The worst Bon Iver album, yet it's still exceedingly beautiful.

Favourite Song: iMi

Best: We, Holyfields, Hey Ma, U (Man Like), Naeem, Faith, Salem, Sh'Diah,

Worst: Jelmore

Alice in Chains at their most complicit, and unfortunately their most mediocre.

Where is the grit of Dirt? The mania of Facelift? The beauty of Jar of Flies? It feels as if those three projects had exhausted the band to a point where they need to mindlessly drag out songs and bring a succinct lack of diversity to the table. Don't get me wrong, at times their usual brutish grunge strength comes through to make a somewhat decent track, but for an entire album they just sound disinterested, ... read more

Hmm.

I really enjoyed Genesis Owusu's debut, Smiling With No Teeth, but its successor STRUGGLER really does STRUGGLE to find more within the same sound that he's been using since his debut. A strange but energetic electro neo-soul fusion really defined his last album, but what made it great for me was the versatility on display. Most of the songs followed this pursuit of playful neo-soul, but then you get tracks like Drown or A Song About Fishing, which bounced around my expectations and ... read more

Smoother than a baby's bum. Strangely she sounds much more mature on here than on Love Deluxe, despite this being the older album. Both are equally fantastic soulful releases though and each have their own strengths, with this one's being its sense of unification, through a compact track list, subtle politics at the end and a consistently nuanced approach to writing about love.

Favourite Song: Smooth Operator

Best: Your Love Is King, Hang On to Your Love, Frankie's First Affair, When Am I ... read more

Ahh I get it now, the only reason Antonoff does all this production is so he can credit his crummy little band on the feature list.

For the most part, Ocean Blvd is beautiful, a culmination of personal tales and inner thoughts from one Del Rey. The opening stretch of the album is particularly potent and strong, with multiple instances of just generally great song writing wrapped in carefully produced packages. The features are tasteful and compliment Lana really well, probably because they ... read more

A stunning journey through ambient delicacy.

Favourite Song: Pocky Boy

Best: Poison Arrow, Eva, Pixel Affection, Pretty Bones, Reverie, Blue Butterfly, An Angel Held Me Like a Child,

Worst: Veil of Darkness

Thank you to @deathsplash for the recommendation.

A really nice and simple time, intent on soothing your brain with warm lounge acoustics and some sultry singing.

Favourite Song: ELASTIC GIRL

Best: DIS-MOI QUELQUE CHOSE AVANT DE DORMIR, ZOOM UP !, WHEN YOU CLOSE YOUR EYES, DANS MON NOMBRIL

Worst: DO ME DO ME

A very enticing and enchanting rock album that sets itself apart from other alt releases through great song writing and powerful production. The heavier and softer moments clash a little in the sequencing (with Kamikaze feeling the most stark), but other than that it all flows wonderfully together and shows the fantastic range of one PJ Harvey. I'm very excited to dive further into her discography at some point.

Favourite Song: This Mess We're In

Best: Big Exit, Good Fortune, A Place Called ... read more

Thank you to @angelesque for the recommendation.

From the cover alone I guessed that this album was going to be a folkish singer-songwriter effort, but instead what I got was an indie rock album, and sadly not a very engaging one at that. The production is pretty generic and Courtney herself is a very strange singer, with lyrics that I just could not resonate with. I can see how this could be people's thing, but tried and true 2010's indie rock is not my sort of thing, at least for a whole ... read more

Thank you to @maztergame for the recommendation.

Blackout should NOT be as good as it actually is.

Britney Spears, a 2000's pop culture icon, always seems to be discussed with her persona first rather than her music, which made me feel as if going into this album would just be a delve into some sort of mediocre cash grab pop album. Instead, it's a bodacious and rowdy good time of pop masterclass, with lyrics that could only be written and distributed by the brilliant Spears. No other pop ... read more

Arular is a bombastic collection of deranged electro beats that M.I.A. effortlessly accompanies with catchy hooks and great deliveries. The subtle politics aren't too in your face whilst still being meaningful, and the creativity on display is truly inspiring, making for one of the strangest yet enticing hip hop albums I've heard as of recent.

