DIY Magazine's Scores

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For 3,076 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: 100 Not to Disappear
Lowest review score: 20 Let It Reign
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2,172 out of 3076
  2. Mixed: 891 out of 3076
  3. Negative: 13 out of 3076
3076 music reviews
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    • 69 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT: THE ANTHOLOGY
    In sound, it sits somewhere between the sparse nature of ‘folklore’ and the overt pop of ‘Midnights’, across its two hours settling into a steady pace that forgoes massive fan favourites in favour of a continuous pull on the heartstrings. The issue with a two-hour album is that you’re not going to hit the mark on every track (no song should have three exclamation marks in the title), and it’s tricky to keep momentum when the name of the game is introspective storytelling.
    • 83 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    This Ain't the Way You Go Out
    The jazz-imbued one-two of ‘Light As Grass’ and ‘Could You Help Me’ gives the record a rich introduction, while ‘Sail Away’ descends into a heady, dance-tinged mist; by the time the funky gratitude of ‘The Racket’ closes proceedings (“I won’t let you bring me down”), it’s hard not to be in awe of the scale of her growth and transformation in every sense of the word.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    I'M DOING IT AGAIN BABY!
    In doubling down on her niche - that is, artsy Scandi-indie-pop - ’I’M DOING IT AGAIN BABY!’ is girl in red at her most realised.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Up On Gravity Hill
    Perhaps best of all is how direct the whole thing is, typified by ‘Glass Eye’, on which the outfit’s uncompromising sound brings sonic clarity while sporadic backing vocals offer classic ‘90s boyband echoes. A solid record.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    ABOMINATION
    ‘Abomination’ is a singular debut and quintessential cultural capsule - of both post-post-punk and gay modernity - from one of the UK’s most fearless off-piste queer acts.
    • 90 Metascore
    • 100 Critic Score
    This Could Be Texas
    The picture it paints as a whole is a hugely rich one - not just of the album itself, but of English Teacher as the opposite of a flash-in-the-pan buzz band; as a group really only just getting started.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Our Brand Could Be Yr Life
    Now, the scuzz and rough edges of their younger selves is swapped out for the fizz and crackle of these vital reworkings, which take in some of their most varied sounds to date; in amongst the usual post-punk vigour are hints of shoegaze, psychedelia and - on the standout ‘Major Amberson’ - melodic pop.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Silence Is Loud
    There’s a slight irony in the fact that an album so jam-packed is entitled ‘Silence Is Loud’, but the remarkable feat of Nia Archives’ debut is that it somehow never feels too much or too choppy; for all its referential nods and sonic variation, this is still a project that is cohesively, distinctly her.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Don't Forget Me
    ‘Don’t Forget Me’ is the sound of an artist finally beginning to sink cosily into her own skin, and enjoying herself enormously in the process.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Found Heaven
    ‘Found Heaven’ does, at times, feel a bit like you could play ‘iconic ‘80s songs’ bingo. .... But, when his influences are worn as heart-on-sleeve as they are here – and, crucially, are executed as well – the overall effect is one of knowing homage rather than tribute act.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Older
    A luscious album that sees the singer shrug off the pressures of present day virality in favour of creating something much more classic.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    angeltape
    While better executed at certain points than others, the band’s varied selection of instrumental textures remains a defining feature; from the riff-driven frenzy of ‘Talking Radiance’ to the minimalist, piano-led touch of ‘Venus’, there’s an inharmonious harmony that pervades.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Humble As The Sun
    Bob Vylan still have a lot to be furious about, but ‘Humble As The Sun’ is a winning exercise in shifting focus; after all, as the old saying goes, the best revenge is living well.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Deeper Well
    There’s an altogether calmer atmosphere on display here, that in its beauty forgoes some of the immediacy that characterised her earlier catalogue’s stand-out moments.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Ohio Players
    Because ‘You’ll Pay’, ‘Read Em And Weep’, ‘Only Love’, ‘Fever Tree’ (a charming cover of William Bell’s ‘I Forgot To Be Your Lover’), and ‘Don’t Let Me Go’ are all peppered with a shimmering strut, and the kind of euphoria that’s surely only a well-filmed choreo sequence away from the kind of virality enjoyed by Jungle of late. And this is a lane that fits The Black Keys like a glove.
    • 88 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Only God Was Above Us
    So, taking all the wide-eyed playfulness of their earlier work, and the confidence in creating a sonic tapestry of their latter, ‘Only God Was Above Us’ is both their most accomplished and most Vampire Weekend album yet.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    All Quiet on the Eastern Esplanade
    Even the weakest Libs composition is a standard many British songwriters can only aspire to, to this day. If nothing else, it’s heartwarming that the story is still unfolding for the Likely Lads.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Live Laugh Love
    By opening up their songwriting process, the band have managed to carve out an even more singular sound. The possibilities from here seem endless.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    girlfriend material
    A well-rounded collection of songs, ‘Girlfriend Material’ shows Lauren as an artist coming into her own, and her enjoyment shines through in her music.
    • 87 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Bright Future
    Brave in its deeply honest expression, it’s a beautiful record that tactfully captures the often confusing and contradicting feelings when truly in love.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Real Power
    ‘Real Power’ sits around the mid-tempo rather than going hell for leather as they may have done in younger years. Far from a slip into the middle of the road however, they find new ways to make it interesting.
    • 89 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Tigers Blood
    More than anything, ‘Tigers Blood’ is a refinement of the blueprint laid down by ‘Saint Cloud’, and a showcase of Katie at the peak of her powers.
    • 85 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    For Your Consideration
    A post-break-up sexual revolution decorated with metaphor and sonic experimentation, that’s both dizzyingly unique and creatively assertive, this is a comeback that demands accolade.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Caprisongs [Mixtape]
    Sitting somewhere between say Beyoncé’s auteur-like use of collaborators on ‘Lemonade’ and how Grimes’ ‘Art Angels’ saw the contrary Canadian flex shimmering, glossy pop nous, ‘Caprisongs’ has twigs throwing out hooks left, right and centre.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 100 Critic Score
    Bleachers
    Steeped in blissful American nostalgia, Bleachers’ sublime self-titled fourth studio album embodies it all, from the rolling vistas to the warmth of distant city lights, at once watching the world pass by and deeply cemented in a moment. It’s rare for an album to capture a feeling so intensely, promoting a universal recognition through something so intrinsically linked to an individual’s time and place.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Glasgow Eyes
    Between the excitement of the new on ‘Glasgow Eyes’ and the presence of the more classic, indie rock side of the band on tracks like ‘The Eagles and The Beatles’, the band appear to have tapped into a rich new vein of songwriting form. On this evidence, here’s to the next forty.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    The Collective
    By the album’s end - thanks, in part, to the droning noise and scuffed beats on closer ‘Dream Dollar’ - there’s a definite sense of the walls closing in. Here the distance Kim Gordon has forged, both across the album and throughout her career, is falling away - and the gap between music and art seems smaller than ever.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Liam Gallagher John Squire
    An intriguing side project that adds to the pair’s already storied careers.
    • 83 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Playing Favorites
    There’s a fine line between using a formula and sticking to it, and it’s the smart way in which Sheer Mag do the former that makes ‘Playing Favorites’ so enthralling.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Underdressed at the Symphony
    While it does see Faye and her band at their most musically warm and open - nearly every track is a devastating beauty - lyrically she feels more closed off than ever before.
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