The soundscapes created here envelop the listener in an oxymoronic world of chaotic calm, where one finds a kind of Socratic comfort in knowing only that one doesn't know at all what is right around the corner in this audio journey--and that it's perfectly okay to admit that one's flabbergasted blank stare is the only reaction that makes sense. Despite the inability to fully articulate in words precisely what elements of this music appeals, there is undeniable beauty here. For not only is this ... read more
I can already say quite confidently that Amperland, NY is going to remain my favorite country record of the year - by a country mile (pun most certainly intended). Though you could argue that it's a bit long and has too many tracks, it being conceived as a soundtrack puts its length in a bit more context. Also, the songs are all equally great, and hold enough variety between them to keep the listener from feeling much, if any, fatigue. Some of the most gorgeous vocal melodies of the year.
When your post-hardcore in 2021 goes full early '00s punk-pop emo, something has gone awry somewhere. It's as if the risks and progression previously undertaken by this very band just an album ago have been all but forgotten. And the worst part is, there was no pressure from any direction for them to drop said progression. Everyone liked what they were doing.
Plunderphonics has evolved a lot from "Since I Left You," yet The Avalanches still seem to be trying to recapture that particular lightning in a bottle all over again. What results is a record that entertains, but fleetingly.
I listen to a lot of heavy music, ranging from harcore punk to screamo to all types of metal, but despite this I couldn't help but think that the majority of this record was just a wave of annoying noise that kept pummeling me relentlessly before I had a chance to get my footing and really dive into the deeper elements of the compositions. Plus, I frankly just didn't like the vocals. I'm not saying I think it's bad; I'm saying I personally don't like it. At all. Sorry.
It's good, but as far as post-black metal albums go, this one just doesn't pack the sort of variety and experimentation I've come to expect from the best bands in this movement. The track lengths are also way too long to justify, considering the aforementioned lack of variety.
Cave and Ellis are at the top of their creative games here, bringing us with them on a flowing, stream of consciousness journey that disquiets as often as it delights.
West African psychedelic folk music. It's as neat and lovely as it sounds.
Good modern, dark techno. Just too short to really be able to go anywhere beyond its initial creative ideas, which are interesting but feel unfinished.
Adrian Younge is a renaissance man. An academic, lawyer, author, poet, playwrite, actor, rapper, composer, and multi-instrumentalist, he embodies the ideal balance of both the studied and artful side of life. All of his projects are incredibly ambitious and inspired, but with this latest release, he may have just created his masterpiece. It serves as a perfect blend of all his occupations and passions while somehow managing to remain coherent and entertaining without becoming a pretensious ... read more
Baker's voice quivers with emotion and wisdom as she kisses our ears with her delightful singer-songwriter compositions about love, loss, and life in general. World-weary yet hopeful, this music reaches into our hearts and lets us know we aren't alone in our own melancholic introspection, and that there are always brighter days to come.
It isn't you, Dave, it's me. You've been making boring music for years. I just didn't notice when I was younger.
Look. I'm not trying to over saturate my list this year with post-punk, but it's not my fault that so many albums in that genre right now are just so damned good!
Amazing African jazz that yet again demonstrates the future of the genre is being defined outside of America, the region that birthed it.
Serene. Intimate. Melodic. Mysterious. Hauntingly beautiful.
While I actually wasn't crazy about Black Dresses' previous (and assumed final) release, this one grabbed me instantly and still hasn't let its hooks out.
Probably the best avant-garde metal record of the year for me, if you don't count The Body's latest as "metal" in the conventional sense. It's amazing to me how simultaneously chaotic and yet clearly meticulous the music on here is. Some of the funkiest, gnarliest riffage I've heard in a long time. This is how you progress metal forward. This is how you do daring, artful, and boundary-pushing in a genre that in so many ways has grown stagnant in the wrong hands. Rejoice, heavy music ... read more
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On Poppy - Flux
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On Jamobo's review of Evanescence - The Bitter Truth
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On Jamobo's review of Evanescence - The Bitter Truth
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On east's review of Gatecreeper - An Unexpected Reality
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On Chorde's review of shame - Drunk Tank Pink
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