There are so many things that could have gone so well with this record, but unfortunately so many more things went wrong. Calvin Harris' progression from the blandest-of-the-bland EDM into funk-oriented house progression is great. His work is nothing amazing, but it is something that shows he isn't a one-trick pony. A lot of it starts to sound extremely similar to the track before it after the 4th song or so, and none of this is really daring or inspired.
The featured artists are where this ... read more

There is essentially nothing that can be taken away from these lyrics. Thaiboy Digital is tough to even understand, but luckily there is nothing to really be heard from his bars. The real standout of this album is the production. It's everything that was wrong on Yung Lean's Warlord done right. Wonky synths, trap undertones, and an improved aesthetic on the whole "sadboy" sound. Nothing amazing here, but there's banger after banger on this thing.

fav tracks: Haters Broke, ... read more

Obviously rushed and more of a business move than an artistic effort, the newest set of songs from twice-retired Jay-Z is a pleasant surprise. He's 15 years past his prime, so I don't think anyone was expecting this to be another Blueprint, but for what 4:44 is, it can be appreciated.
None of the lyrics are too impressive; they're provocative and personal, perfect to stir up drama like Beyonce's Lemonade did last year. But the lyrics are still a lot better than they were on 2013's enormous ... read more

In a massive concept album that goes all out with it's story and how it is told, Murder of the Universe is one of the most ambitious efforts from King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard to date, not to mention one of the most ambitious of the year as well.
The heavy, groovy psychedelic riffs that remain consistent (although a little monotonous) through the whole album is the largest success factor for me. They go from large, monolithic songs to slower, lyrically-focused songs that really shine ... read more

King Gizzard is a band that I always hear about, see other people enjoying, but never actually check out. Last year's Nonagon Infinity was pretty boring and nothing all that special. So this year, the band takes on another gimmick and plays only microtonal instruments, something that can be really cool if executed correctly. And I guess they do everything correctly, but there is still so much more that they could have done with this concept. I was hoping for some much bolder music that ... read more

Not really anything special or different from many other rappers today, but it's still a hard single.

Purple Rain sounds how the film looks. A beautiful mixture of pop, soul, rock, and pretty much any prominent genre of the 80's. One of those rare albums that nearly everyone loves, and understandably so.

Consistent, no singing, and slightly experimental, Bones outdoes himself on his newest mixtape. I thought Unrendered, from only two months ago, was an awesome project that showed Bones at his most versatile. He switches up his style now, sounding much grittier and angrier, relying heavily on booming-bass beats and horrorcore-esque lyrics. I think Bones finally made a truly cohesive and interesting project that fully encapsulates the aesthetic that he puts out.
NoRedeemingQualities is the ... read more

There are some obvious flaws and shortcomings, but overall this EP is showing a side of Denzel Curry that is grittier and rawer than what was on last year's Imperial tape. The bass-heavy production and aggressive flows make for something that is interesting and fun to listen to, but might become a bit saturated on a full length album.

fav tracks: Zeltron 6 Billion (standout), Bloodshed

EDIT: At this point, Barter 6, Jeffery and Beautiful Thugger Girls are classic albums in my eyes. If you still don't like or understand Young Thug, I genuinely feel sorry for you.

With lots of anticipation being built up towards this as being some sort of experimental country-rap project, Young Thug took an "artistic risk" if you can call it that. In the snippet of Family Don't Matter that was released a couple weeks before the full album, acoustic guitars were emphasized and Thug ... read more

It's a more favorable change from the shitty, watered down pop punk that Paramore popularized early in their career, but the new genre does not necessarily mean good music. Each song still has painfully childish and shallow lyrics, and the electronic-centered production is nothing special.

Most of this is pretty mediocre, but god damn does Kool A.D. do a great job on the I'm God beat.

This is an album I have been looking forward to for over 2 years. Each year that passed after Pure Heroine released, I became more and more nervous for what was to come. From the work on the Hunger Games soundtrack that Lorde did and her feature on Disclosure's newest album, the music that was released by the New Zealand native was spotty and inconsistent. But then she dropped Green Light, the opening track from Melodrama, earlier this year. It was a little generic and sounded like almost ... read more

With this being the best track put out by Curry yet since his last project, it's also one of my favorites already of this year. Denzel does his thing, but Lil Ugly Mane absolutely MURDERS this song. His recent verses with Secret Circle have been good, but this goes back to Mista Thug Isolation type bars. His flow is better than ever and he's back on his shit lyrically. This song makes me even more excited for what each of these rappers have in store for the future, and if Zeltron 6 Billion ... read more

The rather consistent French pop group's first album in 4 years is where they prove that they are aging as a band. Phoenix has made some of the most groovy pop songs of the 2000's, and they show that they can still do it on Ti Amo. However, they prove that it's about all they can do, and the project loses steam early into it.

fav track: J-Boy

Saturation is everything that I expected to get from Brockhampton. After all of the stellar singles they put out, it was obvious that the whole album couldn't be like that, and it wasn't. To me, the singles are by far the best tracks on the record (Star and Gold are some of my favorites from the whole year so far), but there are still tracks that were held to be released with the full album that are just as charismatic and fun as the singles.
By now, everyone is well aware of the obvious ... read more

The first half holds some of the best electronic music of this decade, but the much slower second half drones on for much longer than necessary, making me lose a lot of interest in revisiting the project.

Distorted and slightly goth in nature, Black Marble's second album is beginning-to-end fantastic. Plenty of inspiration came from the dance-pop of the 80's mixed with the new wave and post punk of the same decade. The lo-fi production and chilling vocals add to the dark atmosphere of the project. I'm not sure if I should say that It's Immaterial is "joyful with a touch of depression" or "depressing with a touch of joy," as the album really confuses my emotions. Aside ... read more

A really smooth, soulful dub project. The free-flowing instrumentation is the obvious star of the album, from the keyboards and synthesizers to the trombones and saxophones, musically the project is terrific.
I think the vocals also are a great part of the album, but they sound so uninspired and flat. The singer really can sing, and he has a great voice, despite many of the lyrics being corny and anticlimactic. But he remains in the same tone throughout nearly every single track, ... read more

Using the exact same production ideas as the previous album, ADHD NFL Blitz' second effort is a lot less intriguing. Using mostly cut up pop songs from decades ago, a lot of the random charm that was on the first project is lost on this one because of the lack of various noises and sound effects. Even though this type of music in general is about as lazy as you can get, this sounds even lazier than the first album; three sets of two tracks are completely identical, but placed in different ... read more