I haven't listened to "Chain" yet. Probably should do that soon. Otherwise, I loved "color theory". This is a very great indie singer/songwriter record with some beautiful, dreamy instrumentation that meshes incredibly well with Sophie's vocals. Top that off with the introspective lyrics and this record is one of my favorite indie records of the year so far.

Fav Tracks: circle the drain, yellow is the color of her eyes, gray light, night swimming, crawling in my skin, up ... read more

Daniel returns to the usual synth sounds, only this time he's applied it to a new canvas. He's applied some aspects of underground music genres like vaporwave and plunderphonics and melded them into his own twisted creation. Even if I wouldn't count "R Plus Seven' as one of his best works, it's still a unique album with tons of sonic layers and detail applied to a great majority of the tracks.

Fav Tracks: Zebra, Americans, Chrome Country, Boring Angel, Problem Areas, Inside World

Least ... read more

As you could probably tell, writing reviews for electronic albums is my weak spot even when it's great. This record may be the exception because it actually gives me a little bit of something to elaborate on. "Replica" is a different beast from Dan Lopatin's past works as it forgoes the usual synths in favor of a more sample-based approach. The samples in question are a series of commercials that aired in the 80's and 90's. Dan is usually known for his engaging atmospheres but the ... read more

"Returnal" brings more aggressive noise to OPN's usual ambient/drone sound and, in “return”, fleshes out most of these ideas into one dense, rich atmosphere.

Fav Tracks: Returnal, Describing Bodies, Pelham Island Road, Stress Waves, Ouroboros

Least Fav Track: Preyouandi

Score:
8.9
Exceptional

"Cryptograms" is an incredible step into developing their signature psychedelia. The production and ambient soundplay is magnificent throughout, and the songwriting chops that make up the atmosphere is nothing short of fantastic. This made me really excited to get into Deerhunter when I first heard it and after hearing their future works, I'd say this holds up even better!

Fav Tracks: Octet, Hazel St, Red Ink, Providence, Spring Hall Convert, White Ink, Strange Lights, ... read more

"Turn It Up F*ggot" acts as a cool start-off point for Deerhunter, with many elements that would make it onto later works on top of a noisy, lo-fi sound. Unfortunately, it fails to come together as a full album and I can't seem to want to return to this after listening to albums like "Microcastle" and "Halcyon Digest".

Fav Tracks: Oceans, Death Drag, Tech School, Pond

Least Fav Tracks: Language/Violence

Score:
6
Deer Dicks

An Ozzy album in 2020 could've been a nightmare, but it's surprisingly decent. "Ordinary Man" is most likely his goodbye, however, as he has recently been diagnosed with Parkinson's and canceled a whole tour because the condition will progressively worsen his voice. It's kinda sad that we're not gonna see him for that long, but let's see the positives of this here album. Ozzy's voice, despite his age, still holds up, the instrumentation is fun and the emotional aspect is handled ... read more

Allie X is still a very capable pop artist, with a lot of the tracks on here turning out to be wholesome, well-produced, catchy as hell songs. Unfortunately, there seems to be a lack of focus and there are a few annoying party bangers (I'm looking at you "Super Duper Party People").

Fav Tracks: Learning in Public, Sarah Come Home, Devil I Know, Susie Save Your Love, Regulars, Fresh Laundry

Least Fav Track: Super Duper Party People

Score:
7.6
Very Good

I haven't listened to King Krule's discog yet, but "Man Alive!" gives me more reason to take a shot! This is a beautiful, chilling and hypnotic effort from the project. It's also atmospheric for an art rock album and there's an admirable attention to detail on every single goddamn track! Archy's songwriting is also a high-point for this project and his vocals fit in with the atmosphere perfectly. Overall, I never expected to enjoy "Man Alive!" as much as I did and it has the ... read more

The years since "Art Angels" have been quite hefty for Grimes. Especially when she started dating the founder of Tesla, Elon Musk, and is even becoming a mother in a few months! So now that her fifth full-length has come out, I think she handled all of this pretty well.

