A great start to my listening year. This is my introduction to Ethel Cain, and I think most would agree this probably isn't the most appropriate way to start things. That said, I thoroughly enjoyed my listen.

The long, dronier tracks like "Perverts", "Houseofpsychoticwomn", and "Pulldrone" are intense, harrowing listens that injects this album (which I will be referring it to as even though it's technically an EP) with its truly dark tones, ensuring you ... read more

Solid instrumental EP from Lofty. It actually sounds a bit fresh from his recent run of instrumental work and while there are some thinner, more eh cuts like "Reflection", and "Brake", there's even more enjoyable stuff. "Crystalline", "Resevoir", "Fluid", and "Liquid Drill" are all ready clean produced tracks that, even in short runtimes have a presence and make a statement. Certainly not his most outstanding work but a decently ... read more

I wanna give this song proper credit and detailing. As I've previously mentioned, behind Judah's inconsistent and extremely sparse releasing history is some extremely admirable talent. To me, this is the perfect Mario Judah song. His vocals are full, passionate, and striking. Even though the song takes from a pool of generic emo rap lyrics, it's Judah's genuine, beautiful singing throughout the song and stellar rage production that allow what is otherwise an emotionally ... read more

In case you've been wondering where Mario Judah actually was, he (supposedly) signed a horrendous record deal without looking into it enough. This record deal would take 80% revenue of anything Mario Judah released so he decided to release almost nothing over the past several years. After that was all wrapped up, he finally...FINALLY gives us a proper project.

Mario is, in my mind, undoubtedly a really talented guy. He's self-produced and is pretty unique in the scene he's ... read more

This cover is absolutely kickass.

This is maybe my favourite aesthetic of Lofty's. The crafty, artsy, chill, video game-esque, image here enhances what is sonically an extremely cool and laid back experience. Sure most of Lofty's peaks land with his music with actual vocals to them, but there's something special about Lofty's instrumental work, especially when it really hits like this album. While Lofty has proven he's no production mastermind, he noticeably steps ... read more

It's mostly more of the same but that's really not an issue with Norah. I mean I can't give innovative points but as long as Norah stays in this lane she will continue to put out quality music. I'm really interested in hearing the rest of her discography even if there might not be much variation to it. Not Too Late in particular feels more cohesive than her sophomore album, Feels Like Home, abandoning what was a fun but admittedly slightly inconsistent country influence. ... read more

There is literally nothing wrong with this song.

For what was a great but artistically linear debut, I kinda thought this would just be more of the exact same stuff, but it's not quite that. Norah still lays comforting, delicate, pure romance vocals over soft jazzy instrumentation, but there are further influences on this one. The singer-songwriter aspect of Norah's music feels a little more pronounced here, even plunging into a country direction, epitomised on tracks like "Above Ground" and "Creepin' In", ... read more

Edit: Briefly reading into it, I learnt that this is supposed to be sort of a bridging album of Luv 4 Rent throwaways, setting the stage for his next grand album. However, like J. Cole's Might Delete Later, it being an intentionally preliminary and lowkey release does not excuse what is kind of a snooze fest. While this release doesn't change the fact that Smino is certainly capable of more great projects, it embodies nothing that makes him great as an artist. He's a versatile, ... read more

For what is actually pretty intriguing in concept is backed by mediocre music both in production and performances. There are certainly some great features here, Charlie Wilson does his thing on his respective tracks (though they're sleepers unfortunately), Q turns "Pressured Up" into probably this album's best song, and Blxst carries A Boogie with a gorgeous vocal performance on "Worth a Heartbreak". I appreciated the skits, but not when they're sandwiched by ... read more

I promised myself I wouldn't skip on listening to and reviewing some Christmas albums this holiday season, so even though it's a few hours past Christmas day I'm doing it anyways.

I watch A Charlie Brown Christmas every year and it is genuinely one of the most serene, pure, beautiful, touching things ever conceived by human beings. What helps bring it all together? The music. You can't have Christmas without music and this album is just anthemic of that. I can't say it ... read more

Got pretty much exactly what I expected with this album. A decent soft-rock experience with a little bit of that bedroom feel. I will say though, beabadoobee feels a little more in your face than her contemporaries, but that's not to suggest that her music doesn't also carry a very nice delicacy. It's not jam-packed with highlights but I can't say there was a moment I didn't enjoy. The album starts with maybe it's strongest track, "Take A Bite", a short, ... read more

I've never really bothered to check out DC The Don, he's always been another one of those names that I thought sorta just existed to me. However, in an effort to clean up the 2024 albums I meant to listen to, I'm so glad I checked out this one, because holy cow this is such an awesome album. DC provides a ton of different flavours, tones, sounds, all backed by what is some really passionate artistry. Among what is a pretty damn consistent track list are some of this year's ... read more

This album is perfectly mellow. It's linear structure and musicality doesn't stop it from being an all-round really enjoyable experience. I could throw this on any time, any day, and love it. Like many albums that follow a close-quartered formula, I feel like it can only push so many boundaries, so while I believe it's quality plateau's, it's still very much a worthy album. Norah Jones' voice, for one, is just stellar and was made for this kind of music. She sorta ... read more

Boldy's fifth (?) drop of the year is just plain underwhelming. The production mostly feels like uninspired clones of the better stuff you'll find Boldy rapping over and he provides almost nothing that his other projects this year haven't already done. "Hidden in Plain Sight" is the clear highlight here. Conway, Styles and Boldy all do their thing over easily the best production on this EP. It's a great track all 'round. "1st & 15th" was decent ... read more

Such a pleasant, comforting experience from Clairo. I'm surprised this one isn't rated closer to an 8. Musically it's relatively simple and straightforward, but in doing so it achieves its image with a lot of credibility and basically no bullshit. Clairo's voice is great, the production is great too. I particularly love the production and subtle background instrumentation used across the album. They're soft and appropriate. This is just such a great at-home album. ... read more

I don't think this is as underwhelming as many think it to be. Sure it's nothing like It Was Written or Illmatic, or even his greats that followed it, but it's still a decent entry to his discog. Nas was starting to lose ideas and that let really nonsensical cuts find their way on this album like "Dr. Knockboot", "K-I-SS-I-N-G", and "Money Is My Bitch". These tracks mostly suck with crap lyricism, mediocre at best production, and horrible melodies. ... read more

"Chauncey" and "Grand Slam" are the only tolerable-decent things on this dumpster fire. The rest is completely effortless, poorly produced, stale, frail, dry trash. ian adds literally nothing to the scene of music he contributes to and instead further inflates what is already a pretty uninspired subgenre.

Trash island is an extremely rich Drain Gang experience where the boys compliment and bounce off each other wonderfully for a little over 22 minutes. The production isn't overthought, but also not bland. It's the perfect amount of chill and each of the members just unite with the sound to create an unstoppably serene experience. The seamless flow of this album and it's irresistible charm just makes it so damn easy and nice to listen to. After finishing I immediately started ... read more

Bando Stone is probably the most sonically diverse Childish Gambino album I've heard, and with it comes little to dislike. Long gone are the crap lyrics and tacky tryhard production. While Gambino has always been one to dabble in different musical styles and tones, Bando Stone manages to open several new creative doors while polishing previously patchy ones. But it's not without it's noticeable dips. "Talk My Shit" could've been a decent no brainer trap banger but ... read more