Like many others, a year ago I wouldn't have likely been putting bets on Anderson .Paak and Bruno Mars collaborating at the extent of a full album. Anderson .Paak has seen his star rising higher over the last half decade since his breakout album Malibu, a gorgeous and soulful album that had critical acclaim as well as commercial appeal. Since then he has collaborated with modern titans like Kendrick Lamar, rap staples like Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, and Andre 3000, and even soul legend Smokey ... read more

Thus far in the career of IDLES the group have stayed married to their particular style of aggression, riddled in socio-political vitriol, humor, and violence. For some, their previous effort last year could have been seen as a safe one, remaining close to the material of their smash debut and critically beloved sophomore effort, but with a little less punch and fewer memorable moments. As much as they had become fresh staples in the punk scene, they ran the risk of becoming stale if they ... read more

If I were to point a non-fan of Linkin Park toward any of their material in an effort to sway them, Reanimation may be where my finger goes. As a remix album it would be hard to find one that so drastically diverts from the source material, to the point that the group themselves have stated it could be considered both a remix album as well as a proper studio album. That shift in sound likely could work for someone who scoffs at their nu-metal adjacency and would seek something entirely ... read more

Yes hello. If you've kept an eye on my page, or listened to the Record Roundtable/Good Band Bad Band podcast you may be aware of my writing hiatus. I'll get into it briefly, explain why I'm writing this review, then actually like write a review or something.

My brother, who was also a member of the podcast, passed away a little over a month ago now. He spent three months in the hospital dealing with various health issues surrounding a heart transplant he received as a baby. After his heart ... read more

Tragedy can feel impossible to move on from. A few weeks ago I had a close friend of eight years and former partner pass away to a drug overdose; I saw family members openly weep, felt the sting of the inability to save them, and embraced as much of the positive memories as possible to not crumble to dust. Yesterday it became more clear that my brother, who has been in the hospital for approaching three months, may be running out of time. But like positive memories that give us the hope that ... read more

If Kanye can take forever to release his album then I can take a month to review it, sue me.

This is an album of highs and lows, including a complete nosedive by the end that severely impacts the ability to enjoy Donda as a whole project. It took what felt like ages for the controversial star to finally release his highly anticipated album, seeming to push it back and tease it and preview it and try and pull it back again so much that it already made the wait feel like it wasn't worth it. You ... read more

Spiritbox had a ton going for them prior to even dropping their debut album - namely a string of well-received singles with incredible production value going into the music videos, and more importantly a swarm of fans. The hype for Spiritbox has been piling on, with multiple sources speaking up this debut as a significant release and a continued string of promotional music videos over the last few months. I can't say I remember the last time I remember a reaction like that for a ... read more

MONTERO is likely one of the most anticipated debut albums in a long time thanks to the fact that Lil Nas X has not just risen his star but become a nebula in the modern culture. What could have been a flash-in-the-pan situation with Old Town Road, Lil Nas X went down the pop rap direction that he desired and became not just open about his personality and experience but actively flaunting those parts of himself. The music video for MONTERO really ignited him into a giant, and INDUSTRY BABY ... read more

Like The Sniffers, sometimes you just have to keep things simple.

This thing kicks some serious ass.

Lead vocalist Amy Taylor has had a pretty notable year leading up to the groups sophomore album, being featured on England's veteran post-punkers Sleaford Mods most recent album as well as singing with Sebastian Murphy of Viagra Boys for their duet cover of John Prine. Those two features definitely got the groups name out there, and I can say that because the effect worked on me as intended. ... read more

The word that comes to mind when I'm listening to Sleigh Bells is deceptive. I've never had the pleasure of getting deeper into their work, though I've heard Treats many moons ago, and Texis definitely gives me some motivation to go back on that debut.

So why deceptive? Sleigh Bells ride that noise pop line very tightly, although the pop end is most definitely what they structure their songs around. Texis is exceptionally catchy, effectively hooky, and deliciously bubbly, but just as you ... read more

Infinite Granite is one of those albums where the biggest knock against it comes down to expectations. We have about a decades worth of context for what Deafheaven generally sound like - easiest to wrap up in the term blackgaze, even though that is a term so obscure to the average listener they would get nothing from it. Breaking down the key components would make it much easier to not box in the group so swiftly, and may actually make a better case for why this isn't some weird shift that ... read more

Given that Low have remained relatively quiet since their 2018 release Double Negative they had admittedly slipped my mind prior to the release of Hey What. I can't say I was heavily anticipating a new release from the group, even though what I had heard from them fascinated me, but it's common to take for granted a group that have been silently churning out music since the mid-90's.

But then I started their 13th album, the opener White Horses shifting in and out of digital space, and in less ... read more

As I was taking a break from writing I by no means stopped listening to music, and I tried to keep my eye on what was going on in music from a critical eye and a consumer reception standpoint. There was no album I anticipated more than Little Simz's upcoming project, Sometimes I Might Be Introvert, as her previous work was easily one of the best from that year and one of the finest hip hop projects of the entire decade. As I watched positive feedback roll in like an avalanche for Sometimes I ... read more

If you can get 70% of people to listen to this then we can reach herd immunity

Alternatively, instead of listening to this you can take horse dewormer

I’m gonna try and write real reviews today I promise

Yes hello, your friendly neighborhood crackfox has returned from the silent depths of hell. It was important to me that I inform you that Between the Buried and Me's new album title Colors II is entirely appropriate as it is easily their best work in over a decade - meaning since the release of the original Colors album.

The albums over the last eleven years have been far from failures, of course. Most recently the Automata series was pretty solid, especially the second of the two, and the two ... read more

UPDATE

Hey everyone. I have a couple of updates about my account I wanted to share that felt like they might take more space than just my bio. I'm going to leave this pinned to my page until something changes.

There are two significant things going on in my world right now that are changing my usual schedule and how I spend my time. The first significant thing is that my brother has been in the ICU since Friday of last week, so now nine days. When he was born he had heart complications and ... read more

Six years is a long time in the music world these days, and by now it feels like an eternity since the release of the genre-bending sophomore album Choose Your Weapon from Hiatus Kaiyote. This is especially true given how much the star seemed to be rising for the Australian act; having been sampled by an ever-increasing spectrum of commercial talents, from Anderson .Paak to Kendrick to Drake and all the way to the titan duo of Beyonce and Jay-Z, their eclectic form of alternative R&B and ... read more

It's now been four years since Tyler, the Creator's maturity and growth were at their height of surprise. For those who were hyper-aware of the often vulgar and violent Tyler from his Odd Future era early work, Flower Boy was not just a breath of fresh air for some but a universally praised transition. It wasn't as though Flower Boy was completely musically antagonistic to albums like Goblin or Wolf, but Tyler's subtle levels of honesty and apparent layers of sincerity were something that his ... read more

Over the last two albums indie rock mainstays Modest Mouse have taken pretty significant gaps before releasing new material. In 2015, when Strangers to Ourselves came out, there was an air of excitement given that fans had waited eight long years for a follow up to the relatively well received We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank. Now six years removed from that album, I would ration that the mood is somewhere between anxious and apathetic; after a disappointing experience for the last go ... read more

Whether you like the material or not, or if the execution of the ideas are effective, you have to commend GoldLink for at least trying to make something different from the norm we hear in hip hop today. HARAM! is certainly muddled at various points, opting for an eclectic range of sounds that don't seem to find accordance with one another and likely would have benefitted from one concrete idea, but at least some of the disparate concepts come out with some suggestion of potential when digging ... read more