Gorillaz is one of my favorite bands of all time, so it means a lot when I say that Plastic Beach is likely, if not definitely, their best album (as of now). I have always admired Damon Albarn's ability to experiment with a variety of genres and sounds on the Gorillaz discography, and Plastic Beach is further evidence of that creative vision. Only Albarn could get Mos Def, Snoop Dog, and Lou Reed all on one record...

Plastic Beach is such a complex record that deserves attention to ... read more

Green is a pretty classic Japanese ambient release that is about as good as people say it is. A wonderful collection of dizzying New Age melodies that manages to be a pretty fun listen, I enjoyed Green and would give it a listen again.

Green has a quirky soul that could be best described as "music for bugs," but in the best way possible. I don't have much to say about Green other than that it manages its plucky, upbeat mood well. It doesn't stray far from one cohesive ... read more

Having listened only to an assortment of Allison Wonderland's singles as well as her track with Ninajirachi, I wasn't sure what to expect with GHOST WORLD, but after a first listen, I'm pleasantly surprised with Alison's performance on this record.

GHOST WORLD is such a good combination of a bunch of different electronic genres, from Trap, EDM, Future Bass, and even Electroclash. "Heaven," the Ninajirachi feature track, is undoubtedly the best song on the ... read more

Wallsocket sounds like Disney Channel music. If Disney's Descendants soundtrack were redone, I imagine it would sound pretty similar to Wallsocket. Wallsocket is a much more intimate indietronica release, and while I admire the more laid-back approach that Underscores takes on this record, I don’t think it ultimately ends up working.

Musically, I admire Underscores' vision on this album. I just hate the vocals on nearly all the tracks. To be honest, I don't really even ... read more

Diary, the debut album of Midwest/Hardcore band Sunny Day Real Estate, is another impressive 90's rock record that still holds up today.

Sunny Day Real Estate's blend of fast-paced Midwest-Emo laced with Post-Hardcore elements is visible straight out of the gate on Diary's opening track "Seven," a great track that really shows the trajectory of Sunny Day's vision on this record. The mix between soft Midwest Emo acoustics and more grungy and heavy riffs is ... read more

Breathtaking. Global Communication's magnum opus, 76:14 is one of the best ambient albums I have ever heard. Complicated, spiraling melodies over an immense backdrop of space-age charm, 76:14 is the best of its kind.

Straight out of the gate, the album opens to a divine assortment of shimmering strings that breathe life into the creative vision of this project. The follow-up, "14:31," is one of my favorite tracks on the record, where field recordings are wonderfully overlaid on ... read more

Structures from Silence is the OG Space Ambient record. Steve Roach creates these looming spaces that, like most Space Ambient records, swoop you off your feet into this calmingly ethereal realm.

The composition on Structures From Silence is great, but honestly pretty minimalistic in its breadth. I would've liked to see Steve Roach implement more sonically diverse elements on this record, but at the same time, I understand the desire to create a more musically cohesive album. Structures ... read more

Richard D. James Album is one of the quirkiest in Aphex Twin's discography, and I'm all for it. The musical elements on this record are much less ambient and downtempo than some of Aphex Twin's other releases, and I think that's what gives this album its particular charm.

There are so many interesting uses of sounds and samples on this album, and I really admire Aphex Twin's ability to incorporate these otherwise wacky elements into songs that actually sound pretty ... read more

Generally regarded as Ulver's best record, Bergtatt – Et eeventyr i 5 capitler [Spellbound – A Fairy Tale in 5 Chapters], is an absolutely wonderful Black Metal release that I thoroughly enjoyed.

Straight out the gate with "I troldskog faren vild" ["Astray in the Forest Darke"], Ulver integrates some pretty great atmospheric riffs over some surprisingly melodic vocals. Kristoffer Rygg's almost choir-like Gregorian vocals on the track are really great, ... read more

The debut album of experimental rock band Black Midi, Schlagenheim is a very interesting album that ultimately didn't land for me in the way that I had hoped. Familiar with the band's Hellfire release in 2022, Cameron Picton's My New Band Believe debut earlier this year, and Geordie Greep's The New Sound in 2024, I hoped that I would like Schlagenheim just as much as these other projects. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case.

