I heard SAOKO when it first got popular and truthfully I hated it so much that I went and watched the YouTube video just so that I could dislike it.

Times have changed!

Safe to say I enjoyed this a lot more than the first time I did, and I really appreciate this for a lot of the same reasons as why I didn't like it at one point. Rosalía is able to experiment really effectively within the reggaeton genre. I really liked a lot of the vocal effects that she employs all over this, and ... read more

Definitely not a bad album—most of the songs are enjoyable to some degree—but there's nothing particularly interesting here and it feels like there's some more potential that this record didn't really tap into regarding this sound. A lot of the sampling is unique and interesting, especially with the vocals, and the percussion (although repetitive), is pretty unique and cool. The sound certainly comes together well on tracks like Archangel and Raver, but oftentimes ... read more

The unending saga of all the rumored release dates and delays had me so invested that I ended up actually excited to listen to this once it was actually confirmed. Then it got delayed by another 10 hours so I wasn't able to listen to it night of but here I am. This shit is so bad.

This is an exhausting trudge through 75 minutes of the most grating unenjoyable corny long (possibly AI?) sludge. It started out fine, and there are definitely some decent songs here, but quickly devolved into ... read more

I love Stevie Wonder, but I definitely don't listen to as much of him as I should, so this is definitely a very welcome addition to his catalogue.

This is totally just pure euphoria translated into music. This is probably one of the most pristine album listening experiences I've had despite listening to this on YouTube in class. Every choice made on this album really just feels like maxing out on pure audio goodness. I think Golden Lady is probably just about my favorite Stevie ... read more

This album has dominated my listening history over the last week, and I've been trying to put this album into words for that duration, but it's been basically impossible for me to quantify how much I love this album. I haven't been this enamored with an album after listening to it for the first time since I listened to Turn On the Bright Lights, and that one's still on repeat almost exactly a year later.

This album is really flawless, there's no part on this that I ... read more

Another year, another incredible Maruja EP that knocks my socks off. I didn't even realize this released until yesterday but oh boy what a gift for me on a random Friday evening/Saturday morning. This one—similarly to The Vault—is apparently fully improvised which is absolutely crazy because this record features some of the most compelling moments of their career. Aon is immediately one of my favorite songs by them and just generally this EP functions as one long behemoth of an ... read more

The extent of my black metal knowledge is solely Deafheaven, so I figured it was about time to expand that knowledge, and what better than a new local band to do just that?

This is an absolutely stunning record filled with some great moments that at once tested the limits of my music taste while still managing to keep me along for the ride and blow me away. Songs like Look, Pt. 3 and Relier really exemplify this album at its absolute best—a loud and emotional blackgaze behemoth. I also ... read more

This has gotta be pound-for-pound one of the best noise albums that I've ever heard. I always imagined Dinosaur Jr. to be a band that could become one of my all-time favorites; everything that I've ever heard from them I've really loved (although to be fair that was like two songs), so I was really excited to get into the most acclaimed Dinosaur Jr. project, and I was even more excited to see that it exceeded expectations.

This just oozes loud guitar noise goodness. Incredibly ... read more

Almost feels wrong to assign a numerical value a piece of work like this because of how personal it is, but I'm going to do it anyways.

My listening experience with this was similar to a lot of other folky singer-songwriter albums of the sort: The lyrics are great (even more so than usual in this case), but I can't help but wish I got a little more out of this instrumentally—although I did like the tasteful horns used sparingly throughout the album, reminded me of The ... read more

This didn't sound anything like what I was expecting but regardless I am absolutely astonished by this record. The sonic quality on this record is really amazing and I loved how it really leaned into a of post-rock ideas—there are a few moments here where the songs climax and it's legitimately kind of life-changing and unbelievably beautiful. This reminded me almost of Beach House at times which was pretty surprising given how their new album sounds. This probably could've ... read more

