A concise 8-track record for the new vinyl era. An era that has been woefully Mistyless. This has been a bit of a course correction for FJM after Chloe expanded his horizons perhaps a bit beyond his reach. The closest record I can compare this to is God’s Favorite Customer, which is a good thing. That record has stood the test of time, even though it may not have been the follow-up to Pure Comedy that people were hoping for. Mahashmashana has a similar focus to GFC that is a welcome ... read more

Bridges has perfected what I believe he was going for on Gold-Diggers Sound. While the arrangements are less intricate and more generalized on this self-titled album than in past works, the sound overall is intoxicatingly smooth. The language, both musical and lyrical, is very direct, and these simpler, more direct arrangements really allow Leon’s strength to lead the way on each tune: his voice. He sings with charm as always, this time with a cathartic sense of nostalgia and reflection. ... read more

Godspeed has always been able to draw evocative soundscapes out of relatively simple, sometimes even sparse materials. They have always excelled as musical architects at setting those materials about the task of haunting us. Admittedly, my first listen of this album was without any context for its meaning, though the off-putting album artwork and the distressing title were plenty to key in a particular mood from the start. At times, on first listen, the simplicity of the materials came across ... read more

Cutouts accomplishes what I believe has been the point of The Smile all along. It lowers the stakes.

Noel Gallagher once said that Thom Yorke could “shit into a lightbulb and…it'd probably get a 9 out of 10….” And while that's a colorful exaggeration (it's just an exaggeration…right?), it also can't be helped that the work of Yorke and Greenwood will always bring with it a tsunami of fan expectations. No matter which band they are ... read more

This is Childish Gambino’s Humanz. A genre-hopping party playlist for the end of the world stuffed to the brim with colorful collaborations and soundbite interludes, with some high-reaching standouts over the course of the hour and some middling offerings filling the spaces between.

Childish Gambino has always been a jack-of-all-trades, and the wide span of genres on this record seems to showcase the second half of that expression. In “Running Around,” it’s fun to hear ... read more

It’s a shame the rest of this band’s discography is not yet listed on AOTY. The journey they’ve been on since 2020’s Undertones is incredible. They’ve since evolved into a leading voice in the post-Wilco indie-Chicago scene. They’ve evolved into a stupefying live act. And much of this is because they’ve allowed themselves to evolve at all. Undertones feels like dawn, knowing what follows. Here at the start, they have the folksy, indie-country vibes ... read more

This Nashville act is full of incredible talent.

I had the pleasure of seeing them live at the Hideout in Chicago. They went on third. Nikki Barber planted herself front and center in the audience for the act that opened before hers, a bright blue patch of an all-seeing eye on the back of her jacket. She shuffled past me to get to the stage when it was time for the Minks, said excuse me with the most pleasant of smiles. Then she and her band took the spotlight for about forty minutes of ... read more

There is tenderness here, but only because it has been through the trauma of growing older and persisted in spite of it. It's not an injured gentleness, but it is a gentleness that has reflected upon being hurt, and now has the strength and distance to sing about it. For her third LP, Lizzy McAlpine assembles a musical tour through the loss of innocence, from the delusions of falling in love to the pain and confusion of falling out. The lyrics are direct and simple, yet wise and powerful, ... read more

A passionate, powerful, and luminescent (albeit monochromatic) expression of quintessential mid-oughts indie rock.

Music master Beth Gibbons delivers a world-weary musical expression of an autumnal season of life. Prepare for something more folksy and rustic than you may be used to coming from one of trip-hop’s Founding Fathers. However, you can rest assured that Gibbons still brings a sense of character to every track, just as she always has with all her projects–even if, on the whole, that sense of character is more subdued than the electric, edgy bitterness of the crate-digging Portishead ... read more

The Jubilant Chaos of the Cutting Edge

Fifty-six years after its release, the self-titled debut album of Silver Apples defies classification, defies objectification. I like to believe that art is subjective and that a review is more useful than a rating, but part of me still enjoys the exercise in futility that this website has put me through, challenging me to define my own system for assigning a number to something as variable and undefinable as an album. I can’t put a number to this ... read more

The album hits softer than it hits hard, but this is a good thing. The album follows the overwhelming global success of “What Was I Made For” on the cultural stage with a series of emotional ballads that come straight from Billie’s bruised and carnal heart. In “THE GREATEST,” we get a searing expression of yearning. “L’AMOUR DE MA VIE,” transforms from quaint acoustics to impassioned electronics as Billie’s feelings transform in an evolving ... read more

Simply some of the biggest dick energy of the year.

Too big to fail, too broad to win. This album is full of things that Dua Lipa does well, but it’s light on the things she does best. The singing is as excellent as always. The vibe is immaculate, and the beat keeps the toe tapping. The thing that Dua’s music has always possessed that not every pop sensation shares is character. Musical quirk. She's always stood out for her unique melodies and athletic rhythms. The freshness in her sound that marked her arrival and first got our ... read more

Their is a lot of bold individuality in this album. A lot of raw, you-know-when-it’s-real imperfection in the recording, which is interesting considering one of the bold things the band seems to try is approximating more digital techniques. Experimental guitar licks and earthy vocal ticks loop as if a stutter effect or an AB repeat has been applied, all the while drifting in loose alignment with the steadfast grid of the drums. As the album wears on, the sonic patterns that ... read more

While lacking the iconic highlights of Dummy, the band’s sophomore album still delights. To me, it feels like the soundtrack to a noir film that doesn't exist, with its shadowy harmonies and bold samples of brass and strings. As a noir landscape, it's fittingly more mono-chromatic than its predecessor, in both sonics and visuals; Dummy is blue and Third is Teal and Portishead is black and white. The lack of color does not equate, however, to a lack of thrills. From the paranoid ... read more

Experimentalism brings some edge to a dose of baroque pop I have sorely needed this decade. I expected the baroque part from these guys, and I was delighted by it. But even more so was I delighted by the experimentalism infused into this album, a strangeness that VW's songs often need to offset what can easily become saccharine. This tight, engaging listen was exactly what we needed from this band in our current vinyl-comeback era, especially after their previous, exhaustive outing. At one ... read more

This is the sound of the end of an era. After this, we we would get the one-two punch of the more narrative, concept-drive Year Zero and the ambient Ghosts. After that, we got the Slip for free, and even that album features pure instrumentals. Then came the band's first film score with 2010's The Social Network, and that changed everything. With Teeth is crisp and committed and perhaps the last album the band put out before their motivations swung more toward story-telling and mood-setting. It ... read more

Perfect for cafes, parties, and late night drives. This music is perfect for playlists, though it does not quite engage the imagination or address the spirit. "Lounge" is right. I will gladly put this album on in all sorts of contexts and already have the tracks split up over a variety of those ever-handy playlists. They may have relegated themselves to the background here, although they do that better than just about anybody. In short, top-notch vibes.

The shape of this album is like a cresting wave. A tremendous peak buoys you upward to a sunny, weightless, ebullient height, after which you coast down to a pleasant albeit more static atmosphere to float in as the tide undulates. It's relaxing as it tugs at your body. You tip your head back and rest and drift. You enjoy your float in the ocean. But you'll never forget that wave.

Sometimes an album opens with an incredible, iconic piece of music, and files ten more songs in after it while ... read more