I've seen this tape being heavily promoted and pushed all over Twitter and Instagram for the last couple weeks, so I thought it might be alright, as it has some support behind it. But all I really find on this is heavy Drake dickriding, whether it be the flows or lyrical content. Nothing special or interesting is presented here, and even with so many artists featured, nothing stands out. Shake CANNOT sing for her life, not even with all of the processing done to her voice. Phi is possibly ... read more

Holy shit this goes so FUCKING hard. Lyrics are solid and the beat is energetic and banging. Great hip hop track.

From what is one of the most surprising (at least to me) films of this year comes an equally sensational soundtrack. La La Land features the vocals of Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone, two actors who have never sung before, and each of them perform these tracks very, very well. The juxtaposition of Gosling's rich, bass-heavy voice with Stone's soprano voice comes together in a satisfying way, as they trade lines on tracks, adding emotion and depth to the lyrics. The instrumental songs, all ... read more

Experimental, accessible, artistic: these are just a few somewhat contradictory terms to describe TV On The Radio's breakthrough album. The band's textures and instrumental work is fantastic, and with super clean production on top of it, the complete instrumental work is among the best of the 2000's. The only actual problem I have is that there are just a couple songs that don't really seem necessary, or are weaker than the rest. But this is still an album that is enjoyable at pretty much ... read more

The use of saxophones is a very interesting and unique concept, but if it didn't have any of that, this would still be some very average black metal. Granted, it does include them, and there are some very impressive performances of the saxes and guitars creating a very cohesive and entertaining riff, but it wasn't enough to make this a terrific album. This concept has plenty of room for improvement though, so it will be cool to see what comes next from Brain Tentacles.

Really love the pop-metal hybrid that is explored throughout this album. If "light metal" were a thing, this would be it. The lyrics are pretty intriguing and the riffs and song structures are hard like metal, but structured like a pop song. Catchy hooks and overall very appealing tracks are the cause for Ghost's worldwide success, as they have capitalized on something that nobody else truly has before.

fav tracks: Spirit, Cirice (standout), Deus In Absentia

It's better than Speedin' Bullet 2 Heaven. But that isn't saying much. This is such incredibly generic and boring hip hop that I feel like I have heard songs identical to these all over soundcloud and spinrilla by nobody rappers before listening to this. The lyrics are still awfully vapid and dull (barely better than what was on SB2H) and the production has absolutely NO redeeming qualities at all.

fav tracks: Frequency
least fav tracks: literally everything else

DOOM sounds tired, and this beat barely even makes itself present. I wasn't expecting either of these legends to be atop their game in 2016, but I expected a little more than this. The action figure is way cooler than this song.

Ronnie's perfect vocals over a classic Phil Spector instrumental. This song led to the creation of the legendary group The Ronettes, who only made even more stellar tracks such as this one.
This is one of the very few songs that I think is absolutely flawless. Literally nothing is wrong with this song, and nothing could be improved upon.

There isn't enough material on this EP for me to rate it any higher, but for the most part, Act 1 is flawless. The phone call and skits were way too long, but the production is so progressive, and Jay's verses are some of the best that have ever been spit in the 2000's

A breathtakingly fresh response to the extremely popular techno and acid house scene of dance music in the 90s. Screamadelica brings psych-rock elements along with electronic and disco elements, which forms a project that is like no other. There are some filler tracks and some tracks that are too messy for their own good, but as a whole, Primal Scream made something that still to this day hasn't been surpassed as far as dance music goes (Daft Punk comes close though).

fav tracks: Don't Fight ... read more

Delightful indie rock that is absolutely stunning from beginning to end. The scarce lyrics aren't too impressive, but its obvious that they aren't meant to be; this band literally states that they make fun music, and that's exactly what they gave us. Fang Island is one of the most surprising and captivating indie rock releases of this decade. Its got infectious guitar riffs, daring song structures, and the band's name is fucking Fang Island. How much more fun can you get?

fav tracks: Life ... read more

Compared to the original version that appeared on Teens of Denial, this is extremely average. It loses the epic buildup to "Killer Whales" and replaces the original lyrics with verses that are very shallow and boring.

One of the best releases within the dungeon synth genre. Keeps a dark and atmospheric tone, while still giving medieval sounding effects as well.

White Iverson is awesome, and one of my favorite singles from 2015, and for a time I even considered myself a fan of Post Malone. Then we got August 26th... and now we have Stoney...
His good material is overwhelmingly pushed under his bad material. He is also one of the most obvious industry plants I have seen in a long time.

I think the band had something going with their song structures and very approachable arrangements, but they couldn't create anything that particularly stood out, which is a problem that many shoegaze bands have had recently.

It's a coincidence that there's a track called deja vu, because I swear J Cole put out the same album 2 years ago

Too many different things are thrown together here for the album to be more than slightly enjoyable. It's got some bangers and interesting production choices, but the whole mixtape just fails to work as a cohesive piece. Bones' singing is inconsistent, the vaporwave-y tracks are incredibly awkward, and lots of the lyrics get to be the same. Some daring moves were made here, which were vastly improved on in later tapes, but the 1st PaidProgramming tape is basically a blueprint for what Bones ... read more

New York City subway band, Too Many Zooz' debut album is for sure one of the best, and more importantly most memorable albums to come out of 2016. The group brings together brass arrangements, focusing on trumpets and saxophones, and drums to make 14 terrific dance tracks. A couple of the rap features are pretty average, bringing down the album a bit, but none are anything unbearable.
A problem that I have with a lot of jazz is its complete absence of energy and its slower pace. Now, even ... read more

Mus.hiba's first effort is definitely his best. White Girl utilizes the computer manipulated voice much more than it's successor, and has much faster and more upbeat tracks, almost resembling EDM at times. Even with a change of pace, an ambient atmosphere is kept intact, which is one of the more interesting parts of Mus.hiba's style. His ability to blend multiple subgenres and techniques in production is something that I have not seen in any other electronic music album. Rougher synths are ... read more