Off rip, Schlagenheim seemed more enjoyable ... read more

Brian Eno has done it again. Apollo: Atmospheres and Soundtracks is just out of this world, both in scope and quality. Eno's celestial-sounding liminality really shines through here, and listening to this record, I could practically feel myself floating right out of my chair. Eno's scope on this album is so grand, and it really does feel like you're being shown melodies and ambient hums that are grander than anything we could comprehend. I imagine that if space had a tune, ... read more

Joanne Robertson's newest release Blurrr stays true to its name, a great collection of songs that leave me even more impressed with Joanne than I was before. Listeners might remember Joanne Robertson from her features on Dean Blunt's ZUSHI, a great little cult-classic project that would kinda put Joanne on the map for a lot of people who would otherwise not have discovered her music.

On Blurrr, Joanne sticks with her stylized form of psychedelic singer-songwriter folk, going even ... read more

I listened to Mullah Said quite a long time ago, and it was one of my first introductions to Ambient Dub in general. While upon another re-listen, Mullah Said is an enjoyable record, it comes with some caveats that really do impede my enjoyment of this record.

The aesthetics on this album are great. The album vision is easily communicated, and straight from the start its apparent exactly what kind of mood Muslimgauze wanted here. Mullah Said invokes this musical setting of traditional Middle ... read more

I'm not the most familiar with Dean Blunt, and with ZUSHI being my first taste of Dean Blunt's creative vision, it's safe to say I'm intrigued. ZUSHI is a very interesting mixtape that refuses to be easily categorized, and really is unlike anything I've listened to.

The features that Dean Blunt brings in on this mixtape are really great, with Joanne Robertson being my favorite. With the release of Joanne Robertson's Blurrr in 2025 (which I enjoyed quite a bit), ... read more

I AM DOGSHIT

Sunbather, the sophomore record from Blackgaze/Screamo band Deafheaven, is an astonishingly well-crafted display of the band's creative capability. Something that makes Sunbather so fascinating is its ability to exist in a stylistic contradiction. Sunbather is radiant and bright, and yet miserably crushing. In a way that reminds me of other Blackgaze artists like Sadness, which similarly use this aesthetic to their advantage.

Sunbather also manages to be a pretty emotional record, which ... read more

Ashes Against the Grain, the third album from Atmospheric Metal band Agalloch, is a masterpiece. There’s no doubt about it. There’s a particular kind of emotional exhaustion that only Ashes Against the Grain seems capable of producing. Aesthetically desolate, like a bitterly cold winter, Agalloch’s 2006 opus doesn’t merely flirt with atmospheric black metal conventions, but it transcends them entirely. Apocalyptic in scale and magnitude, Ashes Against the Grain’s ... read more

Ana Frango Elétrico’s Me Chama de Gato Que Eu Sou Sua has been on my review list for quite a while, and on a sunny spring day, I finally decided to give it a listen. I’m so glad I finally got around to a full listen, because it really is an impressive record.

Rippling shimmer-like background flair complements the upbeat jazz instrumentals and soothing vocals really well here. Mixes aspects of Brazilian Bossa Nova with sophisto-pop/jazz, intelligently directed sound ... read more

The second album from lesser-known creative Sethhh, 4horses is a pretty interesting album that has left me interested to see what Sethhh puts out in the future. 4horses is kinda hard to pin down into one genre, but I'd personally align it among the darker aesthetics of digicore and hyperpop, with significant elements of indietronica.

Sethhh does some interesting things with instrumentals on this album, mixing a lot of different elements that really bring out the most in this project. The ... read more

System of a Down's Toxicity requires no introduction. One of the most iconic releases in Nu-Metal, System of a Down's performance here is unparalleled.

I don't even know where to start with Toxicity, so I'll begin with the songs themselves. The album opens with "Prison Song," an album opener that's perfectly indicative of the sound and subject of the rest of the album. Lyrically critiquing the industrial prison complex in the US, System of a Down establishes ... read more