frienderman

It took me multiple listens--2 and a half hours worth of music isn't exactly easy to digest, and I've yet to listen to this thing in one consecutive sitting--but I'd be pressed to find another album that fully envelops me with its elegance than "Tunes." I know it's more a compilation, a collection of songs released under EP's following the success of Burial's self-titled and "Untrue" albums. But I get floored every time; every song is a treasure, a diamond in the rough, an ... read more

It's by no stretch of the imagination, nor any exaggeration, to say that 2020 has been a shitstorm of a year. What with the global COVID-19 pandemic, systemic injustice and racism, and an upcoming election that bodes no certainty in sight, the year has thus far has been a difficult moment for everyone's lives and its effects are being felt on a collective and individual level. It seems that, despite the promise of another year following our current quandaries, there's no foreseeable end. And ... read more

Stratosphere is an album that I've been turning to more and more during this pandemic, for reasons that I can't even begin to articulate. For one thing, it's a gorgeous album, with production so lush and kaleidoscopic that you find yourself drifting off with the music. It's an escapism, a means to an end when endlessness is the only thing that seems certain and yet, it's also authentic, a reminder to ground ourselves to the world before we find it's completely passed us by.

Some of my ... read more

Utterly beguiling. Might be my favorite album of the year so far.

Mike Hadreas has never sounded so within his own element before, nor has he ever soared beyond the limitations of his body and soul than on this album. SMHOFI is an achievement that reflects the pain and suffering Hadreas had endured to blossom into the confident, incomparable leading man that dominated the latter half of the 2010s. If this album is a continuation of such a journey, then let it be known that this album is a ... read more