Really enjoyed this one! It’s a light little indie rock record and all the songs are fun and easy to listen to. The consistency really surprised me because I had no idea what this would be like before I listened.

I haven’t listened to an album in full in over a year and this one was a really good one to break that drought! Mainly the instrumentals on this thing really blow me away at times, especially on any song featuring strings. Besides that, the writing is great and very emotional and the album is surprisingly consistent with its quality; it doesn’t really have a discernible weak spot if you ignore individual songs. Give it a listen, it’s only 45 mins!

With the passing of Damo Suzuki, I felt it was only right to relisten to my favorite Can album.

Tago Mago is a trip, a descent into madness. It starts with a fairly straightforward and VERY fun krautrock song, Paperhouse, which makes you expect the rest to be fairly similar, but no, it’s the complete opposite, which is why the listening experience is so unique and exciting. Rest in peace, Damo Suzuki.

Paperhouse - 5*
Mushroom - 5
Oh Yeah - 5
Halleluwah - 5*
Aumgn - 5
Peking O - 5*
Being ... read more

Why? I mean, I appreciate that Little Simz is trying out new sounds, but is the sound any good? Not really.

Mood Swings - 5
Fever - 1
Torch - 4
SOS - 2
I Ain’t Feelin It - 4
Power - 3
Far Away - 4

5.0/10

One of the most emotionally devastating albums I have ever heard. “Death is real, someone’s there and then they’re not” is the most effective way I’ve seen anybody convey the sense of loss.

Real Death - 5**
Seaweed - 5*
Ravens - 5*
Forest Fire - 5
Swims - 5
My Chasm - 5*
When I Take Out the Garbage at Night - 5
Emptiness, Pt. 2 - 5
Toothbrush / Trash - 5*
Sophia Moria - 5*
Crow - 5*

10/10

XO sacrifices some of the simplicity seen in Elliott’s last three albums for a more sonically expansive, better produced, and catchier album. I had minor problems with Either/Or, which is why I rated it a 9.5/10, but wow, I can’t name a single thing wrong with this one. Actual perfection.

Sweet Adeline - 5
Tomorrow Tomorrow - 5
Waltz, No. 2 (XO) - 5*
Baby Britain - 5*
Pitseleh - 5
Independence Day - 5*
Bled White - 5*
Waltz, No. 1 - 5
Amity - 5
Oh Well, OK - 5
Bottle Up and ... read more

This album is so perfect and intricate in every single tiny detail that I literally cannot name a single thing wrong with it. Maybe the closer is a bit unnecessary??… No, probably not. I need a couple minutes to recollect my thoughts on this MASTERPIECE.

Intro - 5
Svefn-g-englar - 5*
Starálfur - 5**
Flugufrelsarinn - 5**
Ný batterí - 5*
Hjartað hamast (bamm bamm bamm) - 5*
Viðrar vel til loftárása - 5
Olsen olsen - 5
Ágætis bryjun ... read more

Either/Or is pretty much THE quintessential singer-songwriter album of the 90s, and for good reason: it’s short, sweet, beautiful, and has no bad songs. Easily a masterpiece.

Speed Trials - 5*
Alameda - 5*
Ballad of Big Nothing - 5
Between the Bars - 5*
Pictures of Me - 4
No Name No. 5 - 5
Rose Parade - 5
Punch And Judy - 5
Angeles - 5
Cupid’s Trick - 4
2:45 AM - 4
Say Yes - 5

9.5/10

This is one of my favorite albums of all time. The album is a blissful, noisy, hazy experience that has some of my favorite songs of all time on it, like Beautiful World, White Ceiling, Age of Fluctuation, and Chicken. To think that a 20 year old in his bedroom made a shoegaze masterpiece like this just baffles me.

Beautiful World - 5**
Excuse - 5*
Analog Sentimentalism - 5
White Ceiling - 5**
To See the Next Part of the Dream - 5
Age of Fluctuation - 5**
Youth Rebellion - 5*
Extra Story - ... read more

Not feeling this one, sorry.

I loved the last Smile album, but I feel like this one is just way too stripped back and uneventful compared to A Light for Attracting Attention. I don’t find it all too compelling in general, but other people love this album, so don’t let my opinion sway you from listening to it.

