longstoryshort's newest EP is banger after banger of UK garage and garage house, a butter smooth and distinctive style within the genres help to really sell this one as a must listen for the month.
how to feel alive: 8.7/10
Honestly one of the most inspired takes on UK garage I've heard in a hot minute. The melody on this one as well is absolute butter on the ears
pullin me in: 8.6/10
Another great blend of dreamlike synthpads with heavier bass design backing it up.
over and ... read more
A pretty solid label debut comp that sets up the aesthetic lane of dark techno and neurofunk we'll be expecting going forwards. Definitely has me looking forward to seeing more from most of these acts (besides the ones I already follow)
Fave tracks: Firecharmer, RITUAL, Fracture, CARCASS, HACKER GIRL, Powertools, Grouser, Bloodpool, UG_LY, Zmei, LET ME DO THAT, FIELDS OF STATIC, Tanganyika, METASTATE, Stasis, TRANSCEND SYNTHETICS
Least fave track: SIALC
Enshrining their 30th anniversary as an act, psytrance mainstays Infected Mushroom return with their 15th studio album. Unlike "IM25", this record is a far more typical crop of tracks from the duo, with back to back psytrance bops. While there are a few interesting flips on their typical formula taken with this record, particularly "What You Know You Know You Know" and "Enjoy the Ride", my engagement to each track mainly comes down to the quality of the actual ... read more
Fresh, fun, free. Tej's debut EP is a wonderful display of Y2K-adjacent hybrid trap with some other genres sprinkled in for variety. My biggest complaint with many songs here is simply that they could've been longer. I'm looking forward to any future output from this act, for sure.
I NEED MORE: 8.5/10
NOT ALONE: 8.5/10
ALL I CAN DO(time): 8.7/10
A MOMENT I REMEMBER: 7.7/10
HEY ME, IT'S ME: 8.1/10
YOU DON'T KNOW ME: 8.3/10
It loses points cuz I've never bought into Barely Alive's sound really.
I have, and will always, prefer Moe Shop's future funk over any other genre they decide to tackle. That said, this deviation from the usual is by no means a bad one, and is still a solid offering of jams for the weekend.
Fave tracks: BONSOIR, LIGHT UP, NEWLY HUMAN FEELING
Least fave track: HEARTLESS
Main reason it's not scoring higher is because I am lowkey getting tired of this aesthetic direction of 2010s nostalgia from EDM acts after 4 years of seeing it rise, particularly when it intentionally goes for a more washed-out palette like this project. We're at the point where hooks and creative flips are probably the only way this style is really going to grab me in the future. That said, not a bad album in the slightest really, it just struggled to consistently have those ... read more
A promising debut from an up and coming producer. The direction feels a bit aimless at points, but hopefully this can be cleaned up with time
Fallin': 7.6/10
Feelin': 6.2/10
Selective: 7.4/10
The sophmore album from PEEKABOO sees the tearout producer continuing to refine his output in the field, the tracks on this record feel like a step above the last by actually sticking with the listener much more of the time (for the most part), aided by the greater quantity of collabs, no doubt. The production this time around has more bite to it, and the grooves feel quite a bit more infectious. This project is sure to be a great vibe for the weekend
Fave tracks: Old School, Want It, Are We ... read more
There's something about listening to CV after pulling an all-nighter that hits different. I'm sure these rating are subject to change, but as it stands this EP is another quite worthwhile addition to Tim's split-off technoid alias. While I do feel like we're seeing just the tiniest bit diminishing returns with the originals when compared to "Redshift 7" and "Dream Noire", it's still one of the best underground EDM EPs of last year.
Launching Pad: ... read more
The most annoying person you know is going to say this is actually Skrillex's best project. A Skrillex project without percussion is like coleslaw without any dressing.
Yo Yan: 5.1/10
Bro really said let me make an otherwise pretty standard heavy meldub/melbass track and just take the drums out.
Someone Said: 5.2/10
I mean there are some pretty neat textures here, but again not sure if taking the drums out really add much to this kind of track.
Kora: 5.8/10
Okay, this one actually ... read more
Frequently bold sound design, solid fundamentals, and distinctive aesthetics go a long way in covering for some questionable production choices in other departments on Aweminus' newest EP.
Immortal: 7.7/10
Severely hampered by an awful vocal sample. Otherwise an excellent riddim track.
Goblin Realm: 7.4/10
Timmy: 6.5/10
Watch Me Pop: 8.0/10
Bean Song: 8.0/10
A pretty major correction after 2024's mediocre "eurodance revolutie", returning gladde paling to their loose, deeply unserious roots; combining that heavy dance sound with wonky, stripped back sound design and dumbass samples. While I don't think this is at the level of "dansmuzeik", its highs do come close to that for me.
Fave tracks: kamelenrace, coin pusher, nachtmerries, heksenketel, spookhuis, vleermuis, vissa, disco damnation
Least fave track: vrijdag
This is one I remember really loving when i was growing up, so i was particularly curious to see how it held up to scrutiny. Turns out, this is the by and away the best comp so far, maybe it's bias, but honestly even the tracks I wasn't a big fan of, I still found to be good, and basically every other song was great to some extent imo.
Au5 - Blossom: 10/10
A very good argument can be made for this being not only the best brostep song on Monstercat, but also the greatest brostep ... read more
Often what I view as the final of the "Classic Era" compilations, due to much of the production upgrading from this point forwards. Awakening is another comp of considerably consistent quality, uplifted by many excellent tracks, and very few overt stinkers. It's not quite as excellent as it could have been, but given it's 30 tracks long, these are debatably of better quality than some of the projects I gave 8s from 2012.
