saint dymphna is an incredibly psychedelic journey across so many different immersive soundscapes that i have no other choice but to love it. whether it's a rock-adjacent vibe or a synthpop jam, or even the fuckin,, grime song,, it all feels natural because of the album's super smooth flow and intense adventurousness that never fails to amaze me.

kitchen sink is pretty good at establishing a weird tone with its production choices, but there's nothing else really attracting me to the album. "club cougar," "trad," "kite," and "prayer mat" are standouts for me.

i don't speak french but i sure wish i did

the black eyed peas have always taken a somewhat minimal approach to production, so now that they're a reggaeton group for some reason, i thought that they'd be able to transfer that aspect of their music to the genre in an interesting way. honestly, i rather enjoyed how it made this album sound (it kinda had the same feeling as baauer's latest album in a way), but other than that, i hated this thing. it's just so unnecessary, since without fergie, there's no real reason to listen to the peas. ... read more

this is the only album

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original score: 92
original review:
jessie ware's fourth album can probably be compared easiest to dua lipa's future nostalgia, since they're both great disco-inspired pop albums. whereas dua's album is more danceable, what's your pleasure? is lush with just about everything imaginable—love, emotion, you name it—and the music follows suit with some of the best pop production ever? which just just sounds so so good and like i'm being swallowed into ... read more

emily montes's debut (if i can even call it that) strikes me the same way that farrah abraham's album does—musically inept but still good nonetheless. although emily doesn't have quite the level of emotion that farrah abraham did in her outsider masterpiece, she doesn't need to have it here because this album wasn't made to tell a heartbreaking story. instead, it's a collage of ideas that really encapsulate the thoughts that a child might be having during the current state of the world ... read more

i wasn't a huge fan of mike's mixtape from last year, tears of joy, so i'm glad to have been proven wrong with weight of the world. just think it's a super solid hip hop album,, loved cuts like "coat of many colors," "222," "no, no," "plans," and "get rich quick scheme."

i thought i'd return to this more often, but no. "like this" is the only track that i've consistently returned to.

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original score: 92
original review:
how can i is a really good deep house ep, and i don't really know what else to say other than i liked it. i liked park hye jin's experimental take on the genre, and i liked how danceable the whole thing was anyway.

i've been pretty dismissive of haim's music in the past, since i'm not really a fan of their niche, but i could at least understand their appeal on their previous two albums. apart from "i know alone" and "all that ever mattered," though, i just didn't like women in music pt. iii. the band's departure from a synthier(?) sound certainly isn't appealing to me, and i just had an all-around hard time getting into this album.

the bangers ("riquiquí," "watch," "klk," "rip the slit," "la chiquí") have only gotten better, but the slower cuts on this album have just ,,, not grown as much on me.

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original score: 97
original review:
arca has proven herself to be a boundary-pushing producer with her past work, but on kick i, she applies her expertise to create a pop album full of great stuff.

the one thing i remember from a 77 minute long album should not be just how long it is. this was a chore to get through, and i don't really want to do it again. i'll happily come back to cuts like "lowkey," "1800-one-nite," "morning," "concrete," and "we got love," but the whole thing? no way.

although the last three songs, "talking to my plants," "jungle boy," and "waterfall" are pretty great, the rest of this album just gets lost in its fuzzy guitars and noisy textures, which wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing if the songs were differentiable, but with this mixing they're just not.

i think i prefer yes, virginia over the duo's debut because it's a lot more polished (not that their first album wasn't, it's just that this album is more matured) and really exemplifies why i love the dresden dolls. i'd say that yes, virginia leans into the stylings of dark cabaret more so than ever before, and it really works well. amanda palmer's voice is still stunning, but now she uses it to her full potential and just WOW. lyrics? great as well.

i've been listening to a lot of the dresden dolls's music lately and i'm surprised that i haven't used this site to show that i love them yet. anyway, amanda palmer's voice is perfect for the genre of dark cabaret, since she's able to be extremely theatrical while not compromising on just how good she sounds here. the lyrics on the duo's debut are probably some of the best,, ever? and everything fits together so well.

i'm comfortable enough with this album to acknowledge how good it is, but it's nowhere as meaningful to me as others that i give super high scores to.

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second score: 96
second review:
what did i predict??? what did i predict. this is some of the best progressive pop i think there is, and it's such a great record. dunno what else to really say!!

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original score: 76
original review:
i can imagine this growing on me in the future, especially since some songs here are so majestic ... read more

planet's alright

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original score: 86
original review:
i only know who baauer is because of his song "harlem shake," so i went into this album with very, very low expectations, and i was blown away. since 2013, he's matured so much and has evolved from making whatever that was into a respectable electronic musician who has the skills to make something really great, which he does here. planet's mad is really dark and tribal, but also manages to be energetic enough to not be a ... read more

wicked city isn't as fleshed out and luscious as jockstrap's previous ep, love is the key to the city, but it's also a lot more experimental than it too. i still prefer that ep by a long shot, but tracks like "robert" and "city hell" are on par with it.

this is hands down one of the dreamiest albums i've heard all year.

i really liked tearless. it had a super mysterious energy to it and honestly is a huge step up from another life because it isn't as clean? i guess? as that album was. a lot of the songs here are shrouded in distorted noises and freaky sounds, which definitely work to this album's advantage for some reason i don't really know. it just sounds good that way.

phoebe bridgers is wise beyond her years.