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flowerboycaleb · 20 minutes

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it kinda felt like april was a less busy month than usual, but i also feel like i ended up writing way more than i usually do. there were quite a few great albums this month, one that has a strong case for being my album of the year!! there were a few bad and/or disappointing ones though and u can hear me rant and rave about them in this post!!! to check out my thoughts on some of the songs that dropped this month click here!!! also feel free to follow me on rate your music and twitter <3

Only God Was Above Us - Vampire Weekend

🥇 BEST ALBUM OF THE MONTH

◇ genres: indie rock, chamber pop

Vampire Weekend is one of my favorite bands of all time. As a loser Pitchfork reader throughout high school, this band spoke to me in ways few could. In my eyes, at the time, they had the worldliness I craved desperately. They were city boys, connected to some great world that was beyond me as a gay kid who felt trapped in the southern countryside. The influences from African music and the lyrical references to things like kefir and keffiyehs, it was all new to me. I now know what kefir and keffiyehs are and since then I’ve taken the agency to connect with the world outside of my own without the help of these New York Ivy League kids, but I can’t deny that they helped open a door for me that seemed unopenable up to that point. Hindsight has recontextualized the band’s catalog for me. I still enjoy, even love, their older albums in a lot of the same ways I did back then, but I don’t take them at their word. I’m a lot more critical of the aesthetics of the band, especially given some potential allegations against Ezra Koenig. That easy-going, intellectual, soft vibe has proven to be a red herring many times now in the music world. With all of that being said, I was still very excited for Only God Was Above Us. The singles were excellent and they saw the band tackling new sounds with more mature lyricism. This record has the band meditating on generational problems both interpersonally and intrapersonally. About history, love, art, and the earth itself. The band doesn’t, nor are they in any position, to offer some sort of solution to these problems, but it captures the density of the topic extremely well. Despite some of my trepidations, this album is excellent. One of the best I’ve heard in a long time.

It sounds like the perfect culmination of everything they’ve done up to this. It’s both forward-thinking and introspective. It could very well be their peak or it could be a new beginning. This album was recorded with all three members of the band, as opposed to Father of the Bride, which was practically a Koenig solo album and this was definitely the direction they needed to go. They incorporate subtle musical callbacks to their past material to great effect, it feels like the band is also using this record to reflect on their journey up to this point. The opener “Ice Cream Piano” is playful, but also serious in the right ways and sets up the themes of the album very well. It also introduces the sounds of this album very well. A little jagged, psychedelic, and very layered. The lyric, “We're all the sons and daughters of vampires who drained the old world's necks,” could maybe only be pulled off right in a Vampire Weekend song. They’ve always had this playful edge to them despite being labeled as staunch Ivy League elitists throughout their careers, whether that criticism was warranted or not. “Classical” and “Capricorn” were two of the singles, both are absolutely excellent. The former growing on me so much in the context of the record that it’s now one of my favorite songs of theirs. It’s one of Koenig’s most incredibly well-written songs as it has him ruminating on what would remain after a supposed revolution. What would become classical? Massive shoutout to the saxophone part, it rules. The latter was one of my favorite singles from the get-go and it showed the band getting a little folky with it to great effect. It feels like something that would fit on their last album, Father of the Bride, but it sounds so much more organic than the bulk of that record.

“Connect” is one of their more robotic songs, but it’s also one of their most touching. The little drum parts throughout, reminiscent of “Mansard Roof,” add so much. So does that beautiful sprawling piano.“Prep-School Gangsters” sort of flew under my radar on my first few listens, but it’s one of my favorites now. That weird violin-infused breakdown at the end works so well. “The Surfer” and “Gen-X Cops” are also some of the band’s best. Both cuts are like extremely fuzzy surf music and it’s so cool. The line in the latter’s chorus, “Each generation makes its own apology” is also poignant and greatly summarizes the album’s themes. “Mary Boone” is another incredible track. A sparse ballad that eventually blooms into something baggy, not unlike what you might hear on a George Clanton record. I never expected to hear something like this from them, but I’m so glad I did. “Pravda” is probably the most like their older material, but it’s a nice addition. It has the band utilizing a lot of the soukous elements that were present on their debut album. This track also has one of the best choruses here on a record filled with amazing choruses. “Hope” is an anthemic closer, a song that was made to be played live. It’s such an optimistic way to end the album too and while the sentiment can potentially fall flat, I still enjoy it. I imagine the feeling this song gives me is the same feeling rednecks get when they listen to Uncle Kracker. I’m just enamored by the instrumentation of the record. The entire album sounds fuzzy and a bit rough around the edges, especially for them, but the instrumentation is simultaneously so dense and layered. Tackling new sounds, paying homage to the old ones. It sort of sounds like the album art. It’s an incredible experience. This is without a doubt their most mature album to date and it makes a strong case for being their best. I don’t know if it overtakes Modern Vampires of the City for me, but it certainly stands right alongside it. Time will tell if my opinion changes though.

As a longtime fan of Vampire Weekend, this album hit me pretty hard. It’s everything I could’ve wanted from the band at this stage musically. I’ve grown since I first became a fan and it seems like they have too. I believe Only God Was Above Us is one of the strongest indie rock records of the decade thus far. Every time I revisit this record, I find something new about it that I hadn’t noticed on previous listens, which is another testament to how they’ve progressed artistically, but also annoying when you’re trying to write an analysis of it. There are still some reservations I have surrounding the band, but I can’t deny that the music scratches an itch that only Vampire Weekend can do for me. I’m not as uncritical as I once was, but this album is really brilliant.

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All Born Screaming - St. Vincent

◇ genres: art rock, neo-psychedelia

I’ve enjoyed St. Vincent’s albums over the years, but most of them haven’t earned the “I really love this” distinction. Strange Mercy is probably the only exception. Granted, most of her stuff is well overdue for a relisten, but I digress. The singles leading up to this album had me very intrigued. They were sharp, industrial, and kind of funky in the case of “Big Time Nothing.” It was the most exciting she had sounded in years. My expectations for All Born Screaming were high and the album ended up exceeding them greatly. This might be Annie Clark’s strongest record to date, it’s my favorite at least. It’s an incredibly well-crafted, immersive experience with some of the strongest songwriting of her career.

Many people, myself included, expected this album to be full-blown industrial noise rock, but that isn’t the case. Some songs fully embrace it like “Big Time Nothing” and “Flea” to an extent, but that industrial-ness mainly acts as a backdrop to this sonically diverse record. Some might view this as one of the album’s weaknesses. An indication that Clark might be restraining herself, but I disagree. As a creative, she’s on fire here. Her melodies and vocal style here are like watching someone paint an intricate, very dynamic painting on a massive easel. Her vocals complement the vivid lyricism of the album as well. She embodies every word she sings. From the bittersweet loss of “Reckless” to the sinister, almost hedonistic nature of “Flea,” Clark explores every nook and cranny of these songs.

Musically, this album also shines. Clark enlists many notable guest musicians like Dave Grohl and Cate le Bon to help flesh this album’s sound out. Grohl’s drumming on “Broken Man” and “Flea” helps crank things up to another level, giving the songs a bit of an extra bite. Cate le Bon plays bass on my favorite song on the whole album, and maybe my favorite song of Clark’s period, “The Power’s Out.” That thunderous basslines towards the end were what sealed the deal for me, just an overwhelmingly amazing experience. “Violent Times” is another one of the best tracks here and has one of my favorite arrangements on the record with those guitar flares and horns which wouldn’t sound out of place on a Julee Cruise album. I also get very heavy Bowie vibes from it. The weirdest detours here are “Big Time Nothing” and “Sweetest Fruit” which are considerably quirker than the rest of the material here. The latter features a poorly executed, very parasocial tribute to the late SOPHIE which does kind of detract from the otherwise fun song. One of the rare misfires on the record, despite her good intentions. The album ends with the heavy title track which feels like such a colossal final statement. The vocals and the ascending instrumentation are just so striking, a great way to bring this album to a close.

All Born Screaming is perhaps the most well-crafted and fully realized album of Clark’s career thus far. There are very few missteps and I find myself loving it more after each listen. It also makes me want to go back and give her other albums another shot. This is one of my favorites of the year so far, don’t let this slip past you.

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Silence Is Loud - Nia Archives

◇ genres: liquid drum and bass, jungle

Nia Archives wasn’t on my radar at all, but I saw this record getting hyped up on Twitter so I decided to give it a shot. I was blown away. This is an amazing debut album from one of Britain’s most talented producers. She utilizes the jungle/drum and bass sound throughout this project to incredible results. Usually, I find myself getting tired of those skittering beats after a while, but I was fully engaged throughout the album’s 35-minute runtime. A lot of that is a testament to her strengths as a producer, but her energy as a performer and songwriter on this record is a very important part of what makes Silence Is Loud so great.

The title track kicks off the record in explosive fashion. It sounds so mesmerizing, it creates such a distinct vibe. The melody is also just infectious. The kind of track that’s firing on all cylinders. A great way to open your debut. “Cards On The Table” calms things down a bit, but not at the expense of the record’s energy. She blends in some folktronica into the jungle sound and it works so well. Another very strong chorus on this track too. There’s very rarely a dull moment throughout the first half. Just an onslaught of amazing R&B-infused drum and bass cuts that are so easy to get lost in. Much of this album’s lyrical content isn’t as dance-worthy or carefree as the music would lead you to believe. There’s longing, heartbreak, and frustration. “Tell Me What It’s Like?” is one of the few tracks here that adds some darker elements into the mix to fit the underlying meaning of the song. I do enjoy that juxtaposition of frantic, party-like beats and more melancholy lyricism, but the way that track sort of embraced it instead of running from it was so well done. It’s yet another great example of her abilities as a producer. The album’s closer, “So Tell Me…,” also does this. It sounds like a breath of fresh air, it helps you decompress from the journey the album has taken you on without killing the vibe completely. Such a great track. Silence Is Loud is an incredibly impressive debut album. This record is packed with memorable hooks and melodies to go alongside the great production. There’s such a heart to this album that makes it stick out among other drum and bass stuff I’ve heard. Nia Archives is definitely, firmly on my radar now and I can’t wait to hear whatever she does next.

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Triple Digits (112) - RiTchie

◇ genres: experimental hip hop, abstract hip hop

This was one of my most anticipated projects of the year. Ever since Injury Reserve disbanded officially last July, I’ve been patiently awaiting what both RiTchie and Parker Corey would do next. The final Injury Reserve album, By the Time I Get to Phoenix, still stands as one of the most harrowing releases of the decade. Full of great writing and production with plenty of emotion behind it to take it to the next level. I figured the first post-Injury Reserve project would come from By Storm, the new duo formed by RiTchie and Corey, but that wasn’t the case. RiTchie began dropping some incredible singles recently and Triple Digits (112), his first solo album, wasn’t too far behind.

This is a great debut for RiTchie. It strikes a nice balance between the humorous and the surreal. He branches out and works with a plethora of different producers throughout the album, even Corey on the last two tracks, and it rarely ever feels too disjointed. “WYTD?!?!” and the lead single “RiTchie Valens” are some playful, boastful moments early on in the album. They have an underlying concern to them though, like on the latter with the subtle “I’m worried about you Ritchie” lines at the start and finish, but it’s juxtaposed with this almost delusionally optimistic delivery from RiTchie. Those lines appear throughout the album too and it gives the album so much more depth than it initially lets on. The title track gets a little glitchy with it and I love it. “Dizzy” and “Looping” were my favorite singles and being placed one after the other is really interesting. It’s a drastic tonal shift, “Dizzy” is a quirky banger that has an incredible hook, and “Looping” is this atmospheric somber cut. Bold move, but it pays off very well. As I said earlier, the last two tracks have Corey on production duties and they have an undeniable chemistry. Things get dark and almost ambient. Closes the album on a much different note than it began. The posturing is over and he just gets real with the listener. Triple Digits (112) is a very impressive debut. Not every track is a hit, but the majority of the material here is pretty great. It feels like the project he needed to make in a lot of ways. Despite the somber tone at the end of the project, the future looks bright for RiTchie as an artist. I feel like he’s destined to make even more great albums whether they be solo or with By Storm or whoever.

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Connla's Well - Maruja

◇ genres: post-punk, post-rock, art-punk

Maruja’s Knockarea EP from last year took online music communities by storm. It was an exhilarating EP that showed off this band’s talents and potential extremely well. They’ve been dropping some great singles in the time since that continues to show the band’s promise. Those singles, along with some new cuts, are featured on this new EP Connla’s Well. The UK band’s saxophone-infused post-punk/post-rock gains new layers here. The songs I was familiar with going into the EP sound even better here. “The Invisible Man” is a great showcase of the band’s storytelling capabilities both lyrically and musically. The frantic drumming, the crazy saxophone parts, the underlying bass, and the sinister guitar flourishes. It’s one of the most fully realized tracks in the band’s catalog thus far. Still wows me even having heard it long before the EP was announced. Likewise with “Zeitgeist” which has the band leaning further into the art-punk of their last EP. The two new tracks here are instrumentals which might be disappointing to some, but they’re both pretty great. Especially the closer, “Resisting Resistance.” It’s very atmospheric, very post-rock. Every band member shines here and the track leaves room for everything to breathe. Excellent stuff. I have to say, I really hope we get a debut studio album from Maruja soon. Connla’s Well is wonderful, but they’re ready to take that next step. They have all the tools necessary to do so.

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This Could Be Texas - English Teacher

◇ genres: indie rock, art rock

The UK Windmill scene has birthed plenty of exciting new artists over the last few years. Bands like Black Country, New Road, Squid, black midi, and Maruja all have ties to the scene. So do English Teacher and with this debut album, I think they are going to be mentioned alongside those other exciting bands in due time. This Could Be Texas is one of those debut albums that perfectly sets the stage for the band to reach even greater heights. The musicianship here is great, some of the most eclectic and rhythmic instrumentation from the scene. From the dreamy sound of the opener “Albatross,” to the lush vibrant guitars of “The World’s Biggest Paving Slab,” and to the chamber folk of “Mastermind Specialism,” this album is full of surprises and shows off the band’s range very well. They have an exciting, young, and hungry energy to their sound that just gets you into it even through some of the weaker cuts.

The instrumentation is consistently great here, but the glue that holds this record together is Lily Fontaine. She provides the lead vocals and some of the guitars (maybe synths too) throughout the record and she absolutely nails it. The band’s vivid lyricism is fully realized through her performance. A great example of this is on “R&B” where Fontaine sings that she’s been writing sweet R&B songs for someone despite knowing that she should be writing songs for herself instead. It all explodes during the outro where the instrumentation and her vocals intensify as she continues to try to settle that inner conflict. It’s a great moment that showcases the band’s chemistry very well. This song segues nicely into “Nearly Daffodils” which has this pulsating rhythm underneath it that drives the song. It keeps you hanging on until the song’s more explosive moments. “Sideboob” is another one of my favorite tracks here. It provides a synth-heavy and welcome change of pace to the record. There’s no shortage of great songs here, but there are some weaker cuts in both the first and last half. This Could Be Texas is not without its flaws, but it’s an exciting and promising debut for an energetic new band that deserves your full attention. I expect nothing but great things from them!

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Harbour Century - Eunuchs

◇ genres: symphonic prog, avant-prog

There’s a lot to love about Australian avant-prog band Eunuchs’ sophomore album. Harbour Century is an ambitious and dense record filled with masterful instrumentation and rich, world-building lyricism that can’t be unwound on a single listen. They’re delivered through the manic, unpredictable vocals of Linus Hilton who does a great job commanding the record. Acting as some kind of twisted captain of a dingy ship or aloof storyteller in a dimly lit bar. Not to play the comparison game, but many similarities can be drawn between this album’s sound and that of black midi, although Eunuchs are significantly more symphonic. Despite all of these wonderful qualities, the record is hampered by one crucial flaw in particular—the mixing.

These songs are intense, but that intensity is lessened significantly across multiple cuts because it just isn’t loud enough, the vocals in particular. Take the opener, “Magic Death Sea Nemesis,” a layered, chaotic piece with a dynamic vocal performance. The vocals are fighting for your attention alongside the horns and the drums throughout the first portion of the song. It sort of takes me out of it because it feels like a massive oversight or an ill-advised intentional choice. Pretty much every song here, no matter how great it is, has an asterisk beside it noting that the mixing could be way better. It’s frustrating because the songs here are generally pretty great! I love the intense lyricism on “Pat a Dragon,” the uncomfortable elegance of “Gnome and Fortune,” and the subversive song structure of “Hierophant.” They show a band that has something special to them. My favorite track here is the almost 18-minute closer, “The Heroin King.” It actually benefits from the mixing in certain ways, it makes it a bit more mysterious. Harbour Century is a great record and an impressive sophomore release with limited potential due to the mixing choices. Eunuchs sound neutered here. If this album got a remix, I would sing its praises to the high heavens. I still encourage everyone to give it a shot though. Eunuchs are definitely a band that deserves your attention.

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Kabutomushi - Mei Semones

◇ genres: jazz pop, chamber pop

Similarly to the Nia Archives album from this month, I saw this EP getting some buzz on Twitter so I gave it a listen. I’m so glad I did! Jazz pop artist Mei Semones has crafted a nice, concise EP with high replay value. Kabutomushi is filled with tasteful jazzy instrumentation and really strong hooks. Semones’ guitar playing is a massive highlight here in particular. It’s so light and breezy, but so skillful. Displayed perfectly on “Wakare No Kotoba” where her guitar just dances alongside her vocals. The strings across this album are also a great touch. My favorite track here is “Inaka” which is a song for the real yearners out there. The chorus is just so bittersweet and earnest, I love it so much. Also showcases the musicianship on this record perfectly. One of my favorite tracks of the year so far. This EP is only five tracks and that’s a damn shame. By the time it was over, I wanted so much more. I plan on going through her previous EPs soon, but I can’t wait for a full project from her. I also highly recommend watching her show at Brooklyn’s Public Records, it’s such a nice performance.

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If I don't make it, I love u - Still House Plants

◇ genres: experimental rock, post-rock, math rock

Everything on If I don’t make it, I love u feels a bit off. It’s an album that’s impossible to get comfortable with. There is no groove you can settle into and no expectations to carry you through the album besides, I guess, expect that discomfort. All of that is by design though. The sound of this album consists of only guitar, drums, and vocals. It’s just a raw rhythm section with likewise raw vocals ringing out alongside it. “Experimental” is a broad descriptor, but I would say this album fits the bill pretty well. The band says that they rehearsed this album “relentlessly” which makes sense with how confident they sound. Each member’s contributions certainly stand out and they all elevate each other in unorthodox ways. The best representation of the band’s sound comes with the title track “M M M.” The dissonant instrumentation paired with the drawn-out vocals from Jess Hickie-Kallenbach make for such a unique pairing. It’s uncomfortable and even anxiety-inducing on a first listen, but you just get swallowed in it. It’s an uncompromising record on the whole, at times for better and others for worse, but there is a lot to love here if you’re willing to be patient with it.

The dissonance ramps up even further on “Pant” where David Kennedy’s drums feel like little splashes of water, like there’s a circle of people aggressively spraying water from those mist spray bottles at you. Finlay Clark’s guitar sounds like it’s on fire too, it sounds out of this world. “MORE BOY” has a bit of a slower pace to start, but it’s one of the best-paced tracks here. When the band does ramp things up, it hits so hard. Speaking of pacing, that is one of the album’s weak points. The band’s utilization of all things unconventional wears a bit thin on the ears, at least for me, after a certain point. I can’t really say the band falters because there’s no shortage of interesting ideas in the later stages of the record, this is most certainly just a me thing. I do love the skittering drum beats and the noisy guitar on “Silver Grit Passes Thru My Teeth,” one of the most exhilarating moments here. “No Sleep Deep Risk” has the band diving into slowcore territory and it yields some great results, showing the band in a bit of a different light. Again, lots of highlights despite me feeling a bit exhausted by the end.

