A minuscule album (somewhere around 10 minutes or so), ADHD NFL Blitz is a collection of 24 tiny snippets of songs, commercial jingles, and video game soundtracks, all put together. With all but one of the songs being under a minute long, and most being shorter than 30 seconds, it became a bit difficult to actually focus on the music because it changed so often, making the ADHD title very fitting. Not much is done here that isn't on pretty much every other vaporwave project, but because ADHD ... read more

Using some classic 90's-era hip hop production techniques and various samples from films and other songs, Gasoline's landmark project is among some of the best in its genre. The bumping bass, use of vocal distortion in the production, and even the few featured verses are the highlights of the LP for me.
But after the halfway point of the album, it started to feel a bit pretentious, like Gasoline knew they were going to make a masterpiece right from the get-go. The lines from vintage film ... read more

How Chief Keef gonna drop a mixtape that made me honestly question my life decisions when listening to it, and then a fucking banger like this. Biggest surprise of the year, people are gonna sleep on this, but it's probably my favorite Keef project since Finally Rich.

Somewhat reminding me of Daniel Johnston, the first release from The Savage Young Taterbug is probably his most memorable. Using what sounds like the lowest possible budget and low-quality recording devices, each song has such a stripped down and unorthodox character to it. Most of the tape sounds like the type of music that you'd hear at a carnival or festival, if that carnival or festival were on mushrooms and in the middle of rural Virginia.
Not everything is great, and I think there is ... read more

There was a lot of potential for a really enjoyable, quirky, lo-fi pop album. But no changes were made throughout the EP, and it just went on and on with no excitement being shown.

This is one of those albums that has been sitting in my list of music to listen to for a very, very long time. Within the past couple days, I finally got around to checking it out, and I haven't been as surprised with any album as I am with this in a long time.
In a surreal and paranormal exploration of how music can really affect someone, James Kirby put together so many sounds and genres that I can't even fathom how he got the idea to put this together. It's like a schizophrenic version of ... read more

SZA, Kehlani, Tinashe, and all of these flavor-of-the-month R&B singers are the same. No substance, shallow lyrics, and hopping onto whatever wave is popular in music at the time, which in this case is the soul/hip hop fusion similar to what Bryson Tiller popularized. SZA is lucky because she is signed to TDE, which also holds some very talented artists such as two of the features on this album. So, she actually has the resources available to do some different shit which can prove to be ... read more

This would have been one of the better songs on Humanz, why was this released after.

Filled with sweet synths and layered production, Brendan Byrnes' first real album since 2012 is among some of the best of 2017. Reminiscent of M83, each track has a terrific progression to it, almost EDM-like in nature but still structured as a traditional pop song. Byrnes' lyrics are interesting as well, not particularly amazing, but they tell stories and are miles above of those that can be found on albums that sound sonically the same.
The second half of the album is much more ... read more

my music isn't pop it's alternative and it's really deep and artistic!

Jay does a great job considering that he hasn't put out solo work in years, but the track is still somewhat lackluster and leaves you wanting more, in both the instrumental and lyrics.

Extremely generic and cliche. Doesn't give me any high hopes for the new album.

Worst single to come from the group yet, but it's still a good song. None of the rappers really fit on the beat well, and everything in general seems goofier than what each of them is used to. The chipmunked chorus gets annoying after the second time I hear it, and most of the topic matter is just alright. Twon, Wiki, and Ugly can definitely do better, and I know that they will.

One night, I woke up hungover and checked my phone. It was open on the music app, and I was about halfway through this album. Finally finished it. It isn't that good.

All of these singles released in May have been consistently brilliant. Really excited to see what the young rap collective has in store for later in the year.

Bringing in elements of 60's pop and surf rock, Louie Louie releases one of the more laid back and fun albums of 2017. They do a great job keeping consistent rhythm throughout the LP, with very strong hooks and nothing but dance-able instrumental work. However, the group really fails to deliver solid songwriting; about halfway through the album it gets to be more or less the same thing over and over, never saying much of substance anywhere outside of the choruses.

fav tracks: Do It (In Your ... read more

I really respect Lil Yachty. He brought his own style to hip hop and has, in barely over a year, changed the sound of the genre drastically, influencing countless others. He's 19 and has done more in the past year than lots of people will in a lifetime. I enjoyed his first mixtape plenty, and his second was okay, but wasn't anything special like the first was.
However, on his first full-length album, Lil Yachty released an hour and 10 minutes of all the worst parts of his music. Overdone ... read more

The most energetic and fun release to come from Swet Shop Boys yet. Sufi La focuses on the duo improving their rapping skills and personality rather than their lyrics, which are obviously solid (proved on Cashmere). Heems steals the show from Riz MC yet again, which is a good thing. Heems has been an established artist for many years now, but Riz is still coming into himself as a rapper, and in time he will have more quality raps to offer. Anthem and the title track are perfect examples of ... read more

Lyrically vapid from both rappers, the group's first release together is their most forgettable. Heems dominates Riz, but neither of them are particularly strong at all. The production is the biggest star of the EP, reminding me of beats on Heems' Nehru Jackets tape, but this lacks the eastern flavor that Cashmere and Sufi La have, which makes the group stand out from the rest.

fav tracks: Urvasi, Benny Lava

I was lucky enough to get my hands on a copy of this a month early, and all of my expectations were surpassed. As far as throwaway tracks go, everything on here is amazing. The dynamic string work is as good as it ever has been, even sounding more raw and distortion-free at certain points.
Vocally, this is a somewhat different set of songs compared to what Victoria gives us on studio efforts. On some tracks, like Baby & Equal Mind, I would compare her voice to singers such as Lorde or ... read more