-2000th Rating!-
Xiu Xiu's latest is a strange and exciting trip, a venture deeper into the avant-garde, while still retaining the versatility and the catchiness that made them so loved in the first place. Personally, I feel like I probably need another listen or two to fully digest this, but my first impressions are that I'm really impressed and in love with what's going on here. Xiu Xiu's level of consistency across their discography never fails to amaze me.

Godspeed's latest, which goes without a title, is also a record that almost feels as though it should go without a review. Writing this out now feels vaguely uncomfortable to me, as the primary reason for this record's existence is one that I feel very unqualified to speak about, which is of course the terrifying situation going on in Gaza right now. Given that GY!BE have always been a band to return when the world has seemingly reduced itself to rubble, it's no real surprise ... read more

Really cool record but I'm not entirely sure if I understand the Pinkerton comparisons? This feels a lot more demo-ish in its recording quality and production style than "Pinkerton" did. It sounds oddly compressed in a way that that record doesn't, and in my opinion, it holds the overall experience back from being as good as it could've been had these songs been given a bit more polish. Otherwise, the energy is infectious, the instrumentals are consistently enjoyable, ... read more

thanks for always being there.

FUCK

get it? the joke is that the music is bad, that's what makes it so good!

79->93
An EP of constantly rising tension and excitement, that only builds stronger over the course of its runtime, only to inevitably coalesce and explode into a bright supernova of post-hardcore, shoegaze, noise rock, and math rock. An absolute essential for everyone.

yeule's "Glitch Princess" is, simply put, their best record. It's the best thing they've ever made, and I'm tired of pretending that it's not. Every song on this album is in some way important to understanding its overall context, every lyric sung by yeule an important and fascinating motif that all contribute to the greater picture. There are so many haunting moments of unflinching honesty throughout, with yeule displaying a level of vulnerability when it ... read more

I love this band so fucking much

Sound Collage
Noise Rock, Hardcore [EDM], J-Pop, Death Metal, Eurodance, Math Rock, Hip Hop, Post-Punk, Hardcore Punk, Thrash Metal, Post-Rock, Emo

68->95
welp.

I'm so used to AOTY overrating projects that I didn't even flinch when I saw the score this thing had, but I also knew not to get my hopes up too high. In a "shocking" turn of events, the album itself is just OK. Another perfect example of what hype does to a mf. Bad vocal performances that are greatly helped by the instrumentation and general production of this album being really solid. It's got a good flow to the whole thing even if I think it ran a ... read more

could be sadder

What a magnificent purpose...

Black Country, New Road's oft underappreciated masterpiece, "For the first time", remains 3 years after its release as one of the best albums I've ever listened to in my life. It's an album that's stuck with me ever since I first heard it, an album that took me a while to fully appreciate, but was well worth the time invested, in the end. To this day, even being extremely familiar with this album's contents, it still manages to keep me on my toes, keeps me ... read more

16 minutes of pure, unadulterated beauty. Kate Bush is an obvious influence here vocally, and I even get hints of Vespertine era Björk here and there in the waves of ethereal production and choral vocals that show up throughout. An absolute must hear, enjoyed this more than I expected to.

so fucking sad :'(

Childish Gambino's newest (and supposedly final) record is his best yet, in my opinion. While this album has received the criticism of being "messy" and "disjointed", to me, this album feels like a victory lap of Gambino playing into all his strengths, everything he's ever been good at and damn near every sound he's ever tackled through his work seems to work its way onto this album. It's almost like his TLOP if that makes sense, a massive collision of ... read more

If you'd told me a week ago that the new Mori Calliope album would be one of my favorite albums of the year... I'd probably believe you, honestly. When "Go-Getters" first dropped, I was shocked at how much I enjoyed that song, given that I'd never really enjoyed much of Mori's music before that point, let alone loved it like I did with that track. Needless to say, I was intrigued, and was excited to hear whatever she put out next, and now that time has come! ... read more

A truly haunting debut. On this record, Perfume Genius uses what little materials he has at his disposal to create a remarkable collection of incredibly depressing and uncomfortable songs. The sparse instrumentals and gorgeous vocals on display evoke an almost spiritual sense of calm.

"Bocchi the Rock" is one of my favorite anime of all time, unpopular opinion I know, and the music was one of the strongest qualities of that series in my opinion, so the fact that I loved this to the extent that I did is really no surprise to me. I've always loved J-Rock as a genre, and this record is easily one of the strongest works to come out of the genre that I've heard thus far. A huge issue that I have with the genre is songs kind of blending together for me ... read more