Mike Powell

Mike Powell’s album reviews that count toward B-Side Breakdowns: 19 reviews, going back to 2010, each next to the album’s Breakdown.

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Writes for

What they review

  • Indie & Alternative 53%
  • Rock 11%
  • Folk, Country & Americana 11%
  • R&B & Soul 11%

Find Mike Powell

By the numbers

2A-Sides reviewed, the albums the critics rate highest
1album given a perfect score
8years of their reviews we track, 2010 to 2017
How their scores spread
  • 0–492
  • 50s0
  • 60s4
  • 70s4
  • 80s7
  • 90+2

Their favorites

  1. PixiesSurfer Rosa 100 Pitchfork
  2. Frank OceanChannel Orange 90 Spin
  3. Father John MistyI Love You, Honeybear 88 Pitchfork
  4. Vampire WeekendContra 86 Pitchfork
  5. Courtney BarnettSometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit 86 Pitchfork

Artists they keep coming back to

Their scores for each artist, in release order.

A-Sides they reviewed

2 albums that earned an A-Side, the critics’ top tier; they scored 2 of them 75 or higher.

Every review

Outlet
Bob DylanTriplicate“*Triplicate, *again, features Dylan singing tunes from the Great American Songbook. His voice is filled with character, though the cumulative impact of the 30-song set is somewhat dimmed.”Pitchfork via Wikipedia65 6.5/10802017
Animal CollectivePainting WithPitchfork via Wikipedia62 6.2/10702016
Father John MistyI Love You, Honeybear“I Love You, Honeybear, Josh Tillman's second full-length as Father John Misty, is by turns passionate and disillusioned, tender and angry, so cynical it's repulsive and so openhearted it hurts.”Pitchfork via Wikipedia88 8.8/10872015
Leonard CohenPopular Problems“Popular Problems is Cohen's second album in the past two years. As with 2012's Old Ideas, its best songs feel naked and hymn-like but are restrained by an underlying mystery—he…”Pitchfork via Wikipedia76 7.6/10842014
LambchopNixonPitchfork via Wikipedia83 8.3/10842014
HaimDays Are Gone“8SPIN Rating: 8 of 10Release Date: September 30, 2013Label: ColumbiaHaim are a band of three sisters from Los Angeles who make cool, wholesome pop-rock”Spin via Wikipedia80 8/10792013
The WeekndKiss Land“Check out our album review of Artist's Kiss Land on Rolling Stone.com.”Rolling Stone via Wikipedia40 2/5582013
EditorsThe Weight of Your LoveRolling Stone via Wikipedia30 1.5/5492013
Vampire WeekendModern Vampires of the City“8SPIN Rating: 8 of 10Release Date: May 14, 2013Label: XLHalfway through Vampire Weekend's third album, on a hushed, mysterious song called "Hannah Hunt,”Spin via Wikipedia80 8/10852013
Atoms for PeaceAmok“6SPIN Rating: 6 of 10Release Date: February 26, 2013Label: XLLet us begin with praise for the man known to the government as Michael Peter Balzary, but to”Spin via Wikipedia60 6/10752013
Frank OceanChannel Orange“9SPIN Rating: 9 of 10Release Date: July 17, 2012Label: Def JamIf you are one of the thousands of Americans wondering why the R&B singer Frank Ocean is”Spin via Wikipedia90 9/10892012
Leonard CohenOld Ideas“Leonard Cohen's 12th studio LP is a spare, low-key album rooted in blues and gospel– maybe the closest thing he's made to "folk" music since the early 1970s.”Pitchfork via Wikipedia74 7.4/10812012
MetallicaLulu“6SPIN Rating: 6 of 10Release Date: November 01, 2011Label: Warner Bros. Though it seems an unlikely collaboration, both artists involved here share the”Spin via Wikipedia60 6/10482011
Vampire WeekendContraPitchfork via Wikipedia86 8.6/10782010
Damon AlbarnEveryday RobotsPitchfork via Wikipedia70 7.0/1079
Pistol AnniesInterstate Gospel“On their third album as a group, country singer-songwriters Miranda Lambert, Ashley Monroe, and Angaleena Presley offer full-blooded portraits of women who struggle, get revenge, and soldier on.”Pitchfork via Wikipedia80 8.0/1081
BeckOne Foot in the GravePitchfork via Wikipedia78 7.8/1076
Courtney BarnettSometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just SitPitchfork via Wikipedia86 8.6/1090
PixiesSurfer RosaPitchfork via Wikipedia100 10/1098

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