I present to you... SufKA Twigstevens.

Absolutely an improvement over Video Game, even if that's a pretty low bar. The repeating motif "come on baby give me some sugar" is inescapable, but I actually don't mind it (at least for the radio edit). This project is on track to be pretty much on par with Carrie and Lowell so I'm, uh, what's like the neutral version of excited?

Ugh the crazy thing is I listened to this two weeks ago at the recommendation of Lido Pimienta and liked it but forgot to write a review so missed my chance to capitalize on the "I liked it before the Fantanoheads" clout. Here goes nothing!!

Feels like a caricature of the best moments of Electric Lady as filtered through the "woke anthem" formula that earned Common and John Legend an Oscar in 2015. I don't mind a Monae rap breakdown when it serves a purpose and is well-done, but here she sounds tired, and none of the lyrics hit particularly hard. I know a 3-minute song shouldn't be expected to have the nuance of an opinion editorial, but the line "America, you's a lie" (especially as the beat drops out the ... read more

Anybody else get really into that Netflix show Sweet Magnolias because you secretly wish you were a southern belle in your late 30s-40s? So many of these songs feel like they could be coming directly from the perspective of Maddie, a woman dealing with the fallout of her husband divorcing her after knocking up his colleague. The Chicks are aware of the universality of divorce-related emotion for women (see: "Juliana Calm Down"), and Gaslighter is rich with the kind of lyrical ... read more

Kinda live for the fun off-the-cuff nature of a lot of this. Reminds me of a project like Vicki Leekx by MIA in how it's a dance mix that feels seamless while still endlessly entertaining. Blessed Madonna brings forward a few remixes that blatantly pale in comparison to their originals (namely "Levitating") but most of the reinterpretations here are enjoyable in their unique ways. Also the version of "Boys Will Be Boys" here honestly does make the original seem... ... read more

Some catchy, sonically-engaging house from Ms. Lee Owens. The melodic sensibility and refined sound pallet are the kinds of things I feel like East India Youth was working towards on his second album but didn't quite suss out. Many songs induce that weird hallucinatory experience where you get sucked into a melodic rhythm of a synth lead only for some percussion to come in and reveal you were counting it wrong the whole time. Actually, I needed to hit rewind on "Jeanette" to force ... read more

Good solely on the premise that it's a remix where the guest actually works their way into the duration of the song instead of just dropping 8 bars that have nothing to do with the track and then dipping (looking at you, Homemade Dynamite remix).

Ok not to be melodramatic but this remix actually made me kind of angry. Like; this is is your pop savior? The guy who uses the same three tricks over and over? The commander of the legion of rich white kids flexing entry level art school free? Like, Oh wow, let’s chipmunk the voice a little and change the chord progression in a way that’s distinct from the original but also nothing special. While we’re at it lets chop up the vocal riffing into some high pitched gargling, ... read more

Let's return to that late summer 2019 mindset when we all thought she was about to drop pop AOTY. Truly, simpler times.

But for real girl, congrats on the baby! Coming out of the closet as one of the 4 people who actually likes "What Makes a Woman"!!

That this inspired me to finally listen to Chairlift's entire discography should be proof of how good it is. Polachek is already a great singer, and her signature vocal technique (the glottal-slip, referred to by some as "built-in autotune") sits perfectly with this record's stronger focus on electronic production. Here are some notes I made in a google doc with a friend when this came out:

Pros:
◦ Generally, the songs are VERY well written and performed. Tons of melodic ... read more

Not the most mind-blowing thing either party has put out, but it sure is neat to hear her hit a Charli XCX-note (with HARMONIES!) on that chorus. As far as Rico's more pop-leaning tracks go, this is definitely upper 50th percentile.

Not sure if I could ever decide on a favorite Julia Holter album, but this one definitely holds a special place for being my proper introduction to her. I remember being totally blown away by "World" and its use of phrasing and empty space to convey the Gigi-adjacent atmosphere this record is going for. Seriously - this song makes me feel like I'm sitting on a fire escape in Los Angeles at night watching cars quietly below. For longtime fans of Holter, hearing her finally close up ... read more

I put up with you guys spending all of 2015 acting like "we're all gonna die" was some kind of lyrical revelation, but I think my patience is running out at this point.

"Video Game" reminds me of how the "electronic" music Of Montreal makes now seriously pales in comparison to the """electronic""" music they were making in the mid-late 00s. This track is Sufjan exploring a realm of synth pop that's been beaten to death in the past 5 ... read more

The weirdness and eerie looping you've come to know and love from The Knife except with the good sense to bow out when it's run its course.

Back in 2015 I remember initially holding a grudge against this album because it came out the same day as Sprinter by Torres and kind of stole that album's thunder in terms of press, but after one listen I was like "Ok yeah I get the hype." The expanse of material here is so hooky and filled with personality that lead single "Waitress" honestly winds up being one of the less-interesting songs. "I Saw My Twin," seemingly a retelling of the song's story from the ... read more

Takes an obvious cue from city pop - a Japanese style of music and art that embraced western elements following their post-war economic miracle - and is all the better for it. The first half of the song honestly sounds like it could be transcribed for The Real Book, and true Eilish fans should be unsurprised she has the vocals to match. Easily my favorite of her post-album material so far.

Like every album of hers, it suffers from having too many songs, but still plenty of good ideas. Some songs are meandering but nothing is as objectively bad as the cringiest parts of Reputation and Lover.

Feels weird to say this, but one of the most direct comparisons I can think of is Miley Cyrus & Her Dead Petz, since it follows a similar "hook-averse project that will be labeled as 'indie' despite being released by a major artist signed to a major label" path. Unlike Petz, ... read more

Guess it's time for me to come out of the closet as someone who likes this album.

ABSOLUTELY it is overblown and the final four songs could have been cut entirely, but there's a lot of charisma across the whole thing. Even the world's most on-the-nose Lana Del Rey impersonation on "Miss Americana & The Heartbreak Prince" can't distract from it actually being a decent song (not to mention repurposing the "backing vocal sings the most important lines" trick that made ... read more

Renders "Lawd Jesus" superfluous since it improves on just about every element of that song. True slurpers know that she's not reinventing her wheel at all, but the more amped-up delivery is never unwelcome, and saturating her Spotify with content that will help convert folks who still only know her as the "hump me fuck me" girl can only be a good thing.

The two people I was most excited to hear on this are barely on it, and it appears Josiah isn't even credited? :(

This is a fun left-of-center single with constantly-morphing percussion that loses focus as it goes on. The part I assumed was the chorus disappears before the two-minute mark, and the other melodies offered are interesting but will need time to stick. Even when this was announced I was afraid too many chefs were going to spoil the soup and that... seems to be the case.