This is a really interesting record and I can see how it could prove to be polarizing for some, but it’s definitely worth a listen. I think I would’ve loved the record more if it was trimmed down just a bit, but it’s clear the band was brimming with inspiration so who am I to try to edit them down?

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Twice Around the Sun - Ugly

◇ genres: art rock, indie rock

Twice Around the Sun is an EP that showcases an up-and-coming band with a ton of potential. The musicianship here is absolutely incredible and there are a ton of standout tracks, but also a few missteps that I feel will be ironed out by the band on future projects. There is a heavy choir influence on the vocals throughout the project. “The Wheel” opens the EP with some acapella verses and, I’ll be honest, it doesn’t do much for me. It’s very well done, but it wears thin for me pretty quickly. Things pick up though with the second half of the song which adds some instrumentation to it all. Samuel Goater’s vocals throughout sort of remind me of Jon Anderson from Yes, except this time the prog-rock feels more renaissance faire than cosmic and otherworldly. “Sha” is a massive step up from the opener and has lead vocal duties passed on to Jasmine Miller-Sauchella. It has this sort of alt-country feel to it. Probably my favorite track here. “Icy Windy Sky” is a bit of a step down in comparison and again, I find some of the vocals a little grating, but the fingerpicking guitar work really shines across this cut. I also love the big breakdown towards the end.

The final three tracks are a great run and really make this EP worth checking out. “Shepherd’s Carol” has some of the coolest instrumentation I’ve heard so far this year and the vocals are very tasteful. “Hands of Man” is considerably more somber than the rest of the project, but it works so well. Each twist and turn the music takes just hits so hard. It also has the most clever lyricism on the project, a lot of personality here. “I’m Happy You’re Here” closes the album on a very high note. It continues that more melancholic sound set by the previous track, but it has this grandiosity to it that makes for an interesting listen. I didn’t absolutely adore this EP like I was hoping I would, but Ugly are certainly on my radar now. Can’t wait to hear what they do next!

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Don't Forget Me - Maggie Rogers

◇ genres: pop rock, singer-songwriter, country pop

Maggie Rogers is an artist I’ve always wanted to like more than I do. I tried giving Heard It in a Past Life a chance around the time it came out, but it didn’t grab my interest so I never got around to listening to the whole thing. I gave her last album, Surrender, a shot and while I did finish that one, I wasn’t exactly blown away by it. She certainly has a few good tracks, but she often fails to make a consistently great record. Don’t Forget Me is no exception, unfortunately, but this is probably my favorite release of hers thus far. This album has Rogers shifting away from a lot of the alternative aspects of her sound in favor of some country-tinged singer-songwriter and this style really suits her.

“Drunk” feels like a slightly stripped-back country hit from the mid-2000s. This is one of Rogers’ vocal performances that just hits for me. It has one of those roll the window down while cruising down the road on a warm summer day choruses. The next track “So Sick of Dreaming” expands the instrumentation and it’s also one of her best. This album is at its strongest when it leans heavily into that country sound. “The Kill” is another favorite, but at this point, you run into one of the biggest problems with the album. The structure of pretty much every song here is so unadventurous. By the midpoint of the album, you can largely predict where a song is going to go. Sometimes the instrumentation may shake things up a bit. Like the sparse piano ballad “I Still Do” and the funky rhythms of “On & On & On,” but they just don’t offer many surprises beyond that. I did really enjoy the title track though. This is probably Rogers’ finest moment as a writer. There’s so much character and personality to her writing here, I believe every word she says. Overall, Don’t Forget Me is Rogers’ strongest album to date and I think it sets her on the right track, but it still has a decent amount of underwhelming cuts.

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Found Heaven - Conan Gray

◇ genres: synthpop, pop rock, new wave

Conan Gray’s last two albums didn’t do much for me in the slightest, especially Superache. I listened to one single leading up to this album, “Alley Rose,” and wasn’t a big fan of that either. Something is suffocating about Gray’s music at least in how it’s produced. It restricts the emotion that I know is present in these songs from bursting out. I figured this album would just be indicative of the single and I would be wasting my time, but I had some free time so I decided to give it a listen. Shockingly, I found a lot to enjoy in this record, but it still has a lot of the shortcomings present throughout his previous work. Gray teams up with all-star producers like Max Martin and Shawn Everett for this album and incorporates a lot of synthpop and new wave elements into his sound as well. The best moments on Found Heaven are the ones that fully embrace the glam and the danceability and move away from the sad, balladeering he made a name for himself on. The title track is one of his best, which I understand isn’t a high bar to cross, but still. Fully embracing this sound in every aspect. It sounds like a spruced-up 80s new wave hit with lyrics about queer acceptance. It’s certainly one of Gray’s strongest moments as a lyricist. “Never Ending Song” is a sleek synthpop cut that plays into his strengths very well. It’s probably also the most I’ve been impressed with a Max Martin song in a while. “The Final Fight” veers a bit too close to adult contemporary, but if you just tell yourself it’s sophisti-pop instead you can have a good time with it. The first half of this album is pretty good, but by the halfway point you can tell a lot of these ideas have unfortunately been exhausted. The hooks get weaker, the production gets more tired, the lyricism falls flat more often than not, and we get a few more of those ballads. This would’ve been a very solid EP if it consisted of just the first half or so. Nothing revolutionary, but still his finest project to date. As it stands, Found Heaven is still Gray’s best, but it’s hampered by too many cliche and boring ideas. This is a step in the right direction, I just wish Gray would stop playing it so safe musically.

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Hyperdrama - Justice

◇ genres: french electro, synthwave

I’ve been covering the singles leading up to French electro duo Justice’s new album for the last few months now. I’ve enjoyed them, but I rarely ever found myself going back to them. They were fine, just not interesting enough to keep me coming back for more. Despite that, I still wanted to give Hyperdrama a shot. I was hoping that as a full album, these songs would fully click with me and I would have a great time with it, but unfortunately, that wasn’t the case. Most of the singles somehow got worse in the context of the album. There’s such a lifeless energy to these songs that makes this a tough album to get through. Nothing here is atrociously bad, but it’s just such a tiring experience.

This is a frustrating album to write about because these songs don’t leave me with much to say. I can’t say they’re bad, but there are very few things I can rave about. Some exceptions are “Generator” which actually has some bite to it and “The End” featuring Thundercat which has a pretty good melody. The collaborations with Tame Impala are fine too, but they’re lacking the punch that would elevate them way further. “Incognito,” and a good portion of the tracks here, have all the right tools, but they don’t really come together to make something compelling. I guess Justice just wanted to have an album out in time for festival season and maybe these songs will come alive there, but as an album, Hyperdrama left me pretty cold. The only other Justice album I’d heard before this was † so I don’t know how this album ranks among their discography. I’ve heard Justice fans say this is a step in the right direction, but if that’s the case they need to take quite a few more steps in said direction. Maybe a leap.

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THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT: THE ANTHOLOGY - Taylor Swift

◇ genres: alt-pop, synthpop, singer-songwriter

The Tortured Poets Department is the sound of an artist exhausted. An artist spread far too thin, yet still receiving unadulterated praise and adoration despite it all. As soon as midnight struck on April 19th, the red carpet rolled out. Rolling Stone gave this album a perfect score, lauding it as an “instant classic” as they did with her previous studio effort. Music publications, of the nonserious variety, and of which there are many, did a deep dive into sycophancy and they will do it again the next time the megastar releases a new record. Taylor Swift has become too big to fail. There’s no time to process the art in any way. It’s immediately an “instant classic.” An important, seminal work whether it deserves that distinction or not. Let me make it clear, I don’t hate Taylor Swift. I enjoy a decent amount of her music and I’ll defend her from wrongful criticism like the kind she faced throughout the 2010s for crimes such as simply being a woman and writing break-up songs. However, this complete 180 at the turn of the decade where Swift instantly became an untouchable, revolutionary artist in the eyes of many just feels so forced. I liked folklore and evermore. I respect her for re-recording her old albums so she can fully profit off of her work, every artist deserves that (even though she is a billionaire and is running promotional ad campaigns with Spotify who are anti-art to their very core and want musicians to live off table scraps for the foreseeable future).

This distinction is uncomfortable and it seems as though, at points in the album, Swift feels the same way. She’s drowning in her own fame, losing her individuality, yet she simultaneously keeps feeding into it. This is an album less about pushing her artistry forward and instead building her own mythos, her own lore if you will, so her stans can have a field day and pick it apart until the next one comes out. This album’s central focus is Swift’s “tortured poetry” and that becomes glaringly apparent as the album rolls on. The musical ideas here are so by the numbers for her, hardly any surprises to be found. The arrangements and production are all competent, but it stays far too within a comfort zone that just makes the album feel so sterile. So is Swift’s writing here good? Not particularly, there are a few clever lines, but it’s trying way too hard to be just that. You can definitely tell she’s been spending time around Phoebe Bridgers and Lucy Dacus, but she adds her own millennial charm to it. Simply put, this album is not for someone who isn’t deeply ingrained in the Swift Extended Universe, which seems like a dwindling number of people.

Getting through the first half of this surprise double album wasn’t very enjoyable. “Guilty as Sin?” and “Clara Bow” were my favorite tracks from the first “disc,” the latter actually revealing some interesting depth to her writing that wasn’t present before, but besides that, I was predominantly either apathetic or actively disliking a lot of it. The second half is largely produced with The National’s Aaron Dessner and it’s a very welcome change of pace. It is significantly better, that or maybe I’m having a case of Stockholm syndrome. One of my favorites is “The Albatross” which is pretty well-written and the arrangement is so much more tangible than anything in the first half. Her lyricism on this half still isn’t perfect and it even makes me laugh at certain points, but I would say it’s stronger overall. “I Hate It Here” is rough though. The second verse has Swift singing “My friends used to play a game where / We would pick a decade / We wished we could live in instead of this /I'd say the 1830s but without all the racists / And getting married off for the highest bid.” There are a handful of embarrassing lyrics across this album that I decided not to cover, but I couldn’t ignore that one. Swift pining for the Jacksonian Era.

Neither The Tortured Poets Department, nor the extended THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT: THE ANTHOLOGY, are going to convert any Swift haters, but it will certainly keep the Swift enjoyers happy until the next Taylor’s Version. As for those with relative Swift fatigue, like myself, this didn’t do much for me either. I find it overall to be musically unadventurous with lyrics that often insist upon themselves, but there are a few decent songs here. Regardless, you might as well buckle up because this album will be inescapable.

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I'M DOING IT AGAIN BABY! - girl in red

◇ genres: pop rock, indie pop

I haven’t been the biggest fan of girl in red over the years. Her songwriting is mediocre and uninteresting on pretty much every level, at least to my ears. Despite that, I still decided to give I’M DOING IT AGAIN BABY! a fair shot, maybe she would wow me this time! That was not the case. If anything, this record is somehow a step further down from her already middling previous material. She dives pretty heavily into this overly confident pop rock and this sound shows off her weaknesses more than her bedroom pop stuff. There are some bad moments on the record for sure, one being the opener “I’m Back” which falls flat on its face despite the earnestness and the melody sounds like it’s ripped from Eiffel 65’s “Blue (Da Ba Dee),” but most of the album is just painfully uninteresting. She brings the confidence throughout the album, but it’s like a child showing off the crayon drawing they did at school.

“DOING IT AGAIN BABY” sounds like it would fit perfectly in an Old Navy commercial. The lyrics in the chorus are triumphant, but it just feels so disingenuous almost like an obligation. “Phantom Pain” is pretty enjoyable, but I couldn’t see myself going back to it regularly at all. It’s a perfect filler alternative radio track. On the flip side, “Ugly Side” is the kind of alternative radio track that would make me change the station immediately. Something about those bouncy choruses in a lot of the modern alt. hits really just rubs me the wrong way. “★★★★★” closes the album on a weird note and it has this weird glitchy alt-pop sound that clashes strangely with the lyrics about being at the Chelsea Hotel studying music history and the struggles of working in the music “biz.” Strangely, as rough as this track is, I want her to go in this direction more. Please get weird with it, shake things up, and set yourself apart. The final track in a lot of ways delegitimizes a lot of this record talking about “making magnificent trash” and “writing hits at the factory.” I don’t know, it’s an interesting juxtaposition I guess, but it doesn’t save this record from being largely unworthy of your attention.

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Might Delete Later - J. Cole

◇ genres: trap, southern hip hop

I think the concept of a “big 3” of 2010s rap is very silly, especially because of how vast the genre was during that decade and beyond, but few artists are as undeserving of being included in that conversation as J. Cole. Chart success, sure, I guess. However, Cole has consistently been a feckless writer. A sheep in wolf’s clothing. He parades himself as an intellectual, but his pen game doesn’t display that at all. His music is for people who crave the aesthetics of something intelligent but don’t actually hold any meaningful beliefs. Kendrick Lamar made a quick snipe at J. Cole in a diss that was largely about Drake in his feature on “Like That” from the Future & Metro Boomin album from last month. Seemingly in response, Cole drops Might Delete Later, an embarrassing mixtape that in a perfect world should disqualify him from being mentioned alongside his much greater contemporaries.

This tape is full of embarrassing bars and uneventful production. In Cole’s first verse on the first track, “Pricey,” he makes a reference to Rick & Morty and in his second he shouts out Louis Farrakhan which is just so groan-inducing. He proclaims he’s “hungrier than all the newcomers” on the second track “Crocodile Tearz” and I guess confidence is key, but even he has to know that’s not true. He’s sleepwalking his way through this thing. “Pi” has Jermaine delving into transphobia for a cheap punchline and a dig at cancel culture and “tough guys” on the internet. It’s just humiliating. It exposes him as a hack. The only other track worth mentioning is “7 Minute Drill” which is THE Kendrick diss track. How does he fire back at him? He tells him he has great albums, classics even. He tries to insinuate that he’s boring and like ok? He closes out the tape by teasing his next album right after he says that he “can drop two classics right now.” Yeah, sure man. This is a fucking mess. To make matters worse, a few days after the tape’s release Cole apologized for the diss track and says they’re working on removing it from streaming services. Might Delete Later is a hilariously appropriate title. He should delete this now.

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Fireworks & Rollerblades - Benson Boone

◇ genres: adult contemporary, pop rock

My introduction to Benson Boone was through his big TikTok hit “Beautiful Things” which has one of the most horrible pre-choruses in music history. I thought surely this is someone doing a cover of a terrible early 2000s Aerosmith song, but no this is a Boone original! Not long after I was exposed to that song, I learned he had an album on the way. Oh, joy! I’ll be honest, I did a hate listen. I’m the kind of guy who isn’t going to hate on an artist or a project without giving it a fair listen. This one tested me. It was tough to get through. Every boring or wrong decision that could be made in music history is made here. This dude is a little under a year older than me and he’s already stuck making boring adult contemporary, pop-rock schlock. Music for church youth groups. It reeks of label decisions, no artistic freedom to be found. Not saying Boone has any worthwhile ideas, he sounds like a total bore, but this feels like Walmart exclusive colored vinyl pressing bait. “Slow It Down” is one of the worst offenders here. It feels like music written to fit a specific mood rather than music born about genuine emotion. A lot of the album has that feel. “Forever and a Day” is music made for a photo compilation of the bride and groom at a wedding. The lyrics don’t matter, it’s just the feeling. The royalty-free arrangements do nothing to help either. This is just abysmal, my worst nightmare.

The music is so apathetic that it actually made me angry. 49 minutes of some of the most grueling, agonizing music I’ve ever heard. After trudging through this album I felt like I needed to listen to some really abrasive harsh noise to cleanse my palette. Horrible experience. Also baffled at how someone could be a little under a year older than me and decide to make music like this. Have you no ambition whatsoever?

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flowerboycaleb · 20 minutes

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i'm realizing that my analysis for these posts in my month in review series are a lot less in-depth than the albums one, but i'm ok with that. it still motivates me to keep up with new singles even if my writing isn't as strong. anyways, there were some really cool songs this month especially towards the end!! to check out my thoughts on some of the albums, EPs, and mixtapes that came out this month click here!!! also feel free to follow me on rate your music and twitter <3

"Club classics" | "B2b" - Charli XCX

◇ featured on brat - Charli XCX (not yet released) ◇ genres: futurepop, bubblegum bass

Charli XCX kicked off the month by releasing two singles from her upcoming album brat. I wasn't super impressed with "Von dutch," but I'm loving these tracks a lot more. I just think the ideas presented on these two songs are much more interesting. "Club classics" pays tribute to frequent collaborators A.G. Cook (one of the song's producers) and SOPHIE both lyrically and musically. "B2b" is a lot more rhythmic, but those thumping synth lines keep it within the theme. These tracks have me a bit more excited for the album!

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"86Sentra" - NxWorries

◇ featured on Why Lawd? - NxWorries (not yet released) ◇ genre: west coast hip hop

Knxwledge and Anderson .Paak's project NxWorries is coming back with a new album soon and while I'm not super familiar with the group's work, this is a pretty decent, quick single. It's very lowkey, almost too lowkey, but it's hard to expect a lot from a track that's under two minutes. Hopefully the full record has more fleshed out cuts than this!

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"Eyes Closed" - Imagine Dragons

◇ genres: pop rock, electropop

What do you expect? Did Imagine Dragons get in gear and drop something cool and different? No, of course they didn't. It's the same flavor of bombastic electronic infused, vaguely rock cuts with big arena-ready choruses that feel incredibly empty. Music made for WWE promo videos. To their credit, they are one of the most consistent bands of the modern era ... consistently terrible that is!!! *cue laughter, applause, and fireworks*

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"Dream State" - Kamasi Washington

◇ featured on Fearless Movement - Kamasi Washington (not yet released) ◇ genres: jazz fusion, spiritual jazz

The latest single from Kamasi Washington's upcoming album features flute contributions from André 3000. This might be my favorite single so far. André's flute pairs very well with Washington's saxophone throughout. The song starts slow, as the instruments mingle with one another. Like a feeling out stage, until the drums and bass kick in towards the middle and everything just slides into place perfectly. So excited to hear this full album.

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"Karma" - JoJo Siwa

◇ genres: electropop, dance-pop, gay-pop

I almost feel bad tearing into this new JoJo Siwa single. We all know it's bad. Her silly KISS-adjacent makeup, the interview where she says she wants to make a new thing called "gay-pop" (pop music, definitely not a genre that is rich with queerness already), the "DREAM GUEST ON MY PODCAST" thing, it's been a busy month for her. This single sucks though. Corny and embarrassing. No one is buying this "mean girl" act unless they're like a pre-teen or something. Grow up, JoJo. For real this time.

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"Cowboys Are Frequently Secretly Fond of Each Other" - Orville Peck & Willie Nelson

◇ featured on Stampede - Orville Peck (not yet released) ◇ genres: contemporary country, singer-songwriter

Orville Peck and Willie Nelson have teamed up for a new version of Ned Sublette's iconic satire on cowboy stereotypes. Despite the song's suggestion that every gay man is inherently effeminate, I've always gotten a kick out of it. This new version is no different. Peck has been one of the shining stars in country music over the last few years and Willie Nelson is Willie Fucking Nelson. I think I prefer Nelson's solo version from 2006, but again, this is a lot of fun. Looking forward to Peck's new album!

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"Good Luck, Babe!" - Chappell Roan

◇ genres: synthpop, pop rock

I had no idea who Chappell Roan was before this month. She was all over my Twitter feed in the days leading up to and following this new single "Good Luck, Babe!" I definitely see what the hype is about. This is one of the most solid synthpop tracks I've heard in a while. Roan's energy is electric too. I feel like she's going to be an even bigger name within the next few years. Definitely need to go back and listen to her last album.

