Great album I already liked the singles but honestly almost every song delivered. Opener was alright but the rest of the tracks elevate the album to make a banger debut full of energy and unease. I hope this band gets some traction.

Really engaging concept album concerning the exploitation of black artists for white businessmen and audiences. Split into two sections and with Ghais playing a character throughout, this album's extremely dense lyrics focus on a rising star in the industry, encouraged to be materialistic, misogynistic and play right into the industry's hands, revealing in the interlude that he has become pacified by the material benefits of industry fame, preventing him from addressing the system ... read more

This album contains a great variation of tracks, from the title track's slow, trance-inspired vibe with soft vocals and lyrics that seem to me to be about struggling to find emotional connections while finding bliss in 'eusexua' (the way she describes this term seems like a flow state in which one focuses on one thing or person so strongly that nothing else matters, almost like eastern philosophical ideas of casting away attachments to achieve a transcendental state, but with a ... read more

Noisy post-punk with the nervous energy I've been missing from the way artists at the forefront of the recent post-punk scene have developed. It's a back-to-basics collection of intense tracks that grab your attention with powerful guitar tones and great builds. Even though it isn't particularly unique and the songs have the same vibe throughout, I find myself not minding simply because of how hard this album goes.
Favourites are Taxi Man, God on a Speed Dial, The Body as a ... read more

Consistently good instrumental post-rock that doesn't need 20+ minute builds to go hard. Not much to really say about it beyond that each song is pretty satisfying.

This guy's unique airy vocals combined with Kenny Segal's noisy production creates great juxtaposition throughout the album, at points resulting in a beautiful amalgamation of sounds. I prefer live instrumentation so some of the production doesn't pack as much of a punch as it could for me, and the songwriting doesn't always stand out, but this was a pretty good album that kept me engaged throughout, despite sometimes being a little samey.
Favourite songs were BLACK OPPS ... read more

Really nice beats often being jazzy or atmospheric and the writing throughout is interesting and fun (but obviously sometimes a little sad). Consistently good songs, with Funny Papers, Friendly Hallucinations and Manakins perhaps being my favourite but most of the songs are at this same level of quality. The 11 minute final song is cool and experimental, closing out a great album and (presumably) Mac's discography.

Super nice and chill jazz pop kind of thing with definite Joni Mitchell vibes which I always appreciate. Some songs and sections of songs are genuinely great like making you shut your eyes and just immerse yourself in the sounds.

Sometimes fun but often kinda cheesy and feeling too much like old men trying to make young man music. The Strokes evolved their sound into a cool, more mature direction, but I'm not seeing any of that here. It's like early 2000s indie rock without much of the fire.

Atmospheric and at times hard as flip. It doesn't do anything crazy or unique, but it's just solid post-metal. I do wonder why the songs aren't split up though, when sometimes it will randomly stop and start a new section.

Often quite challenging (boring) but it's good for studying!! However, in some moments throughout everything comes together to create something really great sounding. At 89 minutes, paying attention to the music can be a slog, especially in the less song-like tracks, but rewarding moments throughout make it at least worth a listen.
It would absolutely be a fire video game soundtrack though.
Favourite songs: Vacillator, Onanist.

Cool project from the former lead singer of Sprain, who made one of my favourite albums of 2023. This album is quite similar but mostly without the harsh noises and insane post-rock tracks. Instead, it focuses on a more subtle sound, which suits the vocal style quite well, and the songwriting is still wacky and inspiring, leading to a unique EP with some great tracks. The vocals really are haunting and the folkier music complements them well. However, I do miss the absolute noisy insanity of ... read more

A fun, nostalgic shoegaze album with some great tracks, despite many of the songs blending together, as is often the case for this kind of music. My favourite songs were The Worst Way to Start an End because of its satisfying build and great soundscapes throughout and Jitnunkebi (Winter's Song) because of its great use of traditional East Asian sounds combined with great shoegaze.
It's like a less harsh-sounding version of Parannoul's latest album, but with the volume mixing ... read more

Super chill album with some great guitars, synths, piano and processed vocals. It reminds me of Porter Robinson's Nurture voice and Mk.gee at points and covers a really nice range of ambient, shoegaze, folktronica etc.

Who up intimately looking at bob dylan

Amazing set. His voice sounds a little goofy and overly nasal on some parts of the acoustic set, holding it back from perfection. The roaring vocals on the electric side are great and bring an incredibly sense of energy and tension as Dylan wrestles with the crowd. The Highway 61 Revisited tracks on this album are all as good as or better than their studio versions, with the final 2 tracks being just insane.

With their 90s rock-inspired album, Fontaines D.C. develop in some ways and regress in others. The album starts strong with a cinematic opener, which leads into one of the best songs of 2024 (Starburster) and the following three tracks which continue the momentum and quality decently well while touching on different sounds of 90s rock. In the Modern World is another highlight, sounding almost Lana Del Rey-esque with its vocal melodies and backing vocals.

However, from track 6 (Bug) onwards, ... read more

A great evolution of Adrianne Lenker's style into a more charismatic and personal followup to 2020's songs (which is one of my favourite albums), demonstrating her vocal versatility and ability to create so many different atmospheres just varying how she uses her voice. Here is a collection of beautiful and fun folk songs perfect for sessions of yearning and longing, covering a wider sonic range than Lenker has explored before in her solo work.

Sadness As a Gift is one of my ... read more

Brilliant synthpop album with many of the most lush soundscapes of the year mixed in with some bass-filled bangers. Every track contains a satisfying progression with great drums driving the music forwards into fascinating song structures, clearly brought from the two members' history in prog rock. The combination of Mica's playful and dreamy vocals with expertly produced electronic soundscapes and powerful percussion leads to a number of jaw-dropping moments throughout the album. ... read more

Yippee!!!! She never misses she really is a genius and a pioneer of modern folk music she knows just how to make me slowly sway and yearn

This is another sweet and nice song that would’ve sounded great on bright future I imagine the only reason it wasn’t on it was because the track list was so perfect that there wasn’t room