With a lot of neat ideas, several satisfying drops, and a childlike vibe about it, Chime delivers with this colorful dubstep album. It's not without its weak points, but the strong points are *really* strong, with even a standout moment or two for Chime's career. Fun EP that scratches several of the right itches.

Favorite: Control
Least Favorite: Mecha Turbo III

PROFF’s attention to detail consistently comes out in the way his rhythms sway, the emotion his sound design invokes, and the satisfying tensions and releases he explores in his music. This album is no different, containing some of the most beautiful ambient music I’ve ever heard along with some groovy downtempo and breakbeat vibes. There’s an air of mystery and exploration about this album not quite matched by any other works that I’ve heard within the genre. Stellar ... read more

🔴 SPILL
🟢 The other 4 tracks

A pretty cool, consistent, dark EP with some groovy beats and reserved trap/techno/breaks drops. Nitepunk’s really heavy side peeks out occasionally, but he takes it down a notch for this EP, focusing more on energy than heaviness.

Favorite: No Manners
Least Favorite: Expand

I’m impressed! This is a really solid 20 minutes of vibes of which Monstercat has largely lost track over the years. It’s got nostalgia, it’s got variety, it’s got heart, it’s got that small artist touch. Impressive work from Rocketman, demonstrating immense growth from his earlier work.

Favorite: Moonlight
Least Favorite: Slow Down

It shows promise that he later capitalized on in grand fashion. It’s got some good variety and experimentation too. But ultimately, it’s really not much to sneeze at. Very dated production, especially in the drops, and the vocals don’t do much for me. Hey, you gotta start somewhere.

Favorite: Hawkling Street
Least Favorite: Pushed Away

There's not much going on here, but what is here is mostly nice. Definitely a dated project, but not the worst of the time for these genres by any stretch. Mr Fijiwiji gets a lot better later, so this walked so that his future projects could run.

Favorite: Insomnia (Niuby Remix)
Least Favorite: Insomnia (MAKRO Remix)

Not a dubstep hater, but if you're a Monstercat fan, you already get me here.

It's crazy the amount of points this would jump up if this were not a dubstep EP. If SW capitalized on all the melodic elements in a more prominent way, we could very well be looking at a 7/10 EP. Alas, this is what we get, a lot of promise that shows our beloved SW is in there somewhere, along with a lot of haphazard and misdirected screech drops. It's organized well, its melodies are engaging, and it ... read more

🔴 Carousel, Turn It Up, Invaders From Mars, ACID HAUS
🟢 The other 10 tracks

The occasional banger waves Slushii's potential in your face before hitting you with an equal amount of stinkers. In between are some mid to alright tracks. But the album rarely, if ever, gets boring. Funni album that teases a story that it never capitalizes on. Can't say I didn't enjoy the listening experience, even if there were several tracks I outright disliked.

Favorite: ICE
Least Favorite: ... read more

🔴 Rorschach
🟢 The other 3 tracks

I just...don't get this one. There are moments of very cool sound design and relatively interesting beats, but most of the EP felt like a whole lot of nothing happening over and over for a long time. To gyrofield's credit, she often leaned into the best parts of each track, but that resulted in them being played over and over for 2 straight minutes, sometimes throughout the whole song. Not sure whether my criticisms reveal a mere distaste for ... read more

Can't say this one wowed me, but it is a solid collection of tracks with some intriguing ideas throughout, although few of those ideas last very long. It does a good job of showing Maysev's palette in a somewhat natural way while catching the ear of the listener at several points throughout. Not one for the history books, but definitely a nice listen.

