"At some point the fallacy that sentimental, meaningful music can only come from flannel-clad bearded men who record in dewy log cabin studios has to dissipate." -NOW Magazine, 2011

Of all the sounds in the world, this is the one that I don't see myself ever growing tired of. 'Helplessness Blues' is beyond beautiful. Please don't let the trend of flannel-clad bearded men writing sentimental log cabin folk music disappear.

One Sentence Wrap-Up:

Wow what a fun and well produced album, I bet everyone was talking about this the day it came out!

~

Jokes aside, this is actually a witty, entertaining, and damn impressive record from Hov, one that's a lot better than the majority of Nas' catalog. There's iconic sampling and beat selection that really brings life to every track, but doesn't usually cross over into the corny territory that I feel so many 2000's hip hop records fall victim to. U Don't Know to Song Cry ... read more

Thank you to @OZYMVNDIAS for sharing your latest EP with me!

This is actually incredible... I wasn't expecting anything like this. This is a loud and droning dark ambient record that has a seriously discombobulating atmosphere. The bass on this is so heavy! I bet this will end up being one of my favorite EP's of the year, and I'm really looking forward to hearing the debut LP soon.

One Sentence Wrap-Up #8:

Paramore's sixth studio album, and first since 2017, fails to reach those dramatic highs and instantly catchy melodies they're known for; I would be LOVING this direction if the rest of the album sounded more like the final track Thick Skull.

Two paths converge for me with this album: my discovery of some of the classic early 2000's albums that I've just begun, and my interest in exposing myself to more metal music. I've never heard System of a Down before, that's not really the household I grew up in unfortunately. But seeing all the praise they've received and the near unanimous opinion on this album, I'm super interested in hearing more.

From my limited knowledge of this style of art, 'Toxicity' sounds really similar to the ... read more

'The Glow Pt. 2' is the third studio album recorded by legendary indie folk band The Microphones led by songwriter Phil Elverum. 'The Glow Pt. 2' is incredibly well-known and acclaimed, especially praised in niche internet circles like /mu/.

This album does everything it can to stray away from the contemporary with its patternless and non-chorus driven lyrics and variance in genres, ranging from indie, to ambient, to noise rock. From track to track, The Glow expresses and fragile, somber, and ... read more

One Sentence Wrap-Up #7:

Dark and eclectic, deeply intimate, Rebecca Black's multi-year artistic maturation leaves her with a serious candidate for the best electropop album of the year.

Edit: At the end of the year, this take definitely hasn't aged well for me. It's a nice story for Rebecca to begin shedding her meme status, and 'Let Her Burn' has a couple of fun tracks, but this has really begun to lose it's sheen for me. Its certainly not contending for my favorite dance-pop record of this ... read more

For my next music-listening ambition, I have a new, long, over-arching goal. I want to be able to definitively say what my favorite albums are for every year I'm alive, starting in 2001. It's quite the broad and lengthy task, and I don't expect to have the answers anytime soon. But exploring some of the top rated and critically acclaimed works of my lifetime is something I'm looking forward to, and it will give me the opportunity to still hear a wide variety of genres.

Bjork's fourth studio ... read more

'King's Disease III' is a statement from legendary New York rapper Nas. He's arrived to us in full form, ready to destroy.

As of this review, 'King's Disease III' is Nas' most recent studio album, and brings an emphatic end to an incredible album trilogy. There's nothing that can be said about the Nas/Hit-Boy tandem that I haven't previously said: their work together has made them a truly formidable pair. I love the use of sampling throughout this album in particular. It felt like there were ... read more

The second Nas album of 2021. Bad news, the last time we got two Nas albums in the same year was arguably the lowest point of his career, with 1999's 'I Am...' and 'Nastradamus' being two of the worst albums in his catalog. Maybe this pair of 2021 albums is the justice we deserve, because 'Magic' is simply as the title states: magical.

The tandem of Nas and Hit-Boy is back at it again, proving to be one of the most formidable rapper/producer combos currently active. The combination of ... read more

'King's Disease II' was my introduction to Nas back in 2021. I loved it back then, and I'm so happy to feel the same way today.

