the ascension is the first sufjan stevens album without its own distinct personality. it still carries over his expert songwriting and wonderful ability to tell stories with his music, but as a whole, the ascension just doesn't do it for me as much as something like illinois or the age of adz. "make me an offer i cannot refuse," "ativan," and "america" all stand out as highlights, but nothing else really does.

machine gun kelly is a shitty rap artist. we all know this. that being said, his departure from rap music into pop punk is actually kind of enjoyable, if generic at times, and it's certainly a huge leap forward from what he normally does. the first five songs ("title track," "kiss kiss," "drunk face," "bloody valentine," and "forget me too") are honestly really huge bangers, and although the rest of the album fails horribly at recreating the ... read more

2020 is the year of nu-disco. first, we got dua lipa's future nostalgia, a great modern reinvention of classic disco sounds; then, we got jessie ware's what's your pleasure?, which remastered the energy and feeling of those sounds to create one of the best-produced albums like,, ever?? and now we have róisín machine, which continues murphy's streak of great pop albums but with a much more faithful disco spin—it sounds like it's coming right out of a 70s nightclub and that's ... read more

eartheater is absolutely incredible at making her albums their own separate entities, each with their own distinct atmosphere and sound, only sharing alexandra drewchin's mystifying vocal performances and enchanting energy between them. whereas irisiri was dark and dystopian and trinity was lush and aquatic, phoenix: flames are dew upon my skin is majestic, as if i'm standing on mountaintop and watching the world below me fall into ruin—especially with the powerful string sections on ... read more

glitchy, stringy, ultra clean yet so so so chaotic... yeah i love this album.

feeling cool and normal is one of the most consistent and full-of-personality hyperpop releases that i've heard recently, which is really great considering the catchy hooks and great production on songs like "cishets (i don't want it at all)."

soft power is a really unique pop record, with hauntingly sparse house grooves that work super well with maria minerva's laid back(?) vocal performances, especially on songs like "had me at hello."

apple is sonically beautiful, unique, and superbly dreamy. i love the direction that a.g. cook took on this album, and although it isn't as diverse as 7g was earlier this year, it's a huge and welcome step forward.

ava max's debut album, having been riddled with delays and small tweaks for what feels like forever now, is pretty good. it's not groundbreaking by any means, but it doesn't really need to be—i don't listen to ava max to be impressed by her vocal talent or songwriting prowess, since neither is particularly strong on heaven or hell. if anything, she's a master curator of pop music tropes and styles, and this album is proof of that, with inspiration ranging from pop classics like abba and ... read more

ten billion angels is just a really polished, really intricate, and overall just really great electronic album that i think pushes boundaries and plays with my expectations of what uk bass can be.

i love the eerie synth sounds on this album, and i'm really glad that the meridian brothers incorporated them so well and distinctly on it. kind of like kali mutsa's 2014 album souvenance, cumbia siglo xxi does a really good job at incorporating and adapting traditional music into whatever they see fit, and it works really well most of the time.

l'ère du verseau was pretty forgettable apart from "je t'aime encore" and "menu du joir," and while i definitely think it'll grow on me, i don't necessarily like a lot of the production or performances on it—they seem a little generic at times and aren't as engaging as they could be.

i liked a few choice cuts from here, like "twilight," "lost boy," "frankenstein," "danger incorporate," and "isolation," but everything on here was just obnoxiously boring.. if that even makes sense. for being only 40 minutes long, it's bloated as fuck and feels like it could have done the same amount of stuff with ten or even fifteen minutes cut from it.

personalia is a pretty eccentric pop album, and although some of the hooks on it are questionable at best, the ones that are good.. they're really fuckin good. "sanctimitus detrimitus," "personalia," and "classical toys" all stand out and are really worth checking out from this album.

good, meaningful songwriting and beautiful orchestrations? yeah, i liked this album. it's like looking back at days long gone.

it's all good, but the middle is just .. not as good as the angriest parts of the album.

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original score: 100
original review:
on their own, devi mccallion and katie dey make great music in their own right, and although their first collaborative project, 2018's some new form of life, was good, magic fire brain sees their strengths play off of each other in a really beautiful way, unlike anything i've heard from either of them before. i love the songwriting on this album, the ... read more

i don't normally like giving two 100s in a row, but fuck it—nothing else has really been on my radar and i love this album. souvenance is such a diverse album, and it does a great job at bridging the gap between traditional latin music and electronic influences, being hugely interesting while also lots of nonstop fun, kinda like m.i.a.'s matangi in a way (but so much more experimental than that album imo, so that should give you a scope on just how WILD souvenance is).

i've been waiting for so long to review this album because i wanted the other version that's on this site to be corrected first .. pain 💔

anyway, i've adored this album ever since it came out in november, and i really wish that it was more recognized because it's such a dreamy take on downtempo stuff and it's one of the most unique albums i think there is in that genre. there are so many arrangements on voyeur that i think are so beautiful, whether that's because of the chilling vocals, ... read more

dmz is one of the most unique releases i missed last year, and i wish i had known about it when it was released because WOW most of the songs on here are huge vibes. it was produced by high school students, and yeah that's a glaring hole in this project, but yknow what? it works. i love the weird harmonies that exist all over this album, especially on "no wind resistance!," and most of the chill, almost cloud-rap-like production is really interesting when paired with kinneret's ... read more

yeah!! she's back at expanding her sound, and i'm all for it.