My beef with the dubstep scene back in the day (I say, like I wasn't 10 at the time) is less to do with it's main connoisseurs-gone-massive and more with mainstream pop's attempts to tame it to their own whims. You know what I'm talking about: That one Britney song, that one Madonna album, and a bunch of other upstarts half-heartedly cashing in on all the hype around this "Skrillex" dude.

All this to say, I've never really had an issue with Skrillex. It ... read more

I appreciate her dedication to peppering in spins on 2007 British indie-rock. I also appreciate her writing, which is decently showcased on all four entries here.

Highlight: Indigo, with that stripped-back instrumental giving way to ethereal backing vocals and sincerely heartfelt pleading from Chinouriri.

This is a pretty confident and high-quality entry in the broader spectrum that was turn-of-the-millennium teen-pop.

That, sadly, is not a high bar, with how single-heavy and insubstantial these albums usually were. Still, Ms Piper has a couple of deep-cuts that keep it alive - "Officially Yours", which is quality enough not to be a throw-away, and "You've Got It", which feels 80s in a great way.

Still, tracks like "Love Groove" could've been something ... read more

There's the ha-ha-you-can't-have-it kinda-sorta hit some of us remember, and that's incredibly solid, but for my money, there are half a dozen tracks on this thing more able to entertain, endear, and amuse. I'm a huge fan of "I Know What Boys Like", for the record, so this is no small thing

Special shout outs to "It's My Car", which is a great piece of music over which Patty tells off a dork behind the wheel with no real sense of direction; ... read more

A fairly classic example of single-led naughty noughties pop-girl fodder - "Hook Me Up" and "Untouched" undeniably carry the album - from a twin-act whose charisma and sexing-up can only do so much for the obvious filler.

Knowing you need to stop, mascara running down your face, heels bloodied, leggings scraped up.

But you can't. So you keep going. And going. And going. Running down streets as if compelled by a motor.

+++ heat death

Their shift to a less wholly commercial sound, not devoted to smashing every single morsel, means that Matthews' characteristically gritty voice is a more effective instrument than ever. "Imaginary Friend" and "Immediate Circle" are some of her more emotionally devastating work on record, particularly in conjunction with the songwriting; "Mother of Misogyny" maybe her most righteous, and "Village Idiot"/"Arabian Derby" maybe my favourite ... read more

Functional, sure, but those numbers are slathered in paint. I'm used to Linkin Park evoking *something* from me, even if it is irritation. I've given it three tries, and I feel more Emptiness Machine than anything.

Also: People were really concerned Armstrong was going to be a problem, when really I think it might just be time to jettison Shinoda. Clean house. Certainly doesn't *feel* like he's helping them.

We're going to be entirely honest with ourselves here. Kylie Minogue was many, many, many things in the early segment of her career. An icon, an actress, a purveyor of the camp, beloved and adored by many publics (especially the British one). One thing she was not, however, was a talented vocalist, particularly on this record. The tunes and the production are sometimes tightly-wound enough to make up for it, but it is impossible to miss, even against records that came as soon after this as ... read more

This is where Peak Kylie truly begins, for me. And probably for most of you. Trading in SAW for minor-label experimentation, and it winds up being the most mature set of tracks she has produced up to 1994. Hints of her previous album kinda-sorta linger in the R&B elements, but not *really*, either, and thank fuck for that.

Confide In Me is a career best, as are "Automatic Love" and "Falling". "If I Was Your Lover" also largely underrated, too. "Where Is ... read more

Much like with Madonna's doomed 2003 album, "American Life", Perry was not particularly far past a peak when she hit the studio for this one. Also like Madonna, Perry spent a great deal of time trying to convince a reluctant public that this album was about something much grander than shallow things like the party or the club, herself, or anyone else.

She was feeling a lot of angst around the Trump election, you see - as lots of us probably were and are once again. Partly ... read more

This is not "Fever". I don't think Kylie was trying to create "Fever" a year early with this record. It is *trying* to be ridiculous, peppy, kind of obnoxious, and yes, *exceptionally* kitsch as a re-interpretation of disco/funk stylings.

She excels at the camp on some tracks. Koocachoo and Your Disco Needs You are absolutely peak examples of Kylie being willing to be silly. Both sound like a parody of Eurovision *at* Eurovision. Then there are the duds that fail in ... read more

I say this sincerely: This is a feminist classic, in the same sort of vein as Adina Howard's "Freak Like Me", or a lot of Missy's discography.

I see what this song thinks it is doing lyrically. By tying the profound and the good (love, human connection) and its sidelining by the bad (individualism in American culture), there is a commentary in here about coming together, and reconsidering the ethos of that country you live in. Choosing heart over selfish ambition, as it were.

The problem is that it only half-heartedly flirts with it, and leans aesthetically into an Americana-drenched nightmare that, whether Boyd intended it or not, ... read more

Twilight Zone is a bonus track in the truest, most positive sense imaginable. Best thing from Eternal Sunshine.

And the other bonus tracks are nice too.

This album feels AI-generated. All form, absolutely no substance. The Imagine Dragons of folk-rock. What Elon Musk probably thinks art is. Not much surprise that Marcus Mumford, who has demonstrated zero personality development presumably since he left private school, does too.

A project that draws my intense ire because of its calculated inoffensive "authenticity". Same as it ever was, you high-class low-taste wankers.

Smith has every right to complain. It'd just be nice if he had decent bars and a decent beat on most of these tracks when he was doing it.

borderline *unlistenable*. really really want to support kesha but this and delusional are beyond terrible. i fear for this album.

"Push" has absolutely no right to be as good as it is here. Basically everything on here is pretty stellar, actually; it only marginally falls short of elder Minogue album "Fever", but like, it's a hair.

Very Spice-Girl-Britpop, but the cheeky attitude and some of the campy hooks on tracks like "I Am The Greatest" (including that sample) are enough to make this a tolerable release - just a shame that some of the other deep cuts are pretty major duds.