Coming off their opening trilogy of classics, especially with the heavy hitters of 'The Low End Theory' and 'Midnight Marauders', making a satisfactory follow up would be a tall order for A Tribe Called Quest—and they managed to do it. While it may seem to fall short standing up against its older brothers, it is not far off, and it's incredible in its own right. It sports a production style with a whole different feel, airtight lyricism, and arguably heightened ... read more

"People's Instinctive Travels..." is the debut album of the legendary rap group "A Tribe Called Quest." a classic among the Hip-Hop scene and music in general. The forward-thinking lyrics, the witty and lighthearted rapping, the varied and unique production, this status it had garnered is completely understandable. Its influence is immeasurable, and it has staying power to this day, not aging minute since it was stocked in the record shelves.

While it was influenced ... read more

The songwriting of this thing is so honest, introspective and painful. There is a sense of aimlessness, self loathing and isolation all throughout the album. A feeling that you have no place in the world, or that nothing has meaning, that you are a shell of your future self, it's all something the album unabashedly explores without filter. And I think it is doing something powerful there, I think it can shine a light for a lot of people because it speaks to the experiences of so many.

For ... read more

The use of orchestral instruments on the album provides such a neat and depressing texture to the album. The violin family harmonizes on eachother creating a solemnly serene that sounds much like an epic movie. Still, I think there's a personality here that sets it apart from the generic, forgettable movie orchestrations throughout cinema, whether it be the eclecticism of arrangements—with distorted droning feedback and booming drums on top of said orchestra—or the compositions ... read more

The album has a very specific aesthetic to it. The white and black and the sleekness of the logo in the album cover feels like a symbol for a future civilization that has completely done away with the concept of colour, and this is reflected in the music as well. The production down to the fuzzy bass synths, the ambient pads, the soft and artificial sounding drums, it all paints a grim, but advanced future.

There is a chill atmosphere to it. The use of reverb on pads and synth samples and the ... read more

This soundtrack gives many jumps of tonal whiplash, shifting between wild extremes of ambient and drone sounds with similiarly juxtaposing mood. Beginning the soundtrack is a bunch of Chiptune tracks, which confused me as it was completely against my expectation of how it was going to sound, which was more akin to the dark ambient stuff on "SAW Vol. 2." More melodic atmospheric loops with "Barracks" and "Mars-San" are the most recognizable, spawning a bit of neuron ... read more

The "Richard D. James Album" album by Aphex Twin is my second encounter with him as an artist and it is quite a different one to my first. I am tempted to say that "Selected Ambient Works II" and this appear to come from entirely different artists, but in reality Richard D. James is the only person who could make either of those albums.

With the cover, I figured it would be menacing or just fucked up, but while it's undeniably weird, I found it to be quite serene. The ... read more

Before I begin the review, I wrote a brief story about one of the songs on this album.

--X--

You're a kid who lives in a small town in Canada. You live with just your mom in a humble one story home. In your room, your portal, you sleep comfortably in a dinosaur blanket. You read your favourite comics, and you love to blast your favourite pop music on your cassette player.

You have become acquainted with this home. Here you go to school and make a ton of friends. Here you know every ... read more

Ryo Fukui impresses me again with his beautiful piano playing. His previous album "Scenery" was a great experience, and this serves as a practical continuation. With that, it may tread the same ground, but these new compositions lag not so far behind for what is still a worthwhile album.

I saw a comment that said that Ryo Fukui hosts some of the most accessible Jazz music out there, and I can attest to that. In my Jazz listening journey, his music has appealed to me to most, instead ... read more

This is Michael Gira's earliest music, music that predates his master project of Swans. This album feels like a lighter "giddier" version of Swans' self titled EP, embracing the punk elements but in a much more brighter fashion. That feels weird to say if you aren't familiar with Swans and have only listened to this, because on the surface it is dark music, but it is nothing compared to Swans' harrowing no wave era.

