God this is a fun pop album. It feels consistently beautiful with enough unpredictability to keep it interesting throughout its run time. Some tracks closer to the end underwhelmed me a little bit, but it's still the kind of album you just want to play back again the second it's over.

Favorite tracks: I Give Up, So Hot You're Hurting My Feelings, The Gate, Hit Me Where It Hurts
Least favorite: Door

I can genuinely say that I've never heard an album that sounds like this. Usually when I'm trying to rate an album I'll open up a google doc and take notes on each track but I very quickly found I just.. couldn't do that for this one. Idk, the tracks all read like parts to a whole than individual pieces. It's definitely an abstract and moody listen, and one that I bet will define a lot of experimentation in the 2020s. Really my only complaint with this was that some of it was a bit redundant, ... read more

I knew I loved this album, but I think it didn't fully hit me how great it is until now. So much of it is so effectively melancholy, but it still delivers off kilter bangers like IF YOU PRAY RIGHT and BOY BYE. I see this album as a great sister album to iridescence, since both address the departure of Ameer Vann and the deep sadness that comes with trauma and adulthood. If iridescence was a scattered and angry reaction, GINGER is a solemn, downbeat reflection. It's not an album about solving ... read more

While a little inconsistent, the first glass beach album is a ridiculously fun and endlessly creative listen that pulls influences from pop punk, bedroom pop, electronic, and chiptune. I think the band is at their best when they're delivering catchy anthemic pop punk choruses, but the experimental aspects give the album a lot of color (even if they don't always pan out).

Favorite tracks: glass beach, classic j dies and goes to hell, Pt. 1, Cold Weather, Bedroom Community, Orchids
Least ... read more

Apart from a few minor hiccups, IGOR presents an inventive mix of the quirky off-kilter yet positive production style introduced on Flower Boy with heavy influences from early 60's sweet soul. A great ride from start to finish with an aesthetic that is wholly unique to Tyler, the Creator.

Favorite tracks: EARFQUAKE, A BOY IS A GUN, GONE, GONE / THANK YOU, WHAT'S GOOD, NEW MAGIC WAND, ARE WE STILL FRIENDS?, IGOR'S THEME, I THINK
Least favorites: PUPPET (but only because the Kanye verse feels ... read more

I was about to give this an 80 just based off how good some of the killer moments on here are, but I can't ignore that this isn't the most cohesive listen. Yeah Baby Boy kills, yeah the tone is consistently melancholic, and yeah I do love Kevin's lyrics front to back. But the album is sonically a little bit of a mess and that does take away from my want to relisten to it enough that I can't justify giving it the full 80. Still, a good album and one that you should definitely listen to if ... read more

This album's got a lot of really cool ideas, a consistently spacey tone, and Callum Easter is clearly an extremely talented songwriter. The biggest thing holding this back though is that it doesn't do much to hold your attention throughout its run time. Some songs feel like they don't have a purpose in the track list, and others feel like they never quite left the ground. Still though, it's a good start for Callum and I'm excited to see where he goes from here.

Favorite tracks: Be There ... read more

This album is proof that you don't need to reinvent the wheel as long as you know what the fuck you're doing. Seriously, there isn't a bad moment on this album. The beats are well crafted, Simz's lyricism is on point, and her flows are impassioned. Literally everything is firing on all cylinders. A must listen for anyone who's even sort of into hip hop.

Favorite Tracks: Offence, Boss, Wounds, Venom, 101 FM, Pressure, Sherbet Sunset, Flowers
Least Favorite: I mean nothing really. Maybe Therapy? ... read more

In my first listen I kinda just put it on in the background and didn't really see the hype, but then I listened more actively and ended up transcending to the astral plane. This is actually my final post on this website as my physical form slowly decays, while my spirit grows in energy by the second. Thank you Smart Blood for helping me realize my full potential.

Favorite Tracks: Movies, Everyday, Picture Me Better, A Lot's Gonna Change, Mirror Forever, Titanic Rising
Least Favorites: ?? i ... read more

Definitely has a lull toward the middle, but the great parts of this album are written so masterfully I'm honestly shocked. This album genuinely has some of the best lyrics of the year. The instrumentals aren't reinventing the wheel, but songs like Body and Don't Know How to Keep Loving You are produced and performed so perfectly it's impossible not to get into it.

Favorite Tracks: Body, Comfort, Head Alone
Least Favorites: When the Family Flies In, Good Guy

I really just got clickbaited by this album huh. The first three tracks were so good but it never really justifies it's own existence beyond that. Most of it is just vaguely pleasant folk music that doesn't live up to the experimentation of the beginning. None of it's bad, it just could've been so much better.

Favorite tracks: Desert Wine, Little Blind
Least favorites: Desert Wine (Acoustic)

Ever just simultaneously release some of your best and worst songs on the same album? (okay but the good does outweigh the bad for the most part)

Favorite tracks: ghostin, bad idea, in my head
Least favorite: bloodline, 7 rings

Kanye stans rating an obvious shitpost 0/100 saying it "takes no talent" will never stop being hilarious

Might change my rating later but uhh yeah this album really grew on me. At first I thought it was just a semi-uninspired indie flavored folk rock album, but still thought it was nice to listen to. Then I heard it again, and it hit me completely differently. I'm still a little on the fence because I'll acknowledge that the instrumentals and melodies on here are for sure not the most original out there. But I think what Conor Oberst and Phoebe Bridgers do on here is just showing how well they ... read more

So this album wore off on me a little bit since its initial release. While the sound is captivating, the album unfortunately runs out of steam in the second half (with the exception of Chance which might be the best song on here). If the good ideas kept flowing the way they did on songs like Lark and New Love Cassette this would be an easy contender for AOTY, but some potential is definitely lost. That being said, this is still a beautiful and unexpected album that's absolutely worth your time ... read more

Guess I gotta get involved in The Discourse, huh?
There seems to be a lot of vague posturing about "separating art from the artist" here. I tend to hear this a lot when ugly things come out about well-liked musicians. I still hear it a lot with Brand New even two years after it came out that Jesse Lacey is a pedophile and serial abuser.
I don't want to condemn people for listening to this EP. What I want to do is question people who feel like people are making a bad decision by NOT ... read more

Hello???
How does this album exist? Did black midi just fall from the sky? How are Near DT, MI and Bmbmbm both on this album? How does every single sonic peak on here keep going until it goes even further past the threshold than you thought it would? Why does Ducter go so hard when one of the lyrics is "take your hands off your dick"? How does complete gibberish still translate into tangible feeling? How is this simultaneously a hardcore industrial post-rock math experimental ... read more

Hmm yes, a seriously creative rap project that still goes hard after listening to it nonstop for four months, excellent

Honestly though this is some of the most innovative production I've heard this decade, and this album deserves praise for that alone, but Ritchie and Groggs' bars never disappoint. It's an absolute banger in the first half, and turns into some sadboi catharsis in the second, so that way the album never stops surprising you.

Favorites: Koruna & Lime, Jawbreaker, Jailbreak ... read more

Original score: 75
Wow this album grew on me. No it's not perfect, and there are some redundant/inconsistent moments, but the overall experience is by far the most intense thing brockhampton have or ever will record. A lot of my reasons for liking this album a lot more than I used to are really personal. The album is all about growth, both personal and in age, and all the pains that come with it, so it makes sense that I've grown to love it a lot more in the year that I lost family members, ... read more

I'd really prefer you didn't.