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"Reaching Out" - Beth Gibbons

◇ featured on Lives Outgrown - Beth Gibbons (not yet released) ◇ genres: krautrock, art pop

Another absolutely incredible single from Beth Gibbons before her new record drops next month. This one is a lot more avant-garde than the previous, but it rules so hard. The minimal instrumentation puts the focus on the multi-layered vocals and it's so cool. When the instrumentation ramps up it feels even more earned. Lives Outgrown is still one of my most anticipated albums of the year, even more so after this track.

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"Wanna Be" - GloRilla & Megan Thee Stallion*

◇ featured on Ehhthang Ehhthang - GloRilla ◇ genres: crunk, southern hip hop, trap

I've been aware of GloRilla for a bit now, but I never actually heard one of her songs until now. This rules. "Wanna Be" is a sharp southern hip hop cut from two of the most charismatic artists in that field. Megan definitely has more starpower, at least right now, but they're on an equal playing field here. Both of them just sound ferocious. The beat is a little generic, but the performances carry the song to greatness. I definitely need to give this full album a listen sometime.

*this was written before the lawsuit filed against Megan Thee Stallion.

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"b i g f e e l i n g s" - WILLOW

◇ featured on Empathogen - WILLOW (not yet released) ◇ genres: jazz-rock, jazz pop

Another great new cut from WILLOW that shows her going into a more jazz pop direction!! I know I said last month when writing about "symptom of life" that I was being cautiously optimistic about what she doest next, but hearing this puts me at ease just a bit. Not completely, there will probably be some horrible collab with someone in the near future, but I'm at least extremely looking forward to Empathogen. I loved a lot of her rockier tracks over the last few years, but the singles leading up to this album show an artist at the top of their game thus far.

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"Illusion" - Dua Lipa

◇ featured on Radical Optimism - Dua Lipa (not yet released) ◇ genres: dance-pop, diva house

A lot of my criticisms of the recent Dua Lipa singles unfortunately apply to "Illusion" as well. These are competently crafted pop tracks, but they leave me feeling so hollow. I don't wanna dance, sing along, I'm just so uninvested. She just has barely any presence on these tracks. Radical Optimism is just around the corner and I'm worried that I'm gonna be severely disappointed by it.

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"overseas" - Ken Carson

◇ genres: rage, southern hip hop

I haven't been the biggest Ken Carson fan in recent years, but I heard this new single getting some buzz so I decided to give it a shot. I definitely didn't hate it, but I'm not in love with it either. The beat here is really cool, but Carson just doesn't bring the heat. It's like trying to fit a round peg in a square hole.

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"Espresso" - Sabrina Carpenter

◇ genres: dance-pop, nu-disco

I wish I could say I'm on the Sabrina Carpenter train, but I'm just very underwhelmed by everything I've heard. This is a sleek pop cut with disco leanings, but it's almost like too sleek. Everything down to Carpenter's vocals is just so pristine. I do like the hook though, it's pretty catchy. I just wish there was a bit more punch to it, could've been so much better!!

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"DBZ" - Your Old Droog, Method Man & Denzel Curry

◇ genres: chipmunk soul, drumless, jazz rap, east coast hip hop

We got an all-star cut from Your Old Droog, Method Man, and Denzel Curry with a beat by Madlib. Yeah, this is pretty good. It feels like a cheat code, like yeah of course this rocks. Droog's verse is pretty strong, but out of everyone here I'm the least familiar with his catalogue. Method Man's verse rules, he brings that classic flavor to the track that Lib's beat calls for. Curry rocks this too. Not a gamechanger track or anything, but this is definitely a worthwhile track.

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"David Byrne Does Hard Times" - Paramore & David Byrne

◇ genres: new wave, funk

David Byrne returns the favor to Paramore for their cover of "Burning Down the House" with his own version of the band's smash hit "Hard Times." He strips back the instrumentation just a bit, really the energy on the whole, but it works decently well. The bridge towards the end here is where this song really hits. Also that saxophone throughout is such a nice touch. It's just a fun little cover, doesn't outdo the original, but it's nice to see a legend like Byrne tipping his cap to them.

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"Push Ups" - Drake

◇ genres: hardcore hip hop, trap

Oh lord, the great rap beef of April 2024. I touched on it briefly when I talked about Kendrick Lamar's verse on "Like That" from the Future & Metro Boomin album from last month, but it really ramped up this month. J. Cole had a sheepish, pathetic diss towards Kendrick meanwhile Drake somehow brought way more fire. It's still just funny to see Drake throw stones at anyone considering he has one of the biggest glass houses of all time. He's taking a break from gambling streams to make diss tracks, he's just such a funny character.

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"What Happened to You, Son?" - Belle and Sebastian

◇ genres: jangle pop, twee pop

I was really underwhelmed by Belle and Sebastian's previous album, but I enjoy this single more than anything on that record for sure. It's still got some unremarkable instrumentation and some clunky verses, but it's a fun listen. There's some witty lyrics here and I guess it's nice to hear them still rolling along, but I'll probably just stick with If You're Feeling Sinister.

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"Only One" - Cassandra Jenkins

◇ featured on My Light, My Destroyer - Cassandra Jenkins (not yet released) ◇ genre: sophisti-pop

A few years ago I remember listening to Cassandra Jenkins' last album An Overview on Phenomenal Nature on a whim, I thought it was ok! It hasn't been in my regular rotation, but I was reminded of Jenkins because of this new single and the announcement of her next album. This is a really tasteful track with gorgeous melodies and a vocal performance that sounds heavenly. This new album is certainly on my radar now and I'm definitely gonna go back and listen to her last album again.

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"Starburster" - Fontaines D.C.

◇ featured on Romance - Fontaines D.C. (not yet released) ◇ genre: post-punk

Oh this track fucking rules. Fontaines D.C. have been on my radar for a bit, but I never gave them a listen until now. I definitely need to familiarize myself with their stuff because "Starburster" is amazing. A great mixture of post-punk, rap rock, and dance music. A lot of those sounds feel opposed, but they come together so nicely here. This rules, I'm definitely gonna keep my eye on them leading up to this new album coming up.

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"Wake Up" - Backxwash

◇ genres: hardcore hip hop, industrial hip hop

Backxwash has been making some of the most interesting industrial hip hop and horrorcore of the last few years. This new single "Wake Up" is a great example of that. The production is so atmospheric, making way for her strained, exasperated delivery. It gives the track such a distinct energy. The midway point of the track gives all focus to the fuzzy beat before leading into an insane beat switch. I've never heard her on a beat like this before, but she absolutely kills it. Great track!

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"Right, Wrong or Ready" - Kara Jackson

🥇 BEST SONG OF THE MONTH

◇ genres: singer-songwriter, chamber folk

Kara Jackson dropped a cover of Karen Dalton's "Right, Wrong or Ready" this month and it's absolutely gorgeous. I wasn't aware of the original before this, but I think I prefer this cover to the original. Gorgeous chamber folk instrumentation and Jackson's vocals are, as to be expected, sublime. One of those songs that makes you appreciate just how beautiful music can be. I loved Jackson's last record and I'm hoping we get more new music from her soon, but I'll be bumping this one for a while.

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"Rewilding" - Thurston Moore

◇ genres: slacker rock, noise rock

While I'm a little disappointed this new Thurston Moore single released for Earth Day isn't a detour into experimental hip hop like Kim Gordon's recent music, "Rewilding" is a pretty decent slacker rock cut with some noisier moments. The instrumentation on here leans pretty tame, but it's still a cool listen. I'm not super familiar with Moore's solo work and I'm not sure when or if I'll get around to it. Unfortunately, this single isn't really pushing me to familiarize myself with it.

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"Like I Say (I runaway) - Nilüfer Yanya

◇ genres: indie rock, noise pop

Nilüfer Yanya's 2022 album PAINLESS really took me by surprise. It's been a while since I revisited it, but it was in my rotation a pretty decent amount that year. This return single is really strong. I love the production here, it sounds washed out in the coolest way possible. The melodies are also really strong. I'm hoping we get an album announcement in the coming months, I'll certainly be listening!

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flowerboycaleb · 2 days

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Sonic Youth in 1986 (photo by Pat Blashill)

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flowerboycaleb · 12 days

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every month I'm gonna try to post reviews of three albums from years past!! this week i wrote about one of the most seminal hip hop albums of the 1980s: 3 Feet High and Rising by De La Soul!!! also feel free to follow me on rate your music and twitter <3

3 Feet High and Rising - De La Soul

◇ release year: 1989 ◇ genres: east coast hip hop, conscious hip hop, abstract hip hop

Few years were as pivotal to hip hop's trajectory as the late 1980s. Two albums in particular, in my opinion, pushed the boundaries of what hip hop could be. One was Public Enemy’s 1988 masterpiece, It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back. That record was raw, angry, and profound. It’s a perfect document of the time and many of the issues tackled on the record remain relevant to the current time. The other album was 3 Feet High and Rising by De La Soul. Where the former was intense and political, the latter was significantly more playful and light. Both were sort of rebellious in their own ways and both set up the dominant sounds in the genre for the next decade to come.

De La Soul consisted of MCs Pasemaster Mase, Posdnuos, and Trugoy the Dove. They were innovators in the genre, making use of samples in a way no other group had at the time. They also had a distinct sense of humor that would come through in their clever writing. Both of those talents are displayed perfectly on this debut record.

De La Soul, 1989

Skits on hip hop records have been a point of contention in the genre for a long time, but whether you love them or hate them, De La Soul revolutionized the concept. This record and the following De La Soul is Dead, made skits a much more cinematic experience. It felt like radio comedy for a new generation in a lot of ways. They were intricate, witty, and smart. Just as much thought went into them as did the actual songs. They’re all over this record and I, for one, love them. They make this album such a unique, cohesive, and fun experience. The record opening with the cheesy, goofy line “Hey, all you kids out there! Welcome to Three Feet High and Rising!” just works. The skits follow this game show concept throughout and again, it just works! Although, even I could go without “De La Orgee.”

That same energy comes through in the music. Fun is one of the keywords that comes to mind. More often than not, there’s a smile on my face when I’m listening to this record. “The Magic Number” is the perfect introduction to our MCs. Each member shows that, while they may be funny guys, they’re also so much more than that. They’re extremely talented lyricists. The outro of the song shows off their knack for unique sampling, hearing this for the first time just about a year ago was mindblowing, I can’t imagine how much that feeling would’ve been amplified if I had listened to this in 1989. Every beat is just so colorful, much like the album’s art direction.

“Jenifa Taught Me (Derwin's Revenge)” is another great example of the band’s talents. It’s provocative in the tongue-in-cheek way that even when they say something wild, for example, Pos’s bar “Grabbed my jeans, Jimmy screamed,” you can’t get mad it just elicits a smile. The song also has them playfully ripping on their friend Derwin who “never got no girls.” I have no clue who Derwin is, but I immediately feel like I’m in on the joke, it’s weirdly welcoming. Perhaps the centerpiece of the album is the bright, sunshine rap masterpiece “Eye Know.” Sampling Otis Redding’s whistling from “(Sittin’ On) the Dock of the Bay” and a piece of the chorus of “Peg” by Steely Dan, this is one of the best beats in hip hop history. The brilliance of this record is also indebted in a lot of ways to the main producer Prince Paul. He was De La’s producer for all of their records up to 1993’s Buhloone Mindstate. They have an undeniable chemistry, exhibited masterfully on tracks like “Eye Know.”

The group’s first single “Plug Tunin’” is included here as well and it’s a welcome addition despite it sounding like a groundwork-laying track. One of my personal favorites is “Buddy” featuring fellow Native Tongues members Q-Tip, before A Tribe Called Quest’s debut, and the Jungle Brothers. Everyone holds their own here and it’s cool hearing Q-Tip in this way. “Me Myself and I” has the band putting their spin on disco rap. A sound that was decidedly uncool by the turning of the decade, but they made it their own thing entirely. It’s so infectious. “D.A.I.S.Y. Age” rounds out the album perfectly. It did sort of solidify De La’s categorization as “hip hop hippies,” a distinction they would come to fight against on the follow-up to this record, but it still stands out as a bold closer. It’s almost like a mission statement. The closing skit also ties up the record in a nice way. It’s impressive how they managed to tie everything up both on the music front and the skits this well, especially for a debut album.

De La Soul performing live, 1989?

3 Feet High and Rising remains one of the most important hip hop albums of all time. I can see how some might say this album has aged poorly, due to the skits and the excessive sampling throughout, but those are the reasons I love this record so much. It pushed the boundaries of what the genre could be and that makes it an exciting listen even to this day. For a long time, this album was caught up in a legal dispute which made it difficult to get your hands on, but as of last year, the De La catalog is available to stream everywhere. Now there’s no excuse to not familiarize yourself with one of hip hop’s most seminal records.

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#throwback thursday #music #rateyourmusic #music review #de la soul #80s music #80s rap #hip hop

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flowerboycaleb · 19 days

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each month i review three albums from years past for the first three thursdays of that given month!!! this week i wrote about one of the most unique indie rock records of the 90s: Perfect From Now On by Built to Spill!!! also feel free to follow me on rate your music and twitter <3

Perfect From Now On - Built to Spill

◇ release year: 1997 ◇ genres: indie rock, post-rock, midwest emo

In late 2022, I listened to Built to Spill’s 1994 album There’s Nothing Wrong With Love on a complete whim. I enjoyed it a lot and had planned to listen to the rest of their stuff, but I just hadn’t gotten around to it until about a year later. Similarly, on a whim, I decided I would listen to Perfect From Now On. 2023 was a very rough year in my life for reasons I’m not going to air out in a silly music review, but I just wasn’t in the best place. Perfect From Now On entered my life when I needed it most. I needed to hear this. After my first listen, I felt like I had taken a long bath. Many tears fell, it was a very emotional experience for reasons I still have a difficult time putting into words. What was it in particular that I needed to hear? I don’t know. What does this album have that others you listened to at the time didn’t? A whole lot. It was just a perfect storm in the best way possible.

From a musical standpoint, this album sits weirdly in the band’s discography. It’s certainly a lot more fleshed out than their previous records, but the follow-up to this album, Keep It Like a Secret sounds like what would eventually lead up to this record. It’s still amazing, but it’s hard to deny that this record is their magnum opus. The instrumentation here is some of the most refined from 90s alternative rock. In many ways, this record feels like the antithesis of grunge. Yet it captures a raw emotional energy that even some of the best grunge records fail to reach. Perfect From Now On takes pride in its arrangements. It feels like every moment is important. Not a single second is wasted.

Built to Spill performing, 1997?

Doug Martsch’s lyricism is also great here. There’s this fluidity to them, but also a profundity. He gets very philosophical on this album, which is evident on the opener, “Randy Described Eternity.” The first verse of the song is a recounting of Martsch’s Christian youth group leader, whom we can only guess is named Randy, describing well … eternity. It’s a very cold and non-human description of it as well. If you grew up in the church, you might be familiar with the fearmongering that goes along with the messaging. This song captures that very well. The second and final verse of the song has Martsch proclaiming that he will be “perfect from now on” so he can seemingly spend eternity in Heaven, but that promise is a flimsy one. In this verse, he also mentions “that sound,” more on that in the next track. Instrumentally this song is a mix of art rock, post-rock, and Midwest emo with a little dash of psychedelia. These sounds all come together perfectly and it sets a great standard for the rest of the album.

“I Would Hurt a Fly” opens with these echo-y drums that get layered over with one of my favorite-sounding guitar parts of all time. The arrangement of this track is one of the best on the record. Martsch and Brett Nelson’s guitar parts complement each other so well. Scott Plouf’s drumming is just fantastic and the cello parts from John McMahon are such a nice touch that adds so much. Martsch opens the first verse by mentioning “that sound” once again and how he can’t get it out of his head. There’s so much clever wordplay here, twisting the phrase “I wouldn’t hurt a fly” in the opposite direction is such a simple concept, but it’s delivered in a deeply impactful way. There’s a venom in his vocals, but also subtle hints of remorse. After the last chorus, there’s a nearly 2-minute jam outro that cranks up a lot of the psychedelic undertones present throughout the track. One of my favorite moments on the record.

The following track “Stop the Show” opens with another amazing instrumental section that builds into some of the most explosive moments on the record when the verses kick in. I love the jumpy melody of this song. The bridge is amazing as well, it feels like everything is building up to another big moment musically, but it subverts your expectations by slowing things down and then moving into the big final verse which switches up the melody in an interesting way. “Made-Up Dreams” isn’t as bombastic as the previous, but it’s another great showcase of Martsch’s lyricism. It feels like a cathartic turning point on the record. Things get dreamier towards the later half and his vocals have this sort of acceptance to them. The way he delivers the lines “I’m already gone now” and “I’m already nothing” in particular.

The album takes a bit of a somber turn in the next track “Velvet Waltz.” An almost 9-minute epic where Martsch ruminates on a “world that’s not so bad.” Analyzing Martsch’s lyricism can be a fruitless effort sometimes and he has said in interviews that lyrics are attached in the final stages of writing a song. Which both makes sense and doesn’t. Like I said earlier, he writes both profound and fluid lyrics. You have to expect some thought to go into them, but they also sound like they’re coming to him in the moment. This song is a prime example of that. The fourth verse is probably my favorite. The lines “You better just enjoy the luxury of sympathy, if that's a luxury you have” ring in my head often. The final verses are also brilliant. Foreshadowing “Kicked It in the Sun” later on the record. The instrumentation of this track is nothing short of incredible. There’s this hazy, somber vibe in the first few verses and it slowly amps up into this big, grand piece. The sharp guitars and the wave-like drums on the outro jam give me chills. On first listen, this was the moment where I knew this album was something truly special.

I was also worried that the rest of the album might fall flat after a grand moment like that, but this is no ordinary album. “Out of Site” is another stroke of genius and the way the vocals so perfectly match the instrumentation is so impressive. The vocals are long and drawn out matching the hazy guitar at the start, but then everything explodes all together in such a cool way. There’s just such an incredible synergy to it all. “Kicked It in the Sun,” which was teased earlier, brings the psychedelia back at the start and then the Midwest emo flavor in the latter half. It’s a perfect change of pace overall. It feels like two different songs taped together almost perfectly. The lyrics here deal with the same sort of skepticism toward thoughts and dreams that appear throughout the record. Simultaneously believing that you have all these great ideas, but actually, they’re all meaningless. The record doesn’t wallow in that insecurity, it sort of comes to peace with it. Martsch sings “We’re special in other ways, ways our mothers appreciate” a sort of tongue-in-cheek deflection.

The album’s longest track is the closer, “Untrustable / Part 2 (About Someone Else).” It’s another big, epic track split into two parts. The themes of spirituality are brought back here from the beginning, but this time it’s coming from a more outsider perspective. Martsch sings in the chorus of the first half, “And I'd like to feel it but it just isn't real, and God is whoever you're performing for,” seemingly casting off spirituality in favor of finding a more tangible purpose in life. Again, finding a concrete meaning in his lyricism is discouraged by the man himself, despite how insightful they may be. This is a stellar way to close the album. It ties up the themes of the record perfectly. The closing outro jam is some of my favorite instrumentation on the record too. There’s this bittersweetness to it, but it’s also extravagant. Ending the record on one of the highest notes.

Built to Spill performing, 1997?

Perfect From Now On stands out among the sea of great indie rock albums from the 90s. It’s as profound as it is languid. The kind of album you could take what you need from it and still come back for more. I did just that. Perfect From Now On, whether coincidental or not, marked a turning point in my life. It’s been there for me every step of the way. Always there when I need it. At the risk of sounding corny, I believe Perfect From Now On is a perfect record.