"Miss Anthropocene" is a concept album that explores a futuristic world that's bleak and populated by A.I. I'm just gonna say this right off the bat, I wish this was explored further. There are times where ... read more

After the release of "Yummy", the worst single of 2020 so far, I didn't want to listen to this to increase his stream count. I guess curiosity got the best of me because, holy shit, this was just... okay I'm afraid to say the "b-word" but this was just boring. This barely even counts as music to vibe to. It's just playlist fodder that you can just have in the background while you're doing chores or something. It's the same problem I had with Ed Sheeran's "No.6 ... read more

Even if I don't see myself coming back to it, "Swimmer" is a romantic pop record with sweet lyrics and catchy melodies. It makes it perfect for this lovely Valentine's Day (belated for this review)!

Fav Tracks: Runner, Need Your Love, Swimmer, How to Forgive, Tender as a Tomb

Least Fav Track: I'll Haunt You

Score:
8.3
Great

I’ve never heard of Cindy Lee before looking at the amount of hype surrounding “What’s Tonight to Eternity”. But after listening to it, I would love to hear more. This is a beautifully haunting lo-fi record that switches from pretty harmonies to noisy passages throughout while filtering it through your uncle’s old radio. Cindy Lee’s soothing voice contrasts surprisingly well with the dark, morbid themes of this album and I’m expecting this to grow on me ... read more

Memories... the passage of time... these are subjects we have plenty of fun thinking about, but they’re also quite scary. As much as we love this, we also might regret it or have that one memory that we try to move past. The passage of time is also a huge factor into our lives, trying to figure out what exactly we want to do to make up for our “short” lifespans. Hell, I’m even trying to figure it out. We just have to face these things, somehow. This is a concept Kevin ... read more

"Hate Music Last Time Delete" is a pretty cool crossover of post-punk, glam and goth elements. Maybe "Pictures of You" is a little on the weak side when it comes to fusing genres and styles together, but even that song is still good.

(I'm done doing the rating system for EPs now)

Fav Tracks: Mannequin, Apple of My Eye, Proxy Love

Least Fav Track: Pictures of You

Score:
8.2
Great

"West of Eden" is an unexpectedly fun record that pulls so much out of the kitchen sink yet a lot of it actually works! The variation is off the wall, with one going through a post-punk/trap fusion (it's way better than it sounds). While there are a couple moments of filler, the overall record was a joyous experience for me. The goth and glam stylings are great, the production is creative and the lyrics are frighteningly hilarious.

Fav Tracks: LOADED; Where's Joanna?; To the Door; ... read more

While there are a few spots where I feel like it dragged more than the first set of songs in Nicolas Jaar's sample-based side project, "2017-2019" is still a groovy and fun album that keeps true to what made "2012-2017" a great record while adding in more "industrial" (?) and noisy elements to the mix.

Fav Tracks: Deeeeeeefers; Fantasy; If You Can't Do It Good, Do It Hard; Faith; With an Addict, If Loving You Is Wrong

Least Fav Track: Alarm

Score:
8.5
Exceptional

First of all, the animated visual side of “UNLOCKED” is fantastic! The sight gags and pop culture references like the Junji Ito dimension cracked a smile on my face. Definitely watch it if you want a good representation of the album. As for the album, it’s also terrific. Kenny clearly had some Madlib influence on this, and it’s easily some of his best production to date! Denzel also drops the lyricism I've come to expect from him, with lots of funny lines (“My ... read more

“Father of All Motherfuckers” (or “Father of All...” for the wittle bebes out there) is the sign of a once-beloved band biting off WAY more than they could possibly swallow whole. While the performances are tight, the second half definitely picks up and there were a few decent to good tracks, this 26-minute album suffers greatly from awful lyrics, an overly commercial sound and next-to-nothing in terms of fresh ideas. Overall, considering their consistently dwindling ... read more

Bradford Cox adapts his songwriting talents into an even more psychedelic sound palette. Influences could easily be traced to Animal Collective (Panda Bear himself appears as a guest vocalist), but "Logos" adds enough fresh sounds into the mix that the influence isn't worn too much on his sleeve and "Logos" is an oddball, fun and beautiful record overall.

Fav Tracks: Walkabout, Shelia, Criminals, Attic Lights, Kid Klimax, The Light That Failed, Quick Canal

Least Fav Track: ... read more