Reviews

vividly remember hearing 'public strain' by women in high school, forever altering my music taste. this is the only album for me that comes close to competing with kali malone's 'all life long' for aoty. just earworms front to back on this one. hope to see an lp pressing in the future.

just beautiful. perfect meditative music for taking the edge off and shutting out the chaos of living through climate collapse. instant aoty.

it's alice coltrane, pharoah sanders and joe henderson on the same record what do you want me to say? ofc it's great. shut up and go listen. then go listen to journey in satchidananda.

This didn’t work for me at all. Started out fun but overall it’s just horribly monotonous.

Stand out tracks: “Under The Glass” & “Grief In Phantasia”

needed a few listens before i could really formulate an opinion, but for me it's easy to say that vampire weekend are back and better than ever. this is very much in the vein of contra + mvotc, my two favourite releases from them.

"we are so fucking back" as the kids would say .

So Tangk is the Idles album that turns non Idles fans into Idles fans. It’s a post punk equivalent of… imagine if the douche bag who’s been playing with your feelings and leaving you on read suddenly became emotionally available. That how this album feels in the band’s catalogue.

Stand out tracks: “Gift Horse” & “Grace”

They’re back with a lot of new found energy, while still sounding like old timers who aren’t really interested in evolving. I find myself enjoying a couple of songs but overall it’s not an album I would deem necessary in this day and age. Sounds like great fan service, though!

Stand out tracks: “React, Respond” & “Waiting For Stevie”

VICKI LEEKX BITCHES!

Taylor Swift's latest album, "The Tortured Poets Department," is a mixed bag of brilliance and clichés. There's no denying Swift's talent; her songs are charming and subtly elegant. However, the album suffers from occasional generic songwriting and cringy lyrics (I'm looking at you, "The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived"), leaving me frustrated and conflicted.

One of the most significant drawbacks is the album's length. With so many tracks, it's easy to lose interest before reaching the end. It seems as though Taylor Swift's status as a megastar has granted her complete creative control, but sometimes, a little editing (or, in this case, a lot) could go a long way.

What's most perplexing about the album is the simultaneous abundance and… More

👍

Stand out tracks: “Lorelei” & “Femenine”

Swifties approve!

Stand out tracks: “So Long, London” & “Clara Bow”

This is a prime example of a band who has a clear vision from day one. Their debut builds well off the singles and is a fun and challenging record all throughout. The callbacks to glam rock era are very welcome. “Feminine Urge” might be up there in my SOTY lists.

It’s gonna be a big fat yes from me dawg, if Khruangbin got really lost in the desert and maybe encountered an alien or two on the way out

Hyperpop is the most fun genre ever.

All together now: froooooog on the floooooor, where’d he come frooooooom… Brilliant.

Stand out tracks: “mememe” & “Hollywood Baby”

I was a little let down on this album after how promising the singles were. It was too lengthy to the point of become unfocused and meandering at times. Overall, I appreciate the progression he's made since Wild Wet World, as this effort was much less comfortable and pushed the boundaries of sound composition further. He's one of the most unique artists out there now.

Kim Jung Mi's "Now," released in the late 70s during Park Chung-hee’s military dictatorship, stands out to me not only for its serene musicality, but also for its historical significance. The album is starkly different from what we know as "Korean Music" that is heavily manufactured K-pop. It is 'floaty', 'breezy', and very nostaligic in a "The Doors" and Zamrock kind of way. "Haenim," the standout track about basking in the sun, showcases Kim’s mellow vocals paired beautifully with acoustic guitar and string orchestrations.

The album is also notorious for featuring Shin Jung-hyeon’s "Beautiful Rivers and Mountains," a protest song that led to his arrest and torture. This bold choice adds a layer of profound depth to… More

this is by far the weakest installment of her otherwise excellent repertoire of breakup albums, and possibly her weakest release ever … ? Amassing a billion US dollars, self-labeling yourself as tortured, and releasing a gratuitously unedited, pretty boring album full of garage band synth and elementary metaphor (one in which she literally compares herself to Jesus on the cross) does not a poet make

Happy 30th to the greatest rap album of all time.

There's more to this deathgrind than just...grind.

Nice meandering album. The last track had a special dreamy melancholic vibe to it.

All a bit too slick for me.

This is amazing.

More thorough review to come.

Stand out tracks: “Come Together” & “How Sweet Is Your Love”

Fun bops that all sound so similar that if Nia didn't repeat the track titles during the chorus of each song I would be incredibly lost. I listened to this album while I was rock climbing and sent a problem I've been working on for a while though so points for that.