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#throwback thursday #music #rateyourmusic #music review #built to spill #90s music #indie rock

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flowerboycaleb · 26 days

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each month i review three albums from years past for the first three thursdays of that given month!!! this week we're looking at a funky left-turn from a soul icon: I Want You by Marvin Gaye!!! also feel free to follow me on rate your music and twitter <3

I Want You - Marvin Gaye

◇ release year: 1976 ◇ genres: smooth soul, funk, philly soul

After being a consistent hitmaker for Motown throughout the prior decade, Marvin Gaye was ready to expand his sound to something greater. This shift in attitude resulted in two legendary albums, What’s Going On and Let’s Get It On. These albums have been lauded as some of the most important albums of all time, especially the former, and rightfully so. Those records also marked his shift into creating concept albums, a trend he would build on for the rest of the decade. What’s Going On was a protest record, a document of … what was going on at the time of its release. However, for the rest of the decade, the subject Gaye wanted to explore the most was love. Let’s Get It On, I Want You, and Here, My Dear are all about love. The good times, the bad times, the ecstasy, the heartbreak, the almost pathetic yearning, he had the vulnerability and the earnestness to explore it all so effectively.

Let’s Get It On proved to be a bit controversial at the time as it was his most risque album to date, but he dialed it up further on I Want You. Toning down the orchestral side of his sound in favor of hot, steamy funk, mixed into the smooth soul predating the disco boom in America by a few years. Gaye incorporated a lot of synthesizers into this album and, admittedly while it can sound a bit dated at points, it still works so well. It’s an album that feels simultaneously of its time, but also ahead of the curve.

Marvin Gaye, 1976

This is one of those albums where the cover art matches the album’s sound almost perfectly. The painting on the cover is The Sugar Shack by Ernie Barnes. It’s so striking as is the album’s opener. Kicking straight into things with the title track, which is a perfect blend of soul and disco. One of the most amazing album openers of the decade and of all time. A track with one of the most undeniable grooves ever. It goes without saying that Gaye’s vocals are tremendous here as well. He’s singing everything here, the main verses, the backing vocals, the harmonies, he does it all. You’ve entered into his world, just let him take you for a ride. I know I mentioned a contradiction earlier, but I have to again. This track feels so tightly structured, but also loose and free. The arrangement is so on-point, and Marvin is just filling the verses with whatever feels right. It’s cathartic. “I Want You” is revisited in different forms across the album and I’ll discuss them when they come up, but it sort of acts as the centerpiece of the record.

The second track, “Come Live With Me Angel,” is another amazing cut that builds on the ideas of the previous track. Gaye’s vocals have this wispiness to them, a kind of sensuality that would make Barry White blush. It also has a gorgeous arrangement. That blend of funk and the tasteful orchestration is a match made in heaven. The intensity ramps up starting in the third chorus into the outro. Gaye’s multitracked vocals return here and they kick this track into another gear alongside the instrumentation. The strings become a bit sharper, the drums pick up speed, and Gaye harmonizes with himself as he repeats the sentiment of the song over and over again. It acts as a climax of sorts. Then, the outro comes along and the song settles back into a nice groove as Gaye pleads for love. Amazing song structure.

The next track is a very odd shift, but I love it a lot for some reason. It’s an instrumental version of “After the Dance,” a song that will show up as the closer for the album, this just acts as a teaser. It also heavily showcases Gaye’s experimentation with synths on this album. This song is absolutely drenched in them. It does go on a bit too long, but I think it’s cool. This album feels like, again, just doing what feels right. Exploring different avenues just for the hell of it. This leads into the most overtly sexual song on the album, “Feel All My Love Inside.” Gaye opens the track crooning, “Now we’re making love” which also signals that the time for yearning is over! It has that sexuality of Let’s Get It On, but way more jaunty. The second verse is one of his most crude and I love it. The first side ends with a quick rendition of a song the album’s producers Arthur "T-Boy" Ross and Leon Ware had written for Michael Jackson a few years prior. It doesn’t add much to the album, but it’s a sweet little number that closes out the first side nicely.

The second side opens with a 20-second jam version of the title track which whets your appetite for what’s to come. Unfortunately, the second side feels like something went wrong with that love that blossomed from the first. “All the Way Around” might be the most reminiscent of Gaye’s previous albums from an arrangement perspective, but Gaye still brings that newfound delivery into it. He sings of his “poor heart [breaking] up” and eventually settling with the fact that he will be “sometime lovers” with this person. The outro has Gaye singing about how to treat a woman you want to be your wife over some nice horns and an eventual killer saxophone solo. It’s the first moment on the record where love is seen as this serious commitment rather than a fun, little escapade. “Since I Had You” brings the funk back and has Gaye continuing to comment on the compromised state of this love. It’s not one of my favorites, mainly because Gaye’s spoken word vocals and the occasional moaning can wear a bit thin, but it still has some great moments.

“Soon I’ll Be Loving You Again” is another smooth soul track that has Gaye reverting into yearning mode, while also being a bit raunchy. It sounds like he’s in the zone. He sings directly to his new wife in the outro as well. A more fleshed-out jam version of “I Want You” acts as the penultimate track and it accentuates just how amazing that composition is. You can strip away the vocals and it’s still brilliant. The final track, the vocal version of “After the Dance,” takes the album in a more psychedelic direction. This acts as a calm-after-the-storm moment. The melody of this song gets stuck in my head so easily, it has such a satisfying cadence. This is another example of the album being forward-thinking. This kind of dreamy soul would be heard decades later from artists like Sade and D’Angelo.

Marvin Gaye with parrot, 1976

I Want You is perhaps the most unique album in Gaye’s discography from a sonic perspective, but it’s just as influential as the albums that came before. You can hear aspects of this album’s sound in the smooth soul and neo-soul of the decades following. This is a deceptively dense album both from the sort of problematic real-life events that inspired it and the actual music itself. The beauty of it though, is that you can enjoy it whether you acknowledge the density of it or not. The music is pretty undeniable. It’s a non-stop, blissful, sexual, painful expedition of love.

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#throwback thursday #music #rateyourmusic #music review #marvin gaye #70s music #soul music #funk #disco

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flowerboycaleb · 30 days

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this post will contain links to both parts of the March 2024 in Review!!

feel free to follow me on rate your music and twitter <3 ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

featuring Adrianne Lenker, Kim Gordon, samlrc, Beyoncé, Ariana Grande, Justin Timberlake & MORE if the link attached to the image isn't working HERE IS THE DIRECT LINK <3 ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

featuring Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds, RiTchie, Vampire Weekend, St. Vincent, WILLOW, twenty one pilots & MORE if the link attached to the image isn't working HERE IS THE DIRECT LINK <3 ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

#month in review

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flowerboycaleb · 1 month

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there was no shortage of excellent records this month. a couple that i'm sure will end up on my year-end list for sure. there were also a couple of real stinkers ... but the less said about those the better! but uhhhh still read my thoughts on them!! to check out my thoughts on some of the songs that dropped this month click here!!! also feel free to follow me on rate your music and twitter <3

Bright Future - Adrianne Lenker

🥇 BEST ALBUM OF THE MONTH

◇ genres: contemporary folk, singer-songwriter

Adrianne Lenker has been one of the most prolific singer-songwriters for the better half of the last decade or so, but over the last 4 years especially it feels like she’s reached another level. Her 2020 solo record songs and the following Big Thief record Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You are two of the finest folk releases in recent memory. The latter being a big, double album made me a bit worried at first for whatever Lenker would do next, but after hearing the singles leading up to this album those worries went away. This quickly became one of my most anticipated albums of the year and I think that anticipation paid off wholeheartedly. Bright Future is such a brilliant album.

The opener, “Real House,” is an amazing and sparse piano-driven cut. The subtle arrangement puts the main focus on Lenker’s lyricism and it ranks up there as one of her most poignant pieces to date. The track is addressed to her mother and it has her recounting old childhood memories in a really beautiful way. “Sadness As a Gift” follows that and it picks things up musically. More layered instrumentation with Lenker’s 12-string guitar, a piano, and a violin, it all sounds so rich. I’ve absolutely adored this track ever since it dropped. Here she meditates on the end of a relationship with so much subtle complexity. I guess it’s a breakup song, but it feels above that. There’s no anger or vitriol, just that lingering bittersweet feeling. “Fool” is another change of pace as it’s a bit more jaunty. I enjoyed this song when I first heard it, but my love for it grew when I heard it on the record. It conjures up so many warm feelings musically, even though the lyrics tell a story of conflicted feelings. “No Machine” slows things down again and it’s another one of Lenker’s best. I’ve talked about the arrangements on the album a few times already, but I can’t stress enough how amazing these songs sound. Beyond the great lyricism, every song feels so warm, intimate, and spontaneous. Like they caught lightning in a bottle in the studio.

“Free Treasure” was the most recent single leading up to the album’s release and it’s great. It’s one of those songs that makes you want to go outside and appreciate the beauty of what’s around you. Perfect Spring song. “Vampire Empire” has become an infamous track in the Lenker/Big Thief canon. Big Thief released the studio version of the song a few months ago and fans were outraged as it differed from the early live version that became a fan favorite. Little did they know that the best version of the song was still to come. The version here accentuates how remarkable the song is. There’s a shakiness to Lenker’s vocals, but there’s also so much fire and conviction to it. The instrumentation matches that perfectly. “Evol” has some sort of clunky moments to it and the “words spelled backward” thing is a little corny, but the sentiment and the performances on the song make it more enjoyable. The ending chorus of the song gives me chills, I love how the violin and the piano fade out alongside Lenker’s final lines. “Already Lost” has that campfire feel that’s present throughout a lot of her work. There’s this air of sophistication to it, but also this “hey, come join us, you can shake the tambourine or something” kind of vibe to it. Many of the songs here feel so inviting, while also feeling so personal to Lenker. It strikes an interesting balance. “Donut Seam” features prominent guest vocals and it captures the feeling of knowing a relationship is almost over beautifully. The lyric “Don’t it seem like a good time for swimming, before all the water disappears?” has been stuck in my mind ever since the album’s release. The record ends with the first single, “Ruined,” which has Lenker leaning into an ambient direction and it’s so heart-wrenching but also gorgeous. Bright Future feels like a victory lap in a lot of ways. Not exactly musically or lyrically, the album is quite mellow a lot of the time, but just with how fantastic this album is. Lenker isn’t slowing down or “falling off” anytime soon. The lyricism here is so layered, but also inviting. You can enjoy these songs on a less-focused listen, but these songs reward you for paying attention. They’re so fruitful. This album has firmly solidified Adrianne Lenker as one of the greatest songwriters of our generation.

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i won't let go of your hand - Adrianne Lenker

◇ genres: contemporary folk, singer-songwriter

A few weeks prior to Bright Future, Adrianne Lenker released this EP in order to raise funds for the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund. The songs here are very spontaneous, but filled with so much beauty. The instrumentation is a lot less fleshed out as on Bright Future, but it offers a more lo-fi experience. Her writing shines regardless. It's definitely worth a listen both for the quality of the music as well as for the cause. You can buy the EP here on Adrianne Lenker's Bandcamp! 100% of the proceeds to go the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund! Free Palestine 🇵🇸 !!!!!

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The Collective - Kim Gordon

◇ genres: industrial hip hop, noise rock, experimental rock

Oh man, I was so excited for this record, and my excitement paid off big time. Noise rock pioneer and alternative rock icon Kim Gordon has been dropping some insane singles over the last few months. These singles have seen Gordon explore sounds like experimental hip hop, rage, trap, and witch house among others. I’m not super familiar with witch house, but I need to be after this record. Anyway, the shocking part is that Gordon is genuinely doing cool things with these sounds. Blending in her signature, nonchalant vocals while also adding in the noise rock and even the occasional no-wave touch. It’s crazy how well it works. I wrote about the first two singles, “BYE BYE” and “I’m a Man,” in my previous Month in Review posts, but they still blow me away even after multiple listens. The former has one of the craziest beats I’ve heard in the genre in a while and the latter reaffirms Kim Gordon’s cool factor all these years later. The lyrical content of these songs felt like a cathartic stream of consciousness, but Gordon’s vocals never oversell them. I was a little worried that the rest of The Collective wouldn’t be as good as those two singles, but those worries quickly went away when I heard the rest of the album

“BYE BYE” is the opener and it sets up the album so well, but my attention was quickly drawn to the track following it, “The Candy House.” The beat is reminiscent of a Memphis rap track and Gordon’s vocals sound like they’re inviting you somewhere sinister. “I Don’t Miss My Mind” has this almost overwhelming bass to it that is so off-putting. It’s like evil club music. “Trophies” has some of my favorite guitar parts from Gordon on the record. It sounds so washed-out and electric in the coolest way possible. The third single released for the album, “Psychedelic Orgasm,” is a song only Gordon could pull off. No one but her could sing the lyrics “passing all the kids, Tik Toking around” and make it work. The most abrasive track here is “The Believers” as it veers pretty heavily into industrial rock, while also including some elements of alternative club that you might’ve heard on a SOPHIE project. This album is a lot to take in, but multiple listens have made me fall in love with it further and further.

It’s refreshing to hear an icon in experimental music continue to push boundaries this deep into her career. Doubly so given how a lot of their contemporaries and/or the bands Gordon and Sonic Youth helped inspire sound like they are forever stuck in purgatory on their new releases. Needless to say, I’m loving this new record a lot.

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A Lonely Sinner - samlrc

◇ genres: post-rock, shoegaze, ambient

I wasn’t aware of samlrc until a few weeks ago when I saw this album getting hyped up on Twitter. Unfortunately, I didn’t pay much mind to it and sort of forgot about it. However, in true annoying online music guy fashion, A Lonely Sinner really grabbed my attention when it reached number one on the RYM Top Albums of 2024 chart. I listened to it soon after and I’m so glad I did. A Lonely Sinner is a great record with an interesting and moving concept. She describes the record on her Bandcamp as “an album about a sheep experiencing love in its nature.” The album follows those themes both lyrically and sonically. It sounds carefully pieced together, using anything and everything to make something emotionally resonant. She corroborates this much also on her Bandcamp by listing some of the unorthodox items used to craft this album’s sound including “boxes, soda cans, [and] a violin bow.” I love lo-fi albums like this with big ideas that are fully realized in creative ways. If there was a bigger budget, sure things might sound sleeker and more polished, but the charm an album can gain through that lower fidelity outweighs that by a lot.

The album’s sound is predominantly post-rock with little detours into shoegaze, ambient, and even some metal. It’s a very slow-burning album, but it’s post-rock, you better get ready for some atmosphere, buddy! The album opens with one of its more atmospheric moments, almost bordering on drone, with “Lamb Theme.” This is a great setup for the 12-minute “Philautia” which blew me away on my first listen. The shaky guitar strums eventually coincide with the pointed string samples before giving way to the first verses on the record. The writing across the record is relatively simple but very effective. There are no sprawling verses, usually just a few lines that cut deeply before returning the spotlight to the instrumentation. The third track, “Sinner,” leans heavily in the post-metal direction and it works perfectly, greatly accentuating the lyrical themes of the track. These themes of struggling with the labels and expectations put on you by ones other than yourself are handled in such an interesting way here. Using the metaphor of sheep and wolves. “Storge” features a sample from the English dub of the Japanese animated film Chirin no Suzu, which has the sheep saying that they want to be strong and become one of the wolves. That struggle with rejecting who you are in order to either fight back and/or assimilate against the ones who hurt you is a constant struggle for many queer people, myself included. I would imagine it resonates even more so with trans people in particular.

The album closes with “The Beauty of the Present Moment” which is a gorgeous, string-laden cut and an uplifting way to close the album. A Lonely Sinner resonates with me more and more each time I revisit it. There are so many details I failed to mention in this write-up like the Sufjan-esque “ooo’s” towards the middle of “Flowerfields” and the string quartet cover of Björk’s “Hyper-Ballad” on “For M.” This album really took me by surprise, go out of your way to check this one out.

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Y'Y - Amaro Freitas

◇ genres: post-minimalism, third stream

I’m always on the lookout for newer jazz because most of my jazz experience is from the pre-2000s, so when I saw this album getting a lot of positive buzz I decided to check it out. Brazilian jazz artist Amaro Freitas has crafted an amazing, fluid record filled with really interesting ideas that are incredibly realized. This album can sound haunting, beautiful, and even a bit anxious at times, but Freitas balances it all very well. His piano playing is so dynamic and matches each shift in sound almost perfectly. From the steady and sharp playing on “Gloriosa” to the ascending keys on the Steve Reich-esque “Sonho Ancestral,” Freitas can do it all.

The second track “Uiara (Encantada da água) - Vida e cura” is a gorgeous minimalist piece that features some pretty multi-layered piano parts. That minimalist sound is present throughout the first half of the record. Each song flows seamlessly into the next and it makes for a fun listening experience. It all feels like one connected piece with a fair bit of surprises throughout. One of these being the super harsh sound towards the later half of “Dança dos martelos” which was very unsuspected, but I love it. The second half is a bit “jazzier” and each piece stands on its own. The title track brings in some flute to accompany his piano and it’s a great touch. I also adored Jeff Parker’s subtle guitar parts throughout “Mar de Cirandeiras,” this is probably the track I’ve returned to the most. The nearly 10-minute closer, “Encantados,” is probably the most reminiscent of classic jazz, but Freitas still puts his own spin on it with his keys. There are also a lot more jazz instruments factored in and it just shows how no matter what Fretias’s keys will stand out. Y’Y is an amazing record and one I keep coming back to. This is one of the most exciting jazz/minimalist releases in recent memory. Even if you’re not a big fan of those genres, I would still encourage you to give this album a shot.

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Catching Chickens - Nourished by Time

◇ genres: bedroom pop, alternative r&b

I heard Nourished by Time’s debut studio album, Erotic Probiotic 2, late last year but I fell in love with it almost immediately. So much so that it reached number 13 on my Top Albums of 2023 list. In the last couple of months Marcus Brown, the man behind Nourished by Time, signed with the XL label and announced this new EP, Catching Chickens. The lead single “Hand On Me” has been in constant rotation for me. It leans more into the pop side of his sound but in the best ways possible. He’s so good at making infectious bangers. All of the songs here have this sort of dream-like haze over them which makes this album really immersive. The best example of this is probably the track “Poison-Soaked,” which mixes some post-punk flavor into his sound in such a cool way. It has one of the most memorable melodies I’ve heard all year, I’ve been humming it all around the house. The closer, “Romance In Me,” sounds like a more intimate and modern take on a big R&B hit from the late 70s, I love it so much. Brown’s vocals here strike that balance between subtle and grand that I raved about so much from his last project. Catching Chickens is such a well-crafted EP and a great label debut for one of the most promising artists in recent memory. I can’t wait for whatever he drops next, but this will be in my rotation for a while.

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The Great Bailout - Moor Mother

◇ genres: poetry, electroacoustic

My first introduction to musician and poet Camae Ayewa, better known by her stage name Moor Mother, was through her 2020 collab album with billy woods Brass. From there, I listened to 2022’s Jazz Codes. Both of those records were very good, but I was instantly drawn to Ayewa’s writing more than anything else. Her words are damning and they’re often delivered with this haunting tone that forces you to pay attention to them. No longer can you turn away from the atrocities of the past, when Ayewa is speaking, you listen. On no album of hers is that more apparent than The Great Bailout. Here she ditches hip hop in favor of more ambient and atmospheric production which makes this perhaps the most chilling record in her catalog.

