it's like Drake's musical universe set to the style of Leisure Suit Larry – he's just sweaty, sleazy, messy, horny, bricked up and constantly looking for late-night flings all over this thing. it's super corny-sounding but honestly, he can have it. i don't think he's trying to deflect or is looking to make anything serious here. it's goofy fun at the end of the day. Cheetah Print and Hoe Phase are gonna get more plays out of me this summer than i'll ... read more

when the spectacle fades away from a series of self-inflicted destruction, all you're left with is with silent pleas of desparation to relive the greatest moments from your career. unlistenable, undercooked, and the worst crime of it all: a slog to get through.

the antics are tiring and uninteresting at this point. nobody i know is buying into the fixed versions, the "patches," the delays – any excuse ye can wiggle out to excuse himself from his year-by-year, case-by-case ... read more

frontloaded with cutesy synth leads, high-pitched boy-band harmonies, ephemeral production thats both crisp and airy, and one of the most infectious choruses that have ever graced this hybrid of 90s contemporary r&b, i'm comfortable with crowning this the model of what new jack swing should be aiming for. candy coated goodness & melodic bliss

so tasty! so divine! so screechy! some of the best screamo coming out from what i think are the coastal elites (east coast baby). it scratches that La Quiete-meets-Discordance Axis itch quite a lot

Nazar's figurative deconstruction of militarization, weapon zones, and the battering nature of war makes it a compelling debut – one where the sound design takes dramatic directions, where the collages of textural dynamism create a complex narrative on the Angolan civil war. bloody brilliant

i'm mostly reading the Aged brothers debut EP for 4AD as a playing field for the dynamic, theatrical R&B sounds they captured in 2011, which they subsequently elevated to upper echelons later on with their first LP a year later, and their separate collaborative efforts with Mk.gee – especially with Dijon too on his recent album. in 2011, nothing in the R&B landscape was breathing from a liminal breeze in what the Aged brothers imagined.

D'Angelo was the rare once-in-a-lifetime artist whose work rifted all of popular culture and retransformed rhythm and blues, whose classicist approach payed homage to a rich variety of Black music forms that represented the vulnerable, seclusive and gifted artist he was. Voodoo's slow-burning intimacy and minimalistic intensity coalesced to a radical, humanistic transcendence -- an ageless, peerless masterpiece that set the standards for the next twenty five years of music. nobody ... read more

the problem i have with modern Tyler is his insistence on revivalism that reflect more-so his influences and temporary interest in old aesthetics -- the miami bass and synth funk sound feels more curatorial than it is exciting or emitting anything "standalone". post-Flower Boy is where you can tell Tyler was treading toward the more ambitious route, but i feel the aesthetic fumes that came out of every project since has felt either so tiring, or i don't have a desire to return to ... read more

don't really care about the Druski interludes and there's a few skips, but it's not bad. bieber wants to be sincere with a touch of sleaze, and his collaborators carry more of the heavy lifting than he actually puts into it (Dijon, mk.gee, Lil B, Cash Cobain, Knox Fortune) -- feels like a cheaper, more watered down replication of what his collaborators have put into the world, but i'll take it any other day than another Yummy.

we can definitely talk about bieber's ... read more

its unfortunate the Aged brothers shadowy experimental R&B and their contributions to pushing this sound has, in actuality, disappeared into the shadows. besides a Grand Theft Auto V feature on one of its radio stations with "the place," there's more to uncover here from the echelon-setting it seems like no world was made in. flawlessly emitting gorgeous moments of personal sensuality and delivering syrupy pop production, their debut pays homage to the slow jam tastefully ... read more

simple songwriting that's so sincere and authentically romantic paired w some gorgeous production that naturally unweaves itself is the best combo. that hook is mad infectious and the ambient bits really wrap you in. clears out any pinkpantheress song anyday. this is what love really feels like. i would know, cause i blasted this in the car with my boo ;)

these guys can gnaw out some straight-up rippers back-to-back. a perfect companion to the always ever-changing, more-or-less becoming accessible landscape of hardcore thats been blooming over the last few years (Turnstile, High Vis, Mannequin Pussy, Angel Du$t). buy in now, you're gonna love these guys

mark's been on a victory lap for a while — he's the first signee to A24 Music, has a MIKE feature, self-released some singles and EPs that are ethereal in prowess. he doesn't lose that mystique stride he's got going on, except on the production side it is drastically clean here. cuts like Romantic Horror, The Heat and The Power are essentials. Living sounds like a song Alex G would write, compose, produce and probably self-release himself, but is done in the darkened ... read more

it doesn't get any better than this. who would have thought an out-of-print nyahbinghi roots reggae record can produce so much emotion. Dadawah's Peace and Love is an album about passion and yearning; a beautiful prayer and life-affirming sermon for better days; a celebration concerning love and life. its slow-burning tracks stands the test of time as a powerful and chilling document.

my personal favorite Tim Hecker album — his embrace of the cold, hauntological aspects of radio transmissions among his extensive manipulations of various sounds that stutter, stammer and glisten in Radio Amor contain his most beautiful compositions in his entire discography. the enigmatic qualities paired with its dreamy ambience are beyond dazzling — they're hair-raising pieces that were meant to soundtrack an unidentifiable, ephemeris sublime. what is lost in translation ... read more

a super innovative R&B record with plenty of hits that i feel, among others, is just irrationally overhated. its in the same league as The-Dream's Love / Hate and Justin Timberlake's Future Love / Sex Sounds that came out during this era of R&B, for how accessible and ahead of its time all three albums are. so what if T-Pain made his hits with excessive autotune? he practically put that shit on the map for the next twenty years, and look where we're at!

fakemink knows ball — his vision will hit ya when you listen to it in full wearing a blank American Apparel tee circa 2012 with a Balenciaga hoodie circa 2013. start obsessing over the bloghouse era and electropop, definitely cloud rap too. maybe even wear out the whole indie sleaze thing on your shoulders and curate some pinterest boards of archive clothing from the early 2010s (joking, but not joking)

Bangkok collective SO::ON DRY FLOWER's first compilation is a true hidden gem of Thai indietronica and post-rock — its one of those things you just have to be in the know about. its most popular track, Space Bucha's Esplanade, was featured in Apichatpong Weerasethakul's trailer for Syndromes And A Century which lands on the second-half on this very compilation. not many people know what the song is from the trailer, and fewer people are aware of this spectacular collection ... read more

the main takeaway here is that Erika de Casier is in full control on Lifetime. it's all self-produced and independently released, but her downtempo-beats and trip-hop embrace pay such a respectable homage to the atmospheric sounds. it washes over you with delicate doses of romantic sentimentality, airy pads and Casier's gentle vocals. by far her best effort so far

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