Just when I need you, James, you come through. What a fucking beautiful song.

It's the tacky dance-pop tracks with the horrible synthesizers that ruin this album for me. If these and a few of the more insubstantial slow songs were missing, and Kirin instead built more directly from the sound he's going for on the singles (minus Big Enough), this could have been one of my favorite releases of 2017.

Favorite tracks: Bravado, S.A.D.
Least favorites: This Whole Town, Big Enough (though I'll admit the music video is a winner)

Very into what Aaron Maine is up to again on The House. I feel like the sound here is Maine's last record as Porches (Pool) by way of Frank Ocean's Blonde. Like Blonde, The House often eschews accessibility for simplicity and subtlety--there's a smattering of truly euphoric moments, but the real features here are the minimal, romantic ballads that scratch an itch few other artists do for me. A lot of the slower songs here only have a few elements going on, but the combination of Aaron's ... read more

I quite like the sound the Horrors came through with here; it's like a sort of industrial/goth rock/shoegaze hybrid. This sonic approach, in addition to the its vast, booming production, makes V a slight improvement on the lukewarm Luminous. It also stakes out a somewhat unique place in the 2017 rock landscape.

However, the Horrors are still lagging on the songwriting front to my ears. I've never thought they've been excellent songwriters, but on their best albums (like Primary Colours and ... read more

Damn, the British music press really know how to inflate a score, huh?

EDIT: It's definitely a solid project overall, if a bit bland and uneven. I prefer the louder, grungier numbers to all of the dreamy ones which feel like 90s retreads. The vocalist is pretty decent too; she reminds me of Taylor Swift in a weird way. I'm still not buying the hype, but there are certainly worse bands that have been darlings of the British press (the p4k critic nails it when he says Wolf Alice is ... read more

lol.

I've tried many, many times over the course of the past 7 years to enjoy this record. I even had it in my library for quite a while, though I never really played it. I do deeply appreciate Joanna Newsom as a performer and songwriter. Have One on Me is a fantastic album for me ("Go Long" is one of my all-time favorite ballads), and I really enjoyed a live show of hers I caught in Knoxville back in 2010. But man...this album just does nothing for me. And I know it just comes down to my ... read more

EDIT: Finally saw the movie now that it's streaming, and, as expected, 0PN kills it with the soundtrack, producing what is probably some of his most accessible music ever (think a more tense version of some of the guitar-inspired tracks on Garden of Delete). I highly recommend the film too. It's easily one of the best 2017 movies I've seen.

I really want to see this movie (the trailers make it look dope), but it isn't playing near me yet. 0PN is one of my favorite artists, so I'm sure he kills ... read more

For me, Ex Eye finds a unique point in the venn diagram between jazz fusion and extreme metal with their debut. The songs here are absolutely primeval, with Stetson's saxophone melding perfectly with the rest of the band's pummeling instrumentation to evoke nature at its most destructive and chaotic. The band it reminds me of most is Cynic, though Ex Eye are even grander in their instrumental-only approach which often employs the winding structures of post-rock to contain their overwhelming ... read more

I liked this record overall, especially in the broader context of contemporary post-rock. In a genre that seems (with the exception of a few bands) to be trapped in a prison of its own cliches, Public Service Broadcasting provide at least a partial roadmap for shaking the scene up. The addition of vocals and occasional pop structures, in addition to the samples and topical thematic focus on the Welsh mining industry help ground the record and lend it significance beyond its aesthetic. Still, ... read more

In terms of production and sonic approach, Big Fish Theory is easily the most forward thinking hip hop album of the year (in years, even). The beats here have the cold precision of techno and the bouncy rhythms of the best West Coast hip hop. It's stark and moody, yet manages to maintain an impossibly high energy level throughout.

Vince is also a remarkably gifted hook writer. Big Fish, Yeah Right and BagBak all have laughably simple refrains yet manage to be catchier than 99% of the pop rap ... read more

EDIT: I've cooled on this record a bit, but I'll still always be impressed by Harris' effort. Still amongst the best mainstream/radio pop albums I've heard this year.

Holy hot damn is this so much better than a Calvin Harris record has any right to be. It may honestly end up a pop aoty contender for me. Just a wonderful, concise summer/beach/party soundtrack that doesn't let up on the grooves and good times. I'm really not a huge poptimist, I swear--Harris just stepped up his game ... read more

A breezy collection of obscure, funky soft rock from the 70s that is perfect for summer listening, in the vain of Steely Dan or even the Bee Gees. I'll warn that the lyrics are deeply corny on a number of tracks (ex. "It's my nature / to penetrate ya" on the third track), but the songs themselves are consistently catchy, well written, and hang together well as a group. The production is also immaculate--it's hard to believe that these tracks were recorded in modest circumstances ... read more

Solid album overall. What Com Truise does he does quite well in my eyes. So if you like lightly trippy retro synth jams with big, booming downtempo beats, you'll find a lot to like here--I actually think it's the best Com Truise release I've heard end to end. But, like all of his stuff, it gets old kind of quickly in my opinion and is pretty formulaic. I definitely do appreciate the atmosphere his music creates, though.

Favorite tracks: Iteration, Memory, Isostasy

Solid electronic EP with a dense, lush sound full of tribal rhythms and ghostly vocals. The songwriting could be a bit more dynamic, but I'm definitely going to keep my eye on RAMZi's output from now on.

Favorite tracks: Fuma, Messiah

EDIT: Still a relatively strong trap project for this year, and I definitely like Keef in this mode, but Thot Breaker just didn't stick with me as the months went on. Some immersive beats and melodies, but, now that it's November, just not enough stands out for it to be amongst the best hip hop releases of the year for me.

Whoaaaa I was expecting literally nothing at all out of this project, but I gave it a listen and Thot Breaker really stands out among the hip hop albums I've heard this ... read more

Holy moly this is a blowaway comeback. I honestly didn't expect much from this when I originally heard about it, but I'd say this self-titled LP easily ranks among the band's best work, maybe even surpassing some of it in my opinion. The production, the songwriting, the harmonies, everything is just so immaculate, like being transported to a world of pure, gossamer beauty. Essential for any fan of dream pop/shoegaze/psych rock. For me, it ranks up there with Lonerism as one of my favorite ... read more

This here is a killer dub techno/house release that captures a particularly brilliant club set from DeepChord Presents: Echospace in Detroit. While their best known release, debut The Coldest Season, is known for its icy minimalism, and their other releases are similarly understated, Ghost in the Sound reveals them as a gifted dancefloor act as well. The set is masterfully sequenced, manipulating some surprisingly funky beats and grooves to gradually ramp up the energy level through the entire ... read more

Powerful indie rock/folk album that brings the wordy storytelling of 00s indie acts like Bright Eyes down to earth by fusing it with the more intimate, uncomfortably personal approach of singer-songwriters from the past 5 years or so. The biggest pluses are the impressive guitarwork, the unconventional song structures, the singer's voice (which sounds kind of like a grittier Joanna Newsom to me), the dusty, Midwestern indie (almost emo) sound and--especially--the lyrics, which range from ... read more

I don't entirely understand what happened here for me as a listener. I Love You, Honeybear was one of my favorite albums of 2015, and the singles leading up to Pure Comedy convinced me that the same would be true with this album. But, for whatever reason, after listening to it once, Pure Comedy has been sitting in my library for months and I just never want to put it on. I went through it one more time this morning and it just feels like a massive, monochrome slog. I still like Misty's lyrics ... read more