Instrumentally the album ranges from impressive ... read more

"SOUR" by Olivia Rodrigo feels very down to earth and grounded. It's reserved, laid-back, and tender. Everything can feel very emotional down to her painful vocal performances and the slow and somber production. It ultimately isn't masterful or eye-popping, and some songs are pretty boring, it remains an overall worthwhile experience by the end.

You can't really tack any one sound to this album but it commonly features minimal folksy songs where the vocals take center ... read more

Master of Puppets by Metallica is what I can easily say to be a "master"piece. It's angry, abrasive, aggressive, all of "those" words that begin with A—agonizing. It is that in both sound and in its themes. It's well paced, technical, progressive, and FAST.

An album of this length with only 8th tracks appears egregious at first, as it forces an album where the shortest song is over 5 minutes. But if you look past that, you will find how impeccably paced this ... read more

"Overrated" is a word I will not use to describe this album, or anything. That word just means "I did not connect with this acclaimed work like others, and I need to put down others for liking it." I truly did not connect with the album, but I'm still open to let it click with me if I decide to give it a second chance.

I can ultimately understand that his vocal style was going for, matching well with the abrasive and angered compositions, but the lead voice can become ... read more

Scenery by Ryo Fukui is an rivotting and cozy Jazz album that lacks many outright flaws aside from the pacing.

Each piece takes you on a variety of scenes, hence the name of the album. Tracks can be energetic; One cannot resist dancing to "It Could Happen to You," and my face scrunched up in awe as the fast bass came in on "Early Summer." These bangers are juxtaposed by the more laid-back and slower paced songs which place me inside a luxury hotel in their colour and ... read more

Hot Buttered Soul by Isaac Hayes is likely the best soul record ever released. With its time, the fact that it has failed to be topped even in the golden age of the 70's is a testament to how well it's aged. It's wildly technical for the time, blowing everything previous out of the water, and manages to stay consistent and concise enough for me to prefer it over behemoths like "Songs in the Key of Life."

Instrumentally it is groovy, full of soul, tender, complex and ... read more

Feedbacker by Boris is a 40 minute epic split into 5 parts which throughout its length evolves in an ever-lasting struggle that is yet to be resolved by its end. The song has not a moment of ease; it moves indifferently like a mindless force in the same magnitude as gravity. The sound waves it emits are so massive and ear-ringing that it causes a visceral reaction in the body, creeping and shaking the bones underneath your skin.

As I've alluded to, the song almost feels at war with two ... read more

Bjork #2. It is a bit better but I don't feel astounded yet, next record surely has to be astounding though right?

Homogenic by Björk coming off her last album sounds a lot different. The genres are certainly more tight and less diverse, leading to a more cohesive and consistent sounding album.

The album features a heavy use of strange synth drums and pulse sounds for a sci-fi feel. It surprisingly doesn't clash with the repeated use of more ethereal sounds like the strings, ... read more

As my introduction to Björk, the album was good enough to convince me to listen to more of her stuff, but I definitely need to give this more listens in the future as I don't fully parce what makes everyone like the album this much.

'Post' by Björk doesn't really have a cohesive sound, it's like a collage of a ton of different genres, some odd ones being House and Jazz. I must hate house because those kind of tracks stink. The aforementioned Jazz on ... read more

Many albums later they made something that appeals to a lot of people. While I am fine with the Gorillaz albums which are often considered stinkers, The Mountain is undeniably a step up.

It is an exploration of eastern culture, specifically in India and Syria; some verses are delivered in Hindu or Arabic by artists from these places. The album has faced criticism for "Orientalism" but itsdepictions are out of purely respect and interest in the culture, while also strengthening its ... read more

Is that a freaking saxophone?

This is the first ever Swans project, after listening to their entire discography, going back here makes you consider how much of a long way they came. I had a misconception that this was basically going to be a shorter filth in the same way Young God was basically a shorter Cop. I was wrong.

The album while still undebatably No-Wave, but it sounds completely different to the rest of the No-Wave era by focusing in on an atonal kind of punk. A lot of these are ... read more