What a cool artist, I don't think she will ever say anything controversial at all!

Favourite Song: Amazon

Best: Pull Up the People, Bucky Done Gun, ... read more

Some producers go together with artists like a perfect jigsaw puzzle. Madlib and Freddie Gibbs, Mark Ronson and Amy Winehouse, Kanye West and Kanye West, Emily Montes and Bladee - you get the picture. But Timbaland has had two major pairings like this, with one of them being the guy who invented 'nipplegate', and the other being a surging pop and R&B force known only as Nelly Furtado.

Loose not only demonstrates Timbaland's fantastic ear for R&B and hip hop beats, but also demonstrates ... read more

I've decided that I want to engage more with music by women and non binary individuals, so for the next ten albums that I review I'm going to be following that rule. I've currently got 7 more albums lined up besides this one so if there's any suggestions I'd be more than glad to hear them :)

Live Through This manages to find its own trail aside from the big 90's grunge foursome by taking the path of strong womanhood, with Courtney Love engaging with some pretty strong gendered themes ... read more

A thrilling yet blunt ride, but one that sadly charms monotony. I found this album to be more samey than their album that was designed to be one big singular song. But for a first experience of thrash, yeah it's decent. I really should listen to Metallica at some point.

Favourite Song: Perihelion

Best: Planet B, Mars For The Rich, Superbug, Self-Immolate

Worst: Organ Farmer

Carly's usual un-sloppy seconds have come around, and this time it's for The Loneliest Time. It's a very scattered and surprisingly eclectic mix of stuff, with more of a range of sounds than on any of her other projects. But despite the variety, I felt that overall it's one of her weaker B-side releases, having less coherence and having a slather of songs that simply just don't quite hit the mark. She does however manage to make some incredibly strong singular songs that rival that of her best ... read more

2003 was truly the year of the Gibbard.

Alongside The Postal Service's fantastic "Give Up", Ben also had time the same year to make an even better album in "Transatlanticism". It's serene and sweet, with touching lyrics and an admirable frailty, backed up by really inspiring production. In this album I hear so many more musicians and songs that came after its release, proving just how defining this branch of indie rock really was, despite this album being a little unsung ... read more

I honestly have no idea how I came across this album, but thank god I did. Frengers stuns and swirls in a dream rock environment of heavy indie hitters and overwhelming ethereal epics. Just an absolutely surreal and impossibly addictive album that can't fit any description other than mesmerising.

Favourite Song: She Came Home for Christmas

Best: Am I Wry? No, 156, Snow Brigade, Her Voice Is Beyond Her Years, Eight Flew Over One Was Destroyed, She Spider, Comforting Sounds

Worst: Symmetry

Inspired by the whole Barbenheimer thing, I've been double billing this EP with Odd Eye Circle <Version Up>, and yeah I think it's the only way I can get through these EP's now.

Yep, just a few bonus tracks, not a lot to talk about. I wasn't blown away by anything, but there's still some fun stuff within its short runtime. But I will say that Danny's vocals far outshine Peggy's on this one. His acapella closure on NO! NO! NO! (cont.) was a refreshing changer (despite it sounding a little ... read more

Inspired by the whole Barbenheimer thing, I've been double billing this EP with the Scaring The Hoes DLC Pack, and yeah I think it's the only way I can get through these EP's now.

Although not as pristine as Mix/Max & Match, Version Up is regardless a continuation of the incredibly solid work that ODD EYE CIRCLE does. This album definitely feels a bit more dancey, with some very bouncy additions to the tracklist alongside the usual K-Pop banger formula that the group has now perfected. I ... read more

Within Jar of Flies lies a distinct beauty, and for an EP it certainly uses its time limit to its fullest potential. The second half really means nothing to me, but that first 4 song run is utter perfection. A great blend of pessimism and succinct euphoria is encased within those songs, with some of my favourite moments being the guitar solos that seep out of the darkness and the strings that suddenly burst into life on I Stay Away. Musicality wise, this EP really is a testament to how skilled ... read more