I had heard the name Squid thrown around alongside the likes of Black Country, New Road and black midi among standout bands from the new British indie/post-rock scene, so I was excited to hear of this new record for me to tap into, and I thought the album cover was really cool as well. Needless to say, this was really great. Didn't really blow my mind outside of a few moments on songs like Crispy Skin and Cro-Magnon Man, but this was certainly enough quality material to keep me satisfied ... read more

Didn't realize until after pressing play that this is actually a posthumous album from Ryan Karazija, the main creative force behind Low Roar, which definitely changed my outlook on this album. This is definitely reflected in the lyrics and just the general tone of the album, which is extremely slow, quiet, and somber.

This is a little too slow for my liking, but this is still undoubtedly really beautiful and there are some songs on here that just absolutely hit you right in the feels. If ... read more

What I've learned from listening to this album is that The National really only have one song but it is a very good song. Very consistent kinda glossy inoffensive indie sound not dissimilar from bands like The War on Drugs, Vampire Weekend, & My Morning Jacket, although with some darker undertones as well. Lots of cool chamber instrumentation, which I definitely wasn't expecting. My only complaints are that I could never really get into Matt Berninger's deep, almost ... read more

Randomly seeing this on Spotify a few days ago and pressing play may have been the best decision I have made thus far in 2025. I think this could very easily end up as one of my favorite albums of all time. I'm trying to find faults with this but it's almost impossible, and the ones I do find are really negligible and not really noticeable. There's basically an endless amount of enjoyable things about this album that I could mention: the production, the lyricism, the zebra on the ... read more

This is truly a very overdue listen for me. I love Interpol and I love LCD Soundsystem, so why not combine them into an amazing post-dance-punk-revival band? There's something about this early/mid 2000s indie/post-punk melding that just tickles my brain, and this record really tickles my brain. I feel that it'd be right to include Bloc Party with the 2000s NYC rock scene even if they were a few years too late and across the Atlantic. Stylistically, I feel they fit right in.

Like ... read more

Who knew that a genre as bright and vibrant and fun as gospel could become so soulless?

I wouldn't say this is a bad album, it's just OK and it's tough for me to really quantify this as much of an album at all. This feels very unfinished and rushed. A lot of the instrumentals feel very barebones with rapping/singing/talking that can be good at times but mostly feels kinda boring and uninspired. I enjoyed a few songs (especially On God), but as the album went on it felt even less ... read more

A proper review for this album would be written without mentioning The Lonesome Crowded West, because this deserves to be reviewed independent of its predecessor. This is not that review though, because I don't think I could properly illuminate why I love The Moon & Antarctica without placing it in juxtaposition with The Lonesome Crowded West.

I listened to The Lonesome Crowded West a little over a year ago and it almost immediately became one of my favorite albums. The opening riff ... read more

I've been meaning to check out this album for quite a long time, and I've been meaning to get into MJ Lenderman for some time before that, so this is a long overdue listen for me. I had been listening to She's Leaving You for about a month or two, and I ended up getting really into it. Probably one of the best slacker rock/country-adjacent song in years.

Admittedly, She's Leaving You is the highlight of this album, but basically every song on this is super enjoyable, save ... read more

Violator is undoubtedly a good album, but I really can't understand the undying love people have for this album. There are definitely some classics here, Personal Jesus, Enjoy the Silence, and Policy of Truth I've heard many times over. Those songs are all pretty great, but I feel like they're all (apart from Policy of Truth) at least somewhat overrated among similar songs from this era. I know Enjoy the Silence is one of the highest rated songs on just about every music rating ... read more

Absolutely brimming with great melodies and character, this was a very welcome listen that I got a ton of enjoyment out of. There are a handful of songs off of this that I think are some of the best dream pop songs in recent memory, and feature some of the very best pop hooks of the entire genre. Else and Run Your Mouth are the songs that really get the record started, each having great choruses, and Run Your Mouth having an awesome guitar solo that I wish got explored more. No One Noticed has ... read more