I thought for a moment that the sound of Jane’s alter ego, Leroy, had grown off me. It’s been a while since I last tuned into a single. But what a single to come back to.

Part horrorcore Justice remix, part hardcore EDM crunchfest, what more could you ask for? Jane’s cutting of the low-end on her kicks makes for such an interesting headbanging experience. How is that final drop so hard when it’s not technically a drop?

There’s one thing for sure. Absolutely no ... read more

PVA’s No More Like This is simultaneously a hard left-turn from the previously futurepop-oriented group, as well as a logical thematic progression from their previous work. It’s conflicting, constantly. But I think that’s what good art is all about. I looked at the song “Flood” as a point of contrast to the rest of the album, and a way to write down some of my thoughts.

“Flood”:

It feels strange that in the quietest moments of “No More Like ... read more

Only Jesus could craft music like this. The first half is all the classics. The last half is nuts. Dance, baby, dance.

Mother. Nothing else to say. Mother.

There has been so much discourse about The Tortured Poets Department that trying to add to it almost feels done in vain. But I wanted to offer some of my thoughts here, disappointments and all. The Tortured Poets Department is the embodiment of the failure of the artistic era concept, where Folklore was its greatest success.

Taylor Swift has the power to change the tide of the music industry as a whole and touch society in a way very few people on this planet are capable of. With Folklore, ... read more

This track, both production-wise and songwriting-wise, absolutely trumps anything on Midnights. Where “Lavender Haze,” thrives on thick bass and a sticky pop melody, “You’re Losing Me,” uses Taylor’s history with heartbreak pop songs to make something entirely unique to the Midnights era.

My favorite part of this song is the bass that becomes a literal representation of Taylor’s heart within the lyrics. It’s ingenious, an idea that can so easily ... read more

I think the most interesting thing about Midnights, as an album, is that this is what she followed up the folk shutdown era with. It’s almost baffling, but not as bad as I remembered it back from when this album released. Midnights is Taylor delving into deep, warm colors that complement the mellow, toned-down pop on the track list. They’re tracks trying to make you sit back and take a breath as you listen. The problem is they too often fade into bland mush.

The record starts off ... read more

For this being a sister album written in the same period of time as folklore—presumably—this album surprisingly has its own sound. evermore takes the folk pop of folklore and grants it a new facet through different production and storytelling choices. I didn’t like this nearly as much as folklore, but evermore is no slouch when it comes to Taylor Swift developing this new “indie” era and crafting new classic songs along the way.

Unfortunately, while I still see ... read more

This is the first Taylor Swift album to genuinely feel like an album. It might be an arbitrary thing to bring up, but I found this so much more engaging as a cumulative experience compared to any previous iteration of Taylor.

The semi-indie chamber pop production does her songwriting and voice wonders. This is still Taylor writing pop songs as we have always known her too, but on tracks like “betty” and “cardigan,” Taylor finds ways to keep her artistic identity fresh ... read more

Lover, while bloated and exhausting, stands as a very interesting turn point for Taylor's career, a response to Reputation's failure, while containing Taylor's more poignant songwriting efforts in so many years. "The Archer," while unimpressive instrumentally, is searingly honest in a way that Red or Speak Now Taylor could be. Alternatively, tracks like "False God," and "Cruel Summer," show Taylor finding success once again in synthpop and, most ... read more

I used to ironically listen to this album years ago. That ironic listen turned unironic when I stumbled upon the few gems in this aesthetic mess of a pop album. "Don't Blame Me," is sticky and hooky like any of the best Taylor pop songs, and "Getaway Car," moves with a genuine fervor that most of the album lacks. The annoying...ANNOYING trap pseudo-EDM production of these tracks really puts the brakes on this album before it can even get started.

By the time I made it ... read more

As with anything nostalgic, I will never be able to properly rate this. But there's no denying the amount of pop stardom embodied on just one album. 1989 is a marvel of pure, unabashed synthpop that stands the test of time. The synth choices feel pulled directly from the '80s, bit given a clear, modern sheen. The hooks are omnipresent. The songwriting is sturdy and confident. It's hard to deny Taylor Swift's star power and ability at this point. 1989 will always confirm ... read more

I struggled with this album a lot more than I thought I would. The inclusion of 2010's electropop alongside Taylor's more traditional singer-songwriter and country pop tunes leads to a track list that is simultaneously bloated and disjointed. Whiplash is a common feature of Red. This isn't to say that the individual songs aren't quality. Rather, it's a hybrid album from Taylor, a first step into a broader pop sphere. There are some great successes in that, and her first ... read more

I'm almost tempted to give this an 80 because the bangers just go that hard. Speak Now is like if Taylor took everything she was doing up this point and only dialed in her songwriting further. The hooks! The melodies! The guitars and guitar solos! It's an absolute riot to listen to. Driving with the windows down during a California summer never felt so good.

It almost makes me forgive this album being 67 minutes long. Quite often, these songs themselves can be longer than they need ... read more

This is a pretty major step up from her debut, and that's enough to get me saving more songs and enjoying this significantly more than just tolerating an album. The instrumentation is leagues better and has my ears tuning in to the melodies and instrumental passages far more. That and her developing her sound and thematic content really has me thinking of this as more of her actual debut. Although it might drag on and get redundant, the great classics are here.

Returning to: "Love ... read more

Taylor with a forced country accent mimicking other country singers really sends me, but then it gets old fast. She has an appeal and a great voice for her age here, but this is very much an artist in her infancy. I still had a good time.

Returning to: "Our Song"

90 - Pure, A.G. Cook magic

I love this song. It's simple, transcendent, and builds so well. Every time the final chorus and build hits, I get chills. There's not much more to this song than the visceral feeling of it, but that feeling, every single time, is pure euphoria. A.G. Cook keeps PC Music alive through his art.

100 - Taylor's magnum opus

Fight me. She will never top this album. It is everything she built her career for and everything it stands for. All the gay bars in New York are gonna be blasting New Romantics for the foreseeable future and I'm gonna be making out with a guy in the corner that I don't know. You can't stop me. But Taylor encourages me.

Welcome to our new hedonistic reality.

Overmono surprise drop a festival banger and, my God, does it bang. There's not much more to say about this. It's raw, unfiltered, dubstep energy. What a wonderful thing to wake up to on a Thursday.

What ALEPH lacks in innovation, he makes up for in consistency. Taking the best elements of modern garage music and fusing it with some electric drum n bass, all the while maintaining a gorgeous, dark atmosphere, ALEPH has refined his sound of garage to a gleaming shine.

Although this, admittedly, means the project never truly stands out—but, rather, fades into its own background world—the tight, well produced journey it makes you take is never not interesting. While the singles ... read more