I forgot how full, dynamic, groovy, and occasionally emotional this EP is. This was some of the finest chillout garage/house of the time. CloudNone truly has something special, and still does!

Favorite: WISH, Lido
Least Favorite: Let The Music In

🔴 Home
🟢 The other 8 tracks

This album rocks, in more ways than one. acloudyskye has consistently proven to be not just a fantastic musician but also a creative artist—demonstrated by everything from the cover arts to the Final Encounters series to the progressions of each album.

I interpreted this album as a bit of a lull in the overarching narrative, a place of anxious rest before the climax. The characters pensively reflect on the complicated emotions arising from a turbulent ... read more

I admit…I did not listen to this while driving late at night. Still, this is some great liquid drum & bass! It was refreshing to hear this genre after a long while without it. It didn’t deeply move me or anything, but it certainly got me to move!

Favorite: … i - d o n t - n e e d - a n y o n e
Least Favorite: e v e r y b o d y

Real conflicting album. The tracklist has some relatively high highs and low lows, occasionally appearing in the same song. Where this album loses points is in its direction as an album. As a whole work, it often wanders, almost every track sounding like an interlude, preparing us for a destination that rarely quite comes. Whenever it starts to make a point, it wanders to a different point. Whenever it starts to move somewhere, it moves elsewhere. As a collection of interesting ideas, this ... read more

A really conflicting remix package. Tracks 1-4 make for a strong start but tracks 11-12 & 14-16 make for a mid ending. Whether the remixers leaned closer to the original or paved their own path, they did so for better or worse depending on the remix. The highs were quite high and the lows were quite mid. Overall, a solid enough compilation celebrating a future bass classic and, some of the time, doing it justice.
 
Favorite: We Rise, We Rise (SØNATA Remix)
Least Favorite: We ... read more

🟡 I Wanna Get to Heaven, Safe in My Arms
🟢 The other 5 tracks

For the most part, it's more of the same, but it's a marked improvement over his debut album. It doesn't feel near as draggy, and it has a nice sprinkling of some beautiful moments. The opener is some of the best stuff I've heard from him, other than the occasional standouts from the album. If you're feeling like a Darkervibe for Valentines Day, here you go.

Favorite: Love Worth Saving
Least Favorite: ... read more

🔴 Numb, Over You (How Come), Love & War
🟡 Lay Here
🟢 The other 11 tracks

Given my more neutral assessment of the EP’s leading up to this release, I was surprised by the quality of this album. The first half impressed me greatly, leading into a second half I simply enjoyed. helloworld took a more stripped-back approach to this album, skillfully sprinkling his analog style and the album’s medieval theming in a way that felt meaningful and motivated. Overall, a ... read more

A great first collab EP from the dynamic duo. More vocally-driven than a lot of their future collabs, they bring in some great talent and complement them well on the production side. We knew CloudNone and Direct were a match made in heaven from the very beginning.

Favorite: Lost and Found
Least Favorite: Chasing Daylight

This EP was my first experience listening to SØNATA, and I didn't know what to expect. I knew Landon Fleury, whose reviews I used to watch, was SØNATA's manager and that the EP was released on Circus Records. So those were both good signs, and this EP confirmed my optimism about the artist. Most of this album was good old fashioned colour bass, and I love colour bass. Lots of energy, on-point sound design, off-kilter rhythms, and clean transitions between tracks make for ... read more

Foxwood has been a staple chill artist for me since his debut EP in 2019. Seeing his success land him on FORM and Chillhop Music has been cool to see as an early fan. After he released his impressive first single of this EP, I was so hyped to hear how he would expand this new style. Foxwood knows how to make cozy music better than most other artists I know. It turns out that talent doesn't just involve the instrumentation and ambience; it extends to his vocals and lyrics as well. The songs ... read more

Although it takes a bit to pick up in variety and quality, this serves as a good transition point between CloudNone’s debut EP and the singles/EP’s that would follow over the next year. The closers of this EP especially are where CloudNone gave us his first glimpses of greatness.

Favorite: Juliet
Least Favorite: On Holiday (Interlude)

When I first listened to this unassuming little EP in 2018, I had no idea CloudNone would become such a modern niche legend of the garage genre. Nor, listening back now, would I have reason to. This EP is quite nice, building and relieving tension throughout all 20 minutes, but it’s not a legendary work by any means. This tided us over well for the surprise after surprise CloudNone would go on to drop. In other words, this EP walked so every other major milestone in his career could ... read more

A well-constructed compilation that is truly representative of Chris Rice’s best works up to that point. There’s a classic factor to even the weakest tracks, and the strongest tracks carry such a satisfying emotional weight infused with hope. Well worth the long runtime.

Favorite: Life Means so Much
Least Favorite: And Your Praise Goes On

I don’t have a novel opinion on this one. The first half carries with some great ideas and production quality. The second half drags and even feels a bit more amateur/unfinished. For me, the dropoff starts at track 6, but tracks 1 and 4 are easy highlights that may have brought my rating of the OG album higher. Fun lil’ bone to throw Just A Gent fans.

Favorite: Moonstone
Least Favorite: 42

A nice, melancholy album with quite a few interesting production choices that I wish were further in the forefront. Occasionally catchy, Astrale’s thoughts can struggle to translate to powerful lyricism, but he gets the point across. It starts with a fun vibe, then slows down and wanders for a little too long before hitting an impactful outro. Although it can feel empty at times, it’s a pretty good entry in his discography.

Favorite: feelalive
Least Favorite: playaslaya

Edit: 65 ... read more

This EP really hit. This being my first experience with sueter7, I had zero idea what to expect. But the indietronica beats on each track are immaculate, covering several different vibes of different energies. The plucks and synth sustains keep the project grounded as it travels through its various movements, and the progression of each track is exemplary. It has a couple of weak bits, especially in the intro and outro (and especially since each track starts a little slow). But there's ... read more

This is just about everything I love from Culprate reconciled with everything I love from the other artists featured. It's got nasty synth licks, it's got filthy sound design, it's got off-kilter grooves, and it's got some impactful and full-sounding melodic atmospheres. It even has some intentionality between instrumental and lyric whenever lyrics appear. Culprate proves himself to be not only a versatile producer but also a master collaborator. Now I really need to listen ... read more

It didn't stick out to me much on first listen. Upon second listen, I can see the vision a little more. It has some cool ideas and carries some nice energy. It mixes some unique sound design to a more accessible modern DnB style. Even so, my score hasn't changed. It doesn't make much of an impression on me, although it's a good time.

Favorite: commitment
Least Favorite: you

🔴 rookie, crank the bass, play the muzik!, fw me (dirty), dance or dead, ready 2, lights down low, nolimit
🟡 shake!the!city, party! (dance alone)
🟢 The other 8 tracks

Knock2 is skilled at creating club-ready bangers that can appeal to both mainstream and niche listeners. This album is a great showcase of that. The beats are tight, the sound design is interesting, and the song structures are dancey. Notably, the album is dynamic, starting more chaotically and ending more melodically. ... read more

Although it reaches a couple high highs throughout its runtime, this is unfortunately one of Chris Rice’s weakest records when taken as a whole. It feels a little draggy at some parts and even disconnected at other parts. That said, this is still a good album. His social commentary is astute, and it’s quite a unique approach for him. Tracks 9-11 are perhaps the best run of the album before it peeter’s out. He was definitely past his prime here, but it’s still an ... read more