If I had a nickel for every time this guy got burnt with gonorrhea, I’d have two nickels for some reason!

Ol’ Dirty Bastard, live and uncut. Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on who you ask, ODB is a man who lives up to his name. When listening to ODB, you better expect unique flows, unconventional vocal inflections, unhinged lyrics and other eccentricities. Shoutouts to RZA, his production supports ODB’s off the wall approach. It’s really the songs with the other ... read more

Meet the Wu-Tang Clan. This collective houses some of the finest rappers, who proved themselves to be able to hold up on their own on their respective solo records. The unofficial leader of this clique is no other than The RZA, who not only wields supreme rapping skill, but is also dope at producing. He has produced so many gems throughout his career, and should be in the conversation for best hip hop producer. He and his peers shine in their weirdness at a time where off-kilter music could go ... read more

Hey, this guy is pretty fun. If you know anything about the modern rap underground scene, you know that rappers that try way too hard to be nonchalant and mysterious, spitting over aggressive, usually dark production is the norm. Pretti offers an alternative. He flips the sound on its head by coming through with these colorful, uplifting rap beats. He’s got obvious influences but he channels them in a way that is interesting. Pretti’s vocal inflections are reminiscent of Carti mixed ... read more

Lesson No. 1 is the first of Glenn Branca's many experimental works. It was released a year before The Ascension, and the two tracks here wouldn't feel too out of place on that album. Similarly to The Ascension, Post-Rock reaches its genesis, as Branca uses rock arrangements in a non-rock context, that being classical compositions created using rock instrumentation. This result is a far reaching body of work in terms of genre, covering No Wave, Modern Classical, Post-Rock and even ... read more

Post-Rock begins here. Bands like Godspeed You! Black Emperor and Swans as we know it wouldn't exist without this album, and Glenn Branca's 1981 effort holds up just as well as these bands all these years later. This five track album is one that is both accessible and inaccessible. On one hand, the album boasts a 4/4 time signature, a somewhat danceable rhythm, punk-like guitars and some cool, hypnotic crescendos. On the other hand, this album offers a full on sonic assault. A ... read more

Born Like This is another album from DOOM (he dropped the ‘MF’ for this one). What no one could have predicted is that this would be his last solo album. Unlike DOOM's previous albums, which were self produced, Born Like This has multiple producers including himself, allowing for a varied sound, with a dark and villainous comic book feel.

Some of the highlights on Born Like This include: Gazzillion Ear and Lightworks, where DOOM drops his illest flows on J Dilla beats, because ... read more

Songs In The Key Of Life is a showcase of what a great songwriter can achieve at the top of their game. This album is simply gargantuan. With twenty one songs, spanning a very long runtime, there's not a single dull moment on this whole album. Every track is unique and well performed. There are a total of 130 musicians that helped work on the album, but it's Stevie Wonder that stands out the most. There is so much passion in his voice, and its endlessly captivating. Stevie Wonder sees ... read more

The Shape of Jazz to Come is an imperfect yet daring prediction on how jazz music would sound in future years. On this album, Ornette Coleman chooses to ignore the rules of jazz and just plays whatever he wants to play. He found out in order to shape the genre, he needed to flip the entire thing on its head. Coleman's sax playing is off putting at times, but it manages to sound good, and suit the song anyway. It's easy to associate the term ‘avant-garde’ with being hard to ... read more

Black Up is an unreal experience. AllMusic describes this album as “Left Field Rap”, which isn't a bad way to describe it. Way before Palaceer Lazaro (a.k.a. Ishmael Butler, former member of Digable Planets) lays a single word on the mic, you are met with some truly left field production. Otherworldly, genre-defying beats that don't care about following hip hop conventions. There are rhythms present on this album, but they aren't exactly rhythms you can dance to, the ... read more

This is culturally appropriate.

