If there would be anyway to perfectly describe this project, it would be passionate and motivational. Granted, almost all heartland rock albums are, but these descriptiors are especially true for Imploding the Mirage. The Killers fuse elements of new wave, pop rock, and heartland rock to craft a wonderful record that is certainly a standout this year. I sense influence from U2 and Bruce Springsteen here, as Brandon Flowers reminds me of Bono, but he sounds passionate like a young Bruce ... read more

Rapper Aminé’s second studio project is a colorful and instantaneously enjoyable record. From Aminé’s clever and humorous one-liners, to the punchy and lively production, Limbo has many great qualities and it is consistent through its runtime. Aside from the bangers here like Compensating and Pressure In My Palms, Aminé writes some well-thought out and meaningful lyrics. Such as racial issues in America on Burden and his future child on Fetus. Injury Reserve ... read more

Mukogenerator is a really solid release from Merzbow. His trademark chaotic walls of harsh noise are present here, but I would argue that they sound the most harrowing and intense of almost all Merzbow projects to date. It’s evident when listening to this album that Merzbow has really honed his ability to make harsh noise after 40 years of working with the genre. This album isn’t perfect, but you can’t deny that Merzbow knows how to make effectively potent and disturbing harsh ... read more

I appreciate the aesthetic Glass Animals goes for on this album, as it is spacey and pretty indie pop with accompanying elements of trap and vaporware, but I’m left uninterested for much of this project. The aforementioned aesthetic is attractive and ethereal, but the vocals much of the time are underwhelming because they are not impactful or unlikable because of the robotic effects placed on them. There are a handful of highlights here and thankfully the production here is really solid, ... read more

Primitive Man’s third studio album sees the band continue their crushing doom metal style shown on Caustic, but the band is even more consistent here. The tracks here are slower than what was on Caustic and they result in some of the heaviest and most impactful material I’ve heard all year. This is a 36 minute absolute onslaught of growling vocals and unbelievably heavy instrumentation. Walls of distorted metal guitars and growling vocals go a long way and the mostly sparse, but ... read more

After signing with Griselda Records back in March, Boldy James releases his first project on the label. For me, this is another Boldy James release that doesn’t have much worth coming back to or remembering. Many tracks here need to be longer and this really hinders the album. The album goes by very quickly at only 23 minutes, so much of the material feels rushed and not thought out. This album reminds me of FGIAAG 2, which is an album where Westside Gunn plays it somewhat basic and lazy ... read more

This is a very weak release from Shabazz Palaces. It’s quite surprising to see what was believed to be the future of experimental hip hop release something so underwhelming. The instrumentals here are solid, but the vocals here are so uninteresting that it should be a crime. Chocolate Souffle is the only track here that left me satisfied, as the rest of the material is extremely uninteresting.

Favorite Tracks: Chocolate Souffle, Reg Walks By The Looking Glass’s outro

Least ... read more

City Morgue seems to regress here, almost as if the progression from their last project didn’t occur at all, but I can’t really be mad because it seems like this project is only here to tie fans over until their next studio work. Its only 18 minutes, so it leaves fans with enough to chew on, but I still wish the material here wasn’t the most generic and basic of their career so far. Sure, there are still trap metal bangers here, but a solid chunk of the material here just ... read more

I was excited to check out Top Shotta as it is NLE Choppa’s debut studio album, but after seeing that it was 20 tracks and an hour long, I began to worry. Thankfully, Choppa comes through here with a surprisingly great debut project that sees him improve immensely on his songwriting. The first half of the album sees Choppa continue his well known style of intense trap that he has showcased in the past, but some tracks in the second half are some of the most heartfelt and well-written ... read more

Cottonwood is a unique and aggressive EP that showcases NLE Choppa’s potential. NLE Choppa provides some very fun trap bangers here. He certainly isn’t a great lyricist or anything, but he can come up with some funny bars here or there and he is at the very least entertaining regarding lyrics. The production here is consistently enjoyable, as it is usually intense trap that compliments Choppa’s almost always hostile delivery. A couple of generic tracks are here and Cruze, the ... read more

