I’m taking time away from Silksong for this please be good 🙏
The name Adrianne Lenker carries quite a reputation ‘round these parts, both for her incredible solo work and through Big Thief, indie folk darlings and one of the most critically acclaimed bands within the folk scene over the last decade. Lenker’s voice and lyricism are intoxicating, and her simple subtle writing of heartache and hardship strikes a deep chord with listeners. She’s a savant of songwriting ... read more
The Orchestra (For Now) is back for more! Hattrick is the lead single towards their new upcoming EP, ‘Plan 76’, and sets the bar high for another raucous release. Their energy and song structure is incredible.
To see one of my favorite new bands continue to push out new music feels amazing. Now I just need an album…
“At the end of the day people wont remember what you said or did, they will remember how you made them feel.” – Maya Angelou
God I’m so predictable, of course I would love this album.
This has to be one of my more elite New Music Friday pulls ever, scrolling through the new releases and finding ‘Racing Mount Pleasant’ with under 100 ratings and a 90+ user score. I’m always happy to give under-the-radar gems like that a chance, only in hope that I can ... read more
‘Mans Best Friend’ does it’s best to push boundaries but has about as much interesting going for it as a plain napkin.
Sabrina Carpenter is continuing to capitalize on her meteoric rise to mainstream music fame with another album nearly exactly one year after her previous commercial blockbuster ‘Short n Sweet’. Who can blame her, as the risqué, sex-positive, and boy-troubled pop superstar has apparently found a formula that has resonated with audiences, ... read more
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I’m sorry Brian Wilson that it took until your death for me to revisit ‘Pet Sounds’, but I love it. This is an innovation in sound and creativity that continues to leave its impression on modern music, rest in peace to a legend.
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Kevin Atwater arrives and plants his flag in the ground so meekly with ‘Achilles’ as if not to make waves or disturb with a brash attention-grabbing “look at me!”. It’s subtle and soft akin to many recent artists I’ve stumbled across and loved like Ryan Beatty or Leith Ross, and the writing is so deeply personal and vulnerable it’ll just about bring you to tears.
This is a pretty short and simple project that absolutely thrives on that ... read more
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Is this the same tortured soul that made 'For Emma, Forever Ago'?
Justin Vernon has certainly traveled to some dark places within his mind in the past, and that expressiveness over the course of his first 3 albums has made him one of my favorite artists of all time - a certified "Bon-er" some might say. But 'SABLE, fABLE' turns the page on that and serves one of the most jubilant and free-flowing experiences of the year.
You could say it's a ... read more
Don’t get it twisted – I love SPELLLING in the small amount of her music that I’ve heard. ‘The Turning Wheel’ is a fantastically charming album, one akin to Snow White singing in the forest with all the birds and animals coming to her side. It’s simply majestic, which is why I’m a little bit on my backfoot when it comes to the noticeable change in ‘Portrait of My Heart’.
SPELLLING’s unique vocals still shimmer across this record, ... read more
You might think that in a music making competition, the whole world combined would stomp on a little pub in Brixton, but nah it’s actually pretty close…
The latest emergent group to spawn out of The Windmill in Brixton, London, England is The Orchestra (For Now), a post-rock group whose debut single last year “Wake Robin” ran me over like a mack truck and proceeded to put it into reverse and hit me again. The 8-minute masterpiece (mind you, this is a mfing DEBUT) ... read more
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I'm actually glad I listened to this - I considered skipping it just because I figured I wouldn't be all that interested, but there's actually some reasonably fun takeaways. Granted, I'm not calling 'Alter Ego' great. Just overall fine pop rap wallpaper with an even enough spread of bops and stinkers. If you disagree, I encourage you to get really angry about it and yell at me in the comments, because that's what music discourse is all about!
![青葉市子 [Ichiko Aoba] - Luminescent Creatures](https://cdn2.albumoftheyear.org/100x0/album/1020365-luminescent-creatures_163309.jpg)
Ichiko Aoba always manages to unlock something of a childlike wonder in me.
As I sit to listen to ‘Luminescent Creatures’, the spiritual successor to 2020’s ‘Windswept Adan’, I’m reminded of how there really is no other vocalist who can transport you to another place in time quite like Ichiko Aoba. Just simply lay your head back, close your eyes, and let go of the wheel – let Aoba guide you through this underwater mystique, ceding all worries or cares ... read more
𝐃𝐫𝐚𝐤𝐞, 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐥𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐦𝐞? 𝐈 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐈'𝐦 𝐚 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮...
