The tinny mix on the last few Aesop records have rubbed me the wrong way, but, despite it not being very different here, I like this a lot more. If you've listened to anything Aesop in the past 15 years, you should know what to expect by now. If you're new, well, imagine if a white guy named Ian made abstract hip hop. It's a miracle his music is as good as it is. Incredible beats on this one and Aes's lyrics are more whimsical than ever before.

Shame has never been a groundbreaking group. Of the Windmill extended universe, they have the most standard and radio friendly post-punk to offer listeners. With Cutthroat, they're simplifying their sound even further. This is the post-punk equivalent of a caveman hitting rocks together. The chorus is real awful and the lyrics are super lame. Flood wasn't a great producer for them but Congleton might be even worse.

Massive. I've been a sideline observer of Swans for a while. Listening to a couple of their monster tracks here and there, but never going all in on a record. There's no reason to go too deep into detail as Birthing more than speaks for itself over its almost 2 hours of runtime. Most of this was as I expected, huge droning and chanting, but I was hit pretty hard by the last two tracks. First by "The Merge" and its insane opening and then by the sheer beauty and feeling of ... read more

Yeule's got a new aesthetic. Let's call it oversized black graphic tee on an XS princess. Nat and crew do a great job of producing the soundscape here. Overall this record lacks the interesting structure or the kind of unpredictability I look for in alternative music. There's a couple pop tunes in here that will stick with me. "Du Du" has an undeniably sticky chorus and her flow in the verses does a lot to pull me in. "Tequila Coma" has that trip hop rhythm ... read more

I've been loosely following Quadeca since he released the single Sisyphus. That track captured my attention with its unique blend of orchestral and electronic elements. Maybe part of the excitement from that record was seeing this random YouTube rapper produce something so foward-thinking. Despite the acclaim, his work since hasn't pulled me in.

Monday changes that for me. It's a continuation of the baroque pop sound he's pursued on his newest records, but with much more ... read more

It's almost a trope now for the critical darling Conscious Rapper to follow up their breakthrough record with a hard shift towards simpler, more accessible club bangers. Who wouldn't want to do this? Clubs are fun! This track, however, is perhaps too simple and plain to catch my attention.

One could accuse J.I.D. of following heavy in the footsteps of Kendrick Lamar, but he's risks looking like a copycat here. He can't stop himself from name-dropping the make and year of a ... read more

One of my surprise favorite songs from the current decade is XENA from Skrillex's Quest For Fire. That song has one of the dumbest, most insane drops I've heard in my life. While I wasn't too thrilled with the rest of the album as I found most of the tracks too long without thrilled drops, that one track reminded me a lot of how fun brostep can be. I would almost compare the experience of a great Skrillex drop to a perfect gag from a ZAZ film. Just completely knocks me on my feet ... read more

PinkPantheress is basically the goddess of earworms. Every little bit of this song can get stuck in your head whether it's the cute/sarcastic "like, what" or the incredibly danceable post-chorus. The bass synth is one of the best I've heard from a dance-pop track in a long time. And man those 808s that are sprinkled over the track -- just choice stuff, man. No one else is making dance music this classy in 2025.

What attracted me to this release was the cover art. Already my favorite cover design of the year. It looks like a mexican mural art mixed with corporate memphis set in the outlaw west. Derek Pratt outdid himself with the coloring.

This song rips hard. Robbie Smith's growled vocals are more varied and expressive on this short track than I've heard on entire screamo albums. The song perfectly shifts between sections. I especially like the funky little bit in the middle and the huge ... read more

90's Trip-Hop isn't a sound I expected from Addison Rae. Her producers Kloser and ELVIRA nail the sound perfectly and it's as cool and cloudy and you'd expect. Really emulates the dramatic landscape of Iceland quite well. Unfortunately, this lacks a compelling hook and doesn't start sounding interesting until it's already over. Don't wait for the outro to start exploring the melodic palette!

Quite nice as background music. This is the first Bon Iver project where I think I understand the appeal. Real chill and heartwarming music. Like if the brighter moments of Talk Talk's Spirit of Eden were funneled into simpler structures. These songs don't quite transform like they do on that record. The feeling you enter the song with is the same as the feeling you exit with just intensified. Almost every song starts simple and slowly adds new layers. It's quite immersive when ... read more

Addresses whiteness and the inherent racism in American systems that punk tends to overlook. The lyrics are very direct. Too direct for my taste. Most of the record is the spoken word vocalist expressing grievances about the microagressions he experiences as a Native American in a white America. They're all valid, though, they would be more at home in a substack essay than a hardcore punk record.

He really seems to hate John Wayne -- that's fair, but it hardly seems relevant in ... read more