🔴 Earth-Eating Tree, Steve Martin, Immortal, Think Before I Speak, Andrea, Spiral
🟡 Sleeping Sculpture, at some point you'll have to be angry at all of this
🟢 The other 4 tracks

One of my friends has said that Abby Holliday does Lizzy McAlpine better than Lizzy McAlpine. This year, that was absolutely true. This album is very reminiscent of "five seconds flat" and therefore does the album thing better than LM did with "Older". Okay, for those who aren't ... read more

🔴 Guidebook To Healing
🟡 Untie The Knot
🟢 The other 12 tracks

Sure, it has its flaws, and they're quite apparent at times. But it also has a few strong moments to balance them out. Most of the tracks are straightforward heartbreak-inspired road-trip bops, but a couple tracks have some extra heart to them. I give more props to this album than criticisms, although it certainly has a bit of tonal whiplash and eye-rolling cheesiness throughout its runtime. Enjoyable project overall! ... read more

I don't think this is good music. In fact, this is one of the most tone-deaf and rhythm-confused EP's I've heard this year. So why does this EP get a 65 and the INFEKT EP's get 15-20's? Because it is funni. INFEKT's EP's were not funni. Mortal EP is one of those so-bad-it's-good projects that always gets a chuckle out of me. One that left me at the ending with a, "What the heck did I just listen to and why the heck do I want to listen to it ... read more

🟡 PARTY
🟢 The other 3 tracks

These are just some real fun tracks with some straightforward yet satisfying sound design. It's not deep at all, nor would I expect an EP with this title to be, but it's just that: mindless fun done well. Props to Darby and company for some enjoyable house/garage tunes.

Favorite: PARTY
Least Favorite: AUTOPILOT

“Closer” was impossible to follow up, but this album is fantastic for what it is. It trades the feeling of a narrative with that of a space theme, a theme that always piques my interest. “Liftoff” has stood the test of time as a great collection of tracks from several years of Laszlo’s work—even incorporating some of his vocals, which actually improved upon those on his EP. Spanning more styles than his EP, Laszlo shows himself to be an admirably dynamic ... read more

Laszlo gives 5 master-classes on how to build a dynamic, impactful, emotional tune that sticks with you. Then he gives 1 master-class on how to build a masterpiece of an EP with all those qualifications in astounding quantity. He knows when to explode and when to float, when to be complex and when to be consistent, when to speed up and when to slow down. None of Laszlo’s other tracks belong on this EP and none of the EP’s tracks belong anywhere else. This project is truly in a ... read more

Although the mixing occasionally tends flat, Grace makes up for it with her solid musicality and powerful songwriting. Very transparent and relatable record that encourages in just the way she means to. Those who know Grace's story can discover an extra level of depth to the EP in Jason Dunn's feature on This One's for You, especially when he sings, "Who knew that a song could change everything?" If you don't get the power of that line sung by that artist, go check ... read more

🔴 Crawl Outta Love, Feel Good
🟢 The other 11 tracks

ILLENIUM is great at crafting records that are quintessential for whatever era he's in. This album is no exception, being wholly emblematic of his 2017 style. It doesn't touch the umph of his previous record, but it's quite good in its own right. Definitely a record for ILLENIUM enjoyers, of which I fortunately am one.

Favorite: Where'd U Go
Least Favorite: No Time Like Now

A polarizing album with some low-ish lows and high-ish highs. But the slight majority of the album does well enough that it pushes the album into a net positive. Production felt a little weak at points, but overall, not that bad of a project.

Favorite: Showtime
Least Favorite: Happy Wedding Day (Alex’s Song)

A serene collection of tracks that don’t wow by any means but certainly please. The lows weren’t all that low and the highs weren’t all that high, making for an unremarkable but nice experience.

Favorite: what is life?
Least Favorite: disappear

I knew this guy solely from "Starbucks Takes All My Money", which holds a lot of nostalgia for me. That in mind, I wasn't expecting my mind to be blown, I was just expecting to have some fun. This project was surprisingly polarizing for a collection of mostly meh tracks. It followed a pattern Jackie Hill Perry did better in her EP this year, "Practice". A couple notable lows, a couple relative highs, and the rest of the tracks were just alright. A lot of words here ... read more

This slow style of rock is something I don’t hear much of, but it’s great! This album feels whole, and no track feels out of place. *But*, a couple things keep this album ever so slightly outside a 75. The first is a good bit of lackluster writing (which I’m sure will improve over time). The second is that this album has a semblance of a narrative, but it’s difficult to follow. Quite a full and gorgeous sound Bloomer’s got here though! I quite enjoyed it and am ... read more

A sweet punk rock album from a rising artist with a simple yet powerful story. Although there are occasional glimpses of messiness in the writing and the mixing, each element of each track tends to come together in the album’s favor to do the message justice. The writing comes from an authentic and vulnerable place that is meant to connect deeply with listeners, and it evidently succeeded in doing so.

Favorite: Breakthrough
Least Favorite: No Regrets

🔴 Stealing Fire, Need / Get, Dino Killer, Star Destroyer, Ridiculous
🟢 The other 11 tracks

An album full of bangers that all do the job and mostly take it at least one step further. As an album, it barely falls short of the oomph I needed to feel for a 75, but each track was, as I said, a banger! I wasn't expecting another Throwback-EP-level project, but what I got was quite satisfying. It showed that VR is not just a great dubstep producer but also a great musician that can nail a ... read more

🔴 Out My Head, Cavalier
🟡 Okay, California, Go Like, Hold Steady, All Night, Headlights
🟢 The other 5 tracks

I am so impressed with this album. What a gorgeous project! I was certainly expecting banger after banger, but not quite as much heart as he infused this album with. It covers so much ground on the spectrum of emotions: celebratory, bittersweet, melancholic, nostalgic, chaotic, hopeful, wistful, and existential, among all the rest it offers. Through all these emotions and Fox ... read more

🔴 Promise Me, Only Knew, Be With You
🟢 The other 9 tracks

Quite a chill project! Rootkit set the bar really high with his Monstercat singles, and while this project didn't get there, what we got was at least quite the vibe. It was a low-passed version of a lot of his styles, so if you're in for a chill vibe, then here you go! I definitely was.

Favorite: Chronicles
Least Favorite: The Tunnel Man

🔴 Shut The H**l Up, Uh Oh
🟡 Nicholas Sparks (Re-Recorded)
🟢 The other 4 tracks

This took a while to grow on me, but it's a banger of an EP! I always enjoyed seeing AM perform at open mic nights and songwriting competitions at university, so I was excited to see her start rolling out fully produced recordings. The writing is as clever as ever, even if occasionally not my thing. There's also great musical direction and variety on this project, along with some self-aware and ... read more

This EP is hilarious, but only with friends. One of those so-bad-it's-good situations, except it's not good. It's just funny. Whoever brought this user score up is trippin. That second track does have some banger moments tho.

Favorite: Distorcendo a Realidade
Least Favorite: Sexta dos Crias

What a special EP! Sam mixes his lyrical style so well with King David's lyrical style, taking many of these lyrics straight from the Psalms. He takes his instrumental style in a direction that's a little different at times but still so uniquely Sam Bowman. Every track on this EP made me want to get up and dance while praising the Lord in a way that few other EP's have. Every song ends more or less as if it is leading into the next (which is my only complaint about the closer). A ... read more

It’s a pretty good EP that has some pretty cool tracks, but it’s nothing crazy from him. Not much else I have to say about this one, simply an array of solid bass music tunes.

Favorite: the.RAVE
Least Favorite: RAVE.2 (here with you)