(Was 80) I might bump this back down to an 80 at some point, but holy shit this album's growing on me even more while I'm going through other albums in his discography. For sure a crowning achievement for Charles Mingus and jazz as a whole.

I've listened to a lot more jazz over the past few months than I ever really have in my life. Jazz has always been one of my blindspots, but so far my History of AOTY-core listening queue has been almost entirely jazz. The bright side is I'm quickly getting ... read more

Every song on this album is the goddamn same, but at least it's a pretty song

New game: guess which antidepressants I'm on based on the score I gave this album

Yeah I for sure understand the appeal of this album now. I definitely don't think it's the greatest jazz album ever made, and I don't think every track on it is super essential, but it does have a unique and dreamlike compositional style. There's something so surreal about this, probably due to its modal chord progressions that constantly subvert your expectations, but never feel jarring. I like it a lot, and I think most other people do too, but I still don't think it's the height of jazz (or ... read more

The charm of this album took a while to really get to me, but once it did I fell in love with it more and more. It's not a super consistent listening experience as an album, but that's because it's pretty much put together like a mixtape or a compilation CD. Once you get past that though, you'll find not only some of the best songs of the year, but some of the best songs Gorillaz have put out in the last decade. The style is so diverse, and each song feels like it has its own distinctive sound. ... read more

If you enjoy this album more than I did, that's awesome. There are songs on here (specifically the Drum Thunder Suite) that I think are fantastic, but there are others that don't leave much of an impression on me. If all you're looking for in jazz is technical proficiency, I can definitely see how this would be one of your favorite albums. For me though, I enjoy it for the most part while it's on, but I can't see myself having much of a reason to revisit it in full.

(rest of review originally ... read more

I really said I wouldn't give out another 9 this year lmao.

Come on, what do you even want me to say at this point? clipping. manages to impress on literally every single album they make. Even when it seems like they're doing the same thing twice, linking this album to last year's There Existed An Addiction to Blood, this album still has even more unique things to offer.

For one thing, this simultaneously has their most accessible and most challenging material to date on it. Say the Name, '96 ... read more

The fact that this isn't even John Coltrane's most loved album if fucking ridiculous. I think I understand now why they used to think that some musicians sold their soul to the devil to get their talent

(rest of this review originally posted on my History of AOTY-core list)
Without a doubt, the best album I've listened to for this list so far. John Coltrane's talent was already there on his work with Miles Davis, but this album lets his talents truly shine as a player, composer, and a master ... read more

The fact that Miles was able to go from the sheer chaos of Ah-Leu-Cha to a relatively chilled out cool jazz album for the rest of the run time and still have it sound good shows how much talent he already had at this point in his career.

It definitely doesn't have anywhere near the classic status some of his other records do, but it definitely deserves its fair share of praise. At this point in his career, Miles Davis wasn't completely turning the jazz world upside down like he would go on to ... read more

So it turns out the hype surrounding this EP was actually 100% warranted

How did I go 19 years on this earth without knowing this album has on it a song about how Elvis' girlfriend won't fuck him

Edit: The rest is what used to be under this album on my History of AOTY-core list, but it doesn't fit the criteria to be on that list anymore, so I'm adding what I wrote there on to this review.

Elvis is a complicated figure, to say the least. He was viewed as the King of Rock for decades, but in the modern day, most music critics see him as the guy who gentrified rock ... read more

I will say this is an improvement over their last album. The mixing isn't as thin, and a lot of these instrumentals are genuinely emotive. I get a real sense of beauty out of some of these songs that just wasn't there on the last album. The issue is that, like that last album, this is incredibly inconsistent. A lot of the songs feel like filler, or even outtakes from the last album, and some of these instrumentals sound virtually identical. It just feels like yet another unfinished album, but ... read more

Constantly bounces back and forth between career-defining mindblowing performances, and tracks that probably could've been cut. Obviously none of the songs on here are bad, but by the end you can definitely feel that it's a 50-minute album.

He gains back points for trying to kill Woody Allen tho

(Rest of this review was originally posted on my History of AOTY-core list)

I wanna specify that I do absolutely enjoy a lot of moments on this album, and I appreciate its place in music history. It ... read more

I know this is on my History of AOTY-core list, but I would literally rather eat shit than listen to a Burzum album so uhh that review's never gonna happen.

Yknow I'd probably say this is my least favorite Idles album so far, but dear GOD did they set an incredibly high bar on their first two albums for that to be the case.

My life's goal is now officially to invent a time machine so I can go back to the 50s and bottom for Chet Baker

If there was ever an artist whose music was the polar opposite of their public image, it was Chet Baker. While his personal life was riddled with a crippling addiction that led him to spend almost two decades in and out of jail, the music on this album is impossibly warm and wholesome.

With the exception of the surprisingly dark turn of The Thrill Is Gone, this album is ... read more

Hey look! Another frontloaded album that manages to save itself a little bit with an amazing closer

Billie Holiday had one of the most unique voices in the history of popular music, and this album is no exception. Her gravely alto works wonders all throughout this, and you can tell she deeply feels every single word she's saying. It really sounds like you're listening to the musical portrait of a broken character

...but Jesus these instrumentals are so incredibly one-note.

Well my opinion did a complete 180 on this one. Like yeah it does definitely take a bit to really get going, but once it's going it's fucking GOING. Some of these songs are gonna haunt my dreams.

He really said "I only get better with time" fully knowing how right he was