Favorite: Before You
Least Favorite: Drown Me

It swings back and forth between mid and great in quality, sure. The instrumentation and production gets nondescript at parts, sure. It's a little rough around the edges as an album, sure. It often tiptoes into doing too much and then reels itself back in. But man, does it reward you for sticking around. Tim Foreman creates a real vibe of an album, even in the weaker tracks, with room for a bit of emotional ear candy every once in a while. It's hard to nail a debut solo album, and ... read more

🔴 Soda Pop
🟡 Strategy
🟢 The other 10 tracks

Quite the bop of a soundtrack to a movie I have not seen and therefore have no lyrical context for. Even so, it's well-written, masterfully performed, and produced with great quality. Only a few weak points, but there are strong points to balance it out, and most of the soundtrack is just a fun ride. Well worth the listen, and I'm sure the listen is even more fun after having seen the movie.

Favorite: Free
Least Favorite: What It ... read more

🔴 give me a break!, enough
🟡 cool
🟢 The other 7 tracks

An alright debut record for this solo act, although not without its flaws. First, it doesn't go much of anywhere, just kind of camps out in the same emotional place for 10 songs with little progression. Second, it feels palpably juvenile for how old he is. But there are moments of potential that give me hope for his future projects. Pretty forgettable album, but there's a brighter future beyond this in my ... read more

A Herculean effort to explore what it means to love God with all one’s strength rather than attempting to use it to maintain an illusion of cosmic control. And this great effort pays off immensely, making for easily one of the most emotional records of the year. I relate to much of this album immensely, and it’s affected me in a way I wish more albums did, a way no album has done with me since Relient K’s “Forget and Not Slow Down” album. Fantastic message ... read more

After how much I loved Passerby, his previous album, and how much I loved the singles in this album rollout, I was expecting to be blown away with this more vocal-driven electropop style. And I gotta say, I was not that blown away. There's one straight-up blemish on the record, the album never got better than the singles, and it didn't impact me much despite Neddie's hardest efforts to create impact.

That being said, this is still a good and fun album! The singles start it off ... read more

Being unfamiliar with the sapientdream alias up to this point, I've always been wary of Slushii projects. He has a palpable ability to either follow through on his potential or squander it in grand fashion. But this is the most consistently great project I have ever heard from Slushii. Some moments, especially the run from tracks 8-11, are the most gorgeous I've ever heard from him. Throughout this album, you can hear the artistry, you can feel the emotion, and all the while, you can ... read more

After the opening tracks, I was gearing up for an epic winter adventure a la Intergalactic Train Station, his previous album. As I went along, I realized that not only was that not the point of the album, but also there was something deeper at play here. Whereas ITS explored existential themes, Snow Angel delves into Xorro's mental health struggles and what the lessons he learned through them means for the listener. As such, this is not an epic adventure, it's a pensive reflection on ... read more

🔴 Naturetech
🟢The other 4 tracks

Being on the receiving end of the- (dou dou dou dou dou)
🗣️🗣️🗣️

This EP is a fun ride! It takes you a lot of places (only occasionally a place I don’t want to go), but it’s all dripping with both Convexity and KERO’s signature styles. I tend to find both very fun, so I got exactly what I was looking for with this EP. Solid work all around!

Favorite: Gaia Ray
Least Favorite: Naturetech

🔴 Die By My Hand (LOUIEJAYXX Remix), Road Dog Anthem (Benda Remix), Fall Apart (GHENGAR Remix), Someone Else (Blanke Remix), Someone Else (Bossfight Remix), Riot (Kompany Remix)
🟢 The other 6 tracks

This remix collection is a no from me. It takes everything that was bad about the original album and bloats it up to its most painfully mid form. Then, because it’s a remix package, it takes out all the story elements of the original. Even the artists who I knew had made some great ... read more

🔴 The other 9 tracks
🟢 Let Me Go, The Dead March, Fall Apart, Riot

It begins as a tale of chaos as a kingdom falls and its citizens are left to mourn it in the ashes. By the end, it seems to reveal a heartbreak analogy rising from the tale. Interesting idea, but how is it presented? In a messy, misguided series of whiplash moments that jostle the album around its potential for a compelling story. A few moments please the ears, a lot of moments actively hurt them, and much of the album ... read more