Sparks definitely shines their brightest fully embracing the New Wave elements creeping in on "Kimono My House." The legendary Giorgio Moroder producing means an excellent sound, crescendoing into the amazing final song: the Pop epic "The No. 1 Song in Heaven"

I think that the circlejerky nature of online music discussions has somewhat irreparably damaged how we perceive music. Instead of actually honestly describing the listening experience, there's a tendency to attribute arbitrarily negative descriptors like "overproduced" or "pretentious" that don't actually mean much of anything but give an excuse for something to be "bad."

I think it's very possible for someone NOT to like this album, but ... read more

Every song brings a new ingredient to the groovy, New Wave stew that this album creates. I honestly just had such a fun and somewhat minorly profound listening experience thanks to the infectious rhythms and oddly poignant lyrics

Has almost all the passion you could want from a bands early work. It's hard to say if it's "creativity" that Road Apples has lots of, but it is definitely inspired

Edit: 95-->98

HOLY. SHIT. This is INSANE

Not only is this the best Rap release of the year so far, but it's also quite easily my favourite release from this year, too. Dixon continues to put his entire heart into his writing and performances, but that goddamn PRODUCTION absolutely hits RIGHT into the core of your soul and lifts you up to a higher plane

I'm always cautious when one of my favourite artists releases new music, and I was doubly so for this album without Inflo as the producer. This isn't to say that I don't think Simz can hold her own; her rapping is easily the best part of her music. I do quite enjoy the large, orchestral sound of Simz' earlier albums, which definitely aren't on "Lotus."

Despite this, the album is still very good. The opener (Thief) is a very obvious attack at Inflo, with some ... read more

A daring direction for Flume to take his production style. While abstract, it remains compelling if not slightly unfocused with the many shorter tracks

VERY Twee I mean I'm sure Tumblr ATE this up back in the day but honestly I fw it

Arcade Fire's "Funeral" is an incredibly influential album, one whose influence can definitely be felt on something like The National's "Boxer." That being said, the group certainly makes many elements of Chamber and Post-Punk their own.

The drum playing on the album stuck out to me. While the patterns rarely deviated from the core loop, they still felt quite memorable and dynamic. The rest of the instrumentation might be slightly less notable. The larger ... read more

Rises close to the top amongst a SEA of the Bostons and Journeys of the decade. Glam Rock never appealed to me as much as a genre, but Sparks' unapologetic goofiness sells "Kimono My House" fairly well

Sounds very "AAA video game trailer music-core" but slips into a couple nice moments of atmosphere throughout. I think that I could turn my brain off and enjoy Sleep Token to some level, but the second that I start actually thinking about what I'm listening to is when things fall apart for me

Some beautiful, elegant songwriting. Honest and heartfelt all the way through

I knew this wouldn't actually be Heavy Metal so that didn't suprise me but what did is his VOICE. He has quite the voice for someone that young looking.

It's hard to put my finger on the exact sound of "Heavy Metal" by Cameron Winter. While Folk is the most apt descriptor, the project had a layer of Soul and potentially Latin influence. The songwriting is quite striking, and makes me extremely interested to see what Winter might make next

When they really let loose with the rhymes, the lyrical content of Black Star is insanely impressive. The beats are also impressive to a degree in their effective minimalism

A real pleasing listen that balances heavier and even mathy sounds with moments of psychedelic calm

Critics in a "have no idea what they're talking about" competition. This or probably ANY of the Hip's albums aren't mind-blowingly influential to music, but they ARE if you're a Canadian born before the 21st century.

I wasn't fully sure if the band would end up being an "album band" or if they were overshadowed by their singles but honestly this album holds up quite well

I dunno what they're saying but I KNOW they're serving the house boots down

Defies label in many ways. The sounds and influences are stacked upon each other ranging from Rock to Pop to Club. The tracks are tied together with some great expressions of gender and sexuality, which gives "Pirouette" a greater sense of depth to keep me listening

This feels like an album that I would definitely appreciate more if I discovered it at age, like, 14, but I discovered it as a full adult and so I don't feel emotionally attached to it.

If I'm listening to slower, more emotion-driven music I'd BETTER be emotionally moved but I don't think that "American Football" goes far beyond the expected "melancholic" aesthetic. There ARE some moments of hope and complex feelings throughout, but maybe just not ... read more

Anytime I can somehow connect my current conversation to Feist, I will never shut up about the fact that my aunt rented to her years ago; It's my "Aragorn actually broke his toe kicking that orc helmet"