DIY Magazine's Scores

  • Music
For 3,080 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:
3080 music reviews
    • 79 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    While the album is certainly softer in sound, it never plays it safe - experimental pay-offs are peppered throughout.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    SAP
    On the album’s most transcendental moments, its slow pace tires like the midsection of a dissertation, but nonetheless its beauty and melancholia is infectious.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    A record that plays like an unwieldy and unravelling ode to all the twists and turns of Brockhampton’s journey.
    • 87 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    The music is the same gorgeous blend of folk-rock in the vein of Joni Mitchell and Stevie Nicks as on previous albums, and indeed, many of the song titles, such as ‘Children of the Empire’, feel lifted from the dusty cover of a forgotten LP of ballads.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    The resultant ‘Tropical Gothclub’ is so polished and pristine that the only pity is that it didn’t come sooner. Given the pantheon of rock stars he’s bolstered over the years, Dean has finally earned a little slice of time in his own limelight.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Synths bloom like the early morning rays of the sun, reaching out to a lover lost in the darkness. ‘Tu sais ce qu’il me faut’ celebrates seduction as he lusts over a beau; the way they walk, the way they dance, their body is celebrated in all its glory.
    • 86 Metascore
    • 100 Critic Score
    ‘Loud Without Noise’ is flawless. Wildly ambitious, it works to showcase perfectly why the Merseysiders have garnered such a fervent fanbase to date – and just how far they could go.
    • 86 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Much of Cavetown’s fifth album is as one would expect. ... However then arrives ‘a kind thing to do’ - featuring Pierce The Veil’s Vic Fuentes - which plays with punk-pop revival tropes in captivating ways.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    ‘Endure’ marks Special Interest’s debut for Rough Trade and manages to plant a foot in both worlds - the resolutely uncompromising punks of old, and a band capable of infiltrating at least the more alternative end of the radio - with gusto.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    The witching hour is here, and ‘Miss Power’ is mesmerising.
    • 85 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    A truly seminal record, ‘Ultra Truth’ is a radiant voyage for Daniel Avery, and for everyone who dares join him for the experience.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Their most ambitious work to date, ‘Myself In The Way’ sees them enter a new world of expansive sound.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    A record of warm and soaring pop-rock that still manages to both delight and intrigue, ‘Palomino’ is the sound of a duo still roaming new territory, but feeling more confident than ever.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    ‘MK 3.5’ is an often unwieldy and curiously warming project that sees both contributors embrace discomfort in their art.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    ‘Alpha Zulu’ is a fun record, on which the creators’ own enjoyment is audibly palpable.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    It’s the most eclectic punk record to emerge in ages, and even though it incorporates elements that might seem incongruous in a style that thrives off its simplicity, they’re carried off with enough class for it to sound intriguing rather than jarring. In fact, there’s a refreshing elegance about the whole thing.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    There’s nothing particularly new here from Fred bar minor switches into previously unexplored electronic styles, but it still boasts some of his best tracks yet.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Listening to ‘Cave World’ is akin to dipping your whole body in murky, warm sea water - you feel blinded and a little bit disgusted, but overall excited to explore your new surroundings.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    There’s a pop sensibility never far from Maya and her collaborators (co-produced by Okkervil River’s Benjamin Lazar Davis, with credits too for bandmate Will Graefe, and fellow folky soul Christian Lee Hutson) that gives the record a well-masked determined nature, simultaneously familiar and exciting.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Embracing her musical kindred spirits, ‘Makes Me Sick…’ isn’t just a rehash of her idols, it’s a natural successor.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Cynicism at the door, ‘Doggerel’ is an enjoyable – and exciting – listen.
    • 85 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Not an easy listen - as one might expect - but definitely a rich, rewarding one.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Ultimately, ‘Nymph’ is a climax – a culmination of years of experimental foreplay – that puts Shygirl on the map as one of the UK’s freshest voices. It honours the altar at which Shygirl was born, but gently trickles into an adjacent brook, to where we might see her next.
    • 87 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    On ‘hugo’, Loyle Carner proves his willingness to take risks and it pays off. While it feels like we’re still waiting on a total knockout from him, his lyrical progress and appetite for new sonic territories on ‘hugo’ suggests he’s verging ever closer.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 80 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.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    The soundscapes on ‘The Loneliest Time’ may not be as grandiose, or as sugar-coated as we’re used to from her, but that doesn’t mean the feelings aren’t still a lot. ‘The Loneliest Time’ is definitely Carly’s most introspective album.
    • 85 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Jack Antonoff’s fingerprints are easy to spot. The producer layers Taylor’s intimate stories with electronic drums that push certain moments to understated crescendos.
    • 87 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    A vulnerable, accomplished but, most importantly, empowering debut.
    • 85 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    It’s unlikely to win over the naysayers, but, for those already enamoured with their kitchen sink Dadaism, ‘Stumpwork’ is yet more magic from Dry Cleaning.
    • 88 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    ‘Angels & Queens – Part I’ is nothing if not an intense listen.