John Mayer is just an uninteresting artist to me. Like yes he’s a good songwriter and guitarist but that doesn’t make him unique. I can’t lie and say I hated my time listening to this though as these are some pretty great, smooth songs. I do think they work better as background music because paying full attention to the album I got extremely bored at points. There are definitely some moments where these tracks are dragged out far longer than they need to have been. None of ... read more

chronic is an amazing showing of Twikipedia’s production and rapping skills. I love how she brings in these trap elements and combines them with these hyperpop/digicore elements. It creates this sound that I can’t get enough of. They have some really great flows as well that go nicely with their production. Even though this is only 36 minutes, it feels a lot longer. But in a good way of course, it feels like a full, complete project. There’s also this switch I noticed from the ... read more

Goddamn these boys knew how to make some of the best ditties ever. They obviously hadn’t perfected it at this point, at least for an entire record’s length, but they were for sure getting there. Especially with the hits on here like the title track, Help!, or Yesterday which are by far my favorites on the album, a theme I’ve noticed quite a bit going through The Beatles’ discography. Similarly to my thoughts on Revolver, it's insane to me how they can make these short ... read more

I mainly went into this because I’m a huge fan of Phoebe Bridgers. Connor Oberst is a name I’ve heard quite a bit though, I just haven’t yet had the urge to go listen to a Bright Eyes album or one of his solo projects. This might finally push me into doing that though. I love both Phoebe and Oberst’s writing styles. They compliment each other really well to the point where I don’t know who wrote what. The instrumentation and production throughout is great. I love ... read more

From what I do remember of the one time I listened to 3.15.20 was that it had the potential to be really great and had great ideas, but it felt extremely half-baked. This, though, sounds much more like what Gambino wanted to make. Those seem like the intentions he had of going back and remastering it and damn did he deliver. Even the moments I don’t enjoy here like Little Foot Big Foot, I can see what he was going for and applaud him for trying. And even then I do like the transition into ... read more

This does absolutely nothing for me. ian seems like just another random carti/yeat clone that should’ve stayed on soundcloud. Even on the best tracks here he delivers boring flows and bland lyrics that I could really care less about, minus maybe one or lines here and there. The production is pretty generic as well with these uninteresting beats that sound like they could’ve been made by anyone with an hour of tutorials and a copy of FL Studio. If you do like this that’s fine ... read more

As expected, Charli XCX delivers another hyperpop (and just pop in general) classic. I mean this is literally called “Pop 2” and, if I’m being honest, it sounds exactly how a sequel to pop music would. Especially for 2017, this is the same year we got albums like Lorde’s Melodrama or Calvin Harris’s Funk Wav Bounces Vol. 1. And no shade to those albums of course but, comparatively, this sounds extremely futuristic and like something that could have come out today, ... read more

For my first dive into a full on jazz record, this was amazing. It’s funky as fuck and never failed at what each track is going for. You could even say it had me "fearlessly moving" (sorry :D). It never stays on one thing for too long and if it does it's because that section is good enough to go on for that long. There were a few moments where it lost my attention for a bit but it always managed to get me back. It somehow does this for an hour and a half. It also didn’t ... read more

While it’s not the best thing I’ve heard all year, Prelude To Ecstasy is quite the introduction to The Last Dinner Party. They bring in this grand instrumentation that sounds like pure royalty and combine it with these heavy guitar tones that actually reminded me of something Pink Floyd would do during certain sections. That’s not a negative though, it's more of them just showing their influences on their sleeves. They kill it with the strings as well, they’re so ... read more

For Almighty So 2, Chief Keef comes with a really nice set of 16 tracks that didn’t disappoint at all. The first big thing I want to say is that this album is nearly entirely self produced, which is just insane to me. It makes me respect Keef’s artistry so much more, especially because this is genuinely some greatly produced trap music. There were also some hilarious lines on here. For example on Jesus where he says, “I done seen more ass than a damn surgeon,” or Too ... read more

Now this is how you do a synth pop album. That statement is not to completely diss TTPD, as I was in the minority of AOTY users who actually liked that album, but the production here on 1989 is definitely more lively. Anyways, this record has quite the reputation (haha get it) within Swift’s discography and I see why. I mean this is a full on switch to synth pop coming after what many would call her country/pop masterpiece, Red. She did do some farther pop leaning songs on that album like ... read more

bhavana shows obvious potential for brakence to become an amazing artist, however, it leaves me a bit underwhelmed. It’s clear that, by this point, brakence had not fully found and developed his sound. I think a great example of this is just how much space he leaves in these songs. On hypochondriac there are so few moments where he leaves these gaps in the mix, but they’re kind of all over here. I do see how he could go from this to punk2 though. There are elements of this ep that ... read more

This is exactly what I’d expect out of an artist named femtanyl. Genuinely though this ep is just exclusively bangers. Ignoring the lyrics for a bit, the production is extremely fun. It’s so loud and energetic for the entire 13 minutes it lasts and honestly leaves me wanting a full album. The vocals on MURDER EVERY1 U KNOW! are a real highlight and honestly are one of the main reasons it’s my favorite track here. The lyrics are pretty dark once you look into them. I ... read more

Fucking stunning. I feel like I say that exact phrase every time I hear a new Bon Iver record but it’s for a reason. Justin Vernon creates these projects that feel less like collections of songs and instead like unique experiences that are so gorgeous every single time. The fact that this was only his second solo album is insane to me. Vernon shows his knowledge and talent so clearly on this record to the point where I feel like anyone who listens to this in full will see that this man is ... read more

Yeule is a name I’ve heard quite a bit at this point, mainly coming from the hype of this record. They were on my list of artists who dropped last year that I would’ve liked to have gotten to for end of the year lists and such but just never got around to. I definitely made a mistake not checking this out though. Yeule comes through with 12 really great tracks that do a fantastic job at blending these glitch pop and rock aesthetics into a, not brand new sound, but still a unique and ... read more

The material here definitely isn’t as great as the output on The Melodic Blue but Keem ends up putting together a pretty good tape here. This does feel slightly amateur at points, still though it shows a lot of potential for Baby Keem. And I do think some of that comes through on his next record but, even with The Melodic Blue, I don’t think he’s made it to the heights I know he can. This mixtape pretty much speaks for itself. It’s only 34 minutes and comes through with ... read more

This is just a good dance pop album, nothing less, nothing more. Dua doesn’t really bring anything to the table that hasn’t been heard before. That’s not to say there aren’t great tracks on here though. Houdini, for example, is super catchy with some amazing production. I’m glad it’s getting the attention it deserves, I knew it would be a hit the moment I first heard it as a single. Speaking of the singles for this record, I do think they make up a lot of the ... read more

This is the darkest hip hop album I’ve heard in a minute. The production somehow still sounds refreshing despite using a lot of aspects of southern rap that have been beaten into the ground at this point. There are some pretty big mixing/quality issues that, while I could see how they may increase some people’s enjoyment, hurt the record in my opinion. There are so many amazing lines on here too. I love how overboard Lil Ugly Mane goes with this persona, just saying the craziest ... read more

I don't even know what to say. We're witnessing history

I really don’t have anything to add to the discussion of this album that hasn’t been said thousands of times already. Bowie was a true star and this record deserves all of the praise it gets. It's so grand, these feel like songs that should be exclusively played in stadiums. One thing I will say is that there’s a slight dip in quality towards the middle section of this. It’s not a big deal though because the songs are still amazing, I think the first 4 tracks are just so ... read more