Ayewa’s focus on this record seems to be Britain’s apartheid rule over South Africa and how they exploited the people and resources there for their own gain. She also tackles how these events have manifested into generational trauma to this day. The opener “GUILTY” features weathered vocals from Lonnie Holley and ethereal vocals from Raia Was. The former had an incredible album last year which shook me to my core, Oh Me Oh My. Moor Mother also featured on that record so it’s nice to see them working together again. Ayewa’s poetry takes center stage throughout most of the song as she asks the chilling question “did you pay off the trauma?” These whispered, eerie backing vocals come in throughout the whole record which makes a lot of these songs feel absolutely arresting. Particularly on “ALL THE MONEY” which has Ayewa dressing down the “thieves disguised as explorers.” Pointing out the Crown Jewels and the items in the British Museum as some of the examples. It’s truly chilling stuff and shows how effective Ayewa can be as a writer. “COMPENSATED EMANCIPATION” switches things up a bit and hits you with an intense and disorienting wave of metallic synths which add even more weight to the words. Towards the later half of the album, I found myself still ensnared by Ayewa’s writing, but the arrangements started to make the album drag just a bit. The big exception being “LIVERPOOL WINS.”

The predominantly ambient style works on most of these songs, but it can also be a little tiring after a certain point and I found myself enjoying the more abrasive moments. Ayewa’s poetry is the main focus album though and on that front, she does an amazing job. I can’t say I’ll revisit this album often, but this is a very captivating project.

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I Got Heaven - Mannequin Pussy

◇ genres: indie rock, power pop, hardcore punk

Mannequin Pussy’s fourth studio album strikes a decent balance between razor-sharp indie rock and dreamy indie pop with occasional detours into hardcore punk. The album barrels past you pretty fast, for better and for worse. The title track kicks off the album with a bang. It features a blazing performance from vocalist and guitarist Marisa Dabice, as well as some provocative lyrics setting the scene for the album in a nice way. “Loud Bark” softens the sound just a bit, but it still has a considerable amount of edge to it. The chorus is so simple, but the way the band rises with it is really satisfying. The next few tracks are pretty standard indie rock, but they’re pretty good. Especially “Sometimes” which is just begging to be played on repeat on your local alternative station. I love how during the chorus the guitars get heavier and are joined by those hazy backing vocals. It creates such a cool dynamic. The first half of the record is pretty great, but the second half has a handful of weaker moments that make the album feel a bit disjointed. Namely those detours into hardcore punk. “Ok? Ok! Ok? Ok!,” “Of Her,” and “Aching” aren’t bad, but a lot of them leave me feeling pretty neutral. Ironically, the songs with the less harsh sound have more bite to them. This is my first Mannequin Pussy album so maybe these tracks are some kind of callback to their earlier albums that I’m just not privy to. The second half does feature both “Softly” and the closer “Split Me Open” which are two of my favorites on the record, so it’s not like it’s a complete drop-off in quality, it’s just a bit disjointed. The sub-30-minute length adds to that disjointed feeling. Despite this, I Got Heaven is very much worth a listen. There’s a lot of great stuff here and I might dive into the band’s back catalog soon.

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Pinball - MIKE & Tony Seltzer

◇ genres: trap, east coast hip hop

Just a few months removed from the amazing Burning Desire, MIKE has teamed up with Tony Seltzer for a short, but fruitful album. Seltzer adds new dimensions to MIKE’s sound here. Taking a step away from the abstract to more trap and cloud rap production. He fits this sound very well. I love the subtle glitchiness of the opener “Two Door” and the jaunty beat of “Lethal Weapon.” The beats all over the album are amazing. They might shine more than MIKE, but it doesn’t really feel like MIKE is attempting to demand your attention here. This just felt like a project thrown together for fun, a bit of a breath of fresh air after the sprawling concept album that was his previous record. Some other highlights are “On God” (which features a guest verse from Earl Sweatshirt), “Underground Kingz,” and “R&B.” This obviously isn’t MIKE’s most grand and impressive album, but it is definitely a fun listen.

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COWBOY CARTER - Beyoncé

◇ genres: country pop, contemporary country

Beyoncé’s last record, RENAISSANCE, was not only one of my favorite albums of that year, but it’s easily one of her best. An incredible celebration and reclamation of dance music that had the kind of superstar quality very few can deliver quite like her. That record is the first part in a trilogy, COWBOY CARTER is the second. Beyoncé shocked audiences during the Super Bowl when she surprise dropped two singles that showed her diving into country music. “TEXAS HOLD ‘EM” and “16 CARRIAGES” were decent, but they sort of gave me shaky expectations for the album on the whole. It was bold of her to shift her sound like this, but I was afraid it would end up being a step down from the previous. Well, it is. COWBOY CARTER is a bit too dense for its own good and not every track here is a home run, but it’s still a pretty good record on the whole.

The album opens with the bold country soul cut “AMERIICAN REQUIEM.” It features one of my favorite vocal performances of hers, but the arrangement and production leave a little bit to be desired. That’s a frequent issue across the record, but it’s usually not overwhelmingly detrimental. Regardless, this is a very strong opener. Then she does a cover of the classic Beatles track, “Blackbird,” which is just a bit unnecessary. The vocal arrangements are nice, but I feel like it’s a bit too grand for a song of its kind. She does another cover later on in the record of Dolly Parton’s “Jolene,” which sees Beyoncé rewrite the song in a more adversarial way. Again, a bit of a mixed result. The rewrites feel a bit too tryhard for my taste, but it still sticks out more than the “Blackbird” cover. I do enjoy the snippet of her cover of “I Fall to Pieces” on the track “SWEET ★ HONEY ★ BUCKIIN’,” I wouldn’t have minded a full cover of that on the record. Anyways, the covers don’t add much to the record, but the majority of this album is her original material. Most of it is quite good!

“PROTECTOR” is one of my favorites and it really shows how well she fares in that more intimate country sound. I often found myself zoning out during the more arena-ready tracks here, the real shining moments come from the more toned-down moments. I also loved the almost chamber-folk sound of “DAUGHTER.” It’s nice to hear her in this new, more intimate light. A massive exception to this is “BODYGUARD” which pumps up the energy to just the right level and blends the country and the disco sounds in such a cool way. One of my favorite tracks of the year for sure. The album shifts into a more hip hop/club direction on “SPAGHETII” and the aforementioned “SWEET ★ HONEY ★ BUCKIIN’” to unfortunately mixed results. Unsung country legend Linda Martell introduces the former by talking about how restricting genre labels can be, so I understand what the album is going for, but these are definitely two of the weaker tracks here. There’s a stretch towards the middle part of the album where she duets for a bit. The duets with Willie Jones and Miley Cyrus are highlights, but that Post Malone one does not belong here unfortunately. The later half of the record is a bit of a mixed bag as well, but “RIIVERDANCE” is amazing and honestly should’ve been one of the lead singles. Again, like “BODYGUARD,” it has the perfect energy level. COWBOY CARTER is a bit of a difficult record. It has very lofty goals and it frequently achieves them, but not as much as I expected. It feels very start and stop for me. I’ll love one song and then be underwhelmed by the next, that cycle continues throughout the record. The little radio station interludes and the guest appearances from country legends like Willie Nelson and Dolly Parton are nice, but on an album that’s already stretching the runtime, they can be a bit of a pace-killer. Overall, this is a weaker record than RENAISSANCE, but it's a project I definitely respect a lot despite that.

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BLUE LIPS - ScHoolboy Q

◇ genres: west coast hip hop, hardcore hip hop

ScHoolboy Q has been on my radar for years now, mainly through his work on other albums I love. For whatever reason, I’ve never listened to a full-length project of his until BLUE LIPS. Because of that, I didn’t know what to expect. Luckily, this album is a solid collection of hard-hitting hip hop tracks with beats that can be both grimy and jazzy. ScHoolboy Q matches both of those sounds with his delivery very well. A great example of this is on the heavy second track, “Pop” with Rico Nasty. His delivery has an edge to it that matches the beat very well. The track after that, “THank god 4 me,” has some more melodic moments in between the bombastic beat switch in the middle, and again, he matches his delivery to fit the track. The lead single “Blueslides” is an example of his forays into jazz rap on the album and it’s one of the best tracks here. It’s a really poignant track lyrically as he reflects on things like the loss of Mac Miller, his career, and his mental health. It feels like a confessional, an “I need to get this off my chest” kind of track. “Love Birds” is another one of my favorites here as it switches between experimental hip hop and R&B in a really cool way. “Cooties” has Q commenting on fatherhood as well as a scathing couple of bars on mass shootings in America. Unfortunately, the song feels like it ends before reaching its full potential. That’s the case for quite a few songs across the second half as well. Songs like “Nunu,” “Germany ‘86,” and “Time killers” have some good ideas, but end up not adding much to the album. There are still some bright spots here and there, especially “oHio” featuring Freddie Gibbs which might be my favorite track. I love Gibbs's verses here. On the whole, BLUE LIPS is a good album that could be even better if trimmed down here and there.

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Deeper Well - Kacey Musgraves

◇ genres: folk pop, singer-songwriter

Kacey Musgraves has made a name for herself over the last few years as one of the few country artists people who don’t listen to the genre feel comfortable admitting they enjoy. Her 2018 album, Golden Hour, was one of the most critically acclaimed country albums of the decade, and rightfully so. It was a shimmering collection of country tracks, calling upon some of the good aesthetics of the genre from years passed. The follow-up, Star-Crossed, was a bit disappointing, but this new album has Musgraves correcting course a bit.

Deeper Well is an album all about love and healing. It’s considerably more stripped-back than her previous albums and it ends up simultaneously helping and hurting a lot of these songs. The opener “Cardinal” is one of the more polished-sounding tracks here and it’s a nice way to start the album. The title track is also brilliant and it sounds like a ray of light. It’s one of my favorite songs of hers. The song following, “Too Good to be True” is another bright spot. The album loses a bit of momentum from here on out though. It feels like this shift in sound prevents these songs from entering into that second gear. Often, the album is never bad, it’s just decent. Enjoyable enough. “Sway” is excellent though and a moment where she uses this sound to the best of her abilities. The same can be said about “The Architect” which has some of the most twang on the record. The only outright awful moment on the record is “Anime Eyes,” which is an ill-advised song full of clumsy ideas. I understand the sentiment, but she does not stick the landing on this at all and it sticks out like a sore thumb. Deeper Well is a pretty decent album with a handful of tracks I will be returning to often, but it’s not her strongest group of songs on the whole.

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eternal sunshine - Ariana Grande

◇ genres: contemporary r&b, pop

My poptimist era is far behind me at this point. I feel like it was beaten out of me partly due to the past few years of things like Morgan Wallen, Jack Harlow, and that fucking Glass Animals song ruling over the Billboard charts. However before that, in 2019 or so, I was a full-blown poptimist. My pretentious inhibitions be damned, let me be a gay teenager who likes pop music. Around that time, Ariana Grande was popping off like crazy following albums like Sweetener and thank u, next. Even as the years have gone by and I’ve changed as a person, I still regard those records as some of the strongest pop albums of the decade. Because of that, I’ve always been sort of optimistic about her music in particular. I was a little disappointed by Positions in 2020, but I just kind of viewed it as a stepping stone to a bigger album later on. Unfortunately, if eternal sunshine is that “big” album, I’m kind of disappointed.

There’s nothing offensively bad about this record, I just think it’s sort of uninteresting. I was expecting the album’s sound to follow the dance-pop/house flavor of the lead single “yes, and?”, but the album falls more in line with Grande’s previous efforts albeit a lot more subtle for the most part. It isn’t a broken formula, I was just looking for something fresh. The best tracks on the album are the ones that do shake up the formula a bit. “bye” is a sleek, catchy number that grabs your attention with Grande’s triumphant vocals. I also love that understated disco guitar, wish it was higher up in the mix. “we can’t be friends (wait for your love)” has Grande paired up with some electropop production which is a nice change of pace that I would love to hear her explore further. While not really a drastic shift for her, I do enjoy “the boy is mine.” The beat on that track reminds me vaguely of a late 90s hip hop/R&B hit. There’s plenty of good stuff here, but not a lot that hits that next level for me. Admittedly, I am pretty out of the loop on whatever drama and gossip is surrounding this album. Maybe those who are deeply invested are way more into it than me and that’s cool. It also feels that Grande herself is using this album as a means of getting things off her chest regarding whatever situation is going on and that’s also cool.

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Bleachers - Bleachers

◇ genres: pop rock, indie pop, alt-pop

It’s impossible to not be at least somewhat aware of Jack Antonoff these days. His production credits have far outshined his other efforts as a member of fun. and even his band Bleachers. I was aware of Bleachers back in middle school through the Foster the People similar artists radio station. I didn’t have any premium music streaming subscription at the time, but I was really into that era of early 2010s indie pop, so I would use the free iTunes radio thing as a means to listen to all of my favorite bands (mainly when YouTube wasn’t available). That radio would constantly play the Bleachers song “Rollercoaster” and I didn’t like it. Every skip was precious and I would always use one to get past it. Looking back, it’s not that bad, and while I haven’t gone back to listen to that debut album in full, I did enjoy a decent amount of the previous Bleachers album from a few years back. I also enjoy a decent amount of this new record, but for every good moment, there are a ton of borderline sleep-inducing moments.

Antonoff’s production style on the Bleachers projects has this kind of faux-classic sound. Sometimes it works really well, like the first two songs for example, “I Am Right on Time” and “Modern Girl.” The latter is practically a Bruce Springsteen tribute song and it rules. “Jesus is Dead” is also a pretty great cut here and it’s basically Antonoff’s “Losing My Edge.” He even shouts out the DFA label so everything comes full circle! After that track is the where album starts to lose me a bit. The warbly effect on his vocals wears very thin and clashes awkwardly with the instrumentation. “Tiny Moves” sounds like it’s building up to some big payoff, but it never comes. “Hey Joe” is an ill-advised change of pace into folk. “Call Me After Midnight” is actually a GOOD change of pace and pretty easily my favorite song on the second half. It features writing credits from Kevin Abstract and others from the old BROCKHAMPTON camp so maybe it just has that sound I loved so much when I was in high school. It also removes that warbly effect on his voice! Bleachers isn’t a bad record and it showcases a lot of Antonoff’s strong suits, but it’s an album best listened to in the background. Massive props to the saxophones throughout though. Whenever they would come in, I locked in big time.

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Underdressed at the Symphony - Faye Webster

◇ genres: soft rock, singer-songwriter

I was looking forward to this new Faye Webster album. I really enjoyed Atlanta Millionaires Club and I Know I’m Funny haha, as well as the first single leading up to this album “But Not Kiss.” That single became one of my favorite songs of hers. I thought the production was excellent and the sound in general was an interesting change of pace from her previous albums. The next single “Lifetime" was also pretty good, but a lot more in line with what you would expect from Webster. Still not bad! Underdressed at the Symphony wasn’t announced until months later along with the single “Lego Ring” featuring rapper-turned-psychedelic-rocker Lil Yachty. A very shaky collaboration that sounds like it was fun for Webster and Yachty, but doesn’t offer the listener much of anything. Unfortunately, the majority of the album is like that.

This is easily Webster’s weakest release from a songwriting standpoint. These songs are so barebones and not in the “just chill out to it” kinda way. That direction can be easy to forgive if the rest of the song is interesting, like the aforementioned “But Not Kiss,” but most of these songs just feel like demos. “Wanna Quit All the Time” has some nice, soft lounge guitar, but Webster’s verses end so prematurely that it feels like it just isn’t finished. The rest of the song is padded out to a 4-and-a-half-minute runtime with a lackluster instrumental. The same is done on the opener, “Thinking About You,” and while it works a bit better it still just feels unnecessary. In some places on the album, Webster decides to put a subtle electronic effect on her vocals and it doesn’t fit. It can be heard on tracks like “Feeling Good Today” and “He Loves Me Yeah!” The title track is probably the second-best song here because it actually has memorable qualities. This is a pretty disappointing album, it’s not rotten bad, but it definitely could’ve used way more time in the oven. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Psykos - Yung Lean & Bladee

◇ genres: alternative rock, post-punk

So, I’m not super tapped into the drain gang stuff. I do enjoy a good bit of the Ecco2k stuff I’ve heard, but everything else I’ve checked out just hasn’t clicked with me. As for Yung Lean, I’m in a similar boat. This short collab album between Yung Lean and Bladee wasn’t a huge priority for me, but I saw buzz around it so I thought I would give it a go. Psykos has them moving away from their cloud rap sound into a more post-punk sound and it just doesn’t work very well. The majority of the songs here sound either too rigid or way too loose and sometimes that can be a little charming, but most of the time it makes it a tough listen for me. There are a handful of good songs here though. “Ghosts” and “Golden God” are standouts and feature good performances from the two. The beats on both of the songs aren’t remarkable or anything and the post-punk sound feels kind of like a pastiche more than anything, but I digress. “Hanging From The Bridge” is also good and I think it has the strongest writing across the whole project.

On one hand, Psykos is way too short and a bit clumsy to make a satisfying statement by the end, but on the other, if it was any longer I would probably like it even less. I plan on further familiarizing myself with both of their back catalogs in the future, even if I’m not super crazy about the stuff I’ve heard up to this point. Maybe when I revisit Psykos after that, I’ll understand what some of the hype is about.

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WORLD WIDE WHACK - Tierra Whack

◇ genres: pop rap, contemporary r&b, alt-pop

6 years after her quirky debut mixtape Whack World, Tierra Whack has finally released her debut album. Whack World was an interesting project made up of 1-minute songs filled to the brim with personality. The nature of how short the project was hampered some of the ideas, but the mixtape still showcased Whack’s abilities very well and made me excited about what she would do next. WORLD WIDE WHACK is definitely longer and more fleshed out, but maybe for the worse. Her writing still has that quirkiness to it with little bits of earnestness sprinkled in, but on the whole, it’s just so much weaker than I was expecting. The closest thing I can think to compare it to is that Cheekface album from a few months ago where everything was a joke, but the jokes just weren’t that funny. At least to me.

Given how much longer this project is than the others that came before, we do get to see some new sides to Whack. She ventures away from hip hop and R&B occasionally to move in a more alt-pop direction, which I think she fits nicely in. She works well with all of these different sounds, but the writing is the weakest link here. The one-liners are just lazy, like in the opener “MOOD SWINGS” where Whack sings “I stand tall, Shaquille.” Like I understand the joke, but it just feels lazy. “CHANEL PIT” is a really fun cut, but even it isn’t free of weak writing. Whack will sometimes step away from the silliness to be a bit more serious like on tracks like “IMAGINARY FRIENDS” and “DIFFICULT,” the former being my favorite track on the album as I believe it has her best writing across the whole project. These detours do give the album some more depth, but they can also make it feel a bit disjointed. Right after the latter, we get the irritating “SHOWER SONG” which is just about … singing in the shower. WORLD WIDE WHACK is an unfortunately disappointing debut album.

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Everything I Thought It Was - Justin Timberlake

◇ genres: contemporary r&b, pop

When the lead single for Everything I Thought It Was, “Selfish,” dropped back in January I knew this album would be something special. Not special in a good way, but special in the “oh this is going to be embarrassing” way. Timberlake’s performance had this desperation to it. He’s been seeing relatively middling chart success for things outside of the Trolls soundtracks, his years as one of the world’s biggest pop stars are numbered. He knows soon that his career will eventually shift into greatest hits tours, he’ll be seen as a nostalgia act. He’s planting the seeds for it too on this reflective new album. A cluttered mess of callbacks to the sound of years gone by mixed in with him trying hard to be contemporary.

The opener “Memphis” sounds like a gentrified Drake song and the following track, “Fuckin’ Up The Disco,” has him failing to get his groove back over one of the most uninteresting beats I’ve heard in a while. Calvin Harris did some production on it and he’s produced good stuff, but it sounds like everyone phoned it in here. The best stuff on the album is, no surprise when Timberlake joins forces with longtime collaborator Timbaland. He brings out the best in him, but it still isn’t enough to save this album. “Technicolor” is the most fruitful track here, but it pails in comparison to his hits from decades previous. “My Favorite Drug” brings the disco groove back, but Timberlake just fails to capture the energy. “Paradise” is one of the more transparent attempts at nostalgia bait as it sees him teaming back up with *NSYNC. The song is nothing more than a “oh, I guess that’s neat.” Everything I Thought It Was is full of non-starters and lazy attempts to rekindle Timberlake’s star power after a string of disappointing years. It isn’t very good at all, but I would be lying if I said it wasn’t a little bit funny. Better luck next time, JT.