Au5 & Fractal - Halcyon: ... read more
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Recent Review Comments
On Mount Eerie - A Crow Looked at Me
"@Seb_ never"
On Habstrakt - SURGE
"@Baylen Corner of My Eye (AGGRESSIVE PHONK REMIX)"
On Marszan's review of Charli xcx - Von dutch remix with skream and benga
"??????????????? This is the Excision (pre2011) type of dubstep, not the Skrillex type though???"
On Joy Division - Unknown Pleasures (40th Anniversary)
"@Eruption78 the rougher mixdown helped to sell the desolation for me, also helped with a lot of the grooves which felt a bit spare in those anniversary mixes."
On Joy Division - Unknown Pleasures (40th Anniversary)
"@Eruption78 i mean my intial rating was like a 7"
On OctoMarkus's review of Gammer - Sun Will Rise Again
"It was REVEALED on April Fools so i guess it gets a pass."
On SPAMTON G. SPAMTON's review of Borgore - Switzerland
"The fact this isn't even in the top 20 worst Borgore songs"
On From First to Last - Dear Diary, My Teen Angst Has a Body Count
"Also I literally review EDM why wouldn't I listen to one of Skrillex's other projects as a fan?"
On From First to Last - Dear Diary, My Teen Angst Has a Body Count
"@voicelikehoney i don't hate all emo, some of the best albums I've ever heard are emo. Vocals are what tend to make or break this genre for me. I almost never go into a project expecting to hate it unless it's a project by an artist I follow regularly, And if I ever do I still hold onto the hope that I will still find something of value. Additionally, this was an album I happened to listen to on a stream. My opinion may have even changed on it at this point since it's been so long."
On 🪓lexa ☮️💖☯️🤝🇵🇸's review of Various Artists - Monstercat 007 - Solace
"Also i find it interesting you dislike Animal Instinct but like Breakdown, as I feel like our ratings are probably switched. Idk i think Animal Instinct has one of the most fun drumlines and melodies of any SW track from that era, while Breakdown is a limp, misguided headscratcher of a track for me, and it makes complete sense why the VIP would go on to completely overshadow it later."
On 🪓lexa ☮️💖☯️🤝🇵🇸's review of Various Artists - Monstercat 007 - Solace
"Ampersand actually wasn't on the original comp, instead it was pulled from the edm spotlight collaborative comp which came out the following year to fill in for the track House by OVERWERK, after he pulled that track from the label, you can still hear it on the album mix though. I will say that House is one of the better tracks on this comp as it was originally intended, though pretty aggressively 2012"
On かめりあ [Camellia] - Chimera Dragons
"@svse idk, I feel like music by KAIFU and JoeB (even Figure a few years back) manages to outdo Camellia in terms of intensity for me, it's nowhere near as fast paced usually, but to me they're the ones pushing bass music to its breaking point the most in the current environment (In JoeB's case its more about his odd rhythms). And i would also make the case that, while maybe not as busy, Kobaryo often manages to match Camellia in terms of intensity. I've been meaning to get into Diabarha for a while now, but what I've heard of their music has also come pretty close, albeit less varied."
On Jerkcurb - Night Fishing On A Calm Lake
"@lickeroftables i don't want to hear that from someone who licks tables"
On lilyth's review of Skrillex - hit me where it hurts x
"My journey with listening to music more seriously really started with EDM as well, Approaching Nirvana, Tiesto, and Daft Punk when i was young, before I found Monstercat and followed them religiously from 2015 until about 2022 when I branched back into some of the older hits I just never heard on the radio in my youth before finding Björk and getting hooked onto listening through albums over comps and EPs. After a year of binging through fantano's top 200 LPs of the 2010s, I found new ways to appreciate the music I'd grown up with, as well as a whole new selection of genres to listen to to prevent my experience with that music from ever going stale or myself becoming jaded towards it."
On Skrillex - hit me where it hurts x
"@GabHugo Contra, last year. Sonny Moore from the very start in the 2000s"
On ROSALÍA - LUX
"@davipms Yves Tumor's contribution quite literally ruined the song for me, otherwise a perfect track"
On Danny Brown - Starburst
"@jamalama this is news to me"
On Pinball Gizzard's review of George Harrison - All Things Must Pass
"I will NOT accept this Ringo the 4th Slander !!!1!1 /s"
On H1DD3N_1N_TH3_ST4T1C's review of Ran-D - Zombie
"@UltimateLifeFrm with illenium and wooli like 2 years ago ye"
On Pendulum - Inertia
"@b0realis I'm starting a Panopticon discog dive soon, so I'll probably tackle it then."
On Distorted Vortex's review of Riot Ten - Threats
"There is a blatant production error in the first 20-30 seconds of the track, this is something not even Borgore has done with his deluge of terra-slop.
A bad mix is generally all it takes to tank a riddim track in the present time, a production error is straight up inexcusable when being released on a major label."
On Sleep Token - DYWTYLM
"@Elysian_Wave ??????????"
On Schizoid man's review of Skrillex - F*CK U SKRILLEX YOU THINK UR ANDY WARHOL BUT UR NOT!! <3
"Great review! Though I should add QFF actually featured quite a bit of dubstep on it, he didn't really abandon them!"
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