Even though a few songs in the second half feel kind of like filler, there are still some unbelievable highs on this thing. Re-Wild, Melt!, and Wake-Up are all gonna be in heavy rotation for me for a WHILE.

My life is a constant cycle of giving this album a 10, reconsidering, unrating it, then giving it a 10 again. Please help.

https://youtu.be/BD5TA0FVNf0

Thank you to this album for setting me up to eventually turn into that one annoying person who says "I listened to Che' Noir before she got famous."

The Worst Is Over is by far one of my favorite songs of the year so far, and the title track has a stunningly beautiful ending. Other than that though, I just cannot get into this thing like a lot of you guys can. I don't even dislike any song on here, it just all blends together into a samey mix of despondent minimalist folk. I know Matt Elliott's a legend and he's got a lot of talent as a guitarist, but this just doesn't blow me away.

Honestly the only thing keeping me from giving this a 9 is the fact that it's a little difficult for me to tell which track is which since they all sort of form the same chaotic, heavy cacophony through similar ways. Other than that though, shit slaps dude.

I mean... maybe I'll like Dogrel better?

I don't know man, there were enough good songs on here that I really wish it was better, but this just did not grab my attention through most of the run time. There are individual songs that I either like or love that I've been revisiting a lot, but I've never had the desire to go back to it as a full project. Songs like Love Is The Main Thing, Oh Such A Spring, and Living In America will take one or two good ideas, then stretch them out into a gloomy ... read more

I have no clue how this would sound to someone who's never heard a Phil Elverum project before, but as someone who absolutely loves most of his work (especially The Microphones), this album is everything I could've ever wanted.

FUCK! FUCK!! FUCK!!! THIS THING SLAPS !!!!!!
If you're at all into No Wave, industrial, or synth punk, there is literally no reason to not like this. It's ON 100% of the time, the lyrics are extremely sharp, it's just as intense as a really good Daughters project, and it's so short that you can't not be strapped in fully for its entire run time.

Trans rights, fuck white supremacy, destroy capitalism.

It's long, it's a little inconsistent, it's dense, and it's bizarrely self-referential.

In other words, it's a fantastic introduction to Blu's work.

Even though it runs out of ideas a little bit in the second half, this is still an incredibly fun retro dance-pop album that doesn't waste your time.

Watch my review with my full thoughts on this album here:
https://youtu.be/lCmvsfvmiNs

EDIT (previous rating was 70): The parts of this album that don't sit well with me have gotten even more glaring. I still stand by the positive things about it, but I enjoy it a little less as a whole.

Just like every single thing else about Taylor Swift, I have a lot of conflicting feelings about this album. While I can pretty confidently say that this album is a net positive, it's far from consistent and ... read more

HAIM's sound had never stood out to me too much until now. I'd heard their music in passing and never disliked it, but I never heard anything that necessarily encouraged me to seek out more music from them. I only checked this album out based on the buzz it was getting (I hadn't even heard any of the singles beforehand). But I'm extremely glad I did.

Right out the gate, HAIM hits you with summery creative songwriting on the infectious tracks Los Angeles and The Steps. I Know Alone shows you ... read more

Yes I'm giving out another 9, fuck you.

There's a lot of things that make me think this album is worth a 9. For one, the mixing and production make this by far the best sounding album of the year. The instrumentals are consistently warm and rich, the vocals never drown out the rest of the mix but are still brought to the forefront just enough that you can always hear what Lianne is saying, and the occasional production trick (like the woozy synths on Please Don't Make Me Cry) make sure there's ... read more

In a year full of fantastic post-punk albums, Protomartyr just came out with one of the year's best ones yet. This is an album that proves the band to be just as heavy and emotional as always, but with even more dynamic instrumentation and apocalyptic political commentary. Whether Joe Casey is singing about existentialism, drug addiction, or late-stage capitalist authoritarianism, all of it paints a grim picture of a dystopian world. There's a real sense of pessimism that seeps from every ... read more

While it definitely has its lulls, Keleketla!'s debut project proves them to be just as massive and inventive as their membership list suggests. The musicians who make up this group span from across the world, and bring the influences of their respective cultures with them. While most of this album is heavily influenced by Afrobeat, there's hints of jazz, hip-hop, electronic, and funk all over this thing. The end result is an album that can get a little repetitive, but nonetheless delivers ... read more

Friendship ended with Weyes Blood, now Klô Pelgag is my best friend.

This is the rare pop record that puts a heavy emphasis on ambiance and space while still being tight as FUCK. I can't tell whether I like the spacey ballads or the catchy bops more, but thankfully I don't have to choose. This record delivers both with the same care. It's a short 40 minutes of beautiful baroque pop that you do not want to miss.

Favorite tracks: Umami; À l'ombre des cyprès; La fonte; ... read more

LONG ASS REVIEW INCOMING WHOOPS
My reasoning for rating this album this way is a little complicated. I mean fuck, it's a 2+ hour triple album with each disc somewhat standing on its own thematically. This was gonna be hard to review no matter what. To tackle this behemoth of a record, I'm going to give a short review for each disc individually, with a different score for each one, then sum up my thoughts on the album as a whole at the end.

The The Earth is the most immediate disc in this ... read more

A dance pop album that's fun from beginning to end is pretty a difficult thing to pull off, but Jessie Ware lives up to the challenge. While most of the album doesn't hit with the same uptempo energy as the first 4 tracks, the rest of the album delves into enough different territories to keep it interesting. More lowkey tracks like Adore You, a song that I could almost call IDM-influenced, show that this album isn't a one-trick pony. Even the occasional song that doesn't blow me away is still ... read more

MIKE is one of those artists I appreciate more than I actively enjoy. His work, along with the rest of the sLUms movement, has been hugely influential and groundbreaking, and I don't want to diminish that. However, I feel essentially the same way about this album as I did about last year's tears of joy. In fact, the sound of this album could just as easily be described as "tears of joy part 2." If you loved that album like a lot of people did, you'll most likely love this. For me ... read more