2020, for me at least, is a worrying year for hip-hop releases so far. Not a lot of releases have particularly wowed me and those that did shrunk on me. "Alfredo", the collaboration project from Freddie Gibbs and The Alchemist, does give me some hope for the rest of the year, even if it won't show up on my year-end list anytime soon. In terms of style, Freddie treads some familiar ground. But it's still a formula that works for him extremely well. His crime boss-esque delivery works ... read more

Dearest Lady Gaga stans, we are not here to sabotage your precious album. We're actually here on this website for music criticism to do, well, exactly that. Art is subjective and music is art. Therefore, music is subjective. Now, on to the actual review.

So, "Chromatica" is alright. I'm actually surprised at how much I actually enjoyed some of it. Some of my favorites from the record, "Sine from Above", "911", "Enigma" and "Alice", are all ... read more

[Album of the Day Challenge: Day 11]

"Climb" is a mildly impressive debut with a lot of heart and emotion packed into it. I really like the lo-fi, bedroom-recorded production on here and the weak vocal delivery can definitely work with some of the more personal subjects. "Fear" is especially a highlight in just how hard the lyrics hit, plus the vocals are at their most passionate here. It's not absolutely perfect, however, as there are times where the lyrics get into corny ... read more

[Album of the Day Challenge: Day 10]

Lemme just start by saying that used to come back to this a lot. Most of these mashups... THEY JUST WORK. "Kirino Kausaka Is a HOTTIE" showed me that there definitely needs to be anime of the BROCK bois. In fact, the reason they may be breaking up the band after a few albums is just to convert their forms into edgy anime characters UwU. There's also "fire coming out of king kunta's head" and "Bonfire★Rock Shooter" that are ... read more

[Album of the Day Challenge: Day 9]

Okay FINE! I listened to your album! Are you happy now?

"the sky is quite pretty today" is, well, a pretty ambient album with a mixed bag of really good and questionable ideas. I love some of the ambient soundscapes on here (GarageBand has a surprisingly hefty amount of them, believe it or not), with "minecraft: the second chapter" and "polly." packing some of the album's prettiest moments. The title track's skittering, wonky ... read more

[Album of the Day Challenge: Day 8]

I didn't think they would milk Mac Miller this hard by releasing electronic remixes of "Circles" smh

Jokes aside, "Circles" is an okay electronic album with some cool ideas going for it. "Epitaph" is a straight-forward but very well done track despite the drop needing a little more OOMPH. "watercolor" works extremely well as a closer even though it could've used a bit more trimming. There’s also "Kill the ... read more

[Album of the Day Challenge: Day 6]

Yes? Yeah. Hmm. Hmm? Yeah? Yeah. Yeah! Yes! Okay. Alright. Okay? Alright? Okayalright. Okay! Sure.

Yes.

So, as the first truly comedic project in the challenge, I thought "HOLY CRAP MY ROOM IS ON FIRE" was alright. The titles literally scream at your face the fact that it shouldn't be taken seriously. I thought the production was so overblown and compressed that it added to the charm. I was more laughing at the ridiculousness more than the jokes ... read more

Carly Rae Jepsen proves once again that her B-Side content isn't even near the quality of a B-Side, in fact, it's just as good as the album it came from! These are all catchy, well-produced and sharply-written pop songs that combine heartbreaks, crushes and a sheer amount of optimism into one great package!

Fav Tracks: Felt This Way, Let's Sort the Whole Thing Out, Summer Love, Heartbeat, Fake Mona Lisa, Now I Don't Hate California After All, Stay Away

Least Fav Track: ... read more

After over a year of delays, the final installment of the "Music for Cars" era is finally here and... well... yeah. Why am I reacting like this? The singles lineup was nothing short of terrific, but "Notes on a Conditional Form" has raised some red flags that I should've been more cautious of from the start.

