Modest Mouse - An Eraser and A Maze
77

Sounds exactly like the album they should have released straight after ‘We Were Dead…’.

This actually sounds more like the original MM sound than that album, but it shares a similar breezy feel in places.

A Modest Mouse album clocking in at under 50 minutes is welcome too, most of these songs are short and sharp by their standards.

Hammock - The Second Coming Was a Moonrise
72

So does this qualify as 'big and bland' or not ? I think so...but it's also the prettiest type of 'big and bland' you can get.

Overall I'm quite pleased that rather than full on 'death by crescendocore' here we are smothered by a silk pillow of smooth post-rock ambience that's yes, a little too uneventful for its own good at times.

Shakey Graves - Fondness, Etc.
82

Mac DeMarco joins The Felice Brothers.

Shakey’s still woozy, but this time a lot less snoozy.

More direct, more classic.

Chuck Johnson - Balsams
77

Pedal my steel baby

Daughn Gibson - Lake Mary Not Mysterious
78

Lana Del Rey, Sooooo Mysterious

You know, I'm really enjoying this comeback, and that's despite reading a review of DG recently that said he sings like the Crash Test Dummies. Ignoring that slander....and this album certainly has its epic moments, but even so it retains a deconstructed feel most of the time, and I like that mix.

He's gone more for mood than power in his vocals now, you won't find a repeat performance of 'The Sound of Law' from 2013's ... read more

American Football - American Football
47

Frequently sounds like a modern update on the American Music Club albums of the late ‘80s/early ‘90s, only even more focused on the ambience.

The positive here is the production which takes centre stage throughout - oh how I’d love it if AMC had released an album this last decade that sounded similar.

The downside, and it’s a killer, is there’s no spikiness to the vocals or song writing. There’s no problem with a fully ambient ‘n atmospheric ... read more

Damien Jurado - Did Something In Me Break
74

Cosy cover art, cosy album.

Was worried Lilly Miller wouldn't hold her own up against Damo...but she does!

Foo Fighters - Your Favorite Toy
37

‘Then I saw your face there in the window...You were a window cleaner’

Profound.

Friko - Something Worth Waiting For
92

An indie rock album so good I kept it in gym rotation for an instant second listen.

I now identify as a hot air balloon.

Flea - Honora
NR

Flea for your life it’s a competent mellow jazz solo project.

NR

Corrosion of Conformity - Good God / Baad Man
82

There’s a lot of southern rock in this tasty COC.

This is like a mix of a less gimmicky Clutch and some Kyuss flavoured stoner jam band goodness.

A sprawling easygoing epic that just hits the spot for me though I guess it’s not the most focused if that’s what you were hoping for.

Madonna - Music
NR

Muse sick-n-her Mess Age

NR

The Delines - The Set Up
81

You could describe this latest Delines album as being their 'most Richmond Fontaine type album’…but the more I listen the more I think it’s even closer to being their ‘Tindersticks album’. I can imagine that band recording some of the instrumentals included here and the soul influence is at its most ‘Simple Pleasure’ sounding too...then again maybe this is just another way of saying this is the Delines album that sounds the most like soundtrack ... read more

Kim Gordon - PLAY ME
73

It's a strange turn of events that Kim Gordon has turned into something close to the 'female vocal' version of Tricky here.

Bonnie 'Prince' Billy - We Are Together Again
87

Subtlety. Care. Craft. Integrity. Focus.

Not words that when applied to a new album will get your heart pounding, but they sum up the late career reboot Will Oldham’s embarked on over the last decade.

This one finds him as whimsical as he’s ever been, but there’s something meditative in these arrangements too; this is a super agreeable effort.

Bill Callahan - My Days of 58
93

Callahan eats Kozelek’s lunch here πŸ₯ͺ

deathcrash - Somersaults
86

Stop everything βœ‹

This is the mix of emo, slowcore and post rock you’ve been looking for.

The lads up the emotion - and there’s not a dry eye to be seen.

Gorillaz - The Mountain
48

It's early...maybe too early?

Luke Temple - Hungry Animal
85

Luke Temple is one of those under the radar indie artists who’s been ploughing away for years, first recording indie pop and folk under his own name, then more psychedelic material as the band unit From Here We Go Magic, before returning to a more varied approach to his solo output sometimes releasing funky art pop under the moniker Art Feynman. Near enough everything he’s released has had some merit to it, and he’s certainly tried his hand at multiple genres, but you always ... read more

Converge - Love Is Not Enough
NR

One day this band and my listening impulse will converge.

Today is not that day.

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On Kanye West - Donda
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On Bill Callahan - My Days of 58
"I guess the easiest way of putting it is instrumentally Kozelek is a genius, and some of his best work is instrumental passages. Callahan doesn’t really compete there."
On Bill Callahan - My Days of 58
"He’s put out some less good stuff. Mark has ended up releasing some sporadically entertaining ‘outsider art’, and you know, it’s meant he has a more varied back catalogue than Callahan. Kozelek has also been a king when it comes to collaborations. Overall I still far rank Kozelek higher than Callahan…though he’s still one of te best too."
On Foo Fighters - Your Favorite Toy
"@Kravma409 Yeah, sadly that's the music tag I seem to use the most on this site, a lot of legacy bands going through the motions ;)"
On Friko - Something Worth Waiting For
"@Sbeve might be over excited this morning, it has happened before…but after two and a half plays of this I’m smitten"
On GabrielAOTY's review of Nine Inch Noize - Nine Inch Noize
"You can't have remixes of 'already electronic' music...? This statement might break the entire 2026 music industry."
On Killing Joke - Pylon
"Maybe I let it run into the bonus tracks!"
On The Cure - 4:13 Dream
"Good thing it wasn't (see my rating for 'Songs of a Lost World')"
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On κ˜π‘’ΈαΆ’Ν€α₯’ πœŽπ† α—ͺβ±ΈΖžΥŠΠ΄κ“€π”˜'s review of Squeeze - Trixies
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On Gorillaz - The Mountain
"It would be the second Albarn pick in three years so…I think a better pick will come along. We will see"
On Kim Gordon - PLAY ME
"yeah, not on every track but there's something there."
On Kanye West - ye
"Not revisited it...could give that a go though."
On Bill Callahan - My Days of 58
"Archerycraft - I was obviously comparing current Koz to current Billy C."
On Gorillaz - The Mountain
"Demon Days is the one I've listened to the most, would rate it as good but not great (I don't put up 60-68% rating here but would be in that bracket), there are five or so winners on it. Plastic Beach I'd also rate similar, with a similar hit rate."
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On Gorillaz - The Mountain
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On Luke Temple - Hungry Animal
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On Everclear - So Much for the Afterglow
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On GW76's review of Yumi Zouma - No Love Lost to Kindness
"This is a completely different style to the first EPs but you are correct - they're remained mostly 'beige' through all stylistic tweaks."
On Megadeth - Megadeth
"I do like ‘The Last Note’ a lot and ‘Obey the Call’ is solid enough. 'Another Bad Day' and 'I Am War' are the two most uninteresting tracks and for me 'Made to Kill' is unremarkable for them in their signature thrash template."
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