Lizzo continues to prove she's the voice pop-rap has needed for years, and becomes one of the rare late-2010s artists to make an 80s-throwback that doesn't already sound tired.

Hoping whatever project she has coming down the pipeline this year will be like Roman Reloaded but with well-written songs and good singing.

UPDATE 6/25: Lizzo Juice TV Performances Ranked:

4. Kimmel (almost wonder if the hair thing was a mistake?)
3. Fallon (cute, but bridge not nearly long enough)
2. Ellen ... read more

This is, for all intents and purposes, an M.I.A. song.

I love it.

On his best record, Mike Hadreas proves that less is more by delivering on the promise of his demo-like debut, Learning. Musically, his writing remains simple enough to be easily reproduced by any amateur pianist, but a step up in production and newfound sharpness in songwriting allows him to deliver a much more rewarding record.

Not that Put Your Back N 2 It is a display in grandiosity - if anything, it has an even stronger sense of brevity than its predecessor. The album's most affecting ... read more

Genius songwriting moments on this record:

-The forte explosion on "Otherside" not occurring on the downbeat
-Putting the chorus of "Just Like Love" into a different key
-The uncentered drum beats at the beginning of "Go Ahead"
-The string arrangement on "Every Night"
-The vocals on "Choir" gradually going from spoken to sung
-The major-key (but still pretty creepy) turn on "Die 4 U"
-The entirety of "Sides"

In a way, No Shape kind of ruined this album for me since it now feels like more of an interstitial release on Hadreas's journey towards a more expansive sound. As much as this record was billed as "full-bodied" and massively different than Put Your Back N 2 It, the vast majority of the album beyond the singles really sounds cut from the same cloth. More than half the tracklist still consists of quiet, piano-based tunes, but with less piercing lyrics and melodicism. The louder and ... read more

Me in 2015:

*listens to this album constantly*
*tries to write but fails*
*spends days off from school on hikes alone*
*buys 2-for-$10 bottles of wine and drinks them alone in room*

"I wonder if I have depression."

Favorite Tracks: When You Come Around, I Can't Stop Your Memory, When You're Loved Like You Are, Don't Ask Me to Explain, In Dreams I Dance With You, Tim I Wish You Were Born a Girl, Montreal, You've Got a Gift

In college I got dragged for writing a “mixed” review of this album for the newspaper. In her defense, the redeemable tracks are absolute bangers that I still listen to to this day. What makes this record (and, to a lesser extent, her more recent one) occasionally difficult to listen to are her half-assed attempts to seem deep by throwing together a lyrical hodgepodge of new age philosophy and pseudoscience that just gets exhausting to listen to. Musically she’s also a little ... read more

He said "it's all in your head"
And I said "so's everything"
But he didn't get it
I thought he was a man but he was just a little boy

The most he's ever infringed on Sufjan territory. There's something nice about hearing our normally isolated Phil open up to a wider group of collaborators. Some of what you have here is his most forthright and humorous material, as if his inner extrovert is coming out to join the party. "Human" is probably the most anthemic song he's ever written, and the kind of song whose emotional weight is enough to make you look past the repetitiveness. The two tongue-in-cheek dry humor numbers ... read more

An artistic peak. This album affected me in a way I didn't know records could. Phil channels his grief into something raw and difficult to look at. He criticizes himself multiple times for using death as a tool in his lyrics ("Real Death," "Emptiness Pt. 2") - here it manifests as something entirely different. While I've always been content to listen to Mount Eerie records that were non-cohesive but individually well-written (i.e. "Sauna"), each song here plays a ... read more

Probably not super enjoyable to people who aren't established Mount Eerie fans, but to those acclimated to his style of lyrical narration I think this is just as worthy an entry to his catalogue as anything else. Definitely plays like a complication but the ideas are, for the most part, fully formed, plus it's interesting to hear him let loose moreso than usual on a bunch of these tracks (i.e. "Don't Smoke"). Cool alternate versions of songs that appeared on other releases abound so ... read more

Tiny Brain: Have You in My Wilderness is Julia Holter's best album
Medium Brain Beginning to Light Up: Loud City Song is Julia Holter's best album
Big Brain Expanding and Fully Lit: Tragedy is Julia Holter's best album
Galaxy Brain Bursting Out of Person's Head: Aviary is Julia Holter's best album
Gigantic Cosmic Superbrain With a Million Chakras Surrounding it: Live Recordings is Julia Holter's best album

Please do a re-recording of 'Beast Wildest' on the next album mom.

This is the last time I listen to an hour and a half of mainstream R&B streambait just cause a boy on tinder told me to.

(i’m making him listen to Aviary as reciprocation)

Another white singer giving us another ultra-sanitized take on Tennessee blues. The trap hi-hats on the chorus are especially horrid.

Listen to Instead: Natalie Prass - Your Fool

Anyone else just completely lost all will to listen to music? The idea of discovering something new turns you off because you think you've heard it all? Old records you used to love aren't fun to listen to because they remind you of a time when you were happier? You used to listen to music while walking your dog but now you walk in silence? Bought bluetooth headphones with the microphone on the cord but only so passersby will think you're on the phone when really you're just having the same ... read more

I think it's great that her and Wayne still have such a strong /working/ relationship, but why she would choose to collab with him for the 348953th time instead of featuring some younger more hype rapper to help sell this flopping single from her flopping album is beyond me. His verse is fine, but not so incredible that it makes me reconsider the song, which was always a tier II Queen track.

Adding 10 points because it appears this version of the song has replaced "FEFE" on the ... read more

A massively underrated single from her massively oversaturated 2012 output. She successfully captures a feeling of emotional subtlety that Roman Reloaded was completely unable to convey. Her and Wayne will never be able to recreate the chemistry they had on this song and video, no matter how many unnecessary appearances he continues to make on her singles.

Albums like these make me wish I was someone who attached more importance to lyrics, because I'm guessing my overall experience would be greatly enhanced by more devoted attention to the way Dacus analyzes death and tragedy in her writing. The problem is that if the music isn't interesting enough of an access point to make me want to listen more closely, I often don't feel compelled to devote more time to understanding a deeper layer of the album's concept.

That's not to say Historian is ... read more

Her best song in 11 years, sorry Sweet Escape stans. Still bittersweet that it gave me the dumb hope that its parent album was going to be the pop Vulnicura or something.

Disc One: An inoffensive introduction that picks up where Songs For Christmas left off. The originals, all written in collaboration with The National's Bryce and Aaron Dessner, are pleasant and just referential enough to feel rooted in the Christmas world. You could write off a song like "Lumberjack Christmas" as being hokey, but tis the season. The opening rendition of "Silent Night" pairs sleepy vocals with a rapid triplet guitar figure (another thing, the guitar work on ... read more