While the rollout for this album was pretty bad, don't get me wrong, the singles are easily the standouts of this entire project! The record kicks off with the amazing, ... read more

[Album of the Day Challenge: Day 4]

Noise isn't typically a genre I visit in the exciting realm of experimental music, but the Germany-based Hermann Holsgr has developed a surprisingly dense ambient noise recording with "Virtuell Weltanschauung". It supports its concepts of avatars living in their own artificial world with lots of rich, glitchy textures and layered electronics. The longer tracks, "Cyboj", "Post-Digital Weltschmerz" and "Abstrakt ... read more

[Album of the Day Challenge: Day 2]

I already listened to "unceasing_dismay" when it came out and I was blown away by how intricate, detailed and just damn good this is! If this is Bvrtxk's first time producing a track like this, then WOW! This EP has a consistently dreary atmosphere and seamless transitions to other key moments, all in a perfectly well-spent 10 minutes! Looking forward to what this guy has to offer in the future!

[Album of the Day Challenge: Day 1]

I haven't checked out WOHO's other works, but I've heard plenty of good things about them. But, as the first full album I'm listened to from them, I enjoyed "Withering (Or, Songs of Yore)" quite a bit! It follows a very similar framework to the likes of Car Seat Headrest, with its lo-fi production being backed up with some interesting lyrical content. But I never felt that the "derivativeness" of this sound held back this project. I love ... read more

Somehow, in some way, Mike Hadreas strikes a chord in me with every single album he releases and "Set My Heart on Fire Immediately" is absolutely no exception! This is on par with everything else he's done in terms of quality and then some! This is a drop-dead gorgeous and diverse album that takes a lot of loving inspiration without sacrificing Mike's key vision. But the biggest selling point of any Perfume Genius album is the songwriting. Some of his best lyricism is here with ... read more

For a project that's been hard in the works for over a month in quarantine, this is really fucking impressive! Minus a couple of ideas that could've been fleshed out more, "how i'm feeling now" provides banger after Banger after BANGER! The production is top-tier bubblegum bass shit, Charli's pop songwriting is all here and accounted for and it contains some of her best material to date! Not only is "how i'm feeling now" a rousing achievement when it comes to quarantine ... read more

After a few months of a terrible album rollout, that I thankfully avoided, "Petals for Armor" is finally in its full form! The results are surprisingly fun and extremely varied throughout its 55-minute runtime! Hayley's influences can stick out a little and the tracklisting could've used some tweaking (even if it's forgivable due to the rollout), but the majority of this album is fantastic! The instrumentation is gorgeously-produced, lending a great sense of scale to each track with ... read more

"Nostalgia, Ultra" is a very solid debut that shows a lot of Frank Ocean's potential. While there are one or two cuts that I didn't really care for and the samples can get a little overbearing at points, the songwriting, production and vocal performances are still great for a big chunk of the tracklist.

Fav Tracks: Novacane, Songs for Women, American Wedding, Strawberry Swing, Nature Feels, Lovecrimes, Swim Good, We All Try

Least Fav Track: There Will Be Tears

Score:
8.3
Great

It has some great, raw production and a few really good highlights. But after the rousing success of "GREY Area", one of the best albums of 2019, this EP feels disappointing. Little Simz, despite more of her talent coming through on this EP, suffers from some underwhelming writing that lacks the introspection of her last album.

Fav Tracks: where's my lighter; might bang, might not; you should call mum

Least Fav Track: damn right

Score:
7
Good

As part of my little Cudi binge, I had to come back to this album after a long time. I'll just say that it isn't worse than "catching your face on fire while riding your bike with your dick caught in the wheel", but it comes pretty. fucking. close to matching it.

Never has an album both bored me and irritated me quite like "Speedin' Bullet 2 Heaven". Sure, there are maybe one or two decent cuts on here, and I totally get that this album was written at a time when Cudi was ... read more

Reflecting back in a time where Kid Cudi is just starting to get back on his feet, "Man on the Moon: The End of Day" showed a simpler time for the Cleveland-raised rapper. While there are a few elements that date the project and a couple of middling cuts, it's still a terrific concept album that shows lots of potential for Cudi. He doesn't have the best pen game in the scene, but his sleepy vocal delivery is alluring and complements the mostly incredible psychedelic production ... read more

There's no doubting the fact that "Making a Door Less Open" is a polarizing album. The shift to an electronic, sequenced direction and a lack of a strong concept is currently proving to be alienating for a good chunk of listeners. Those who have listened to Car Seat Headrest's deep cuts, however, know that this direction wasn't a huge surprise. He experimented with a good deal of electronic sounds on a few of Will Toledo's home-recorded Bandcamp projects. He especially made prominent ... read more