation can be.
    • 85 Metascore
    • 85 Critic Score
    Atrocity Exhibition
    That Atrocity Exhibition sounds like neither backpack rap, hipster drivel nor dull trap, but something fresh that stands on its own is itself to be applauded. But that it’s so damn good too puts it among the best hip-hop albums in years.
    • 85 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Livity Sound
    As much as Livity Sound has something for everyone, there's no denying how carefully defined a sound these three have honed.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 85 Critic Score
    µ20
    µ20 is a summary, a quick history lesson, and a celebration building upon itself. It might bypass some of Planet Mu’s finest moments—instead, the compilation aims to highlight the history of artists most likely to be around for Planet Mu’s future.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    This Is Happening
    The new record doesn't quite live up to its predecessor, but its middle third is especially strong.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Fabriclive 67: Ben UFO
    Thanks to his savvy techniques and careful placement, his penchant for the far-out fringes of dance music doesn't seem weird at all, but delightfully intriguing.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Excavation
    The LP's strength is in that undecidedness. When he leans too far to one side, which actually doesn't happen all that often, the album can feel mournful or facile.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 85 Critic Score
    Singularity
    Although it's possible to pick out this individual highlight, it’s when you take in the record in one sitting--with its subtle shifts of mood, highs, and lows--that you arrive on the other side mentally revived.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Our Love
    With Our Love, Snaith largely succeeds in bridging the two worlds, crafting radio-friendly cuts that can't be mistaken for the work anyone but Caribou.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Heirlooms
    Aju's adventurous boundary pushes are again a valuable addition to the Circus Company discography.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Sommer
    It's an evocative work, one that brings forth intense visual imagery.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Jummy
    What it may lack in sound system-minded sonics it makes up for with its distinctive mix of cacophonous rhythms and touches of warped soul that result in what is, simply put, an accomplished debut LP full of inventive house music.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Incubation
    Disregarding the CD's tacked-on bonus cuts, what takes place between the record's two "Voiceprint"s is a richly detailed, time-dilating set from a producer who can make the most out of narrow limitations.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Panorama Bar, Vol. 05
    Panorama Bar 05, the latest offering, is a consistently well-crafted snapshot of the dancefloor as presided over by long-time resident DJ Steffi.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Black Jazz Signature
    Black Jazz Signature seems intended to shepherd people toward the Black Jazz reissue series. It no doubt does a terrific job doing just that, but it stands nicely by itself as a personal "best of" and a great DJ mix. Fans of Parrish--and anyone receptive to this sort of jazz, really--will very likely appreciate what's on offer here.
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