There came a certain point when, during my time with Snow Strippers’ April Mixtape 3, the songs stopped feeling exciting and just began to blur, and that was the prevailing theme for the rest of the album. I honestly quite like a good few songs here- if I heard them separately I might be more into them, in fact. But when you’re compiling all of these into a 16 song mixtape then for me the experience stops being fun and starts being exhausting. Idk, maybe I just don’t get ... read more

US duo ODESZA team up with South Africa’s Yellow House to produce Flaws In Our Design- a lush, shimmering EP of some of the dreamiest electronic music you’ll hear this (well, I guess last) year.

I’m a little colder on the second half of the album, but regardless My 21st Century Blues is one of the best produced and most importantly authentic pop albums of the year.

In spite of the controversy surrounding Royal Blood’s Radio 1 Festival performance- and as far as the more overtly commercial side of rock goes, Back To The Water Below is actually pretty fun. Well, until they slow down and get a bit boring in the last two songs. Oh well.

Boygenius have found a formula for writing pretty indie love songs that just works every time, and they put that to good use on The Record.

The Beggar is a pretty great album; I suppose at this point that’s expected from a band with the credentials of Swans. The album carves out an excellent soundscape- occasionally drawn out, sure, but also ethereal and oftentimes beautiful- that flows very nicely from track to track. The lyrics seem to very heavily be around the mind and death and while I understand the sentiments I also think I was more taken by the instrumentation than the lyrics. Of course the lyrics are still very good- ... read more

I don’t usually enjoy Billy Woods as much as others do- I think his lyrics are tremendous but I’ve never personally been that into his off-kilter flows or the production on some of his stuff. That said, Maps- particularly the album’s second half- just really clicked with me. Kenny Segal makes some inspired production choices (big fan of the groove on FaceTime), there are some great features from the likes of E L U C I D and Aesop Rock, and I once again loved Billy’s ... read more

My Name Is.. is an enjoyable project on the whole- there’s some amazing production on this thing- but I think the mixing could have been better as the instrumentals really drowned out the vocals quite frequently. I’m interested to see what What Is Your Name? do next, regardless.

Even though many of the songs blend into each other and I wasn’t a fan of the slower moments, Fantasy still creates a pretty solid atmosphere.

I don’t have loads to say about Father Light that’s all that insightful since I don’t really listen to metal all that much, but I can’t say I didn’t enjoy it. It’s a solid album, and there are some really good moments (I’m a big fan of the lyrics on Thoughts And Prayers). I do think some of the songs didn’t really need to be as long as they were, and after certain points the instrumentation begun to get a little repetitive. Still, on the whole it ... read more

For a band who’s only real notoriety thus far was appearing on a FIFA soundtrack 5 years ago and hadn’t put anything out since 2019, Sooner Rather Than Later is actually a really nice effort. Maybe not trailblazing but what SUN SILVA do they do very well.

Whilst not an exemplary or even all that remarkable outing by any means, Subtract at least proves that Ed is a fairly talented guy and- when paired with solid production- can indeed make some pretty decent music.

Cheat Codes is a hip-hop masterpiece; such a watertight and incredible selection of tracks with exemplary features and stunning flows (basically everyone on Strangers was fucking brilliant). This is a record for the ages and some of the best material from both Danger Mouse and Black Thought.

i’m not

This is a nice little album! Panchiko cultivate a sound palette that’s so vibrant and just pleasant to listen to. Occasionally there’s a song that fades into the background a little too much but on the whole I had a pretty great time with Failed At Math(s)!

HELLMODE is a really clean, smart and well written album. The songs flow together really nicely, and Jeff Rosenstock comes off as genuine and thoughtful as opposed to many pop-punk albums of recent years that I’ve heard. It’s a really impressive album and I can see why Fantano enjoyed it as much as he did.

the sequel to music

Life Is Infinite is a lovely- albeit occasionally somewhat repetitive- indie rock outing that fuses elements of dream pop and post-punk to a tried-and-true formula.

There’s a deep, ingrained toxicity at the core of The Lamb As Effigy. One that- for me, at least- went beyond some of the usual experimental rock cliches (which it does still have) and genuinely unnerved me. But my god does this toxicity still create sone damn good music. The instrumentation is extravagant- it’s a shuddering heap of sound, which reaches harsh noise territory at times- and it absolutely left me overwhelmed and totally disoriented multiple times over (specifically the ... read more

Hood Hottest Princess starts off weak but improves in the second half. Sexxy Red’s rapping is decent, it’s pretty fun most of the time- and while I wasn’t that interested in the production, it didn’t do any major disservice to the record as a whole. Not much else to say- it’s just a fairly solid trap album.