After being delayed for 1008 years, A$AP Rocky finally releases his highly anticipated album, "DON'T BE DUMB". While it definitely wasn't worth the long wait, it does have its moments. This is easily his most spawling and eclectic work to date, combining his usual trap sound with many other genres. The ideas on DON'T BE DUMB are quite bold, but the execution isn't always there. Despite Rocky's attempts to be artsy and experimental, he still finds himself ... read more

This is the album that introduced jazz to most people, and it's not a bad start at all. It's the best at combining straightforwardness with brilliance, no avant-garde musical statements needed. Soumd wise, Kind Of Blue finds mastery of the nocturnal jazz sound due to the massive talent behind it. Tracks with Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Bill Evans and others isn't something you can just ignore. When anybody says something about The Beatles inventing music or music being invented ... read more

The Future and Zaytoven joint. It's alright, it just doesn't properly represent the musical abilities of the two. Zaytoven's production gets repetitive quick as he's not willing to deviate from the same piano beats. Future's performances aren't anything special either. Judging by the violent cover art, I thought we would be some hardcore rapping from him. Instead, we got a run of the mill trap mixtape. In conclusion, this could have been a great project had ... read more

Sound Of Confusion marks the beginning of Spacemen 3, and their unique brand of God-fearing psychedelic rock. Listening to this album is similar to watching a group of guys who started off imitating their favourite psych rock bands become a fully fledged band in real time. Sure, their ideas aren't always perfectly executed, but when the band gets something right, they really hit the mark. The closing track, O.D. Catastrophe best illustrates the fuzzy, guitar driven, hypnotic soundscapes ... read more

The definitive shoegaze album. Its approach to creating sounds and textures is very unqiue, like a brand new version of the innovations that Robert Fripp and Brian Eno were doing in the 70s. Dreamlike vocals and serene soundscapes meets a Phil Spector-esque wall of guitars, usually one riff repeated ad infinitum. Soft noises mix with loud ones to create an interesting dynamic. Some may miss the point completely, finding themselves bewildered at the repetitive guitars, and the vocals being ... read more

The debut album by Nina Simone, the high priestess of soul. Her piano skills and songwriting ability is very mature and layered for someone at the start of their career. It's something you would expect of a well established artist, which is probably why this album holds up 60+ years later. Simone's performances are very good, but she would reach greater heights on later albums. “A sign of things to come” is the best way to describe it.

Following his triumph in 2004, MF DOOM teamed up with Danger Mouse to create a truly great collaborative album. DANGERDOOM is a really cool collaboration. Danger Mouse producing beats, MF DOOM on the mic, this is a duo with amazing chemistry. DOOM demolishes this project with his high energy performances. He doesn't take things too seriously either, opting to weave in humor into his rhymes. Danger Mouse's production is very creative, it isn't boundary pushing but it is a well ... read more

Crack Therapy 3 is an anomaly in trap music. We often see the rapper being carried by production, but this doesn't really happen here. The beats are quite good, but we are really listening to this for RXKNephew's comical lyricism and vocal delivery. There is no better way to prove this than with "American tterroristt", a song that deserves its status as one of the highest rated hip-hop songs on the whole website. Absolute banger. It's a hilarious dump of the most insane ... read more

Spacemen 3 is a neat little band. The main members of the band are Peter Kember a.k.a. Sonic Boom and Jason Pierce a.k.a J. Spaceman, who would later find greater success with the band Spiritualized. Spacemen 3 takes inspiration from many psychedelic bands. Their sophomore album "The Perfect Prescription" is a concept album about a drug trip. “Ecstasy Symphony/Transparent Radiation” represents the highest point of the drug trip, "Things'll Never Be The Same" ... read more

Ladies and gentlemen we are floating in space captures Jason Pierce at his most ambitious. The album was recorded after a breakup lead vocalist Jason Pierce went through and the drug addiction that resurfaced because of it. This isn’t your average space rock album. Ladies and Gentlemen is a transcendent exploration of heartbreak and loss, intertwined with drugs and religion, because this is Jason Pierce we're talking about.

Ladies and Gentlemen is a blast from start to finish. ... read more