an abrasive and loveable industrial metal/noise pop album by two of the coolest musicians in the underground. extremely catchy and sweet, despite how colossal and brutal the sounds on this album can get.

FAVORITE SONG: SCARED 2 DEATH

Reason Define are an incredibly underrated band who deserve far more recognition. these ladies kick so much ass, while the singing by Paolina Massaro are haunting, beautiful. Paolina makes some groan-worthy lyrics work better than they would in the hands of a less deft singer, and the rest of the band deliver some blistering instrumentals that could go toe to toe with a number of heavy metal giants. I still see room for improvement, but In Memory... is also a big leap up from their previous ... read more

while Suga won't stop Megan's ascent, this is a disappointment coming from the greatness that was Fever. tracks like B.I.T.C.H. show how versatile she can be, bangers like Captain Hook and Ain't Equal show more of her infectious personality and loveable horniness--but lord, the autotune tracks at the end are some real stinkers, imho. I appreciate the attempt, and I can respect if Megan liked making them more than I enjoy hearing them, but they're just annoying to me--and worse, sterilize her ... read more

when the non-comedian Doug Walker isn't too busy abusing his producers, crying about how people don't like him (because he's only relevant now for having helped launch the careers of Lindsay Ellis, Todd in the Shadows, etc.), and making some of the lousiest movie reviews on the planet--apparently he's wasting the time of actually talented musicians like Rob Scallon and Corey Taylor on garbage parody songs that disrespect a legendary album from one of the greatest rock bands ever. the arrogance, ... read more

Run the Jewels continue their streak of essential, conscious hardcore hip hop albums with a damn brilliant album that has a mix of biting social commentary--sometimes the likes of which that is designed to make you feel uneasy--and unstoppable, layered production. some of the breakout tracks are JU$T and walking in the snow--both of which feature features by repeat RTJ collaborators Zack De La Rocha and Gangsta Boo, and dig into some dark topics with the clever, even humorous lyrics one can ... read more

an engrossing, gorgeous R&B album by the newly crowned queen of the genre (in the mainstream, at least--I for one prefer Sudan Archives, personally). I'm not super impressed by some of the features, but I adore the vast majority of the deep cuts. some of my absolute favorite R&B tunes, period, on this thing.

FAVORITE SONG: Drew Barrymore

full review: http://popcornandfizz.blogspot.com/2019/07/ctrl-review.html

good god, I listened to this album as a joke, thinking it'd at least be a funny kind of horrendous. lord no. this album is pure vomit-inducing boredom by a bunch of whiny Trumpers who caterwaul for far too long over their deserved irrelevance.

PS: Power Trip's better.

full review: http://popcornandfizz.blogspot.com/2020/08/shadow-work-review-trapt-card.html

a phenomenal conscious rap album by a criminally underrated Filipina artist whose bold delivery and tight flows make her incisive lyrics strike out in a big way. her voice is commanding, her subject matter is unique in the hip hop landscape, her lyricism is thoughtful and heartbreaking at times. this album feels so sincere--sure, she'll brag occasionally on a track like "Yuh," but it's earned when she'll drop thought-provoking bars that reflect on a life of poverty all too familiar to ... read more

a devastating yet beautiful album, and feels perfect now when mourning the loss of Chi Cheng three years later. as a fan of Deftones, this is one of their best--not a single dud in the tracklist, everything flows organically together. Deftones have always been an experimental outsider band that stays in the mainstream of metal (somehow)--as with their other masterpiece (White Pony), Deftones bring sprawling songs, dark lyrics, screeches from Chino, and walls of sound that blossom into gorgeous ... read more