"Archaic and content, you just wash them off"

The 1975 are a strange case, with me growing out of a lot of their music but still holding residual nostalgia for it. "Antichrist" is probably still the bands best song. "Facedown" is a nice atmospheric intro, "The City" has grown off of me and "Woman" is quite touching. An overall mixed bag, with "Antichrist" doing some heavy lifting.

Favourites: Antichrist
Least favourites: The City

"Grant my last request and just let me hold you"

This, alike "Sunny Side Up", was a go-to for my Grandparents to play when I was younger. These are early days for Paolo, being 18-19 at the time of this record, but his voice is already incredible. This record is not nearly as ambitious as his following work, which is to be expected, but each song here shows huge potential and are very emotive in their own right. His writing here is also already major, simple and reflective ... read more

"Through this iron sky that’s fast becoming our mind"

To preface, "Iron Sky" is one of the best songs of all time. An incredible experience. The album surrounding it, while more funk adjacent, is an experience rewarding in its own right, with highlights including "Scream" and "Diana". Paolo seems to be master of any craft he gets his hands on, never willing to be defined by a single genre.

Favourites: Scream, Iron Sky, Diana
Least Favourites: N/A

"And then afterneath a neon motel light you said, "lets knock 'em all down""

I think Paolo's best album is hidden here beneath some innocuous filler. If a few of these tracks were cut, such as "Petrified In Love", and a couple drawn in a bit or even merged, the overall experience would be far better. As is, it's still an ambitious, genre-spanning return for Nutini that delivers on all fronts, its grandest points feel deserved and its more mellow are ... read more

"Alright, come close, let me show you everything I know"

An album that prioritises the environment it makes above all else, and succeeds. The strangely alive nature of this is enticing, it sets you in a jungle almost immediately, alone and afraid, yet blindly attracted to the sensations, the colours and sound. A great ambience that exists in the perfect halfway between creepy and sensual.

Favourites: Pools, Gooey, Toes
Least favourites: N/A

"9:09, you gonna call it or am I?"

I cannot bring myself to lower the score for this, it would upset younger me too much.

While flawed and somehow already quite dated, this was the first "album" I ever sat down and fully listened to, and it has a special place in my heart. I think this is fairly underrated due to the popularity "Heatwaves" received, the song began to annoy even me.

There are some legitimately good songs here in "Hot Sugar", "Your ... read more

There is very, very little to hold onto here. It is at best a pastiche of past melodies and pop music in general, and at worst a genuinely annoying affair. The lyrics here are abysmal, the song structures are predictable, even the title and cover is abhorrent.

"White Roses" is a shameless attempt to rehash "Heatwaves" and is the point this album became irredeemable. This is the worst way any band has ever handled a thrust into stardom, perhaps ever. I had low expectations ... read more

"And I didn't mean to call this late, but I think I'm in love with the thought of us"

The group expand their palette with their foray into a more indie rock sound, made clear with the intro track "Run" that is their most energetic yet. This is an improvement upon their debut in many ways, they sound more confident, more comfortable and more eager, while upkeeping the intricate lyricism that held the music together. These tracks mean so much to the younger version ... read more

"My heart and soul, were never mine to own"

The format including "Mary" is the version of the album I best know, so I'll be rating with those bonus tracks (All That and More, Pretty Momma, Black and White, That's My Shit) in mind.

An incredible debut that reduces indie-folk to its essentials and more or less masters them. The lyricism on display here is potent with imagery and emotion. "First Class" and "Devil Like Me" are staples of my ... read more

Very dream pop, bedroom pop. Really love the instrumentation, the vocals are very muddy though, which clash a fair bit in a disorientating way. His voice is not great. Really upsetting given how much I like the general sound.

“Hey Good Lookin’” is the best so far. A lot of post-rock/ambient influence here too. A great overarching environment is created, but it lacks something to separate it from the pack, and I can’t get past the vocalist. “Anna” is very ... read more

Such simplistic and pretty organisations of sound. I like the singers voice, it compliments these feelings very well.