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Geidi Primes (Lo-Fi Nightcore Edition) - Grimes

◇ genres: nightcore, indietronica, ethereal wave

yeah, sorry, no.

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genre : sadboy - mgk & Trippie Redd

◇ genre: emo rap

Ok, who is falling for this shit? Colson “I wish 13/14/15 year old girls weren’t allowed to be hot so I wouldn’t feel like such a creeper when I look at them” Baker’s, better known as Machine Gun Kelly’s, pivot to the pop punk and emo scene was as embarrassing as his ventures in the hip hop world. Yet, he had his most commercial success as a result of it. He’s a poser in every genre he inhabits. Not to say pop punk is this sacred genre or anything, but it’s just so obvious he’s playing into the genre’s stereotypes to fill a niche. On this new EP, he drags Trippie Redd down with him, as he returns to the rap world with his newfound mysterious, drug-addicted vampire persona.

Obviously, it sucks. Every song is filled with horrific melodies and dogshit lyricism. I genuinely believe, though I can’t prove it, that these songs were written using ChatGPT. There is no unique flavor to them at all. It’s just boring, clunky, schlock that should be a career killer for both artists involved. Machine Gun Kelly, who is 33 years of age, pathetically delivers the bars, “I hate that I grew up sad as a kid, then I grew up and got sadder again” on “no more.” I feel like that line sums up just how abysmal this project is. The only thing that would make this album any good was if it was a parody, but seeing as how they’re getting exclusive Hot Topic merch from this, I doubt they would want to break the illusion just yet.

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flowerboycaleb · 1 month

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there were some really exciting new singles that came out this month, but also a few that left a bad taste in my mouth! 2024 is still shaping up to be an amazing year for music tho. some great projects coming over the next few months and i can't wait to dive into them. anyway, here are my thoughts on some of the notable singles & songs from this month!! to check out my thoughts on some of the albums, EPs, and mixtapes that came out this month click here!!! also feel free to follow me on rate your music and twitter <3

"Prologue" - Kamasi Washington

◇ featured on Fearless Movement - Kamasi Washington (not yet released) ◇ genres: spiritual jazz, jazz fusion

Saxophonist Kamasi Washington, undoubtedly one of the most prominent figures in modern jazz, has a new album coming out in a few months. This isn't technically the lead single as "The Garden Path" is on the record and that track was released years ago, but "Prologue" is the single released alongside the announcement of the new record. This is an immersive and frenetic jazz fusion cut that just goes crazy. Washington's saxophone is obviously a highlight, but THOSE DRUMS! Really great stuff all around. Super excited for the new album after hearing this, even more so after looking at some of the guests on the record. George Clinton, André 3000, and Thundercat? I'm all in.

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"Wild God" - Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds

◇ featured on Wild God - Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds (not yet released) ◇ genres: art rock, chamber pop

A few weeks after I finished The Bad Seeds discography, they went and released the lead single to their first album of the 2020s. Their last three records have been some of their strongest. From Push the Sky Away to Ghosteen, they've just been on a great run. From the sounds of "Wild God," Wild God could probably continue that hot streak. It leans into the chamber music-y aspects of their last few albums, but a lot more rock oriented rather than the heavy electronic elements of Ghosteen. It has Nick Cave's trademarks, but it's always a treat to hear them. I was sort of on the fence about this track until the "Bring your spirit down" part towards the middle. Kicked right into the next gear that I needed it to go. Can't wait for this one.

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"One Night Stand" - Adeem the Artist

◇ featured on Anniversary - Adeem the Artist (not yet released) ◇ genres: americana, progressive country

I've been on the Adeem the Artist train ever since I heard Cast-Iron Pansexual back in 2021. Ever since then, I've always kept them on my radar so I can hear whatever they do next. This new single, and the lead to their upcoming album Anniversary, is just great. I love how they never shy away from embracing the country music sound. This sounds like a country music radio hit from years gone by, but with a queer spin to it. Finally a bittersweet country anthem that I don't feel ashamed to sing along to! Really loving this track and I hope the album is just as good!

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"symptom of life" - WILLOW

◇ genres: indie rock, art rock

WILLOW has made so many really good songs. "symptom of life" is definitely one of them, but I've been burned so many times. She'll make a banger song and then the next thing she releases is a collab with like Yungblud or MGK. Then the full album those good singles lead up to is pretty disappointing. Maybe "symptom of life" will break that cycle! I'm all in on her art rock era and she really fits this sound well. The skittering piano throughout the verses juxtaposes her vocals in a really cool way. The chorus is good, but I wish it hit a bit harder than it does. All in all, this is really good and I hope her next project can tap into her full potential.

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"Alley Rose" - Conan Gray

◇ featured on Found Heaven - Conan Gray (not yet released) ◇ genres: post-britpop, piano rock

I haven't been crazy about Conan Gray's music over the years and while "Alley Rose" isn't terrible by any means, I just find it ... off-putting, for lack of a better word. Everything is just so overproduced and hardly any genuine emotion can emerge through that barrier. It also makes it difficult for me as a listener to connect with the song. Like I can hear Gray singing his damn heart out, but it just feels so plastic to me. It sort of sounds like an Elton John song, but not classic Elton, like ... recent Elton. That kind of grand music that just fails to portray anything earnest.

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"This Is Nowhere" - The Black Keys

◇ featured on Ohio Players - The Black Keys (not yet released) ◇ genres: pop rock

I was a pretty big fan of The Black Keys when I was in middle school and I have a lot of nostalgia for their early 2010s stuff, but they've been coasting for so long now. That sort of boring, too clean blues/garage rock that just gets so exhausting after a while. "This is Nowhere" has them shaking up the formula a bit, but it's very much an "in one ear and out the other" type song. It'll probably get some airplay on your local alternative station and then it'll be phased out in favor of their hits from a decade ago. I do like the subtle psychedelic flavor to this song though, I just wish it was more memorable on the whole.

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"Incognito" | "Saturnine" - Justice

◇ featured on Hyperdrama - Justice (not yet released) ◇ genres: french electro, synth funk

Justice have released two more singles in anticipation for their new record. They're both pretty good. "Incognito" is a pretty solid electro track and "Saturnine" adds some funk to the mix which shakes things up a bit in a cool way even if it can veer into computer commercial territory. For some reason though, I find myself not returning to these new singles of theirs all that often. Like they're good in the moment, but nothing really compels me to revisit them. These two singles are a bit weaker than the previous two overall as well. I'm still gonna give the record a shot though, I have a feeling it'll be a pretty fun listen. Hopefully these tracks stick with me more when that time comes.

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"sir princess bad bitch" - Yaya Bey

◇ featured on Ten Fold - Yaya Bey (not yet released) ◇ genres: dance-pop, alternative r&b

I don't really know much about Yaya Bey. I was just looking through some new releases and this single looked intriguing. "sir princess bad bitch" is a nice lowkey R&B cut delivered with a ton of confidence. She sounds so cool here. I do wish the song was a bit longer and shook things up a bit more, but I still had a good time with it. I'll keep her upcoming album on my radar for sure!

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"Looping" - RiTchie

🥇 BEST SONG OF THE MONTH

◇ featured on Triple Digits (112) - RiTchie (not yet released) ◇ genres: experimental hip hop, neo-soul, nu jazz

RiTchie is three-for-three with these new singles. The former Injury Reserve MC is gearing up for his debut solo record and it's shaping up to be an exciting one. "Looping" is quite different from the previous two singles. The playfulness is traded out in favor of something more meditative both lyrically and production wise. This atmospheric jazzy beat pairs with his passionate delivery wonderfully. I'm even more excited for the new album now. Excited to hear just how dynamic he can get. Could be one of the best records of the year for sure.

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"Classical" | "Mary Boone" - Vampire Weekend

◇ featured on Only God Was Above Us - Vampire Weekend (not yet released) ◇ genres: indie rock, chamber pop, baroque pop

Vampire Weekend have released two new singles leading up to their new album coming next week and they have all been pretty great. "Classical" has this off-putting lushness to it. It sounds like a deconstructed version of something from their earlier albums. "Mary Boone" is a fuzzy, sparse ballad that eventually blooms into an almost baggy direction. Sort of reminded me a bit of something from George Clanton's last album, except a bit less immersive. I'm really loving these new singles and I'm super excited to hear the new record.

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"Cinderella" - Remi Wolf

◇ featured on Big Ideas - Remi Wolf (not yet released) ◇ genres: synth-funk, contemporary r&b

Remi Wolf has sort of passed me by over the last few years. I've been meaning to listen to her last record for a while now, but I just haven't gotten around to it. After hearing this new single, "Cinderella," I definitely need to go back and check it out before this new record drops. This is such a jam. If this is what she's been cooking up all this time, I've really missed out.

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"Like That" - Future, Metro Boomin & Kendrick Lamar

◇ featured on WE DON'T TRUST YOU - Future & Metro Boomin ◇ genres: indie rock, chamber pop

I decided not to write a full review of this new Future and Metro Boomin' record because I don't have too much to say about it. It's got some good stuff, but it's a little bloated. This song definitely stood out though. The beat is pretty basic, but effective. Future holds his own in his verses, but the real highlight is Kendrick Lamar's guest verse. He's just so good, everyone knows that by this point, but it's still so true.

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"The von dutch remix with addison rae and a.g. cook" - Charli XCX

◇ genres: electropop, bubblegum bass

A few weeks after Charli XCX released her middling house cut "Von dutch," the remix featuring Addison Rae and A.G. Cook is here. Call me crazy, but I think this might be the superior version. A.G. Cook's production here really kicks it into that wild next gear that I wished the original did. Charli's performance stands out a lot more here too, as does Rae's. This still isn't one of my favorite Charli tracks, but this is a definite improvement.

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"How We See the Light" - John Cale

◇ featured on POPtical Illusion - John Cale (not yet released) ◇ genre: art pop

I'm still kinda new to the world of John Cale's solo music. I only just listened to Paris 1919 and Fear for the first time, but I loved them both. He has a new record out this June and this lead single is pretty decent. Cale still has an ear for interesting melodies and sounds. The more I revisit this one the more I enjoy it. It's nice to hear an artist of like Cale still experimenting and playing around. Definitely gonna check out this record when it drops.

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"World on a String" - Jessica Pratt

◇ featured on Here in the Pitch - Jessica Pratt (not yet released) ◇ genres: singer-songwriter, folk pop

Another really good single from Jessica Pratt leading up to her next album. This one sounds a bit more like what you would expect from her, but the formula is far from broken. Few are making folk music as dreamy as Pratt. Many of Pratt's songs sound like what ripples in a small pond look like, "World on a String" is one of them. Looking forward to Here in the Pitch for sure. It could very well be one of her strongest albums to date!

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"The Seasons Reverse (Live)" - Gastr Del Sol

◇ featured on We Have Dozens of Titles - Gastr Del Sol (not yet released) ◇ genres: post-rock, ambient pop

Jim O'Rourke and David Grubbs long dormant post rock group Gastr Del Sol are returning with a new compilation of unearthed material soon. Admittedly, I haven't listened to much of their work, but I'm a huge fan of Jim's so I decided to check this out. This is a nice instrumental piece with an interesting arrangement. O'Rourke's guitar is accompanied by these sometimes harsh, sometimes gentle synths. Hard to recommend this for everyone, but if you're a fan, this is probably really cool.

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"I LUV IT" - Camila Cabello

◇ genres: jersey drill, baltimore club, electropop

This is a mess. It’s a mish-mash of sounds that Camila Cabello just doesn’t have the sauce to pull off well at all. Also the lyrics are trying way too hard to be tongue-in-cheek and it falls so flat. When that snippet of the track was getting some attention on Twitter, I assumed it had to be a bit. No, that annoying “i love it, i love it, i love it, i love it” is the chorus. Carti’s guest verse isn’t good either. Just an impressively bad song! Like all of the pieces of the puzzle are there, but they're jammed together in such a way that the entire thing is a jumbled-up mess.

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"Take Me to the River" - Lorde

◇ featured on Everyone’s Getting Involved: A Tribute to Talking Heads’ Stop Making Sense (not yet released) ◇ genres: new wave, pop rock

The singles leading up to the A24 Talking Heads tribute album have been underwhelming for the most part, but I was really looking forward to this one. Lorde’s take on the Talking Heads cover of the Al Green song “Take Me to the River” is alright. This kind of production is new territory for her, but she holds her own pretty well. There’s nothing remarkable about the track and it pales in comparison to both the original and the cover it’s covering, but not bad at all.

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"Next Semester" - twenty one pilots

◇ featured on Clancy - twenty one pilots (not yet released) ◇ genres: post-punk revival, indie rock, pop rock

I wasn't crazy about the last single twenty one pilots dropped, but this is definitely a step-up. Does that make this song amazing? Not really. I feel like I'm grading on a curve. This is one of the best twenty one pilots songs for sure! I don't know if it stands out beyond that distinction though. Some of the verses are a bit awkward and not in the good, nervous energy kind of way. However, the instrumentation has some good moments, namely Josh Dun's drumming. This song is alright. I see a lot of people hyping up this new record and I'm hoping I can hop on that bandwagon, but I'm just not fully clicking with these songs.

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"Flea" - St. Vincent

◇ featured on All Born Screaming - St. Vincent (not yet released) ◇ genres: alternative rock

Another really good single from St. Vincent! A lot less industrial than the last cut, but it's still dark and noisy. There's some really cool production moments here. I love the multi-layered vocals on the "Once I'm in, you can't get rid of me" part. The chorus is explosive too. The rhythm section, consisting of Dave Grohl on drums and Justin Meldal-Johnsen on bass, are also killing it. Giving this song this sort of prickly groove. Definitely looking forward to hearing whatever she has in store next, these singles rock.

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flowerboycaleb · 1 month

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wanted to post more over here and had the idea to do lil reviews for albums from years past. i'm gonna try to post a review for this series, as the name suggests, every thursday!! this week we're looking at a masterpiece and career defining record from one of the greatest jazz artists of all time: Let My Children Hear Music by Charles Mingus!!! also feel free to follow me on rate your music and twitter <3

Let My Children Hear Music - Charles Mingus

◇ release year: 1972 ◇ genres: third stream, experimental big band

By the mid-1960s, following two masterful albums for the Impulse! label and some other releases here and there, Charles Mingus’s output had slowed tremendously. He was largely out of the spotlight during the spiritual jazz revolution as well as the advent of jazz fusion towards the end of the decade. However, had he been active during this time, I doubt that he would’ve played into a lot of those sounds. In the early 60’s, On albums like The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady and Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus, the “angry man of jazz” had begun to play around with big band music and had incorporated a lot of classical music influence into his compositions. It was an interesting change of pace for someone whose music had always felt so raw. Those two albums are now regarded as some of his best and I have to agree. This shift provided extra layers to his music and gave him a whole new world to explore. A world he would continue to explore nearly a decade later in his unfortunately often overlooked masterpiece Let My Children Hear Music.

Charles Mingus, 1972

The album opens with one of my favorite Mingus compositions. “The Shoes of the Fisherman's Wife Are Some Jive Ass Slippers” is a dynamic and impressive piece. There’s so much happening here musically, but it all feels carefully orchestrated. Opening with some ascending brass instruments with a tuba providing this ominous bass to it all before giving way to an incredible saxophone part. It sounds very theatrical. From there we get to the meat of the song with what sounds like a classic Mingus piece except way more fleshed out. Every piece of this orchestra plays a crucial role. I get chills every time around the 3-minute-10-second mark when that piano comes in and has to fight for your attention briefly before becoming the main focus for a few moments. It’s such an incredible moment and shows off how talented Mingus is as a composer. This song manages to fit in so many twists and turns and each one feels more exciting than the last.

The classical music influence is very much present on the second track, “Adagio Ma Non Troppo,” but it still has that Mingus edge to it. I love the cello playing on this track and it juxtaposes the horns on here which often have a sort of urgency to them. This song also utilizes a lot more woodwind instruments than the previous which mixes in nicely with the grand, weighty brass throughout the piece. “Don’t Be Afraid, the Clown’s Afraid Too” is probably the most experimental track here as it features, what I believe are, recordings of various zoo animals undercut by a drumroll and a very shrill, almost electric trumpet. Very offputting stuff, but it sounds so cool. This song features some callbacks to other jazz tunes. At one point, the piano playing is a reference to Duke Ellington’s “Take The ‘A’ Train” with its distinct twinkling piano part at the beginning. Towards the latter half of the song, the band shifts into this almost circus-like sound. I don’t know a better way to describe it, but it fits the theme of the track very well and shows the album’s range. It is also during this part that the band pays tribute to several Charlie Parker compositions so I think this song might act as some kind of tribute to some of the jazz greats of the 1950s that Mingus admired. It’s important to note that Mingus played with both Parker and Ellington over the years. The latter of which Mingus was very open about being inspired by and you can draw plenty of comparisons between their composition styles. Another note, perhaps the title of this song is in reference to his 1957 record The Clown. Maybe Mingus is harkening back to these jazz legends of years gone by and saying “I’m afraid of where the genre is going.” Maybe Mingus predicted the catastrophic arrival of Kenny G! Conversely, maybe he’s using it as a torch-passing moment, “don’t be afraid” in the face of the wild experimentation that had been happening in the genre at the time. I could be reading far too much into this, but it’s cool that so many conclusions like this can even be drawn in a song with no words. Reissues of the album following the 1992 CD release include “Taurus In the Arena of Life” as the next track and it’s good! It’s the shortest song here by a lot at a bit over 4-minutes, but it has plenty of great moments. Like the matador-like sound at certain moments, which again fits the theme of the title. He’s so clever. It also calls back to some of his flamenco jazz endeavors on records like Tijuana Moods and songs like “Group Dancers (Soul Fusion) (Freewoman and Oh, This Freedom's Slave Cries)” from The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady. Ultimately, I’m glad it’s here, but it isn’t my favorite. I just consider it a little bonus.

The second side of the record kicks off with “Hobo Ho” and it’s another one of my favorite Mingus pieces. That thumping bass at the beginning gets me every time. It’s another example of how cinematic Mingus could get. This sounds like the soundtrack to the coolest movie never made. The directions this song takes you in are just so exhilarating. Towards the halfway point, the orchestra gets this sort of woozy sound to them. It’s almost waltz, yet way more hard-hitting. That bass I loved so much returns to lead into the finale of the song and it’s amazing. This leads into the darkest song here, “The Chill of Death (Recitation).” In this chilling piece, Mingus recites a poem he’d written decades prior. The music sort of reflects that older, almost sinister nostalgia as well. Again, I feel a bit like a broken record, but it’s cinematic. It sounds like the backdrop to an old radio drama. His gruff voice puts so much power behind these words. In the poem, he makes a woman the personification of death that “charms” him to his demise. It’s a great moment that shows Mingus’s trademark humor even when handling subjects like death.

“The I of Hurricane Sue” closes the record and, like “Don’t Be Afraid…” earlier, it features some sound effects. This time it’s wind and rain instead of zoo animals. The music plays on over it and the sounds can faintly be heard beneath them before returning in full-force at the end. Similarly to the opener, the middle part of the song is very reminiscent of classic Mingus yet more layered. He sounds so confident as both a bandleader and composer here. It feels almost like a victory lap after an amazing album.

