"Undersea" contains some of their best-sounding work to date, with production and mixing being dreamy and excellent throughout. "Endless Ladder" can drag a bit toward the end, but everything else is top-notch and well-performed.

Drift Dive: 10
Endless Ladder: 8
Crest: 9.5
Zelda: 9

Score:
9.1
Outstanding

It doesn't reach the same heights as 'Hospice", but "Burst Apart" still retains the emotionally-compelling, well-written, beautifully sung and exquisitely-produced highs that have made The Antlers great while making the arrangements more complex.

Fav Tracks: No Widows, I Don't Want Love, Every Night My Teeth Are Falling Out, French Exit, Corsicana, Parentheses

Least Fav Track: Putting The Dog To Sleep

Score:
8.9
Exceptional

This was one of the most depressing listens I've ever sat through. *sigh* Where do I start?

So, "Hospice" is about a hospice worker's troubled and traumatizing relationship with a patient with terminal bone cancer. It's a fully fleshed-out concept that's so well-written that it could've happened in a real life circumstance and it's just terrifying to think about. As for the album, Peter Silberman's performances are at their most heart-wrenching here and the instrumentation is simple ... read more

"Tender Prey" is a less chaotic effort than "Your Funeral... My Trial", but it's also no less haunting. The lyrics are as poetic as ever, Nick Cave's vocals are manic as hell and the rock instrumentation is top-notch. Overall, Nick Cave and his band are continuing to put out some of the early underground's best rock projects.

Fav Tracks: The Mercy Seat, City of Refuge, Deanna, Up Jumped the Devil, Mercy, Sunday's Slave, Watching Alice

Least Fav Track: Sugar Sugar ... read more

If you're wondering why I skipped "Kicking Against the Pricks", it's a cover album and I felt like my time was being wasted. So, yeah.

"Your Funeral... My Trial" is a beautiful, haunting album that leans towards a more rock sound while keeping that signature Nick Cave charm intact. It also contains some of his best songwriting and instrumentation to date, with some really unsettling and depressive subjects coming into play.

Fav Tracks: The Carny, Sad Waters, Stranger Than ... read more

Nick Cave goes for a more bluesy direction on "The Firstborn Is Dead" and doesn't do a bad job at it. The songwriting and performances are still there, but the atmosphere suffers because of the new direction.

Fav Tracks: Tupelo, Wanted Man, Train Long Suffering, Blind Lemon Jefferson

Least Fav Track: Black Crow King

Score:
7
Good

Nicky Cave just said the n-word.

"From Her to Eternity" is quite a mess. While the atmosphere is chilling, Nick Cave's performance is undeniably eccentric and the songwriting is fantastic, there are some really poorly-executed ideas and the mixing is just awful. Especially on the bass.

Fav Tracks: From Her to Eternity, Cabin Fever!, Saint Huck, Avalanche

Least Fav Track: A Box for Black Paul

Score:
7.3
Good

"Crush" is an intricate little IDM record with some outstanding, chilling production and a great use of analog synths. The mixing and track placement could've used a bit more touching up, but that's just my opinion.

Fav Tracks: Last Bloom, Anasickmodular, LesAlpx, Environments, Bias, Apoptose

Least Fav Track: Karakul

Score:
8.4
Great

Beabadoobee's sound isn't really out of the ordinary, but "Space Cadet" is a good, rough-around-the-edges indie rock EP with some decent songwriting and pretty good production. Also, Matt Healy plays guitar on a couple of tracks. That's cool.

Are You Sure: 9
I Wish I Was Stephen Malkmus: 9.5
Sun More Often: 8
She Plays Bass: 8.5
Space Cadet: 9

-2.5 points

Score:
8.3
Great

I've heard very little from her before this, but this caught me by surprise! "Pang" contains some of the catchiest, most ethereal pop of the year! Caroline Polachek's vocals are very unique and they're edited in a way that's a bit weird at first but quite likable as it grew on me. Combine that with good songwriting and beautiful, glitchy production and you have one of the best art pop records of the year.