How do you recover after the absolute brutalization Drake has gone through over the last 10 months? At this point, it’s clear Aubrey’s public image is irredeemably harmed outside of his core audience of dick riders, though don’t expect his commercial ... read more
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My heart is just left absolutely full listening to ‘House In The Woods’. What I wouldn’t give to be sitting out on that porch with Ryan watching the sunset. Rest in peace.
𝐈𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐖𝐞𝐞𝐤𝐧𝐝'𝐬 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐚𝐥𝐛𝐮𝐦, 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐨𝐩
What a concept it is, to be able to go out on your own terms? Most people don’t that luxury – instead, we have to watch some of our favorite artists continue to either recycle an old and outdated sound or lose touch with an ever-changing musical landscape by refusing to adapt. Think for a moment ... read more
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The second Boldy James album of the year and we aren’t even out of January yet. While I left the last album ‘Murder During Drug Traffic’ entirely disappointed, feeling like Boldy needed to take a decent amount of time to regroup and refocus his sights on another classic, I’m not nearly as down on ‘Permanent Ink’ – in fact, I think it’s pretty decent. This has clearly been a step towards Boldy’s mainstream arc with the single ... read more
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I really did go into this wanting to enjoy it – Central Cee has a nice voice and knack for some solid, bouncing flows. But the further you get into ‘Cant Rush Greatness’, the more the songs seem to blend together into one homogeneous mix of so-so drill music. Tracks like “CRG” and “GBP” are nice, with features from Dave and 21 Savage respectively, and the mega-hit “Band4Band” is certainly catchy, but I’m really walking ... read more
𝐇𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐝 '𝐞𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐱𝐮𝐚'?
You won’t find that word anywhere in the dictionary, but the electronic singer-songwriter FKA Twigs defines eusexua as, “A state of being. A feeling of momentary transcendence often evoked by art, music, sex, and unity. Eusexua can be followed by a surge of bliss and feelings of limitless possibilities”. A combination of euphoria, transcendence, and sexual ... read more
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If any of my non-music friends listened to this, I feel like I would have a lot of explaining to do.
Viagra Boys are as raunchy and silly as ever, taking up a nice dance-punk groove on this new single with vocals that are a little more tame than what we had on 'Cave World' (more burping, though). Even more importantly, with the album announcement, the first of my 2025 predictions is going to come true! Only 14 more to go :P
𝐆𝐨𝐧𝐞, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐧: 𝐚 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭
It’s been over 6 years now since we lost Mac Miller to an accidental overdose. An artist just beginning to reach a creative apex, gone just as a seemed to flourish, and now represents one of the great ingenious artists we’ve lost too young.
It feels like there’s been an epidemic ... read more
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On Maruja - Knocknarea
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On Thundercat - Distracted
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@sport It struck me too - not necessarily negative but very self deprecating. Maybe I just read into the whole thing the wrong way, but I felt weird with how one dimensional the emotions are"
On Thundercat - Distracted
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On Bruno Mars - The Romantic
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On MattsReviews's review of Baby Keem - Ca$ino
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On J. Cole - The Fall-Off
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On Don Toliver - OCTANE
"@Juggernaut1914 I actually thought Yeat had a solid feature on Rendezvous, same with Travis on Rosary. Teezo was interesting just because it was different, but just felt out of place to me. That being said, the rest of the album feels so toneless and samey, just nothing all that compelling"
On painecuceapa's review of By Storm - My Ghosts Go Ghost
"Those 4 singles had me thinking this would be an album of the decade contender, but the rest of the tracklist doesn't exactly reach the same peak for me. Still very good, just not earth shattering"
On yonn's review of By Storm - My Ghosts Go Ghost
"I've not heard the Injury Reserve self-titled, but at least in comparison to Phoenix this is another leap in experimentation and abstractness. Such a hollow sound imo, but in the best, most bone-rattling way. Very interesting"
On TheOnlyOpinion's review of By Storm - My Ghosts Go Ghost
"Nice review, "leaving the storm" is great. I almost feel like the ending in "GGG" is saying that the storm isn't something you can leave though, and more like a new relationship dynamic that needs to be tended to. The group is going to have to manage the storm rather than step out of it"
On cooperr's review of By Storm - My Ghosts Go Ghost
"Glad you loved this, but In My Town being the lowest is a CHOICE"
On Chorde's review of By Storm - My Ghosts Go Ghost
"Love the opening line, that feels like such a perfect way of encapsulating the record. Your comparisons between BTTIGTP and this are perfect too. As much as this album feels like a scar, it's a scar that RiTchie feels like he's trying to move on from to continue working, but his hand keeps brushing up against it. Its a constant reminder that grief isnt something that will just go away"
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