“Mykonos” falls a little flat for me, which is strange considering its universal praise. “Innocent Son” ends it nicely enough, but it feels like its missing something. Would love to check their full album out, because this holds some promise but feels very demo-like.

Favourites: Drops in the River
Least favourites: Myoknos

I’ve heard “Even Flow” with Jesus skateboarding. Hell yeah. Very grunge (obviously), great effects on the guitars. He’s not got the greatest voice, but he makes it work.

This sort of grunge doesn’t really go down well with me, its aged a little poorly in my opinion. “Black” is a standout, though. A lot of this just melds together. The instrumental finish is a nice touch. Its alright, but I don’t see myself returning to it, unfortunately. ... read more

The Social Scenes evil twin. I haven’t clicked with their prior “Funeral”, so I’m apprehensive. Great title track/intro. I feel each song goes on for about 1-2 minutes too long, even the two-and-a-half-minute 3rd track drags a little, which is actually quite impressive.

The second disc is far more my thing. Great 4 ending tracks, even if the last one doesn’t too all that much with its 10-minute runtime. It’s difficult not to compare a Canadian indie-rock ... read more

"Comprehend that I gave you life, to see it disarray, it disarrays"

Instrumentation is great, vocalist pushes it a little too much occasionally, with it too loud in the mix to gloss over. Sounds like drunk stumbling, in a good way, it works. It’s a little taxing for 50 minutes. Requires a couple listens to get, but once you do, you really get it.

Really love the poetic writing style. Abrasive, self-loathing, drunken and beautiful. A definite grower, very interesting ... read more

As recommended by a friend, this isn't for me. Riffs are great, but the guy’s voice isn’t really working for me. To me, this style of rock so often has an issue of over reliance on sounding cool with little substance backing it up.

It’s very average, I couldn’t point out anything in particular that’s bad, it just doesn’t excite me at all. :(

Favourites: N/A
Least favourites: Devils Plaything

City nightlife condensed. This should bore me, this should drag, not a lot shifts dynamically, it pursuing a specific sound throughout its runtime, and yet it puts me in alleyways and half-empty high streets and makes me almost mourn their plights; sat still as support to drunkard travel, holding sick as if nectar, bearing humanity at its lowest and most unrestricted. The heat of the frigid, moments before it takes you. Doing it all again next week.

The vocal samples drive the album, haunting ... read more

An extremely powerful, unsettlingly dark experience, while managing to still remain contemplative, even meditative at points. This is the harshest storm before serenity, the staring out from a cabin in the end times. The track titles help guide the music, they all fit well and aid in the feeling of some slow progression or evolution.

I will have to sit with this many more times to fully grasp it. It feels like it's just barely been contained, still actively fighting to escape its ... read more

"There's nothing like the way you loiter in my heart"

An apt audio interpretation of the feelings of winter. Falsettos reminiscent of Justin Vernon's on "For Emma" litter gorgeously soft indie-folk. I can't recall how I came upon this project, but I'm very glad I did.

Favourites: November, December, January
Least favourites: N/A

"I took my shirt off in the yard, no one saw that the skin on my shoulder was golden"

There's not a lot to say that hasn't already been said.

There's a reason this is so highly praised, I think it unites in ways that truly can't be explained. The purest isolation ever recorded and compiled. The noise elements sealed my fate in loving this, they add a dynamic that makes it unspeakably potent. I get solemn when even thinking of this album, it's like it has an ... read more

"Sun set like a diamond in your wedding ring"

If i could use anything to summarise the Thursday morning journey to uni, it would be this. A clean meld of indie-folk and lo-fi that really stuck with me. Soft and lazing, the parts of summer you forget about until you're submerged in it again.

Favourites: missed the best part, beckford, hospital beach
Least favourites: N/A