Iceman isn't necessarily offensive; for the most part, everything is passable. I would even say that the opener was quite great. Drake certainly isn't hitting the snooze this time around. Instead of drooling through every song, I truly feel as if he cares a little bit about the things he's saying. But the mere existence of this album is a reminder that Drake is in deep need of a reinvention.

I find Iceman so curious, as Drake seemingly had the perfect opportunity to push his ... read more

Ought are incessantly compared to The Fall, and I think there's a lot of validity to that. This album practically functions on the exact same repetitive, manic and deadpan ethos as any given The Fall record. Whatever key similarities the two have, it's clear to me that these influences materialise in their own and exciting ways on Sun Coming Down.

The songwriting on this record feels expansive. While the repetitive nature of The Fall is still prevalent, I find Ought manage to ... read more

Friko's latest album seems to have the genetic makeup of a smash-hit sophomore gem: We see the band tightening their tracklist - not in length but in song-selection. Gone are the "For Ella's", and the "Until I'm With You Again's" of the debut album. Friko have chosen to embrace the grand, soaring indie rock theatrics of the 2000's, a real strength of the band. On paper, Friko have greatly improved on mostly all of my gripes with their debut

and, ... read more

These words can truly only come from a self-centered, egoistical and narcissistic man. And through this mind numbing degree of self-absorption comes a piece that is so full of itself, it becomes beautiful. Through all of the discourse that surrounds this record, there is one thing that you cannot convince me of: That Alexander Kent is phoning it in. Nobody makes something this achingly honest in some faux intellectual effort to trick snot nosed music nerds online that they are in fact the next ... read more

Squid's great curse is that they were doomed to play second fiddle. It seems that this band's brilliance just flies over everyone's heads. Not because their work is too immense or too sophisticated, but because few care to give their music the time of day. The band's evolution has been nothing but a treat to witness, with O monolith seeing the band bend their anxious and brooding post-punk roots into fantastical new shapes, with the introduction of more experimental and ... read more

In concept, this EP fits quite snugly within Ethel's creative pantheon, but in presentation, 'Perverts' is a great departure from familiarity. Strains of her slowcore roots remain, with a majority of this record being a dark ambient affair. I honestly found myself being more enthralled by the longer drone cuts on this record. Some of the textures and soundscapes served as hauntingly beautiful canvases for the repetitive and numbing spoken word pieces. Perverts seems to be an ... read more

I wish I could say I have some sort of special connection or sentimental relationship with this album, but I don't. Unfortunately, my introduction to this record was through a conversation with a friend, who told me it was highly rated on RYM. Of course, being the total sheep and poser I am, I have championed and enjoyed this record ever since, despite having little to no opinion on the wider pantheon of Christmas music, or jazz in general. However, with my limited frame of reference and ... read more

It feels sort of paradoxical to overly analyze and assess “ambient” music. At it’s core it’s meant to be an addition to the white noise that surrounds us, another layer of nothing to fill the gaps with something. It also feels kind of stupid dissecting something most people see as “music to zone out to” rather than a piece of art. And there’s definitely some merit to that. Art generally requires some sort of active participation of attention, a tall ... read more

Placing genre labels on this record becomes increasingly hard the more I think of it. At it’s surface Night Palace is folk album. But beyond that the album has traces of drone, noise rock, ambient and a smattering of other genre influences. It’s quite tricky to properly pin this record down, as with a lot of Phil’s work. It’s an album that’s teaming with creativity. Phil has never been one for stagnation, as he seems to be on some constant conquest for artistic ... read more

Chromakopia is used as a vessel for Tyler to explore the nagging pressures of growing older and ‘settling down’. This record sees Tyler dissecting the reality of responsibility and life hitting him like a brick. Despite his lavish, successful and artistically fruitful lifestyle, the ever-cold reality of life doesn’t stop approaching. This is a theme that Tyler somewhat explored on Flower Boy, but not to this much of a devastating degree. Noid is a perfect example of this, a ... read more

