Ok we're so back. Why are the vocals so muffled though, it makes the rest of the mix feel so muddy. Still, good song, I'm excited for this album again!

Everything I could have hoped for and more from a post-Tomorrow's Harvest Boards of Canada release.

This feels like their most direct and danciest project to date. The beats and vocal chops are so present in each song, there's very little that is left in the periphery. I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing. It's something new and unexpected, something I never could have seen coming from BoC. I just can't believe that it's here, and that it sounds ... read more

...I mean, it's a *little* better. I still have no idea how whatever project these singles culminate in is going to come together. It feels like Charli and her music don't know what they want to be in the wake of a post-brat world. The songs are so barebones and quick that there's nothing to do but double down on the ironic affect, it seems. At the very least, this song has ideas other than "making ro-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-ock music". Being sick of being famous isn't a ... read more

I didn't think it was possible to make music about the artist's children that was:
Compelling,
Universal,
New,
Terrific, or
Ygood.

I stand corrected!

i need to stop doing coke.

Not a completely embarrassing trainwreck! We take those!

Based on the singles, I was so scared that this album would be her next in her long line of late-career stumbles, but no! There are very few songs on here where it feels like Tori is just playing by numbers, the majority of the album feels like it's pushing into novel territory for her, both songwriting and production-wise. Despite being consistently mid-tempo, most of the songs on here feel urgent. The slow burns are bright, and ... read more

Oh wow, there goes all my optimism about this album.

I feel like Madonna's vocals are mixed so weirdly here? I think we're simply at a point where no amount of auto-tune can make Madge's voice sound good. Her spoken word register is where she sounds best on this song. Sabrina still sounds good though. Whenever she pops in, it feels like the song has a real anchor to it. I'd love it if she actually aimed more towards this sound in her own music. Honestly, the whole track ... read more

ok it's not a total dumpster fire thank god. still not holding my breath for a non-flop album but it will at least have 1 (one) good song.

i need to start doing coke.

Mistakenly thought today was this album's ten year anniversary. It's not, but I'm reviewing it anyway.

This album has stiff competition with Vespertine as Björk's best album, an album centered around the same relationship that this one discusses the falling-out of. They are polar opposites, Vespertine being lush and romantic in comparison to Vulnicura being cold and pessimistic. Vespertine has often been described as a "winter" album, something to turn on ... read more

This isn't even a re-hash of Plastic Beach, this is firmly in its own lane and it sounds excellent. This is the best single so far, and that's saying a lot. First time I heard it had me slack-jawed and dancing like a madman. Second and third listens only made me love it more.

I was introduced to Cool It Down, and by extension, Yeah Yeah Yeahs as a whole through the album's most minimal song, "Blacktop". Taking the bus back home from classes in the heat of late spring was the perfect place for the song's synthetic drum kit to catch my ear. Karen O’s voice stands resolutely over the trudging beats. Midway through, she switches to a spoken register, with short flares of percussion accompanying her. Then the song returns to a more recognizable ... read more

Will forever be kicking myself that I didn't catch this in theaters.

TW: TAYLOR SWIFT STALE TOPIC

When TTPD came out, I made a big stink about "taking the high road" and not dunking on an album that I wasn't going to take the time to listen to anyway. I had recently watched a video by Mic The Snare that attempted to quell the hysteria gathering around Swift at the time. Generally speaking, I do still agree with the main point the video made, that the parasocial obsession with Taylor Swift coming from both her fans and detractors is exhausting to ... read more

Man. What a game. I don't think I would be the person I am today without Undertale. I didn't even play it myself at the time, I just watched YouTubers play through it, and it's impact was still indelible. Undertale inadvertently introduced me to queer spaces, incredible art, furries, literary analysis, music, and more than I can think of. This game makes me want to make art and be a better person. Happy ten years, Undertale <3.

CW: Sexual Assault, Violence, Lynching

“She sits on her bicycle and floats in space/She is in love with the angel of Stop Laughing
When the Life Promiser makes her say any word/It comes out as a joke”

The title track of Xiu Xiu’s Girl with Basket of Fruit is like being set on fire. The listener is thrown headlong into shrill percussion and Jamie Stewart’s yelped vocals. Not helping matters is the lyrical imagery, what seems to be a song about a woman being raped and ... read more

Planetarium stands right alongside The Ascension for me as one of Sufjan Steven’s most underrated projects. I will admit, there is a little bit too much middling ambience spread throughout the tracklist. “Black Energy” and the first five minutes of “Earth”, in their efforts to capture the unknowability and majesty of space, sound mostly meandering and pointless. I can’t deny that the textures that do pop up on these ambient passages aren’t incredibly ... read more

Holy fucking shit.

I don't have much to say regarding the lyrical or particular production details of specific songs. Mostly because I am so gobsmacked that I'm having a hard time putting two thoughts together (also I'm really rusty with reviewing but that's neither here nor there). There is so much energy and sound packed into every single second, so much so that the quick 35-minute listen unfolds like an epic. I will forever be kicking myself for not getting into ... read more

In the spring of 2023, this album came to me at a time when I desperately needed it. I had never heard anything like it before, a record as unsettling, urgent, raw. My very first listen of this album front to back redefined how I listened to music. No longer did I passively absorb whatever songs and albums were popular that week, I actively sought out more listening experiences as daring as this one. 2 years later, and I've managed to find a few that compare. 2 years later, and I still ... read more

A SECOND (DECENT) GAGA SINGLE HAS HIT THE TOWERS. THIS IS NOT A DRILL.