My main problem with Dogrel was that many of the vocal performances were underwhelming. The instrumentation was solid and the vocals could pull through here or there on more than a few tracks, but the vocals were inconsistent and often underwhelming for me. Sadly, I can’t say Fontaines D.C. has improved on this front on A Hero’s Death. The songwriting and instrumentals here are interesting, but the vocals are inconsistent like they were on Dogrel. One vocal performance can be ... read more

Manger On McNichols is an amalgamation of sorts. Boldy James recorded his vocals between 2007-2010 and Sterling Toles was stuck with his vocals and didn’t know what to do with them. He began working with more musicians as Boldy became more popular and these musicians would add to the album while he was working with the production and the implementing Boldy’s vocals. 8 years later, Boldy decides to rerecord his last new lyrics for the album on the tracks Birth of Bold and Requiem. ... read more

Taylor Swift’s first attempt at folk music goes surprisingly well. There are still pop elements here of course, but Taylor pushes a folk sound here that is very distinct from any of her previous efforts. Asides from the newly different folk sound here, the material here is much more emotionally impactful than Taylor’s previous work, likely due to how much folk usually differs from pop emotion-wise. The songwriting here is much more poetic than previous releases for Taylor, even ... read more

Logic’s final project is a great return to form for the rapper and undoubtedly one of the best albums he has ever released. To start, the production here is absolutely fantastic. No Pressure has some of the best production in Logic’s entire discography, with credits from No I.D., 6ix, and Bobby himself. Specifically, it is reminiscent of boom bap production and there isn’t one beat here that fails to impress me. Logic is notably very focused throughout here as well, both his ... read more

I definitely like this better than Cenizas. Sure, the first and last tracks are just okay, but the two in between are great. Telas continues the route of electroacoustic music presented in Cenizas, but it is notably less experimental and there is less inclusion of vocals. Though it is uncommon, the way every track was about 15 minutes or so provides for a more laid back listening experience than I thought it would. Overall, Telas is a much better effort than Cenizas that is 60 minutes of solid ... read more

Protomartyr return with Ultimate Success Today, a phenomenal album that will likely be my favorite post-punk project of the year. Joe Casey’s forceful vocals mixed with the incredibly intense and catchy instrumentals that sometimes even have a jazz influence, provide for 40 minutes of relentless post-punk. There is no doubt in my mind that the Idles project will have to impress me immensely for it to be better than Ultimate Success Today, as I feel that UST is the best post-punk album of ... read more

Shrines is easily one of the best abstract hip hop projects to come out this year. Billy Woods and Elucid, who are the duo titled Armand Hammer, further demonstrate their chemistry and gritty lyricism on Shrines. I wouldn’t say Shrines is an optimistic project, but it isn’t nearly as dark as Hiding Places or anything. The production is mostly rough and impactful east coast, but some tracks are notably much darker than others. The duo provides focused and intense performances while ... read more

Ugly is Beautiful is one of the most fun and unique projects of 2020. Oliver Tree’s takes on pop and rock are quite remarkable. Oliver is an incredibly fun vocalist and despite how fun the tracks here are, he discusses important topics like being an outcast or not fitting in and being yourself or accepting yourself. The instrumentation is very groovy and unbelievably catchy. Every chorus here is great, even on the weaker tracks. The only time this project faults is when Oliver delivers a ... read more

The Light Pack is a solid return from rapper Joey Bada$$. Considering this is just a 3 tracks EP and nothing more, it’s quite enjoyable. The instrumentals here are pretty and classy and Joey is as focused as ever here. Pusha T even features on the track No Explanation and he does well too. My only complaint here is that The Light feels like something a fast rapping lyrical miracle rapper would make on YouTube. Why Joey decided to diss “mumble rap” here, I’m not sure, but ... read more

Legends Never Die is yet another solid posthumous project to come out this year. This album doesn’t see Juice Wrld completely change his style or anything, but it doesn’t need to for it to be a solid sendoff to the late rapper. If anything, it sees him continue his normal emo rap style he was known for, while still keeping this style fresh and unique from his other projects. Juice brings his boyish and emotive singing over spacey and catchy trap production that usually uses strings ... read more