Charles Mingus, 1972

According to some, Mingus described Let My Children Hear Music as “the best album he ever made” in the original liner notes to the album, but I can’t find a confirmation of that. If true, it would be difficult to disagree with him. I believe this album is one of his two masterpieces, the other being The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady. This was a triumphant return for one of the greatest jazz musicians of all time. It is easily his most ambitious album and that ambition pays off wonderfully. This record gets a lot of acclaim in jazz circles, but I’m hoping one day this record can break through those barriers and get the reputation it deserves as one of the greatest albums of all time.

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#throwback thursday #music #rateyourmusic #music review #charles mingus #jazz #70s music

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flowerboycaleb · 1 month

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how do u use tumblr .. i feel so lost like i'm in a tiny corner all by my lonesome

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flowerboycaleb · 2 months

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wanted to post more over here and had the idea to do lil reviews for albums from years past. i'm gonna try to post a review for this series, as the name suggests, every thursday!! this week we're looking at a long overdue return to form for one of the greatest songwriters of all time: Oh Mercy by Bob Dylan!!! also feel free to follow me on rate your music and twitter <3

Oh Mercy - Bob Dylan

◇ release year: 1989 ◇ genres: singer-songwriter, pop rock, folk rock

The 80s were not kind to Bob Dylan at all, neither were the late 70s for that matter. There was a massive dip in quality after the relative comeback albums that were 1975’s Blood on the Tracks and 1976’s Desire. Following divorce proceedings with his wife in 1977, Dylan shifted his sound away from folk and into a more pop-rock direction for Street-Legal, one of his most uneventful records. Leading into the 80s, he had a born-again Christian phase and released a trilogy of terrible faith-based albums. His 1983 album Infidels was his return back to secular music, but it’s also not very great in the grand scheme of his catalog besides the opener “Jokerman.” Empire Burlesque, Knocked Out Loaded, and Down in the Groove were also some of his worst records and borderline embarrassing for an artist of his caliber. There are very few bright spots in that run aside from “Brownsville Girl” off of Knocked Out Loaded, but to get to that you gotta sit through his version of Kris Kristofferson’s “They Killed Him” which is one of the worst songs I’ve ever heard. Things were looking pretty bad for the once-iconic artist. His music was either terrible, boring, a parody of his best work, or all three in one. The deck was stacked against him, but in 1988 something special would happen. Bono would introduce Dylan to producer Daniel Lanois known for his work with Brian Eno, U2, and longtime Dylan collaborator Robbie Robertson. Dylan seemed determined to finally make a good album again and Lanois’ production work was exactly what he needed to refresh his sound.

Bob Dylan, 1989

You can hear that right away in the opener “Political World.” Despite it being one of Dylan’s clunkier songs from a lyrical perspective, that instrumentation is just perfect for him. That warm, jaunty sound provided by Dylan and a backing band consisting of various musicians from New Orleans. Many of which Lanois was working with at the time. These musicians match the anxious and chaotic themes of the song perfectly. Dylan sings about it being a hostile, political world and even touches on themes of spirituality in two lines towards the end. In those two lines alone, he provides a more interesting perspective on religion than he ever did on his spiritual albums. In the grand scheme of things, “Political World” doesn’t rank among the best Dylan songs, but it’s such a massive breath of fresh air from what he had been doing at the time. The next track cools things down with the waltzy, schmaltzy cut “Where Teardrops Fall.” Again, this isn’t a classic Dylan masterpiece, but it just sounds so good. Massive shoutout to John Hart’s saxophone on the outro. “Everything is Broken” kind of harkens back lyrically and musically to something Dylan might’ve written in decades past, but it’s given this fresh new coat of paint thanks to Lanois’ production. I love Brian Stoltz’s guitar work here. It’s never in your face, but it’s always present underneath everything. It creates this really cool dynamic with the rhythm section. The next track “Ring Them Bells” is one of the many times here where Dylan slows things down. This is where the album is at its best. The warm production not only brings out the best in the instrumentation but also in Dylan’s voice. This is the first album where he sounds like the weathered, legendary songwriter he was. The arrangement is sparse, with only guitar and keyboards accompanying Dylan’s voice and piano. It’s one of my favorite-sounding Dylan songs. As is the next track, “Man In the Long Black Coat.” What a triumph this song is. It’s simultaneously amazing and infuriating. He still had it in him to write an incredible, compelling song. Like the last track, the sound here is pretty sparse besides some ambiance setting keyboards from Malcolm Burn and Dylan’s guitar. His voice is in a lower register and it makes you just hang on to his every word. It helps that the melody is so memorable also. The song ends on such a mysterious note and it’s the most engaging he had sounded since Desire.

“Most of the Time” builds upon that more weathered sound except this time with more layers to it instrumentally. This is another one of my favorite Dylan songs. It’s a heartbreak ballad that has such a simple structure and premise, but it’s so impactful. I love the way the electric guitar washes over the track. Every time it enters, it lingers for the perfect amount of time. It’s mixed so perfectly. “What Good Am I?” and “Disease of Conceit” are lulls in the tracklist, but they’re not bad. They just lack that energy of the three tracks prior. The latter is another clunky writing moment from Dylan on the record. His best moments on here lyrically are the songs about love, heartbreak, and other more personal topics. He’s made some iconic songs built around his ruminations on the world, but none of them are found here. Fortunately, the last two tracks are a step up. “What Was It You Wanted” might have the most tasteful implementation of a harmonica on any Bob Dylan record. I love Dylan’s usually harsh harmonica, but it’s hard to deny it can get a bit much. The music here is very subtle and it accompanies what seems to be Dylan’s meditations on his art up to that point. Perhaps the years of critical failures catching up to him as he asks the public “what was it you wanted?” If I was a fan of his during this time, the answer would be songs like this! “Shooting Star” is another ballad and another favorite of mine. Some have interpreted this song as being about Dylan’s disillusionment with spirituality and I think that’s an interesting read, but it could also just be a simple bittersweet ballad about love. Either way, this is a strong closer to the album.

Bob Dylan, 1988

Oh Mercy was an incredible return to form for Dylan and Lanois’ production brought out the best in these songs. It sounded like Dylan was writing with a purpose again, he was inspired. While overall this isn’t his strongest crop of songs from a lyrical standpoint, the execution here takes these songs to the next level. Ideally, this would be the start of a career renaissance for the legendary singer-songwriter, but seeing as how his next album would be the dreadful Under the Red Sky that wasn’t the case. Thankfully, Lanois would collaborate with Dylan again 8 years later for Time Out of Mind, yet another one of his comeback albums.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ thanks for reading <3

#throwback thursday #music #rateyourmusic #music review #bob dylan #daniel lanois #folk music #80s music

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flowerboycaleb · 2 months

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wanted to post more over here and had the idea to do lil reviews for albums from years past. i'm gonna try to post a review for this series, as the name suggests, every thursday!! this week we're taking a look at a defining album in a legendary pop star's career and perhaps the best disco album of all time: Off the Wall by Michael Jackson!!! also feel free to follow me on rate your music and twitter <3

Off the Wall - Michael Jackson

◇ release year: 1979 ◇ genres: disco, funk, pop soul

Although his career would start a decade prior, Off the Wall feels like the true beginning of Michael Jackson. Gone were the days of singing about ABCs or pet rats, Jackson was an adult now and he was ready to take the world by storm. At least that’s how Off the Wall sounds. His last solo album for Motown, 1975’s Forever, Michael, was a commercial letdown and The Jackson 5’s creative frustrations with the label led to most of the family leaving for Epic that same year. In the years leading up to Off the Wall, Michael would continue to work with his family, now going by The Jacksons, but everything changed when Michael met Quincy Jones.

This would prove to be a collaboration for the ages. Over the next decade, Jones would go on to produce Jackson’s best albums and some of the most defining of the era. First among them is Off the Wall. It was one of the best disco albums of all time and the album that launched Michael Jackson into superstardom.

Michael Jackson and Quincy Jones, 1979

“Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough” is one of the greatest album openers of all time and, like many of the songs here, is a radio staple to this day. Jackson’s soft, spoken-word intro leading into the “WOO!” is one of the most iconic moments in music history. From there, you’re treated to one of the most infectious disco tracks of all time. Jackson and the other musicians here keep the pace perfectly. Never a dull moment. I can’t imagine what hearing this for the first time in 1979 must’ve been like. Jackson also has sole-writing credits for this song and it would be his first solo single to have that distinction. Lyrically the song is incredibly simple, but it showed his masterful ear for incredibly memorable hooks and choruses. He flexes that ability throughout the first half of the album.

Somehow, though, Jackson tops himself with the next song and the next big hit, “Rock With You.” This honestly might be my favorite song of his. It’s just pure pop perfection, one of the smoothest songs ever recorded. It’s everything I want from a pop song. A danceable instrumental, a chorus that gets stuck in your head for days on end, and that desire to sing along to it at the top of your lungs that never goes away despite hearing it countless times. That fade-out at the end almost teases you to press play just one more time or bring the needle back to the start. Jackson did not write this one, but he would on the next track “Workin’ Day and Night.” This song brings back that funky groove from the opener and it’s also great. It has one of Jackson’s most fiery vocal performances. “Get On the Floor” has one of the most killer basslines I’ve ever heard courtesy of Louis Johnson. I love the way Michael sings “Then why don’t you just dance across the floor?” in the pre-chorus. I have no idea why this was a B-side and not a standalone single.

The title track opens the second side of the record and this is one of the cleanest cuts here. It was written by Rod Temperton who also wrote “Rock With You” and that makes total sense with just how suave it is. The only weak moments on the album come with the next two tracks. Michael’s version of the Paul McCartney & Wings track “Girlfriend” is just alright, nothing stellar. For what it’s worth, I prefer Michael’s version over Paul’s original. The arrangements on the version here breathe some much-needed life into it. I just think it’s kind of a boring moment in McCartney’s songbook. The next track “She’s Out of My Life” just doesn’t really fit into the album, but it isn’t bad either. It was originally written by Tom Bahler for Frank Sinatra and you can hear it. It does show off Michael’s vocal range, but he would go on to make better ballads on future albums.

My favorite song on the second side is “I Can’t Help It” which Stevie Wonder has credits for as both a songwriter and rhythm section arranger. You can tell right away with the arrangement that Wonder’s fingerprints are on this one. It’s another low-key song on the album, basically smooth soul. I can’t help but love it though, that chorus just hits. “It’s the Falling in Love” is a really sweet R&B song with a fun arrangement. The second half of the album kind of layered the disco groove underneath other sounds which makes it a lot less energetic than the first half, but there are still some very solid songs here. It’s only interesting that Michael has no songwriting credits across this whole side which could be the reason for that shift.

Luckily, the closing track here is one of the most wild, danceable songs on the whole record. The aptly named “Burn This Disco Out” opens with a wave of horns washing over you before shifting into some classic disco instrumentation. The backing vocals going “groove all night!” gets me every time. It goes without saying at this point, but Michael’s vocals here are fantastic and fit the vibe perfectly. Really great way to close out the record.

Michael Jackson on tour with The Jacksons, 1979

Michael Jackson would obviously go on to make bigger albums in the coming decade, but Off the Wall resonates with me more than any of his other albums. There’s such a palpable energy to it. Beyond the disco grooves, it’s the sound of a young artist ready to reach that next level. Quincy Jones does one of the best production jobs of all time here as well, the album still sounds great to this day. Off the Wall is just the first entry in a run of era-defining records. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ thanks for reading <3

#throwback thursday #music #rateyourmusic #music review #michael jackson #quincy jones #disco #70s music

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flowerboycaleb · 2 months

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ok so since so many noteworthy artists decided to drop singles on the last day of the month after my month in review came out, i'm gonna cover them in this add-on post!! to check out the main singles & songs post for this month click here!!!

"Broken Man" - St. Vincent

◇ featured on All Born Screaming - St. Vincent (not yet released) ◇ genres: alternative rock, industrial rock

St. Vincent is cranking up the noise on "Broken Man," the lead single for her upcoming new album. This is definitely a lot darker and heavier than 2021's Daddy's Home and I'm really digging it. The instrumentation is so off-putting, almost eery, and her vocals add to that feeling. The big bursts of guitar after she asks "who the hell do you think I am?" are so badass. Dave Grohl also provides some drums for this track and they're very prevalent on the backend of the track when things get super wild. Throughout her discography she's occassionally leaned into some noisier elements, but here it seems like she's going all in. This is a great lead single and I'm super excited to hear what the rest of the album sounds like. listen here: Apple Music Spotify Bandcamp (not available) SoundCloud YouTube ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

"Von dutch" - Charli XCX

◇ featured on brat - Charli XCX (not yet released) ◇ genres: electro house, electropop, dance-pop

This new Charli XCX single and the lead single for her upcoming album brat is ... just ok. Her goal with this album is to make club bangers, but I feel like you can do that while not letting the songwriting fall short. Yeah the beat goes crazy, but it's a very come-and-go song. Unmemorable verses and the hook here is honestly kinda annoying. Maybe the rest of the album will be better than this, I don't mind this sound I just wish the song was more memorable. I know Charli can craft a great, wild, and catchy song, but "Von dutch" isn't that. listen here: Apple Music Spotify Bandcamp (not available) SoundCloud (not available) YouTube ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

"Overcompensate" - twenty one pilots

◇ featured on Clancy - twenty one pilots (not yet released) ◇ genres: pop rap, alternative dance, electro-industrial

Coming off the absolute snoozefest that was their last album, twenty one pilots are back with a new single and a new album on the way. "Overcompensate" is an interesting shift in their sound from both a production and instrumental standpoint, but ... the rap verses don't really click with me. I've never been too crazy about Tyler Joseph's rapping, in fact it often annoys the shit out of me. I do think this is one of his better performances, but they lack that punch this song needs to take it to the next level. Same with the chorus. It's definitely a step-up from their previous album though and there's always the chance it could grow on me in the context of the whole album. listen here: Apple Music Spotify Bandcamp (not available) SoundCloud YouTube ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

#month in review #2024

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flowerboycaleb · 2 months

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this post will contain links to both parts of the February 2024 in Review!!

feel free to follow me on rate your music and twitter <3 ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

featuring Brittany Howard, Quadeca, MGMT, Yeat, Little Simz, & MORE if the link attached to the image isn't working HERE IS THE DIRECT LINK <3 ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

featuring Beth Gibbons, RiTchie, Beyoncé, Maruja, Vampire Weekend, & MORE if the link attached to the image isn't working HERE IS THE DIRECT LINK <3 ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

#month in review

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flowerboycaleb · 2 months

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february was a really good month for music!!! i enjoyed so many projects from both artists i've loved for a long time and some i haven't enjoyed in the past at all. there were a few disappointing ones too, one album in particular spawning some of the most irritating discourse in a long time, but i'm trying to look at the positives!! here are my thoughts on some of the most notable projects that dropped this month!!! to check out my thoughts on some of the songs that dropped this month click here!!! also feel free to follow me on rate your music and twitter <3

What Now - Brittany Howard

🥇 ALBUM OF THE MONTH

◇ genre: psychedelic soul

When Brittany Howard dropped her first solo record, Jaime, back in 2019, I was absolutely obsessed with it. The shift from the blues rock-centric sound of her other work to the world of psychedelic soul worked extremely well. However, as with most new music I was obsessed with during that time, it feels like it was so long ago. I think the pandemic made me sort of forget a lot of these albums I once loved. For some subconscious reason, I don't revisit many of the new records I loved from late 2019 to early 2020. Jaime was unfortunately one of them. When I heard this new album was on the way, I was excited and listened to like one of the singles, but nothing more. When I finally sat down to listen to What Now, it felt like meeting up with an old friend and hitting it off almost immediately.

The opener "Earth Sign" shook me to my core on my first listen. It's spacey, slow-building, but when Howard emphatically sings that third "out thereeee" in the third verse it acts like a call to arms for the drums to come booming in. Such a cool moment moment. The next track "I Don't" is one of the more straightforward psychedelic soul cuts on the album and it's so gorgeous. I can't get enough of it. The title track picks up the pace a bit and is almost funk rock. I adore Howard's fuzzy guitar on this song. It's probably also a good time to mention how the rest of the musicians on this project do an amazing job. "Another Day" and "Prove It to You" are really interesting detours into a more dance direction. They simultaneously sound out of place while also fitting right in. I would love to hear these sounds be explored further on future albums. The album's home stretch kicks off with "Samson" which might be Howard's most intimate moment from a musical standpoint. Very bare guitar parts, organ, and some saxophones peppered in. Stunningly beautiful. She immediately fires back up for "Patience" which features some of my favorite instrumentation across the whole record. Mixing together those funky basslines and guitar licks before shifting into some sweeping keyboards on the later half of the track. "Every Color in Blue" is a phenomenal final note. Again, mixing together some subtle jazz instrumentation with Howard's awe-inspiring vocals. You just have to hear this. I've listened to this album a ton since it dropped. I'm still uncovering new things I didn't appreciate on the last listen. Please don't let this album fly under your radar!!

listen here: Apple Music Spotify Bandcamp SoundCloud YouTube ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

SCRAPYARD - Quadeca

◇ genres: art pop, experimental hip hop, electronic

I'll be honest, I didn't know who Quadeca was before his last album I Didn't Mean to Haunt You. I learned after the fact that he was a YouTuber and that many were shocked he had made an album that good. The quality for "YouTuber music" is nearly in the dirt, but that record kind of pushed Quadeca out of the label of "YouTuber music." I enjoyed the album a good bit, although I found him to be a bit overhyped by many following its release. I don't know if that's where my lack of knowledge on Quadeca comes into play, but it's just how I felt. Then comes SCRAPYARD and I'm forced to eat the biggest crow ever. This new mixtape from Quadeca has him showcasing his range as not just a producer, but a rapper, lyricist, and multi-instrumentalist as well. Opener "Dustcutter" is an emo-rap track with elements of art pop mixed in and it's amazing. His exasperated, frantic delivery at various points throughout the track creates this very anxious tension that feels almost palpable. The next track, "A la carte" with brakence, picks up the pace a bit and the two work very well together. "Pretty Privilege" veers heavily into the art pop and it's so great. Hits pretty close to home as someone who has struggled with body image issues and Quadeca handles these themes in a tactful way. "Easier" shows another switch-up as he delves into some folktronica. He shows so much more depth as an artist here and to think this is the "scrapyard." One of the more no-frills hip hop tracks here is "Guess Who?" and it's a fun listen. The final three tracks are extremely poignant and offer some of the most intimate moments on the record. "U Tried That Thing Where Ur Human" reminds me a bit of a Xiu Xiu track except a bit less ... Xiu Xiu. "Guide Dog" is a really emotional indie folk cut and one that grows on me over reoccurring listens. "Texas Blue" is the most I've enjoyed a Kevin Abstract feature since like high school. Quadeca and Abstract have an incredible chemistry here. It really feels like the perfect way to end this project. Quadeca, I'm sorry for thinking you were overhyped. This SCRAPYARD mixtape is exceptional and I can't wait to hear what you do next.

listen here: Apple Music Spotify Bandcamp SoundCloud YouTube ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Where we've been, Where we go from here - Friko

◇ genre: indie rock

Many reviewers have drawn a clear line of influence from Where we've been, Where we go from here and indie rock of the 2000s. Those reviewers would be absolutely correct too. If you told me this was an indie rock staple of that era with a Pitchfork Best New Music review to its name, I might believe you. However, this is a band's debut album in the year 2024. One of the most exciting in recent memory, made even more so by Friko being relatively unknown before this project. It's like it appeared out of thin air. Randomly here's one of the most polished indie rock albums in a while that puts a modern twist on an old formula. An old formula that I have a soft spot for, for better or for worse. Even by the opener, "Where We've Been," I knew this album was something special, at least for me. Vocalist and guitarist Niko Kapetan absolutely steals the show here. His voice is shaky, but effortlessly melodic. "Crimson to Chrome" has one of the most memorable choruses I've heard in a minute, it's been stuck in my head for days. Drummer Bailey Minzenberger really kills it here too. The energy keeps up on the next track "Crashing Through." Those first three tracks alone are a hell of a statement for a debut record. "Chemical" veers into the post-punk and shows the band's range very well. Even when the band get a bit quieter like on "Until I'm With You Again," there's still just this ... energy to it all. Friko sound so confident here, like they know they're gonna be a big name in the genre in a very short time. I hope I'm right about that because this album is amazing. I was a bit floored by how much I enjoyed this. Incredibly excited to see what Friko have in store for us next.

