Totocipher

In early 2025 I listened to this to try and see if there was anything which could unseat Pizza Tower as the undisputed champion of 2023 music (an impossible task, I know). It occurs to me I would have had a very different year had the Willy Rodriguez been at the top of the year end lists at the time.

This guy better hit it big

After their rearrangement of Frontier Psychiatrist introduced me to The Avalanches, I felt indebted to Nickster and felt very curious about the project that was announced for early this year - a sample-based album in the vein of the ones they remade using newer samples - and sure enough it is pretty fantastic.

From the start, it is clear that the way the samples play off each other is expertly done, and the album’s consistency and ability to introduce new ... read more

At the beginning of this year, I wanted to find:
- More Brazilian artists after what my ears experienced with Clube da Esquina
- Anything that resembled Sweet Trip after that album experience
- A long EP to rival Perverts
- Some projects from users of this site

Finding all of these in a single artist is not only crazy, it’s nothing short of ludicrous. This project is absolutely brimming with ideas, to an extent where it can almost feel overwhelming, but I am pretty chuffed that my search ... read more

Writing an absolutely scathing (well, slightly mixed) review to beat the ‘only ever rates things positively’ allegations

Despite my score, this is actually an album I enjoyed a reasonable amount, with it being obvious that there are plenty of interesting elements and ideas mixed in to each song. I am even relatively sympathetic to the main issue people have with the album, although I am not immune from its effect. To start with the positives, the overall concepts behind the album ... read more