M83 follows an obvious but successful formula with Saturdays = Youth. Each song has a pretty explicit verse and chorus order, along with synth breaks to accompany that. The female vocals sound extremely generic, which is the albums largest flaw. Anthony's flat, whispy singing is one of my favorite aspects of M83's music, and when he is replaced it seems to be much less personal. Not to mention that the other singer sounds like pretty much any other radio electropop songstress. Aside from ... read more

A hipster-hop release in vein of rappers like Das Racist which does a brilliant job of fusing some accessible flows and beats with the dirty south style of rapping, similar to Lil Ugly Mane. Antwon literally raps over the Portlandia theme music on Fantasy Beds. I think that alone gives a pretty good idea of what you'll find here.

fav tracks: Turn 2 Die, Feelitallaround, Helicopter, Switch

With two absolutely awful albums, and the mediocre STN MTN and Kauai mixtape/EP most recently released, its safe to say that I was very skeptical of this new funk project from Childish Gambino. However, I have no doubts that this is Glover's best endeavor yet. Even with that being said, it is a very pretentious and messy piece of music.
I respect Glover for trying to create something that is different than his past work, and that is an attempt to emulate arguably one of the greatest and most ... read more

BLAND BLAND BLAND BLAND BLAND BLAND BLAND BLAND BLAND BLAND BLAND BLAND BLAND BLAND BLAND BLAND BLAND BLAND BLAND BLAND BLAND BLAND BLAND BLAND BLAND BLAND BLAND BLAND BLAND BLAND BLAND BLAND BLAND BLAND BLAND BLAND BLAND BLAND BLAND BLAND BLAND BLAND BLAND BLAND BLAND BLAND BLAND BLAND BLAND BLAND BLAND BLAND BLAND BLAND BLAND BLAND BLAND BLAND BLAND BLAND BLAND BLAND BLAND BLAND BLAND BLAND BLAND BLAND BLAND BLAND BLAND BLAND BLAND BLAND BLAND BLAND BLAND BLAND BLAND BLAND BLAND BLAND BLAND ... read more

I will never not defend Lorde and her music. Since she dropped Royals in 2013, I was unsure of her. It was overplayed on the radio, but once I actually took the time to listen to her other material, I was in love. Aside from Biting Down, The Love Club EP is perhaps her most consistent release. Lorde's whispy style of singing along with her lyrical content that isn't completely brainless, creates a pop project that can be enjoyed for years to come. Pure Heroine remains my favorite Lorde ... read more

In a 17-minute rendition of Neutral Milk Hotel's beloved magnum-opus, Madeline Ava doesn't seem to change much, but actually changes everything. All horns are replaced with kazoos, and aside from that the only other instrument used is a ukulele. Holland, 1945 is changed from one of the more faster paced lo-fi rock tracks to the most somber and depressing song on the album. Because none of this is originally composed, it really isn't that impressive, but Ava's voice is so appealing, and this ... read more

STFU
Rice Balls
Pink Life
Fried Noodles
These are the only legitimately good songs on this album. The rest are funny, but don't really go any further than shallow, immature humor (which I still found pretty entertaining). This is definitely too long with too much repetition of the same ideas, but I definitely did not hate this. It's stupid, moronic music, and that's all that Pink Guy tried to do.
If he had included Teriyaki God and Hood Rich, this would be boosted by probably 5 whole points. ... read more

With a short and very sweet EP, Caddywhompus presents a very exciting style of upbeat garage rock. Their instrumentation is very noisy and excessive at times, which is the best part of the project. The lyrics are sincere, as they are not the centerpoint of the project so they aren't too memorable, but the song structures are satisfying to me. The band's atmosphere that they create is the best part of this EP, very light and easy to listen to, but also aggressive and will work its way into ... read more

This album was the beginning of noise rock. This album was the beginning of avant-garde aspects being used in rock. This album was the starting point for genres like shoegaze, which utilize noise and unorthodox styles of production. TVU crafted such a pristine album in White Light/White Heat that writing about it really doesn't do it any justice. It is impossible to stop mid-album, as the flow is so consistent and there is always something to look ahead to. It is argued by millions what ... read more

Nothing here appeals to me any more than it would in any other psych rock band. I feel as if this is just working with what others have already created, and not really adding anything new. there are some sweet riffs and hooks here and there, but I can find so much more with other bands in the same genre. Maybe some of of Montreal's other work will appeal to me more.

Through a mostly enjoyable set of funk-flavored dance tracks, Justice released one of the more progressive electronic records of the 2000's. Their use of altered voices and cinematic synths are the most special and original aspects of †. But aside from that, there is not too much that makes Justice stand out from the many other house acts from all over the world. The high points of † are impressive, but the rest of the album is pretty mediocre.

fav tracks: Let There Be Light, ... read more

I listened to this album one time last year, and never felt like I had to go back to it. Many months passed, all of the hype over the group coming back together to tour got to me, so I decided to revisit the only album of LCD Soundsystem's I listened to, Sound of Silver. Every flaw that I heard in the past melted out of my mind. James Murphy's voice over an infectious mix of electronic dance music and rock is something that I can't believe I ever didn't like, as it's all just too damn good. ... read more

In an interesting take on R&B and electronic music, Yves Tumor created one of the most unique and special records of 2016. The production styles, ranging from noise, to ambient, to somewhat vaporwave-y synths and samples, were definitely the highlight of Serpent Music. The vocals, when present, were pretty good as well, bringing some emotion to the instrumental textures. The biggest flaw with this LP is that it goes on for much longer than it needs to. Its 43 minutes long, but could be ... read more

Definitely one of the hardest, most entertaining underground rappers out right now. Each beat is light and ethereal, but Xen's rough and visceral voice overpowers the instrumentals, which gives this entire tape a very primal aesthetic, with no shortage of energy.

In the past five years since Killer Mike and El-P started working together, they created a total of four absolutely stunning hip hop albums, with the best, in my eyes, being Run The Jewels 2. But their most recent collaboration, Run The Jewels 3, is much less impressive than anything either have done in their careers up until now.
There is just nothing new or exciting or adventurous that is on RTJ3 that makes me feel like I have to listen to it again. The production is way less aggressive ... read more

I mean this in the nicest way possible, but Chief Keef sounds legitmately retarded on almost every track on this mixtape. His voice is extremely monotone and expressionless on every single song. Compared to Finally Rich, which is easily his best project, Keef sounds like a completely different rapper, which is unfortunate, as he had potential to start a really great movement in drill music.

Lil Peep sounds like he should be the frontman for a mid 2000's emo band, not a rapper. I respect him for trying to create something that nobody has really done before, but he makes the "emotional rapper" aesthetic sound so cheesy.

Grouper sounds like she's just about to cry but never actually does. Great songs though.

Lots of potential to create a truly breathtaking electronic dance record was here, but it was thrown away and replaced with big-budget features and insultingly average production. Had a few tracks been cut, this would have been a pretty solid ~45 minute album. But the inclusion of excessively average featured artists and bland production was the biggest contributor to the downfall of Skin.

fav tracks: Never Be Like You, Wall Fuck, Free

Ever wonder why the only christmas songs that are ever played is stuff like "Jingle Bells" and "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer"? Because literally nobody listens to christmas music outside of December, and the handful of tracks that are constantly repeated are the classics. All christmas music is pretty much irrelevant through the majority of a year, so what's the point of releasing a mixtape less than a week before christmas?