There's not all that much to say other than everything that was good about 'King's Disease' is significantly improved upon on 'King's Disease II'. Hit-Boy returns as the lead producer of the album, and I strongly feel that it's even better than the great production off of their previous effort. While I could understand some criticism about a lack of diversity, I ... read more

Nas' 2020 release 'King's Disease' is the first entrance in the KD trilogy, and poses as the starting point for what would be his latest career revival.

As I've covered thoroughly in every previous Nas review, the New York rapper can tend to be... hit or miss. Nas is certainly not lacking in any talent or lyrical ability, but either production fails him, or a lapse of lyrical or tonal judgement can be the important crux of deciding if the album is a success or not. For the length of Nas' ... read more

After 6 years, Nas returns with twelfth studio album produced by Kanye West. 'NASIR' is the fourth of five albums produced by West known as the "Wyoming Sessions", each totaling seven tracks and all released within weeks of each other. Other notable albums from these sessions include Pusha T's 'Daytona' and the Kid Cudi & Kanye West project 'Kids See Ghosts', both some of my personal favorites (I have both on vinyl!)

What Kanye West does with the production on this album is no ... read more

I wouldn't be surprised if Nas took after Kanye's 'MBDTF', because 'Life Is Good' is the most expensive and stylish sound the NY rapper has put out.

What a wonderful start this album has, maybe the strongest first few tracks out of any Nas album. The piano and sampling is strong, everything about it is right up my alley. Summer on Smash arrives halfway through the album and that all comes to a screeching halt, as Nas can't seem to make an album without a break in the cohesiveness. Things close ... read more

Nas teams up with Damian Marley, youngest son of Bob Marley, to create a satisfying hip hop and reggae blend.

Let me take a moment to express how happy I am to see Nas starting to extend himself away from the gangster/mafioso sound that he ran with post-Illmatic. I think for the time it was fine, but led to far too many duds, and I'm a lot more satisfied with the either introspective, low-key sounds we heard off of 'The Lost Tapes' and 'God's Son' (and a few off of 'Untitled'), or the ... read more

'Untitled' is such an interesting album, because while it has Nas' most mainstream sound yet, the lyrics are stronger and more direct than ever.

There are more R&B/soul hooks on this album than we've heard before from Nas' catalog, and the instrumentation does a fine job keeping up with the rise of synths and electronics. Though, the first two tracks don't follow that formula, and I was quite looking forward to hearing a darker piano-laden songs, but that trend didn't continue.

Despite ... read more

I didn't think I would hear something worse than 'Nastradamus' from Nas, but I actually think 'Hip Hop Is Dead' is just consistently worse.

Why is hip hop dead you may ask? Well, that's a great question, one that Nas doesn't cover nearly as much as the album title might suggest. It's far from a concept album in that sense. From what I can gather, Nas is just upset that a newer generation isn't showing respect for the hip hop culture or tradition that came before. Granted, it feels like he blew ... read more

I'm running out of commentary for Nas. As if we weren't getting enough content from him already, 'Street's Disciple' is a grand double album.

Yes, it's too long for its own good, no question. It's hard to make a double album with no filler; many artists have tried it, and few have actually succeeded. There are a fair number of tracks, especially on the latter disc, that really didn't need to be included. But if you trim around the fat a bit, there's enough quality conscious lyricism and ... read more

Really Nas? These are The Lost Tapes? These tapes are better than almost anything in your discography, and certainly anything up until this point.

Capitalizing off of the success from of 'Stillmatic', Nas' label released the EP 'From Illmatic To Stillmatic: The Remixes' along with this compilation of previously unreleased tracks called 'The Lost Tapes'. From what I can see, this is Nas' earliest work with producer The Alchemist, and it's simply wonderful. The minimalist piano production does ... read more

Coming off of his "career revival" on 'Stillmatic', Nas follows up with another really solid project filled with emotion from the recent passing of his mother.

Tracks towards the end of the record like Dance and Heaven showcase are emotional and R&B-centric side of Nas that we had not yet seen. Certainly the emotional songwriting is solid, but the vocals don't stand out for any reason other than being a bit forced.

Some of my favorite Nas production comes from this album, and ... read more