listen here: Apple Music Spotify Bandcamp SoundCloud YouTube ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

PHASOR - Helado Negro

◇ genres: indietronica, neo-psychedelia

Similarly to Brittany Howard, Roberto Carlos Lange's music has escaped me over the last few years. I enjoyed his 2019 album This Is How You Smile, but I just kind of lost track of him. However, I saw his new album PHASOR getting some buzz and I decided to check it out. I'm glad I did! It's a gorgeous album full of sweet, borderline ambient songs. "I Just Want to Wake Up With You" is such a simple song, but it's so enjoyable. The repetition of the chorus never feels irritating because the production and instrumentation are so nice. It almost feels like you're swimming and the little synth flourishes remind me of early electronic music from the 70's. The whole album is full of stuff like that too. It's such an easy listen. Each song just breezes past you so gently. It doesn't demand your attention, but if you decide to give it some you will be rewarded. "Out There" sounds so cool and more complex than some of the other songs here while not losing the subtlety of the album. "Best For You and Me" is similar in this aspect too with its driving piano chords and fuzzy synths bubbling up underneath Lange's soft vocals. The most raucous track here is the opener "LFO (Lupe Finds Olivieros)" which is a cool mix of indie rock with the rest of the album's spacey synth work. This album has really grown on me over multiple listens. It's so easy to throw on whenever. It fits nearly every mood and doesn't overstay its welcome at all. It's also reminded me to go back and revisit more of his work from the past!

listen here: Apple Music Spotify Bandcamp SoundCloud YouTube ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

She Reaches Out to She Reaches Out to She - Chelsea Wolfe

◇ genres: darkwave, post-industrial

Chelsea Wolfe is a name that sounded vaguely familiar to me before I listened to her new record She Reaches Out to She Reaches Out to She, but I'm pretty sure I've never heard any of her stuff before this. Upon listening, I have a strong desire to dive into her back catalog. This album is excellently produced and wonderfully written. These songs are dark and often chilling. Both due to Wolfe's unique vocals and the production. You're thrown right into it with "Whispers In The Echo Chamber" as Wolfe sings about seeing things "beyond reality" and the dark synths really accentuate that feeling. The song eventually builds into a big industrial burst with a ripping guitar part towards the end of the track. I loved the range presented here and it's present across the whole album. Wolfe shines in both the softer moments and the louder moments. "House of Self-Undoing" is more straight-forward industrial rock. Even amidst the wild drums and guitars, Wolfe's vocals stand out. The lyricism here strikes a nice balance between substance and style. The majority of the tracks here have at least one lyric that is razor sharp despite the ethereal vocals. "The Liminal" is a really great trip-hop cut and an unexpected, but welcome change of pace after the slow-burning "Tunnel Lights." As was "Eyes Like Nightshade" which blends elements from dance music into this dark world Wolfe is creating. It's such an easy album to get sucked into. Even with the sonic shifts, these songs immerse you in their weird world. The album ends with one of its most fiery moments, "Dusk," as Wolfe aptly sings "and I will go through the fire" as the heavy industrial guitars and drums almost drown her out. I really loved this album. Wolfe managed to balance both the chaos and relative tranquility on the album just by her performance alone. Really need to listen to more of her stuff!

listen here: Apple Music Spotify Bandcamp SoundCloud YouTube ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

All Life Long - Kali Malone

◇ genres: drone, holy minimalism

My first introduction to Kali Malone's work was through her 2022 album Living Torch. A really interesting two part, 33-minute drone piece that had a really dark atmosphere to it. Her last album, Does Spring Hide Its Joy, was way more expansive at three hours. I had to listen to it over multiple days. It played on a lot of the themes of the previous, except grander. This new album is trimmed down a bit, but it has some of her strongest material. Opening the album with the choral "Passage Through the Spheres" is a very interesting choice. It doesn't really sound like much of the album musically, but it sets the tone very well. All Life Long sounds like the album art suggests. Everything feels cold. Maybe not the standing the snow kind of cold, but a really strong, uncomfortable chill. The title track, split into versions both for organ and voice, is a big highlight here. Malone's plodding organ on the former feels like you're stepping into somewhere you shouldn't be. It sounds haunted. "No Sun to Burn (for Brass)" lightens the mood just a bit and is a really striking minimalist composition. "Prisoned on Watery Shore" is a mellow drone cut and it keeps you hooked the whole time. Just by the first four tracks Malone has taken us down so many avenues and flexed her range as a composer. I love the dark droney synths and little organ flourishes on "Fastened Maze." I do like when Malone works with a brass quintet and the choirs, but they really shine with the drone stuff. She's so good at creating distinct atmospheres in each of her compositions. All Life Long might be my favorite project of Malone's yet. The majority of the songs here are really well composed and evoked some kind of reaction from me. Not sure if I would recommend starting with it if you're new to Malone's work, I would say Living Torch is still the best entry point, but definitely give this a listen after.

listen here: Apple Music Spotify Bandcamp SoundCloud YouTube ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Prelude to Ecstasy - The Last Dinner Party

◇ genre: indie rock, glam rock, pop rock

I mentioned this in my singles & songs post from last month, but I have been loving the singles leading up to this album. Even if the entire debut from the London glam rock band didn't live up to the hype those songs gave me, I would still be pretty satisfied. Luckily, Prelude to Ecstasy is a really good debut. The band dives into themes of gender, generational trauma, and toxic relationships accompanied by some catchy, cathartic songwriting. The best example of this is the band's biggest hit thus far, "Nothing Matters." I touched on it briefly in the aforementioned post from last month, but I just adore that song. One of the most well-crafted rock songs of the decade so far. That chorus sticks with you for days. I wish I could be a bit contrarian and say that the biggest hit isn't the best song, but I just can't here. That isn't to say the rest of the material here is weak, far from it, this album is loaded with great songs. "Burn Alive" veers into a more post-punk sound which fits the band so well. The lyrics discuss turning pain into art and lead vocalist Abigail Morris has defined it as the band's "mission statement." Very strong start to the record. I wrote about how great "Caesar on a TV Screen" was last month, but I enjoyed it even more in the context of the album. "Sinner" is another great example of the band's glam rock sound. It sounds so classic, but not in the extra-derivative Greta Van Fleet way. They use these sounds from the past and put their own spin on it. All in all, this is a very strong debut album. Occasionally the band can drift into the generic, but those moments are few and far between. They're even more forgivable when you compare them to what other new stuff is playing on your local alternative station. I'll definitely take it over any son of Mumford.

listen here: Apple Music Spotify Bandcamp SoundCloud YouTube ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Loss of Life - MGMT

◇ genre: neo-psychedelia

Nearly 6 years removed from their stellar previous album, Little Dark Age, MGMT have finally returned with Loss of Life. An album that sees them leaning away from the synth-heavy sound of the previous in favor of a more organic sound. Guitars and the occasional piano are usually the driving force behind these songs. The psychedelia present through all of their work is also here which is to be expected. The album opens with "Loss of Life Pt. 2," which features some of the most electronic instrumentation across the whole record and a lot of it would be reprised for the closing title track. Lead single "Mother Nature" follows it and it really was the perfect choice for a lead single. It introduces this "era" of the band perfectly. More organic instrumentation, more mature lyrics, while still having those hooks that really stick with you. I think this is one of the best songs the band have ever made and while a lot of the songs following don't reach those heights, plenty come very close. "People In The Streets" follows the same formula as that song, but way more mellow. I love the bass on this track, it's so prevalent in the mix. The next track "Bubblegum Dog" is almost glam rock and they pull off that sound pretty well. The lyrics feel like a meditation on the creative process and moving forward. Interesting themes that I'm interested in hearing from them at this stage in their career. A lot of the songs here, as good as most of them are, just leave me wanting a little bit more. I often found myself wanting the band to take a few more risks and get a bit wilder on the musical front. I feel like you could've explored these more mature themes while also getting a bit crazier with it. As this album dropped only last week, I don't feel like my opinions on it are fully formed. Maybe I'll enjoy it more over more listens as the year rolls on. For the most part, Loss of Life is a really good return for the band and an interesting release in their discography.

listen here: Apple Music Spotify Bandcamp SoundCloud YouTube ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Still - Erika de Casier

◇ genre: contemporary r&b

Erika de Casier had been on my radar for years, but I never got around to listening to any of her albums in full. I was inspired to listen to her new album due to her incredible single from last month, "Lucky." A really sleek, atmospheric drum and bass cut with a killer hook and production that still wows me even after multiple listens. It's probably still my favorite track on the album, but that's not to say there aren't other amazing tracks on Still. The reggaetón undertones of "Home Alone" were a very welcome surprise. "ice" is has a very funky bassline and a nice feature from They Hate Change. "Believe It" has a subtle bit of trip-hop thrown in and some of my favorite hooks on the whole record. The album's sounds are deceptively eclectic as de Casier blends them together so well. The incredible production across Still can sometimes be to its detriment. On a few tracks, the production feels let down by some weak songwriting. Not bad by any means, but I just wish there was a bit more of an edge to them. de Casier is a very good pop songwriter and pretty much every track has a good hook, chorus, etc., but it doesn't leave much of an impact beyond that. "Ex-Girlfriend" and "Twice" are examples of this. Really nice beats, but I feel like they never reach the heights they have the potential to. Even with those gripes, Still is a really well-crafted record and there is no shortage of great stuff here.

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Other Rooms - Adriaan de Roover

◇ genres: ambient, electroacoustic

I don't know much about Adriaan de Roover at all. I found this album on the front page of Bandcamp and decided to check it out because the genres looked appealing. Sometimes you need a good ambient album and Other Rooms is a satisfying listen. There are some gorgeous ambient soundscapes on this project with some glitchy moments peppered in. In fact, the album starts off with one of those moments. "Yet" has these prickly, glitchy synths throughout, yet an almost eerie wave of noise accompanies them. It creates a really cool dynamic. If you're just looking for some good ol' ambient, check out the tracks "Homebound" and "Dank U." My favorite piece here is the title track. It features some nice ambient synth-work alongside these distant choir-like vocals and some chilling piano chords thrown in. The backend of the tracks turns to something far more sinister with one of the most outwardly unsettling dark warbles. There always feels like there's something underneath a lot of the songs. I just wish it was a bit more fleshed out. At just under 30-minutes in length, I feel like there was a bit more to explore. Still definitely worth checking out if you're looking for a good ambient album with a decent amount of depth to dive into.

listen here: Apple Music Spotify Bandcamp SoundCloud (not available) YouTube ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Club Shy - Shygirl

◇ genres: house, dance-pop

There's not really much to say about this new Shygirl EP except that it's a really strong, concise collection of house and dance-pop tracks. A bit of a detour from the sound of her previous album Nymph, but it works so well. She works with a ton of different producers here and it's incredible how cohesive it all sounds. Every track hits and there's very rarely a dull moment. "4eva" and "thicc" are probably the biggest highlights here for me. I'm a total, anti-social geek that doesn't go to clubs, but those songs make me want to. If you need a quick collection of thumping club songs, look no further.

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Unwired Detour - Asian Glow

◇ genres: noise pop, indietronica

I've listened to a decent amount of Asian Glow's work over the last few years. They've been involved in some pretty interesting projects throughout the decade so far both on their own and with other noisy/shoegaze artists such as Weatherday and Parannoul. They played bass on the latter's After the Night live album which was one of my favorites last year. However, it seems as though the Asian Glow project is coming to an end with Unwired Detour. They announced on their Bandcamp that this would be the "last album [they'll] ever release for Asian Glow." It doesn't feel like your typical "final album" though, at least to me. I'm sure it has a lot more personal significance for the artist, but this just sounds like an extremely promising album from a young artist and one that could be a stepping stone to much greater heights.

The album features some really good noise pop/indietronica tracks with some having more of a rock edge than others. "Ashes" is one of my favorite cuts here because of that rock edge. It also feels like one of the more lively tracks here from a production standpoint. I feel the same way about "Kuroitamago #2" and "Faucet." This album is at its best when they cut loose a bit. A lot of these songs are really good, but the production feels like a big barrier preventing them from reaching that next level. Like on the opener "Down in the sink" which is just begging to be free from the Wall of Sound production style. I still think on the whole this project is worth checking out. I also am excited to hear whatever comes next from the artist formerly known as Asian Glow.

listen here: Apple Music (not available) Spotify (not available) Bandcamp SoundCloud (not available) YouTube (not available) ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

2093 - Yeat

◇ genres: industrial hip hop, experimental hip hop, trap

I haven't really been crazy about a lot of Yeat's music, but 2093 is probably his strongest album to date. There are so many really cool ideas here and there are some awesome moments here from a production standpoint. However, it would be even better if it were reigned in and shortened by maybe even 20 minutes. He commits to the concept of 2093 and being in the future, but that kinda wears thin when multiple songs hammer that concept home over and over again. On the whole it can be a very tiresome listen made somewhat worthwhile due to a large number of highlights. "Morë" and "U Should Know" are my two favorite tracks on the album if just for the beats alone. They sound so cool and the former dives into the industrial hip hop sound really well. Yeat's bars are pretty nice for the most part, he's not my favorite rapper and often he never surpasses the "this is fine" territory, but he works within these songs very well. I'll always be a sucker for reoccurring lyrical themes across an album. Lil Wayne locked in for his verse on "Lyfestylë" which makes it another standout. I really had a difficult time getting into the later half of the album, but the penultimate track "If We Being Rëal" brought me back into it. There is a really, really solid album within 2093. If you took the cream of the crop and maybe saved the rest for a deluxe edition, you would be absolutely golden.

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TANGK - IDLES

◇ genre: art rock, post-punk

IDLES decided to switch things up going into their fifth studio album, partially stepping away from the raucous energy of their previous work in favor of something softer, less aggressive. They enlist the help of Nigel Godrich and frequent collaborator Kenny Beats for the bulk of production duties here. Godrich especially has heaps of experience in the art rock world mainly through his production work on every Radiohead studio album besides Pablo Honey. The production really is one of the standout things about TANGK, unfortunately I don't really know if IDLES is the best at making the most of it. This isn't a bad album by any means and I do warm up to it bit by bit after every listen, but I can't help but feel like a lot of this is underwhelming. I'm all for bands expanding their sound and trying different things, but I feel like IDLES lose a good bit of their charm by going into this direction. The best moments on the album are the ones reminiscent of the wild energy of their previous work. Especially "Dancers", a collab with LCD Soundsystem and a track that somehow flew under my radar last year. That swinging chorus rules so hard. "Hall & Oates" is another massive highlight for a lot of the same reasons. "Gift Horse" is awesome too and shows the band kinda leaning further towards dance-punk.

IDLES really thrive with that rough around the edges sound. Not all of their forays away from it are bad, in fact, none of them are really. Many just feel kinda boring.

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Drop 7 - Little Simz

◇ genres: UK hip hop, electronic dance music

It breaks my heart to write this, but Drop 7 was underwhelming. Little Simz is one of my favorite artists going today and her last three studio albums are absolutely incredible. Her 2021 album Sometimes I Might Be Introvert was my favorite album of that year and I would give it a very prestigious 10/10 score!! I was so hyped for this EP once she started teasing it on social media. The snippets showed her venturing into some more electronic production and I was intrigued. Unfortunately, those experiments don't really come together to make a great EP. There are some really good moments though. The opener "Mood Swings" is great and shows her feeling right at home with this style. The next track "Fever" is also one of the better cuts here, but it highlights a big issue I have with this project. Her typical incredible flows and lyricism aren't really present here across this EP. Most of the time her bars feel like an afterthought and oftentimes there isn't much else to carry the tracks on any other front besides that. One of the only exceptions is "SOS" which is a nice tribal house track that makes me want to dive into the genre more. I'm trying not to be too harsh on this EP because it's obvious she uses the Drop EPs to experiment and test out ideas, but Drop 7 left a lot to be desired. I don't think this journey into electronic/house music is a bad idea, but I just hope it can be fleshed out properly on her next full-length project.

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Vultures 1 - Kanye West & Ty Dolla $ign

◇ genres: pop rap, trap, alternative r&b

It feels pointless to dive into Kanye's weird, antisemitic antics over the last year or so. He obviously doesn't care and his ardent supporters don't either. "Separate the art from the artist!" they cry meanwhile said artist is making light of his antics in the art itself. Thus making it impossible to separate it from him. So that begs the question ... why do people still cling to him? Does the man who just a few months ago uttered the phrase "Jesus Christ, Hitler, Ye — third party, sponsor that" still make good music? Maybe if the beats go hard enough you can forgive and forget as he boasts about still being "the king" despite his vile antics? Unfortunately for the Kanye fans, this might be his worst album to date. No longer can they use the shield of "but he still makes good music!" I've tried to write about how I feel about this album over and over again, but it's so frustrating. Pretty much every song has a fair amount of bullshit thrown in which makes the whole thing unenjoyable. "Stars" is a decent opener until Kanye says "Keep a few Jews on the staff now" as if it somehow absolves him of his past remarks. "Keys to My Life" has a cool beat, but Kanye's verses are some of the weakest of his career. "Talking" probably has the least amount of bullshit and it can be a bit touching at times. "Back to Me" ranks among the worst things Kanye's ever touched. Everything about it irritates me, I don't even enjoy the Freddie Gibbs feature. The same can be said about "Hoodrat." "Do It" isn't offensively bad, but it bores me to tears. "Burn" is just pathetic as Kanye tries to get a quick nostalgia pop because the beat and his flow are sort of reminiscent of The College Dropout era, y'know when he made good music. "Fuk Sumn" and "Carnival" are the most enjoyable tracks here, but I can't see myself ever really going back to them. The title track isn't good and is proof Kanye has lost pretty much all of his sauce. The last two tracks, "Problematic" and "King," are embarrassing. The former where Kanye refers to his current wife as a "reference" to his ex-wife Kim Kardashian and the latter where he says he's "still the king!" despite people rightfully calling out his behavior. These over-the-top egotistical bars would at least be a little bit forgivable if the songs were any good, but they aren't. I almost forgot to mention this is a collab with Ty Dolla $ign and while he has some decent moments (his verse on "Talking" is a genuine highlight), as he says on the track "Paid," he's "just here to get paid." Vultures 1 has to be one of the worst albums by an artist of Kanye West's standing. Someone responsible for making some of the most influential music of the last two decades having a fall from grace this hard and fast would be sad if he weren't such a massive piece of shit. My apologies for going in on this album, but if you know me you will know that I used to be a massive fan of this man's music. I own like half of his discography on vinyl and I stuck with him through so much bullshit. I'm catching up on my Kanye hate after many years of being a delusional dickrider of his. He's making it easy too, not just with his antisemitism, but with this bad record too.

listen here: don't, listen to something good instead ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Slut Pop Miami - Kim Petras

◇ genres: dance-pop, house, electropop

I really am rooting for Kim Petras. I thought she was making some cool stuff near the end of the 2010s, but I just haven't been able to get into anything she's dropped lately. Especially these Slut Pop projects. It was already uncomfortable how often Petras collaborated with alleged sexual abuser Dr. Luke, but releasing a bunch of hypersexual bangers produced by him is just very uncomfortable and tone deaf on many different levels.

listen here: don't, listen to Club Shy for ur house and dance-pop fix this month ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ thanks for reading <3

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