"no place" is unfortunately not as good as its predecessor, but ive certainly heard worse swancore before. as for why its worse, i cant really place my finger on a definitive reason. i enjoyed the further inclusion of more electronic/ambient aspects, and the very emo lyrics/concept are rarely an issue for me ever. i guess its just kinda weak in the middle for some reason. i thought both "no nature" and "no nurture" were really great, especially the latter, and the ... read more

all that really needs to be said is "this is really damn catchy," but i couldnt live with myself if thats all i wrote. its not super intense for the most part, but theres a ton of technical prowess and even more groove. sorta reminds me of hail the sun's first album in a way, but thats just because the vocals kinda sound similar. there are a ton of great songs on here, but my favourite has to be "sorry excuse." the chorus is so groovy, especially with the tapping on the ... read more

the start of this album felt very promising, however it grew pretty boring by the half way point. the instrumentation is good, but almost every song on here sounds the exact same so however good it is gets watered down. it also doesn't help that the vocals aren't super strong and the lyrics are even worse. it's not an awful listen but nothing I need to ever come back to

fav track: bellwether
least fav: anecdoche

i forgot lo-fi hip hop does not have to be the perjorative for mindless background slop intended for "study/relaxing" that i tend to think of it is as and can actually refer to genuine low fidelity hip hop, and id like to thank this ep for that. i think as technology and accsess to said technology only grows and advances, the descision to keep things dirty makes for a very strong statement. sometimes its just a nice stylistic descsion, but on "after hours" the lo-fi nature ... read more

edward skeletrix is a name ive heard a lot about, but other than that beat tape he made at thirteen, i havent gotten around to actually listening to him. i vaguely remember when he first blew up on tiktok with his extremely uncanny ai visuals, it was such a descisive and interesting aestetic to adopt, espeically considering this was still when genereative ai was in its infancy, and it certainly follows into the music. "skeletrix language" is probably one of the most unique hip hop ... read more

im not nearly as into boc as i used to be, but there was no way i was not going to listen to this as soon as it came out. "inferno" isnt quite as good as their early works, but its certainly an improvement over "tomorrow's harvest" and a rather worthy comeback. it may have been over a decade, two since something actualy good, but the atmosphere and talent is still present. one thing i noticed and quite loved from a first listen is the manipulation of vocal samples. ... read more

lately ive been thinking about and listening to "endtroducing" a lot so i figured i should check out this ep. for me personally, "what does your soul look like" doesnt really scratch the itch i have for more music in the same vien as "endtroducing". the first two tracks on here do certainly follow the same general style and format, but they just dont really offer much. part 2 is way too long with too little progression, and while part 3 is more enjoyable than part ... read more

i would say i enjoyed this a lot more than i expected, but theres still a far gap in quality between this and my favourite works of his. i didnt particularly care for his last album as i dont really like rap rock and the singles for this did not instill me with a bunch of hope, but i was very pleasantly surprised by the shear amount of brostep and glitchy textures on here, by far the highlights of the album and honestly more than enough to earn the "experimental rap" title which i was ... read more

as much as i love "since i left you" i actually havent gotten around to listening to anything else by the avalanches, but i can only assume this bubblegum edm remiscient of james ferraro's "far side virtual" is a more recent decsision right? it not horrible, its catchy even, but when compared to something like "a different feeling" or "radio" its very lame

while its no return to the highs of his debut, "now you exist" certainly marks a step in the right direction for the field and could have been a much worse comeback.

the songs on "now you exist" seem relatively chill and laidback, but something tells me these are less songs for the dance floor and more for personal listening. they feel more like meditative tracks for a rainy day than something like the dancefloor-destroying "over the ice." something i quite love ... read more

a lot of early electronic music is plauged by the same issue of being super boring when compared to more modern electronic music. id say its something inherent to the genres infancy, but then you get people like kraftwerk to dissprove that statement from being true. "computer world" shows just how well they knew their way around the equipment that other people were floundering around with. everything on here still stands up to this day, even if the relatively simplistic sound ... read more

i was a pretty big fan of last year's "i've always hated the internet" and its critiques at internet culture that were equal parts hilarious and melencholic, and "visual chaos" largely follows in that album's footsteps. similar sample-based wall of sound production is used here, but it feels even more complex and layered this time around, creating an auditory counterpart to the chaos the title is referring to. as impressive as it is on a technical level to ... read more

pitchfork's top 50 ambient albums: 25/50

"what??" is the question at play, and the answer is middling drone. what is drone if not just music in its rawest, most stripped back state? what i mean by this is that drone should not be focused on virtuostic playing or catchy melodies, but textures and atmosphere, or at least thats what i love so much about drone. "what??" unfortunately does not do anything super brilliant in the textural realm, resulting in a cd ... read more

easily more enjoyable than dance gavin dance's self titled so i dont get how this appears to be way less popular. the songs on "conversation piece" are not just more intense, but they display a very keen sense of progression. almost every song ends very climatic and very rewarding in a way i feel like ive never noticed in an album before. the harsh vocals do leave a little to be desired, but they dont take that much away from the rest of the quality on display here.

fav track: ... read more

not quite as mind blowing as "oil of every pearl's un-insides," but sophie still demonstrates a lot of talent on this compilation. "product" features some of her greatest songs like "bipp," "hard," "vyzee," and "get higher," but unfortunately im not nearly as crazy about the rest of the track list. other songs like "elle," "msmsmsm," and "unisil" feel lacking in comparison. not awful, but certainly ... read more

pitchfork's top 50 ambient albums: 26/50

i might need to start listening to new age music because this was straight up transcendental. unbelievably pleasant and beautiful, a lot more than just hippy meditation music like i thought it would be. its got a sort of similar sound pallet to the other early progressive electronic showings on this list like "new age of earth" by ashra, but this album blows those others way out of the water. an excellent combination of both synthesized ... read more

although i think i like jonny craig's voice a bit more, kurt still does an excellent job as a clean vocalist. "dance gavin dance" is a lot heavier than "downtown battle mountain," but for me personally that doesnt really sway my opinion for the better or worse, just something of note. although i feel like i enjoyed my time with this album slightly more than my listen of "downtown battle mountain," my main issue with dance gavin dance is still present and thats ... read more

pitchfork's top 50 ambient albums: 28/50

i never knew an accordion could be so beautiful. "accordion & voice" consists of two amazing drone songs that are sure to instill you with bliss. "horse sings from cloud" is the more meditative of the two, making it very easy to get lost in, while "rattlesnake mountain" features some melodies that are played relatively quickly compared to the first song. they each have their own merits but i think "rattlesnake ... read more

i dont watch basketball, but i can only assume this is exactly what it feels like to do so. the first track of opn's side is brilliant, reminding me a bit of "candy shoppe" by emeralds, and thats about the extent of what you *need* to hear from this release. the other three unnamed tracks on his side are pretty decent, but truly nothing of note other than the voice in the last one going "raaaadiaaation" which is really funny. andrew's side is just one long noise ... read more

im still not entirely sure what makes something """real""" emo or not, nor do i really care, but i think this falls under that label? either way, from the shouted and strained vocals to the explosiveness of the instruments, the whole thing just screams youthful emotion. i absolutely adore some of the songs on here, especially "oh messy life" and "basil's kite," but found some other songs started to blend together due to their short length ... read more