I’m going to try my hardest to assess this record on it’s artistic merits only, though there are occasions where referring marks slew of accusations is necessary. Any sort of compliment found within this review is purely aimed at the art, not the man. The tricky part about all of this is that there’s very few artists like Mark Kozelek (for better or worse). It’s not a case of what happened with Alexis Marshall of Daughters, a band that created noisy and industrial rock ... read more

33.3% of black Midi

Greep was seemingly born to play these roles, and take on a sound such as this. His voice, his writing his wit - this record was his destiny. It's unsurprising to witness the direction he took The New Sound in after watching him wail over string-kissed jazz pieces on a handful of Black Midi tracks. It's somewhat jarring going back to Shlagenheim with this record in the back of my mind, even if the New Sound has Black Midi's DNA coursing through it. The ... read more

don’t give up

hang on

pick a side

love.

Change is definitely not godspeed’s way, and I wasn’t going into this album expecting a complete reinvention of the band. What this record ends up being is a mix of old and new. Pre and Post-hiatus godspeed are two completely different animals, and ones that don’t often get along. But No Title sees a return to form, whilst pushing their sound in a new direction.

I’m incredibly glad that the band decided to do away with ... read more

A few weeks ago I went on a road trip with some of my closest friends. It wasn't a long drive, perhaps an hour and a half to reach our destination, followed by a three day stay at some air bnb we found for dirt cheap. I love driving with music in my ears. It's one of the purest and most visceral means of listening to your favorite records. You can hum, sing and chant along without having to worry of what others may think of you. It's not like they're in your car - do ... read more

Don't let this album's reputation as a Compilation fool you. This is over an hour of music that seems to be birthed from the same creative headspace that gave us The Glow Pt.2 (and Mount Eerie to some extent). It's by no means a perfect batch of tracks, but that sort of lends itself to the miscellanea of a compilation record. It's a wonderful gaze into the innovative mind of Phil Elverum - one of the most unique and creative songwriters of the 21st Century.

As I dive ... read more

I'm in awe that this album is actually on the way. Feels kinda surreal. I think this single is an interesting taster, though I do have my gripes with Godspeed releasing a movement as a single. It seems as if it's taken from the middle of a piece, or possibly the end? Regardless, I think that the core melody of this track is quite gorgeous and sort of reminds me of Moya from their Slow Riot EP. The Initial build is unsurprisingly layered and dense, I really love the fuzzy guitars and ... read more

I think this album does have it's moments, even if they are few and far between. While it may be a daring step forward from their self titled EP, the band find themselves a little lost amidst the new sound that they carved out for themselves. It goes without saying that any and all Ideas formed on this album were later improved on 'The Lamb as Effigy', but I feel that there are still some diamonds in the rough here. Slant and Worship house are especially striking, as they feature ... read more

Pretty solid debut. Of course the band does have a few kinks to iron out (particularly with tracks like "The best Tears of Your Life) but that's to be expected given how fresh off the press these guys are. For what it's worth, English teacher are most definitely one of the more exciting groups to spring out of the UK. It seems it's a breeding ground for good post-punk over there, even if all these acts are very much still in their infancy. I guess it gives us all something to look forward ... read more

I don’t think I like Vampire Weekend

On paper, this album seems right up my alley. Chamber/baroque rock albums have been my MO as of late. It seems that any band to dabble in this genre come out the other end with an album that has my name engrvaed into it. It’s a sound and approach that never ceases to excite me. Unfortunately, sitting through this album left me with the same stone-cold expression from start to finish.

It seems shocking to me that such versatile and dynamic ... read more

Worst genre ever.

It’s difficult going into a project like this because I have absolutely no expectation of enjoying it in any capacity. I don’t like either MGK or Trippie Red as artists, nor personalities. They make music that’s not for me - and also music that I don’t think is very good, or interesting. There’s something so curious about this project though.

With the way this EP is being presented in it’s title and cover art, it seems completely devoid ... read more