“De Stijl” is a huge improvement from their debut on all fronts. The flow is great, the songwriting is ingenious, the riffs are incredible and the inclusion of blues elements is outstanding (“Jumble, Jumble” is an obvious example)! Overall, this is The White Stripes’ first big stepping stone to greatness!

Fav Tracks: Hello Operator; Jumble, Jumble; You’re Pretty Good Looking (For A Girl); Truth Doesn't Make a Noise, Little Bird; Sister, Do You Know My Name?; ... read more

The White Stripes’ debut ain’t half bad. The minimalist “guitar and drums” style is nicely executed and Jack White’s songwriting shows promise. The big criticism here is that there’s nothing that truly impresses here and it’s sorely lacking in consistency. Otherwise, it’s a very raw, albeit a little rough, album with some really cool ideas.

Fav Tracks: Screwdriver, Jimmy The Exploder, The Big Three Killed My Baby, Cannon, I Fought Piranhas, Stop ... read more

Cocaine inspired this album! Scratch that. Cocaine was SLATHERED all over this album! So much cocaine that it made a whole thin, white being! In fact that character is exactly what this album brought to the table! Maybe the addiction was for the better because not only is “Station To Station” one of David Bowie’s darkest projects, it’s also one of the greatest records he’s ever made!

Fav Tracks: Station To Station, Stay, Golden Years, TVC15, Word On A Wing, Wild ... read more

Bowie’s change in direction from glam rock to the soul genre may sound disorienting on paper, but “Young Americans” never feels uninspired and it has the same love and care that was put into his other works. It’s danceable, well-written and ingeniously produced, and it proves, once again, that David Bowie is one hell of a genre chameleon!

Fav Tracks: Win, Young Americans, Fame, Somebody Up There Likes Me, Fascination

Least Fav Track: Across The ... read more

Vampire Weekend continues to further refine their sound. It’s hooky, it’s energetic and it’s a joy to listen to! But it’s also got a ton of emotional weight thanks to some excellent writing from Ezra. Top that off with great production, tight instrumentation and great performances and “Modern Vampires Of The City”, even to this day, remains one of my favorite indie records of the decade!

Fav Tracks: Hannah Hunt, Step, Unbelievers, Diane Young, Obvious ... read more

(Reposted and re-reviewed due to a lackluster original review)

While their other releases have improved on this sound and there are a couple of annoying spots in the tracklist, Vampire Weekend’s debut is a smart and beautifully-produced record heightened by Ezra Koenig’s boyish charm.

Fav Tracks: Oxford Comma, Mansard Roof, A-Punk, Campus, Walcott, Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa, M79

Least Fav Track: One (Blake’s Got A New Face)

Score:
8.6
Exceptional

I see a lot of potential in Boogie. His versatility as a rapper is impressive as his flows and lyrics are incredible. That combined with outstanding production and great features makes “Everything(dammit)s For Sale” a very promising debut!

Fav Tracks: Rainy Days, Silent Ride, Lolsmh - Interlude, Swap Meet, Soho, Self Destruction, Whose Fault, Tired / Reflections

Least Fav Track: Skydive

Score:
8.6
Awesome

I haven’t heard any of these artists’ songs yet, but both Phoebe Bridgers and Connor Oberst’s songwriting and production styles complement each other really well, making for one sweet, adorable and fun collaborative record.

Fav Tracks: Sleepwalkin’, Exception To The Rule, Big Black Heart, Dylan Thomas, Dominos, Chesapeake

Least Fav Track: Forest Lawn

Score:
8.4
Great

Just to make it clear, I was never a fan of Bring Me The Horizon to begin with. “amo” ditches their metalcore/post-hardcore roots in favor of a full-on alt-pop approach. The production is great, the instrumentation is alright, the lyrics are... fine and I appreciate their willingness to experiment. However, the whole album is a mixed bag of cool “rock” songs and drab electropop bangers and, overall, I feel indifferent for this album.

Fav Tracks: nihilist blues, heavy ... read more

Do you know that one middle-aged guy at your local bar who sings karaoke of songs from back in his day but doesn’t have the vocal range? That’s basically Rivers Cuomo in a nutshell. The half-assed production and crappy mixing already add to that karaoke feel.

