This is a good album and more, but I feel like it kind of throws a lot of what it's got to offer at you within the first two tracks. Like, the entire album is a pleasant fun listen, with a lot of neat little moments, but the bulk of the interesting stuff felt like it was in Black Cow and Aja, making the rest feel like a bit of a step down in comparison. I don't know how to describe my issue with this because I'm still giving it an 80 since I still think it's neat, but I ... read more

This is a deeply evil album and I love it. Adrianne Lenker might be one of the best songwriters of our generation, if I'm being honest. Her songs flow so well it's like every verse is its own poem. It finds a way to stay unique and experimental while still being palatable to all. This album feels perfectly like November and December, when you're burnt out from a semester, but you feel this odd warmth. Like, it's a sad album, but it's warmly comforting? I feel like ... read more

This was such a strange listen for me, in a good way. I'm not usually familiar with half an album's songs before I go into it, so I wasn't sure what to expect. I knew Dua was one of the pop artists I liked compared to the rest of the mainstream, in a "she's good but I don't have a desire to listen to her a lot" way. But damn this album is surprisingly really fucking solid. Not everything hits the same, some tracks are better than others, and the ending does ... read more

This was a pretty good time, and I definitely prefer this to Hyperdrama. I was honestly kind of surprised at how bold this album can be at times. The production on some songs like Stress definitely wasn't what I was expecting, but I also really enjoyed that. It felt like what I would imagine a club in the 2000s was like, before recession pop hit. I had thought that electronic music wasn't for me anymore, but I guess I just wasn't checking the right spots, because this kind of ... read more

This is overall a very fun album; solid all around, and hard to knock. Good rapping, great sampling, and overall cohesive songs. My only thought is that a couple songs could be merged or cut down a bit, but this is still a very solid and fleshed out album, and one I wouldn't really see people being able to hate. The production works seems just like it goes hand in hand with the writing, and it overall feels like sitting down and watching a performance in a way, yet it feels so authentic.

This is a flawed, but still overall solid time. I don't have much to compare this to in terms of Justice's discography, since my only past exposure to them was D.A.N.C.E. on Just Dance 2, but this is a neat electro/disco album! The features are all generally nice, from Miguel to Tame Impala to Thundercat; their voices all mesh really well with their respective instrumentals. However, the issue I have with this album is that it can get a bit repetitive. That's not to say that ... read more

This is an overall really solid rap album! I really love it when albums have such dedication to building a concept and world to go with the music, which is exactly what Deltron 3030 does! It's a nearly hour-long opera about a dystopian, inoffensive future, and follows the story of Del, who plays the character of a rebel against this system who eventually loses sight of his goals and becomes part of the system he sought to destroy. While this concept isn't new at all, I love how real ... read more

LETS GOOOOOO NEW POLLYANNA
Pollyanna has been one of my favorite underrated bands for a little over two years now. I absolutely adore their debut LP Slime, because it's just a lot of fun while going hard on all fronts. I'm pleased to say that Weirdo is another pleasant album that I feel like I'm only gonna like more with time.
Weirdo is interesting: it somehow takes the two extremes of Slime (The intense moments like Mars and Pixie VS the slow somber moments in Jado and who do ... read more

This is an overall really solid rock album! It's albums like these that make me feel ashamed for not knowing a ton of classics. While I can't say this is the absolute best thing ever, this is just a great product overall. it keeps a lot of energy for a 19 track album, which is pretty impressive, and the hooks on most of these are pretty catchy. I've had Guns of Brixton and I'm Not Down stuck in my head for a few days after listening to this (FL'd on Sunday). I just ... read more

This is just a really solid album that's extremely hard to knock. Is it technically perfect? No, but I also don't trust people who don't like this album, because this is just really fun pop music with lots of layering behind it. From the very beginning, I was surprised by the bass in As Good as New, and the wave of listening was a really good time; only a couple songs didn't really connect, and even those were still good, just not on the scale of the others. But, like, ... read more

