This was a fun and enjoyable album. It’s pretty much African folk mixed with blues. Once you get a little ways into it, it definitely draws you in with its meditative and trance like atmosphere. Turns out Ali Farka Touré had been battling cancer, and during that battle he managed to create this album, but unfortunately, he passed away just a few months before it was released.

I really think this album deserves to be in the top tier of the greatest albums ever made, especially when you balance its experimental edge with the overall listening experience. There are a lot of great avant-garde and experimental jazz albums out there, but many of them aren’t very approachable for the average listener. What really keeps this album grounded is the bass. It’s repetitive, hypnotic, and it’s groove focused, which provides a solid foundation for everything else ... read more

This mix has aged remarkably well for being nearly 30 years old. It still radiates that sleek, futuristic, space age quality, something few electronic albums from the 90s can claim without sounding dated. This stands out as one of those rare records I’d recommend to almost anyone, even to people who typically shy away from electronic music, because it feels like it’s operating on an entirely different level.

At its core, the album is atmospheric jungle and drum and bass, smoothed ... read more

This was a really enjoyable split EP from two French bands, Alcest and Les Discrets. One of the cool connections, is that a member of Les Discrets was previously part of Alcest, so there’s a strong musical and creative overlap. This EP is a great blend of post-metal and blackgaze, but each band brings its own flavor to the table. Alcest leans more into dreamy shoegaze textures with cleaner, chiming tones layered against moments of harshness, while Les Discrets offers a denser, more ... read more

This band is led by Coleman Williams, also known as IV, who’s the son of Hank Williams III. For those unfamiliar, Hank 3 had a pretty unique approach. He split his sets between old school outlaw country, in the style of his grandfather, and raw punk, hardcore, or metal. His shows would consist of a country set followed by a chaotic punk and metal set.

With this album, IV picks up those influences, but fuses it more organically. Instead of switching between country and punk like his ... read more

This album is very different from the more shoegaze influenced sound that they would eventually evolve toward and become known for. Instead, this album leans heavily into noise rock, with strong Midwest post hardcore influences. Rather than drawing from My Bloody Valentine, it sounds more like it was shaped by bands like The Jesus Lizard and Big Black.

Based on my research, this album wasn’t a commercial success right out of the gate. Critics, and even a lot of her fans were initially baffled, and it took some time for the album to really sink in.

I’m currently about halfway through Kate Bush’s catalog, and with every album I hear, I’m blown away by her experimental approach to music production, especially her use of technology for the time. This was the first album she fully produced herself, and she really had full ... read more

So Iron Maiden’s earlier albums were absolutely amazing, but musically, this is the best I’ve heard from them up to this point, and it’s definitely my favorite. It still holds onto the galloping heavy metal style that defined their early work, but right from the beginning, you can hear the heavy presence of keyboards, which give the whole thing a strong progressive metal feel.

It’s also a concept album, loosely based on the folklore of the “seventh son of a ... read more

This album seems to get a lot of bad reviews, but I honestly didn’t think it was that bad. There are some upbeat tracks that lean more toward his alternative style, along with a few of his more lush, orchestral ballads. Overall, it’s nothing too special compared to what he’s done in the past, but for what it is, it’s definitely a decent album, and it was worth the listen.

I’m a little mixed on this album. On one hand, Missy Elliott has always kind of left a bad taste in my mouth, because her style just never really clicked with me. But I’ll give her credit where it’s due, the production on this is pretty solid and definitely helped balance things out. Timbaland’s beats carried a lot of the weight for me and made the album a more enjoyable listen overall, and that says a lot, considering Timbaland is also someone who usually brings a bad ... read more

I really enjoyed this one, especially considering how commercial and polished it is. While it’s clearly rooted in country pop, I’d still take this over Taylor Swift any day of the week. What makes this album stand out is its seamless genre blending. You get the foundation of contemporary country, but it’s layered with dream pop textures, soft disco grooves, and subtle electronic flourishes that give it an indie pop spirit.

For instrumentation you get acoustic guitars and ... read more

So it’s very rare that I enjoy an album from a mainstream pop artist, but this one was a fun listen. Between Carly Rae Jepsen and her producers, they found the perfect balance of mainstream pop blended with electro and synthpop. I really love the 80s inspired aesthetics. It’s also hard to believe this is technically a B-side EP to her Emotion LP from 2015. These tracks feel like fully realized songs, not leftovers. In fact, I think every track on this album is better than a lot of ... read more

I think this is the first 80s Latin Freestyle album I’ve reviewed. Noel is an artist I wasn’t too familiar with outside of his hit track “Silent Morning,” but for anyone who’s into freestyle, this album actually holds up really well from beginning to end. It’s filled with melodic synth lines, punchy synth stabs, and classic freestyle breakbeats with reverb heavy snares. I’m glad I gave this album a listen, because it definitely feels like a lost gem ... read more

Honestly, this album should’ve been called Patchwork because that’s exactly how it feels. It was marketed as a “union” between the classic Yes lineup and the more radio friendly 80s version of the band, but in reality, it was anything but a union. The two factions recorded their parts separately, and then producer Jonathan Elias stitched it all together with session musicians and heavy handed post production, often without the band’s full input.

You can hear the ... read more

Matthew Dear is the king of mixing avant-pop with minimal techno and microhouse. This album fully leans into that minimal approach, which is built on repetition, negative space, and glitchy 4/4 beats, but still carries the rhythmic bounce of house music. Most of the tracks sit at a solid 3.5 out of 5, but “Dog Days” is a 6.5, and is hands down the standout.

In fact, “Dog Days” is so strong that it overshadows the rest of the album. It probably should’ve been ... read more

This compilation has always held a special place in my heart, and I think it’s aged pretty well. Released just before electroclash took off, it helped lay the foundation for both electroclash, and the nu-disco movement. It draws heavily from Italo disco, synthpop, and minimal synth.

The entire tracklist is strong, but Disco Rout by Legowelt is the standout for me. You’ve also got other key names like DMX Krew and ADULT that really gives the compilation some weight.

For someone ... read more

This was a great album to start my Monday morning with. I’ve always had a weakness for that working class British folk rock sound, especially when it evokes imagery of the English countryside. The baroque and Celtic influences on this album really play into that atmosphere and bring the whole thing to life.

It was recorded in a tight time frame and on a very low budget, but I honestly think that worked in its favor. The stripped down and dry production adds a raw charm and intimacy that ... read more

This album was definitely a staple of the 2010s indie and dance scene. The Yeah Yeah Yeahs started off with a gritty garage rock sound, but this album shifted toward a more polished, electronic driven dance punk direction.

The track that really blew them up beyond indie circles was the A-Trak remix of “Heads Will Roll,” which became a massive club hit.

It’s still a fun album to revisit, but because it was such a defining part of its era, it definitely feels locked into that ... read more

I remember back in my late teens and early 20s, I had a few Verve Records compilations on vinyl that I used to play at weddings for friends, and right from the first track, this album triggered those familiar sounds. I vaguely remembered some of these songs, so listening to this album was definitely a trip down memory lane.

Compared to her earlier work from the early 60s, this album starts to slip slightly away from the more traditional bossa nova style that she helped popularize. It lacks ... read more

This is one of my favorite albums from the electroclash and post punk revival era of the early 2000s. I remember listening to it at the music store before buying it, and I was instantly blown away by its fusion of goth-punk attitude filtered through the lens of electronic music.

You still get a few tracks that show traces of their downtempo and IDM background, but for the most part, this album leans fully into grimy, distorted basslines and sluggish mechanical beats. The production ... read more