Fav Tracks: So Hot You're Hurting My Feelings, Door, Parachute, Look At Me Now, ... read more

"Die Lit" is stupid fucking bullshit. It literally makes me lose brain cells. The lyrics are fucking garbage... and yet I love this thing. Why?

Yes, the lyrics aren't the absolute smartest thing in the world. Yes, it's best experienced when turning your brain off. But this album is undeniably fun anyway. Playboi Carti just has this dumb charm to him that makes me crack a smile every time. Also, the production shouldn't be THIS GOOD on a trap album. I can't really put into words how ... read more

The second half of "Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost" is a worthy conclusion to the first. It's not as adventurous as that album and the interludes aren't that intriguing, but it's definitely a more aggressive take on the sound with some great production, tight songwriting and excellent instrumentation.

Fav Tracks: The Runner, Into the Surf, Neptune, Black Bull, Wash Off, Dreaming Of

Least Fav Track: Red Desert

Score:
8.4
Great

“There Existed an Addiction to Blood” contains all the innovation clipping. has built throughout the decade and more. They move towards a more minimal, ambient sound palette compared to the glitchy, noisy exterior they’re usually known for, but it’s no less engaging and it fits the haunting atmosphere and great concept beautifully. Daveed Diggs explores the themes of death, paranoia and werewolf bitches on this album and his lyricism has pretty much reached his peak. His ... read more

This is WAAYYY better than "Greed"! It doesn't drag nearly as much (besides a couple of tracks), the lyrics aren't nearly as obnoxiously depressive and the change in sound is quite interesting. It can get repetitive after a while, though.

My overall first impressions for Swans, they aren't very good.

Fav Tracks: Coward, A Screw (Holy Money), Fool (#2)

Least Fav Track: Another You

Score:
6.2
Fine

It's dark, it's brooding, it's harsh, but is it enjoyable? Fuck no. Even at 35 minutes, "Greed" just feels like it takes FOREVER to finish. It's so plodding and tedious that it becomes really hard to listen to and not in the right ways. The album's tone is also unbearable, with Michael Gira just going on and on about how he hates his body and wants to crawl in someone else's skin... like, it's not charming or emotional or whatever they were aiming for, it's just yucky.

Straight-up ... read more

After "Filth", I was expecting some slight progression. Unfortunately, this is way slower than their debut. That wouldn't be a bad thing at all if it hadn't bogged down my enjoyment with "Cop". The atmosphere and instrumentation is still there, it's just the overall lack of progression and variation that kinda hurts it in the end.

Fav Tracks: Cop, Clay Man, Butcher, Job

Least Fav Track: Half Life, Why Hide

Score:
6.4
Fine

Me improvising to "Half ... read more

I listened to a Swans album. This means I finally know the meaning of music.

Jokes aside, this is a fucking DIRTY album! The guitars and bass are filthy, the mixing is raw and unkempt and Michael Gira's vocals and lyrics are animalistic as hell! Judging from their discography, they have some ways to go. But as it stands, "Filth" is an impressive debut!

Fav Tracks: Weakling, Stay Here, Blackout, Power For Power, Right Wrong, Gang

Least Fav Track: Big Strong ... read more

"Contact Note" sees Jon Hopkins further developing his downtempo sound, with some beautiful production and outstanding grooves. The second half does come across as uneven, though, and the whole album drags on for far too long.

Fav Tracks: Circles, 100, Second Sense, Luna Moth, Symmetry, Nightjar

Least Fav Track: Black And Red

Score:
7.4
Good

This literally came out five days after I was born.

"Opalescent" is a pretty alright debut. I like the relaxed aesthetics and the textures are certainly pretty, but there were some cuts that didn't captivate me all that much due to their lack of progression.

Fav Tracks: Lost In Thought, Elegiac, Inner Peace, Private Universe, Afterlife, Halcyon

Least Fav Track: Fading Glow

Score:
7
Good

[Treasure Tuesday Ep. 10]

There were good things and mediocre things about this track. It has a pretty solid progression and there are some cool drum patterns near the end. The actual drum choices are left pretty basic, the instruments are obviously midis and “330” just isn’t very satisfying to the ears.

Treasure Approval Rating:
5.5
Okay