Love explored through the lens of anxiety, euphoria and obsession. Vespertine’s strength lies in trying so much, yet never feeling like it’s begging for your attention. Every component feels tailor-made but never laboured over. In my mind this leaves the album with a little bit for everybody. As well as a singularly potent front-to-back listen for those willing to indulge how strange Bjork goes on this record

Best: Cocoon, It’s Not Up to You, An Echo A Stain, Unison

Worst: ... read more

77 > 88

When I first listened to 808s, years ago, I wasn’t much into electro-pop and was more so drawn to Kanye wearing his heart on his sleeve in a way he hasn’t on any other project. Now that I’ve matured a bit as a listener I’ve come appreciate how well written a lot of this material is. Yes some moments (and at worst full songs) feel outdated or downright broken, but in some backwards way it only serves to make the project more endearing.

Was also of the ... read more

The primordial Murphy

Loved House Of Jealous Lovers and Echoes, found Infatuation to be at least an interesting change of pace and everything else lacked follow-through to me. LCD Soundystem would obviously go on to knock this aesthetic out of the park which is maybe why this feels so inessential to me in hindsight. That being said the aforementioned singles are stellar if you somehow run out of 2000s dance punk to spin

Best: House Of Jealous Lovers, Echoes

Worst: I Need Your Love

69 > 81

Always had a lot of appreciation for closer 'Sister Ray' for near enough inventing everything I like about music, and nothing else really stuck with me. That was until I started paying closer attention to the lyrics. Seedy, brutal, horny; a great showcase of Lou Reed's style and a match made in heaven with the noise rock instrumentation. I do still feel the mixing lets this one down in places, and some parts around the middle start to feel aimless.

Sister Ray still goated

Best: ... read more

Retroactively this is the obvious beginning of the end for Brockhampton. Roadrunner really suffers from a lack of cohesion and a lack of passion from much of the core roster. The result is 46 minutes that feels like an hour. Why does a group with 7 members need so many features for a 13 track album?

As frustrating of a listen this project is at times, it does still have some redeeming qualities. The stretch from 'WHAT'S THE OCCASION?' to the end is some of their best material period. Joba's ... read more

Incompetent, meandering, amateurish, one of my favourite albums of all time

Best: 100, X, PUNK

Worst: FOREVER

This reviews goes out to my friend Tris who thinks this is Brockhampton's best album. They're wrong, but the sentiment is nice I suppose

edit: 72 > 76

I think this is on par with Saturation 1, so I felt it fair to bump the score up a tad after scoring that project

Best: WEIGHT, TAPE, J'OUVERT, TONYA

Worst: HONEY

Kinda toothless but with a tongue that sharp who cares?

Best: Random Rules, Federal Dust, Buckingham Rabbit

Worst: Blue Arrangements

Might be a 100 give me a week

Edit: Nope just really good

Best: Man Proposes, God Disposes, Margin For Error, The Commercial Nude

Worst: Reiterations

James Blake's style fits so perfectly in the context of a break-up album. His repeated lyrics start to feel like thoughts about tiny spats; rolling around over and over again ad nauseam. At it's best these repetitions start to re-contextualise themselves and break down into messy little details.

The length isn't so much of a problem for me. It's more about the journey than the destination. You know the beats a break-up album is going to hit. Loses points because some of it just doesn't work, ... read more

I've had a long standing love affair with this album I've never really been able to explain. Think it comes back to the consistency with which Rashad is able to inject personality into his music. A lot to like, albeit pretty standard

Best: Free Lunch, Wat's Wrong, Slikk Da Shocka, Stuck In The Mud, Brenda

Worst: Tity and Dolla

56 > 83

Been calling this overrated for such a long time and this is not the case. If you isolate Hunky Dory from the rest of Bowie's discography its a eccentric singer-songwriter album. I can still see what was bothering me the first few attempts (some weird mixing and two absolute duds) but its still a rewarding listen

Best: Changes, Life On Mars, Quicksand, Queen Bitch

Worst: Fill Your Heart (Kooks got lucky I was in a good mood but know it could be here on a different day)

To me this is her best album. I don't mind some dead air in the track list when there's a consistently rewarding front-to-back listen and multiple great standalone songs. Interesting production, depressing; what's not to like?

Best: Bug Like an Angel, Heaven, The Deal, My Love Mine All Mine

Worst: I Don't Like My Mind

Mixed bag but when it works it works

Best: Such a Shame, It’s My Life, Tomorrow Started, Call in the Night Boy

Worst: Dum Dum Girl

Occasionally too busy but oozing with character

Best: Ba-Lue Bolivar Ba-Lues-Are, Pannonia

Worst: Bemsha Swing

Incredibly strong atmosphere and writing, but I feel there’s a level of detail missing. Weak drums and occasionally half-baked synths kept pulling me out of the immersive feel the album is gunning for. Phenomenal once it gets going.

Best: The Turning Wheel, Emperor with an Egg, Boys at School

Worst: Sweet Talk

Fucks hard

Best: Contusion, I Wish, Summer Soft, As, Another Star

Worst: Joy Inside My Tears

Expected to sour on this but I somehow feel exactly the same. Songwriting is excellent, production is serviceable and there’s some non-starters in the middle. Regardless I can’t stop coming back to it.

Best: This Is Why, The News, Figure 8

Worst: C’est Comme Ca

Grew on me like fuck. Listen underneath the noise and it quickly becomes apparent Parannoul can pen some great songs. More than just a cool aesthetic

Best: Polaris, Insomnia, We Shine at Night, Parade

Worst: Sketchbook

Blue shows it’s entire hand in the first 30 seconds. Instrumental cohesion, sporadic vocal excursions and oblique lyricism. Wordy and complex segments often contrasted with simpler phrases to create many powerful moments. There’s a few ‘I love yous’ on here that feel seriously earned; cutting as hard as the first time you heard them said. I think the way in which Joni Mitchell contextualises these simple moments of clarity is much of the appeal for me. There’s so ... read more