This guy drops at least an album a year and it is always fucking brilliant. Within varying levels of understanding of jazz, I'm admittedly not the most versed in the practice but this one hits just right as to my understanding right now.

There's something about our current world that a saxophone describes perfectly, and fuck he knows how to say it. Making this the best record I've heard this year.

can't help but feel every joyous moment of "in rainbows" comes from Ed O'Brien's hands with this showcase, Obrigado the golden sun of that statement.

He is definitely is in his MJ bag but with a modern inflection that makes his tracks far more interesting than something off of “Invincible” its a great little run even if its in pockets of this mammoth record I definitely got stuck on the “Yukon” and “Go Baby” section.

It’s more consistent than his journal record as if it’s all grown up. It’s great to hear an artist finally in his spot.

Not to sound like a gluttonous little piggy, but from the Trent Reznor Halos/Discography there are so many more great tracks that would have further benefitted from the Noize treatment, "Discipline" stands out but even if Boys Noize is more of a classic NIN fan, where is "Reptile" or "Suck".

That being said, this has a gorgeous cross-section of moments, half live album given the album treatment (something that is sorely missing in the rock scene) half a ... read more

The 2for1 that changed my lifffe

This falls alongside "ye" in his discography, very far away from the peaks of his sound. He has definitely started rolling that boulder up the mountain again, but the fall was long these last 10 years have left Kanye in a state that doesn't even seem to be able to differentiate what is good music and what definitely is not. This ability is what allowed him to craft MBDTF and more poignantly what allowed him to twist beauty into madness with Yeezus.

This album is also not ... read more

As a BTS record its a great return, with such a personally powerful title as Arirang (basically, to my understanding the first ever korean folk song that the entire country knows better than their national anthem is called Arirang).

It will no doubt do BTS numbers but for listeners outside of the K-pop bubble this does very little unlike the various solo albums they released before their mandatory military service forced their members into musical absence. They have avoided losing a step ... read more

Blake has managed to compile all iterations of his sound into one coherent album, it really is the magic trick of spinning plates held into place. It does, however, lack a climax or really any great moment of sound even his vocal performances remain held in their gorgeous place never reaching the heights he showed all across his career. Its a brilliant record but not quite his best an album that sits perfectly in the middle of his discography while enveloping every element of said discography.

Really wanted to love this, "Aperture" is that perfect palate cleanser and "American Girls" a great opening statement but these tracks fail to capture the magic of the world of sound its borrowing from. It has great glimpses but by "Are You Listening Yet?" I'm really not.. and "Carla's Song" while a great closer is too little too late.

SMTM remains the premier hip-hop competition, with the most popular contemporary artists in Korea serving as judges (Image TDE, Roc-A-Fella or OFWG as judges, this is the Korean equivalent with Fanxy Child, duover ((formerly AOMG)), H1ghr Music etc. serving as producers and judges)

Meanwhile, contestants come now from globally emerging artists with roots in Korea, you get really popular new gen artists like HAON, Tray B and Fleek Bang but you also get veterans who never reached critical ... read more

When hearing Ed’s vocals in the distance of Radiohead songs one could fantasise of how wonderful an album of his voice would sound. This single is the first time the fantasy is made real, his past solo works avoided sounding anything like the Ed of Radiohead. I’m hoping he finally gives into the fantasy, what an album it would be.

This sounds like a Radiohead song with Thom's vocals ripped right off of it.

While it lacks the immediacy or production highs of Forest Hills Drive this is the J Cole pen I’ve heard so much about but never really felt.

Again, maybe it’s my aversion to the col’ world but one disc was enough, as a single listen that second disc became a chore more than a pleasure. Taken separately and days later it’s clear this is cole’s best, deserving of his shadow role as one of hip-hops greatest or part of the current “big 3”. I’m not ... read more

Joji has gotten so good at his lo-fi shadow play that he has presented a 21 track album where he doesn’t exist. There’s something for ghostly love songs but without some ghostwriting his chances of making notable music seems to be slipping away off into his self made isolation, rnb artists amirite?

Even the MV couldn't stop this from being a dull affair all round. But perhaps it's the perfect palate cleanser to set the stage for the new sound his album has in store, here's to hoping.

Edit: That BRIT award show performance really made the song come alive. Brits and using choirs in their live performance to make songs 1000 times better casts eyes to James Blake.

Rocky has refined his track-within-tracks formula, which thrives off of creativity, "Whiskey" shines as the best example of this, especially with Damon Albarn and Westside Gunn augmenting the track gorgeously. Past that though, the record seems to suffer from having very few peaks, something that the previously released "Riot" or even "DMB" could have done for this record. Its been a terrible rollout for this record: leaks, atop delays and false starts in MVs that ... read more

Oh shit

It was everything expected, but nothing more than that, makes me wonder why they decided this is the soundtrack to make their new album. Still I hope this is the approach they take going forward. This doesn’t reach the heights of some of T&A’s other soundtracks (Gone Girl, Social Network) nor does it reach the heights of their last record/trio of Ep’s in Bad Witch.

It does format itself like Yorker’s Suspriria Soundtrack with a handful of songs spread across the LP. ... read more

This single, shows the decision taken at the crossroads of NIN and the Trent & Atticus moniker, (only 15 years of pondering) both are the same thing now we the pretence striped away. This single can’t help but embody that point, it has same energy as early pretty hate machine and year zero remixes (boys noise) while carrying the electronic language of it’s predecessor (Daft Punk) into the very signature electronic NIN sound that Reznor & Atticus have been developing for a ... read more

There’s a lot you can say about him, but he just doesn’t miss with his singles.

My pick for AOTY 2025:

A spiralling sun of bright sound bouncing off the walls, like cyberfunk bright but coalesced into a dance record that makes no pop mistakes. A fractured schizophrenia of 80s dance pilled down by Korean R&B melody lines like "34-24-35" it’s frenetic, but the bpm is tripped out without losing its brightness. Also, if Walkie Talkie isn’t on the new Jet Set Radio remake, idk mahn. (Even Bomb Rush Cyberfunk used Korean producers and artists on its ... read more