The 19th record from these SF legends. I cannot say that I have listened to all 19, because I haven't, and I'm sure there are some absolute stinkers in the catalog due to large sample size and Gaussian distribution, but this one absolutely hits. Shoegazey math rocky hyper punk goodness. And this one is entirely in Japanese.

I’ve been procrastinating an opinion on this album for weeks now and it’s time to grow some balls and have one. Will I always have an immense soft spot for the early VW that soundtracked my 3am tumblr scrolls - yes, do I think they were better with full time Rostam - maybe, is this still a great album that effectively encapsulates the inner workings of an aging millennial, and was my initial resistance to it also an unwillingness to admit my own descent into adulthood - definitely

These guys are fun as hell, s/o last.fm algo for putting them in my life. Excited to see where they go next.

It’s like the entire world fit into one album. The highs are high, I respect their craft but I won’t be able to rate it too high since it does feel like muzak-y background music at times. Prefer the tracks with vocals

Stand out tracks: “May Ninth” & “Todavia Viva”

I actually like this album more than I expected to, It felt like Beyonce was passing on the torch to younger Black Country artists. (One thing this woman is great at is putting people on because she put me onto Linda Martell the first commercially successful black female country artist.)

Stand out track for me were: "II MOST WANTED," "16 CARRIAGES" "YA YA" and "BODYGUARD."

I was caught off guard with this album—expecting the typical high-energy from tracks like "Bad Gyals" and "Baiana," I found something far more introspective. Initially, I thought I needed more upbeat jungle vibes, but after a few listens, especially on a night drive, I realized the beauty in its softness.

The standout track, "Unfinished Business," with its perfect reprise, beautifully caps off the album, which closes on a nostalgic note. Although it leans heavily on familiar territory and might not explore a broad range of styles, it perfectly captures the essence of new love and comfort.

For those open to a shift, this album is a journey worth taking. Its introspective depths are a refreshing contrast to the artist's… More

I had high hopes for this new JT project just because of the hype surrounding it. Unfortunately, the album felt disappointingly flat. Despite its aim to blend classic tracks with fresh influences, it never quite took off, leaving me searching for the spark that his music usually ignites. It was an underwhelming experience that struggled to capture the vibrant essence of his earlier successes.

This album is the perfect pick for anyone looking to experience a seamless fusion of African and Latin American rhythms. Listen for both the joy of upbeat dance tracks and a deeper appreciation of this legendary band's musical craftsmanship. My favorite tracks are "Nijaay", "Cabral" and "Aline."

Leeds-based English Teachers' eclectic debut album This Could Be Texas grows organically on the listener. The strength lies in the detailed sound landscape, in the unwillingness to adhere to genre conventions, in Lily Fontaine's fantastic lyrics and expression, but perhaps most of all in the musical skills. An epic album by a group of youngsters whose future looks bright.

"They say these would be the best tears of your life"

Blane is continuing to develop, mature, and hone her sound. This EP (almost LP). However, it seems that the collaborators shined over Blane on this EP. "mr useless" is overrated, but "4eva" and "f@ke" have me excited for what's to come next.

Au usual with this guy, it’s not great but not exactly bad either. Just keep wondering who the target audience is for these mellow and slightly pointless muzak sound bites?

Stand out tracks: “Best For You And Me” & “I Just Want To Wake Up With You”

Serving ponytail realness!

Stand out tracks: ”Supernatural” & ”Eternal Sunshine”

These guys are weird and it’s not the good kind of weird.

Stand out tracks: “Exotic Bop” & “Take Me To Your Leader”

So, this was unnecessary.

Stand out tracks: “Let’s Go Dancing” & “Starlings”

I want Matt Houck to hold my hand all through 2024.

Granted, most Phosphorescent albums sound alike (and Revelator does lack an obvious song of particular greatness like “Song For Zula” or “C’est La Vie No. 2”) but it doesn’t really matter when this album feels like you’re being wrapped up in a warm, cozy blanket and you’re allowed to cry as much as you want. Well done. As usual.

Stand out tracks: “Revelator” & “A Poem On The Men’s Room Wall”

A slightly less experimental progression for Jlin has her exploring new genre fusion and heightened levels of club energy. It's calculated chaos that's never losing sight of what the album is as a whole. I can only imagine the experience of this record live.

You could fill a whole back of double-stuff oreos with all the fluff on this record.