This was fair. I think it would pair up wisely with certain settings or moods but that would be viewing the album more as a tool of ambience than a work in itself. The minimalistic production approach is not exactly my thing (hence why Faling Behind and Everything I Know About Love are probably the best on the album) but it is well done. Vocally, the lyrics are well-placed in terms of focusing on the beauty that a good piece of music should be focused on, and after all, it is evident that ... read more

While it has some definitive bangers (Dramaturgy and Okinimesumama), it is bland and lacks the beauty, emotion and variation present in similar style great J-Rock/Pop like Yorushika.

How can you be nostalgic for a time you've never lived?

This is great you know. The J-Rock scene is full of such young bands that really break in well. Aooo is special though, theyir lineup is experienced and has great chemistry, this album just shows it. Give them a few years and the front stages of Japan aren't a pipe dream.

Может так может. Вот это было круто, идеальный микс инди и фанка, ну просто конфетка из книги американских R&B/Соул продюсеров, да и даже лучше. Есть концепт, есть продолжительность без избыточного повторения и есть душа инструментальная! Донес же все таки пару бэнгеров ... read more

Many singles here are great, it's a nice sounding album with the more experimental touches that King Gnu added in the 2020's. Nevertheless I think it is not as impressive as what they managed to put out previously, therefore there simply isn't too much to review. of course, BOY, Sakayume, Ichizu, SPECIALZ, etc. are all still amazing individual songs but the new material seems bleak next to them. Interludes are some too many and the concept of the album is sort of disjointed by ... read more

King Gnu's debut album, of course it's fire. AOTY calls this Pop Rock and it's the most well balanced fusion of various genres (I'm going to say this every time I talk about King Gnu, because that's what makes them marvellous) that has come out of a mainstream J-Rock band in the last decade. I could go on and not as to why this band is criminally underrated, but rather than precociously spouting about musical choices and the prestigious musical background of the ... read more

This song is good. The autotune is excessive but not ruinous as people here make it out to be. Yes it sounds like a demo, but is that bad? No it’s not. Let’s get a life and have fun listening to music to nice, vibe-y summer music.

This is fun, it's energetic and very heavy on that blend between western hard rock and J-rock. This is the very cool apporach that Suspended 4th takes and essentially creates by it, a cooler, jazzier version of what we are so used to hearing in western action movies (shoutout Venetzia, complete outlier here and sounds extremely unusual but nothing less than cool). High octane, high energy, high rating. This band deserves recognition.

While generally not bad and representative of classic J-Rock, I found it to be rather tedious and repetitve. The instrumentals just didn't nail the tone quite so well and the vocals honestly sounded displeasing. The energy was there but gone down a rather peculiar funnel.

Sure it's not as good perhaps as Zutomayo's other work, but it isn't bad either is it. The singles are of course bangers, the original stuff is a bit behind, but nevertheless it's not as structure-less as people make it out to be. Indeed some songs like Mirror Tune or Kira Killer sound chaotic but that's Zutomayo's brand. Not everything has to be clear and defined all the time. Decent album overall, even though it tends to pale in comparison to other, higher rate ... read more

It was very mild for the most part, the beginning however was decent and felt like an actual album. The sensation crumbled towards the end though, and some individual songs were admittedly terrible, however others were indeed rather decent. Sometimes felt repetitive with the production and Kanye's lyrics were often constituted the lows of the album, and yet the features were pretty good for the most part. If you get anything out of this, let it be PUNCH DRUNK and PREACHER MAN.

Coldplay’s magnum opus really offers a staple work of Britpop but incorporates so many small elements from around the landscape of the genre that it actually creates a work that uses textbook musicality to create pieces that balance on the verge of art and a radio station. I probably wouldn’t come back to this but if you’re interested in exploring the nooks and crannies of pop and what flavours it can pack, this album is one good beginning.

If you somehow found this, the band is underrated, give them a spin. Modern J-Rock in its good form with dashes of art mixed in. Seriously, give this a listen.

Japanese dream-rock? You know what, not bad. A bit better than Radwimps even, but still at times fails to give the album form because of all the noise-pop elements. Last two songs go really well into the ethereal theme and the intro run is satisfying, the middle does get monotonous however, despite the vocal delivery and instrumentals actually getting it on point individually, for the most part. Overall, this isn't all too distinct from what shoegaze usually offers but it is quite a fair ... read more

I must say that was quite enjoyable. Very easy to get lost in, the tracks blend together interestingly (I guess that’s good for psych no? I’m not familiar here) and create a nice, free and experimental picture that is nonetheless thoroughly pleasing to the ear (something I find rare in avant-garde leaning music). The features were spot on though and the thematic is creative and beautiful. For all my instrumentalists out there, recommended.

Honestly, this is quite great. It has quite a few bangers, feels like a real, well-produced album and the beggining is stellar, though the second part dims it a little while those studio lives... yeah not it. In general though I'm glad to see some more reformed Zutomayo sound, they really nail whatever orchestral concotion they create in the studio, a truly unique group. Good J-Rock, I recommend.

10/10 dinner music. Other than that it just brings happiness to the heart, don't know why, but Eddie Higgins really knows how to see the good in life.

Classic RADWIMPS return after a rather long time, but I find this to be rather underwhelming and unintersting although there are some great high-energy kicks and emotional ballads.

Meidai - 65
MAAFAKA - 82
World End Girl Friend - 70
DASAI DAZAI - 75
How should I - 66
Tamamono - 79
MOUNTAIN VANILLA - 77
Odakyu Line - 58
Hitsu Zetsu - 78
Period - 76
Echo in the Ruins - 72
Piaf - 67
DAI-DAN-EN - 71

The detour into poetic lyrics and psychedelic instrumentals generally misses it for me here. The beggining was promising but quickly descended into a fairly unintelligible and boring compilation of sounds that fail to bring that stellar energy which the Arctic Monkeys have always nailed best.