It's genuinely insane to hear an album like this and realize that it came out less than two years ago. Every single inch of this album is absolutely oozing with life and soul, which manifests through a varied range of jazz fusion tracks. It's wild to see such a long record keep so much variety while still being naturally consistent with itself. There are so many highs here that I don't even know where to begin! Some highlights for me were:
* Lesanu serves as a great opener with ... read more

This is one of those albums that's generally pretty good all around, but is kind of elevated by a spectacular opening and ending. Dance Yrself Clean has already received countless flowers, and rightfully so; I mean, it's a great feat to have a nine minute song feel fresh throughout, especially with what's essentially a 3-minute intro. However, I feel like people also need to pay more attention to Home as a song. Thematically, it's almost like Dance Yrself Clean's ... read more

It's been a while and I completely forgot to review this when I first listened a month back, so here's my sparknotes from my FL:
Really great vocals, especially in Silent Disco and Angel Of My Dreams
Production is surprisingly unique for a pop album
I did feel like sometimes the songs were too heavy on the bass synths but that's a nitpick
There were a couple weak tracks or ones I didn't feel too much for
I feel like the middle is a bit hit or miss in general
I'm willing ... read more

Of the 3 mini mixes, I think this is the only one that's good throughout. Not to discredit any of the others, but they could feel a bit rushed and inconsistent; however, here, Magbay feels like they're on top of their game. That probably has to do with how this was released after Mercurial World dropped, so they have a bit more experience here, but I definitely felt more cohesion here. The songs are pretty varied, while still feeling united under one project. Slug Song is a pretty ... read more

It took me a good few minutes to think about how I should rate deluxe versions of albums when comparing them to the original, and I think I'm gonna just cover the new songs and how well they fit with the rest of the album. So, a lower score doesn't mean that the deluxe makes the album worse; far from it, actually. I'm just only taking Corporate shuffle, Northwest zombie girl, CCTV, and Can't run from the urge into account right now.

Now, this deluxe adds nearly 17 extra ... read more

I will leave a proper review tomorrow, but this album is absolutely fucking Immaculate, and absolutely my favorite album of this year.

I think this is definitely better overall than mini mix vol 1, but not by much. This album lacks one absolute banger like vol 1 (in U Wanna Dance?) but is overall more consistent. Live 4ever is a good opener, and IDWTCA also is a decent follower. Sky2Fall and Body were my favorite parts; I really enjoyed their vibes, and how the transition tied those 2 tracks together. Woww is kind of a dud, but Hideaway does a great job of reviving the mood, especially in the finale reprise of Sky2Fall. This ... read more

The first of these mini mixes by Magbay shows some promising things, but is also a bit of a step down. while day/pop and night/pop were able to breathe and were naturally short EPs, this mixtape tries to fit 6 tracks into 12 minutes, which ends up working against most of the tracks. Most of them are serviceable, but are either too short to feel developed, or just don't work. It feels like they're getting a bit more experimental, and trying to find their footing, but it's less ... read more

I do think I personally prefer day/pop a bit to its successor, but that's not to discredit night/pop at all. night/pop feels like a more chill take on day/pop, even from its structures. Neon feels like a chill song to listen to when on a walk or bike, and Drive Alone feels like something I'd hear in a video game. The Redbone cover is admittedly not great, though. It's not terrible, but it's like I can see the vision, but it wasn't fully realized bc of a lot of creative ... read more

To debut like this is frankly insane. From the very beginning, Magbay was making pop bangers. Waking Up is a great track to start off a great discography, with a really fun vibe. Set Me Off sounds like a song I'd hear in Adventure Time, at least production-wise, and the Head Over Heels cover, for what it's worth, was pretty good, especially the choruses and ending. #wastehistime also works as a solid closer, sounding more like a traditional pop song. There's some really nice ... read more