Building upon the minimalist, avant-garde baseline Colin set for himself on the previous volume, "Judges" is an eerie, bone-chillingly gorgeous jazz record that excels in showing off Stetson's technical ability while also throwing in some vocals to spice up the atmosphere.

Fav Tracks: Judges, Lord I just can't keep from crying sometimes, The stars in his head (Dark Lights Remix), Home, The righteous wrath of an honorable man, In love and in justice, Fear of the unknown and The ... read more

Colin Stetson's dedication to his saxophone playing is unmatched. He uses circular breathing, weird mic placements and other techniques, sometimes even emulating another instrument, to make some impressively eerie atmospheres. Is "New History Warfare Vol. 1" innovative? Yes. Does it encourage repeat listens? No, not really.

Fav Tracks: Our Heartbreak Perfect, And It Thought To Escape, Nobu Take, Time Is Advancing With Fitful Irregularity, Quincy Had A Glandular Problem, Letter To ... read more

"Lost Girls" is a beautifully-produced 80's throwback with great writing and Natasha Khan's great vocals. It's not entirely original for a modern synthpop album, but the quality of the songs manage to make up for it.

Fav Tracks: Feel For You, Mountains, Jasmine, Peach Sky, Kids In The Dark, Safe Tonight

Least Fav Track: Vampires (love that sax tho)

Score:
8.5
Exceptional

Burial moves into ambient territory on this one... and it's frustrating. These tracks go absolutely nowhere and the attempts at atmosphere never reach the emotional heights that made his previous efforts great.

Subtemple: 4
Beachfires: 6

Score:
5
Average

A huge change of sound, "Rival Dealer" contains some of his prettiest, most upbeat compositions in his entire catalog. "Come Down To Us" is just something else.

Rival Dealer: 10
Hiders: 9.5
Come Down To Us: 10

Score:
9.7
Amazing

While "Truant" isn't his most memorable track, it still has the atmosphere to boot. "Rough Sleeper", his longest song ever put to record, is an absolute triumph, however

Truant: 8
Rough Sleeper: 10

Score:
9
Outstanding

"Kindred" brings detail more into the forefront than any other Burial release. The result is his most cohesive and intricate EP to date!

Fav Tracks: Ashtray wasp, Kindred, Loner

Least Fav Track: None

Score:
9.8
Amazing

"Street Halo" is an outstanding set of emotional beats, some of his best work to date!

Street Halo: 9.5
NYC: 10
Stolen Dog: 9

Score:
9.5
Amazing

I don't hate this song, not at all. I kind of feel a Daniel Johnston vibe on this track (especially with the high-pitched vocals) and the overblown distortion is pretty cool for the first 3-4 minutes. But this does go on for a bit too long without a huge amount of progression and the lyrics are nearly unintelligible (which may or may not be a stylistic choice).

Despite what I said here, though, I have a huge amount of hope for your music. I'm really happy for you so keep up the effort my dude!

While it will never reach the emotional heights set by his sophomore record, Burial's debut is still a very atmospheric and enigmatic future garage record with some great production, those distinctive percussion arrangements and gorgeous sampling.

Fav Tracks: Broken Home, Distant Lights, Prayer, Southern Comfort, Pirates, Night Bus, U Hurt Me

Least Fav Track: Spaceape

Score:
8.2
Great

I was never a fan of Melanie Martinez's "cute but alternative" style and... yeah this doesn't change shit. I've yet to watch the accompanying movie, but I still think "K-12" is a very meh album. The production is generic and a lot of the lyrics are awful, despite the subject matter being pretty decent. "Nurse's Office" has to be one of the worst tracks of the year, in my opinion.

Fav Tracks: High School Sweethearts, Show & Tell, Wheels on the Bus, Strawberry ... read more

Alright, this is a mess. Whereas "beerbongs & bentleys" was a collection of druggy trap bangers with some of the catchiest pop hooks this part of the decade, "Hollywood's Bleeding" feels like a poorly planned set of ideas that range from great to bland. There are definitely some tracks that I really liked, though. "Circles" is a great indie pop track with a solid bass groove and gorgeous vocal melodies, the title track is a great opener and "Take What You ... read more

"Man Alive" is kind of an underappreciated album in my opinion. The instrumentation is great, the production is stellar and the songwriting is so damn good!

Fav Tracks: Suffragette Suffragette; Querty Finger; MY KZ, UR BF; Photoshop Handsome; Schoolin'; Tin (The Manhole); NASA Is On Your Side; Weights

Least Fav Track: Leave The Engine Room

Score:
8.9
Exceptional

Today has been one HELL of a day for singles

AAAAAAAAAAAnd we're off to a great start

I wouldn't say it's a huge evolution from her previous work, but we still have more time to tell and it still sounds great.

UPDATE: Y’know what? Who the fuck cares? I’m hyped!!!

[Treasure Tue-Wednesday Ep. 4]

µ-Ziq supplies "Royal Astronomy" with some solid IDM grooves. The synths can sound a little cheap at times, especially today, but it still has a good deal of variety and some fun samples to top it off.

Fav Tracks: Goodbye, Goodbye; Autumn Acid; The Fear; Scaling; Burst Your Arm; 56; The Motorbike Track; World Of Leather

Least Fav Track: Scrape

Treasure Approval Rating:
8
Great

Hmm... kind of a disappointment this one. While there are some cool ideas that keep them up with today, they all fall flat and sound more generic than anything that spices up their sound. The electro swing elements are still there, but not as abundant, which I wouldn't have minded if the genre's popularity died a long time ago.

Fav Tracks: Plume, Supersonics, About You, April, Waterguns

Least Fav Tracks: Melancholia, Miracle

Score:
5.2
Average

That's six nudes ya dumbo.

"Twelve Nudes" is a very fun and energetic rock record complete with great songwriting from Ezra Furman and simple but adrenaline-pumping instrumentation. I just wish it was a touch longer.

Fav Tracks: Evening Prayer aka Justice, Rated R Crusaders, Thermometer, Transition From Nowhere to Nowhere, Calm Down aka I Should Not Be Alone, What Can You Do But Rock 'n' Roll, I Wanna Be Your Girlfriend

Least Fav Track: Blown

Score:
8.2
Great

"Forever Turned Around" is a short, simple and heartwarming album with sweet melodies, warm instrumentation and irresistible falsettos. While it doesn't have any tricks up its sleeves, it's still enjoyable and calming while also being mostly cohesive.

Fav Tracks: Valleys (My Love), Used To Be Lonely, Giving Up, Before I Know It, Song For Ty, Forever Turned Around

Least Fav Track: Rhododendron

Score:
8
Great