Fav Tracks: Africa, Everybody Wants To Rule The World, Happy Together, No Scrubs, Paranoid (actually not that bad)

Least Fav Tracks: Mr. Blue Sky (they fucking butchered it!), Billie Jean, Stand By Me

Score:
4.7
Rivers of Cum

“Meeting Of The Waters” has a great concept with its recording location that works extremely well! While the second half wanders a little bit, the EP still gives us the beautiful atmosphere we’ve wanted since the mid-2000’s.

Fav Tracks: Man of Oil, Blue Noses

Least Fav Track: Amazonawana / Anaconda Opportunity

Score:
8.2
Great

I guess it’s a bit better than “Painting With” in terms of variety but the tracklist can feel rushed at times.

Fav Track: Jimmy Mack

Least Fav Track: Goalkeeper

Score:
6.4
Fine

It’s a good thing Deakin wasn’t there for “Painting With” because “Sleep Cycle” contains some of the most original and passionate work found in an AnCo solo record in a long time!

Fav Tracks: Golden Chords, Footy, Good House, Just Am

Least Fav Track: Shadow Mine

Score:
9
Outstanding

Vampire Weekend hasn’t changed a bit throughout these past 6-ish years and that makes me happy! Great hook, great vocal melodies, great writing, it’s catchy as hell, this is everything that a VW single should be! This is definitely one of my favorite singles of the year so far!

“Painting With” has all the components of an amazing AnCo album: beautiful production, fun as hell experimentation, great hooks and introspective lyrics. Tracks like “FloriDada”, “Lying in the Grass” and “Golden Gal” are incredibly catchy and are a few of their best cuts to date! But wait. If I seem to be praising this album so much, then why am I only giving this a “decent” score? Well, unfortunately, the creativity wears thin halfway ... read more

WOOP! WOOP! UNPOPULAR OPINION ALERT!!!

Ok. I actually like this record. Yes, it’s a little flawed. There’s a bunch of filler here and a questionable production choice there. But I love the fun blend of psychedelic experimentation and catchy pop hooks, making “Panda Bear Meets The Grim Reaper” a welcome addition to his discography in my opinion.

Fav Tracks: Mr. Noah, Tropic Of Cancer, Boys Latin, Acid Wash, Come To Your Senses, Principe Real

Least Fav Track: Selfish ... read more

It’s got the dark, brooding atmosphere of “Mezzanine” but none of the memorability of that album. A lot of the tracks also drag on for longer than they should and “100th Window” is a huge disappointment overall.

Fav Tracks: A Prayer For England, Special Cases, Butterfly Caught, Antistar, What Your Soul Sings

Least Fav Track: Everywhen

Score:
6.8
Decent

One listen of that bass of the first track, “Angel”, is all it takes to understand all the hype behind this album. The dark atmosphere, the captivating rhythms and grooves and the outstanding production and vocal contributions. Overall, “Mezzanine” remains one of the best trip-hop albums ever made (Trip-hop is something I need to get more into, but still).

Fav Tracks: Teardrop, Angel, Risingson, Inertia Creeps, Black Milk, Group Four, Dissolved Girl, Man Next ... read more

I was coming into this record expecting some surface-level pop garbage, but I wasn’t expecting anything good. It’s nothing mind-blowing but Maggie does have a nice voice, the production is good, the lyrics are alright and the hooks are great!

Fav Tracks: Fallingwater, The Knife, Alaska, Retrograde, Overnight, Light On

Least Fav Track: Say It

Score:
7.4
Good

I enjoyed the production and the writing on “IT WON/T BE LIKE THIS ALL THE TIME”. The melodies and the infectious as hell hooks are also freaking awesome! Other than that, I don’t see myself returning to this album. I still like this album a lot, but as a post-punk album it didn’t blow me away.

Fav Tracks: I/m Not Here [missing face], [10 Good Reasons for Modern Drugs], VTr, Videograms, Keep It All To Myself, Shooting Dennis Hopper Shooting

Least Fav Track: Sunday ... read more