Wall of Eyes - 3
Teleharmonic - 3
Read the Room - 5
Under Our Pillows - 3
Friend of a Friend - 4
I Quit - 3
Bending Hectic - 5
You Know Me! - 3

5.0/10

This album started out pretty slow/weak with the first four songs, but quickly got much better. Obviously, this isn’t as great as most of Radiohead’s work, but it’s a good, well put together continuation of their sound that I think everyone should at least give a chance.

The Same - 4
The Opposite - 4
You Will Never Work In Television Again - 4
Pana-Vision - 4
The Smoke - 5
Speech Bubbles - 5
Thin Thing - 5
Open the Floodgates - 5
Free In the Knowledge - 5*
A Hairdryer - ... read more

Predating Laughing Stock by an entire decade, The Ascension is a no-wave must-hear that created the basis for genres like post-rock and had a significant contribution to noise rock. It’s intense, exciting, and enthralling for all 2,532 seconds of its length.

Lesson No. 2 - 4
The Spectacular Commodity - 5*
Structure - 4
Light Field - 5
The Ascension - 5*

9.0/10

Elliott Smith’s self-titled is still just as simple as his debut album, but is much better produced and a lot more consistent. It’s light, it’s short, and it also just happens to be very enjoyable.

Needle In the Hay - 4
Christian Brothers - 5
Clementine - 5
Southern Belle - 5
Single File - 5
Coming Up Roses - 5
Satellite - 3
Alphabet Town - 4
St. Ides Heaven - 5
Good to Go - 5
The White Lady Loves You More - 5
The Biggest Lie - 5

9.0/10

It’s not perfect but it’s still pretty good! I wish I liked this album more, but Elliott’s future music is so much more engaging and exciting than most of the stuff on Roman Candle.

Roman Candle - 5
Condor Ave - 5
No Name #1 - 5
No Name #2 - 5
No Name #3 - 4
Drive All Over Town - 3
No Name #4 - 4
Last Call - 5
Kiwi Maddog 20/20 - 5

7.5/10

I’m too impressed by this to even be bothered to write a review. Read up on the Genius page for this album, then you’ll truly understand how much of a masterpiece this is.

Man Proposes, God Disposes - 5*
Reiterations - 5*
Privilege of Being - 5
Margin For Error - 5**
The Commercial Nude - 5*
The Reclining Nude - 5*
We Think So Ill of You - 5*
God, or Whatever You Call It - 5*

10/10

Turns out, when you try to mix two polar opposite genres in your songs, your songs aren’t that good! This is extremely longwinded, not just as an album, but the individual tracks as well. Sprain sound best when they’re at either end of the noise rock/slowcore extremes, not somewhere in between.

Slant - 4
My Way Out - 1
Worship House - 5
Everything - 4
Constant Hum - 4

6/10

I refuse to believe that this was made by the same guys that made The Lamb As Effigy. Sprain’s self titled EP is a pretty great slowcore album, the obvious highlights are Anything and Deliver Us, but the rest of the songs are pretty good too!

True Norwegian Black Metal - 4
Anything - 5
No One’s Home - 5
Deliver Us - 5*
Snowing - 4

8.0/10

An improvement from the debut in many aspects (immersiveness, writing, etc.), but I feel like glass beach reuse a handful of musical tropes throughout this, making a lot of the tracks feel the sameish, which I found to be a lesser problem on the previous album. commatose and abyss angel are two of the best songs they’ve released yet.

coelacanth - 5
motions - 5
slip under the door - 4
guitar song - 5
rare animal - 4
cul-de-sac - 4
whalefall - 4
puppy - 3
the killer - 5
the CIA - 5
200 - ... read more

I got drained in more ways than one.

AAA Powerline - 4
Peroxide - 5*
Fragile - 5
Bliss Fields - 5
Fruit Bleed Juice - 4
Cc - 5
Calcium - 5
Sugar & Diesel - 5
Don’t Ask - 3
Security! - 5*
Time - 5
Blue Eyes - 5

9.0/10

The first two tracks and the title track are easily my favorites, but the album as a whole is surprisingly fun, enjoyable and creative! The interludes are relaxing and well placed and the album’s pacing as a whole is great, although I do think that it runs a bit too long.

classic j dies and goes to hell part 1 - 5*
bedroom community - 5*
(forever?????????) - 5
bone skull - 3
neon glow - 5
cold weather - 5
calico - 4
glass beach - 5*
(blood rivers) - 5
dallas - 5
(rat castle) - ... read more