21 — may '24

'24 may 11:	TOTEP – Kero Kero Bonito easily their most dramatic & well-attuned, taking the disconcerting undertones of 'intro' down a brief but wild & noisy path; only acting & you know how it is, back-to-back, are stunningly mystic
'24 may 11:	1992 Deluxe – Princess Nokia a series of nyc vignettes, eclectic but a little mismatched thematically sometimes; nokia is genuinely a unique voice though, and its atmosphere stays consistently interesting across its runtime
'24 may 11:	&&&&& – Arca rubbery and, at its best highs, some of the oddest cuts of paralyzing bass, with rhythms tearing away from their meter; yet as a 'mixtape', it runs more as a collection than a well-tuned experience
'24 may 11:	On Your Own Love Again – Jessica Pratt her voice is alluringly small & ethereal, coasting so gently over pretty and soothing folk instruments; wonderfully weathered & careful, so far from being conceited that it requires intent & focus
'24 may 11:	Section.80 – Kendrick Lamar a vital part of his discography, yet the lp with the least impact now; the span between a.d.h.d. & keisha's song is lacking most notably, but the rest touches down on good food for thought
'24 may 10:	Stretch 2 – Arca startling and pleasantly uncomfortable for its first leg, and reaches towards atmospheric mechanics by the end; a more well-built and constructed outing, while still feeling like it's testing the waters
'24 may 10:	Stretch 1 – Arca while most of the runtime is filled (rather curtly at 19 min) with interesting, glitchy club experiments, the impact of it as an ep overall is rather minimal; as a stepping stone though, it's still intriguing
'24 may 7:	Straight Outta Compton – N.W.A. almost stunningly flawed, & its age shows, but the raw rebelliousness of the opening two shots, along with the oddly (amazingly) uplifting 'express yourself' greatly downplays its missteps
'24 may 7:	The Pilgrim, Their God and the King of My Decrepit Mountain – Tapir! 'grassy knoll' is a genuinely effective start to what could've been an interesting post-folk-rock experiment, but most of the rest fell flat, whether by way of storytelling or instrumental progressions
'24 may 7:	Summertime '06 – Vince Staples has lowlights through broadly splintering its ideas, but both discs' starts & ends show off vince's outlooks above very well-groomed instrumentals—even if his visions are sometimes a bit blurry
'24 may 6:	Diamond Jubilee – Cindy Lee there's a ton of lo-fi gold to sift through; not to imply it always needs sifting, it just needs space—at times an exhausting amount—detracting in some ways from its dusty, atmospheric paintings
'24 may 6:	Night Time, My Time – Sky Ferreira captures feverish emotions that are sincerely at 21 cunning & self-aware, seen through noisy pop lenses; sure there's pretty love songs, but the zeal, anguish, and eerie peculiarities are all vital
'24 may 6:	Konnichiwa – Skepta an important grime screed, but as much as its intro, lyrics, crime riddim & that's not me are still incredibly hard hitting, most of the rest has grown more and more non-essential as time passes
'24 may 5:	Pink Balloons – Ekko Astral some cuts have enough tongue-in-cheek sarcasm to wear you out if you squint too much, but the performances & first/last sets of two are sweetly dissident, as is the fifth's sincere ending
'24 may 4:	Big Fish Theory – Vince Staples as a gateway to experimental hip-hop, this is legendary, & i'm not quite sure anything else sounds close to it; but i've played it to the point where its skittering structure shows its cracks
'24 may 4:	Syro – Aphex Twin the first two tracks and circlont6a have enough technically interesting minutiae, and aisatsana is a nice update on avril 14th, but the rest is reiterative & acidic, keeping me from taking to it well
'24 may 4:	CAROUSEL FROM HELL – Lust$ickPuppy though i wish this had a longer runtime, it's a surprisingly succinct package of punk industrial fun, with a lot of irreverent noise; just an overall promising debut 'album' with tons of personality
'24 may 4:	Back From the Dead 2 – Chief Keef deserves a ton of respect—though its middle third is repetitious, not being nearly as cut-throat & intense as its greatest moments; incredible first half hour, and the final cuts aren't far behind
'24 may 4:	Bright Future – Adrianne Lenker genuinely had to pause & take a break in the middle of work after the first song; even better than 'songs', somehow, in warmly embracing melancholy & building bridges near crackling fireplaces
'24 may 3:	A Light for Attracting Attention – The Smile despite initial feelings of tepid radiohead reinterpretation due to how directionless it felt after the dual opener, the off-kilter technics & slowly spiraling fog of the second leg reoriented it well
'24 may 1:	Thug Angel – Black Kray painfully lethargic & low-energy, but in just the right way for what it's going for; yet despite genuine highs personally, it just falls short in my expectations of how eccentric kray usually is

22 — april '24

'24 apr 30:	Gray Data – Five Star Hotel a fuzzier example of ear fatigue does not exist, especially one so catchy; yet as much as its first two cuts paralyze as overpowering, head-bopping ragers, it just wears out its fitting very quickly
'24 apr 29:	True Romance – Charli XCX one of the weirdest debut curveballs i could've expected; the early web aesthetics & unlikely sound palettes 11 years on is a stunning combination, even if not all of the lp is creatively substantive
'24 apr 29:	Sucker – Charli XCX likely her weakest project, as largely inoffensive (& thus not always interesting) radio hits—but there are glimpses of her shift from goth pop to pc music star, not simply being an unimportant relic
'24 apr 29:	Number 1 Angel – Charli XCX it's almost like a pretty fusion of what preceded and followed it, vroom vroom & pop 2; it's more toned and thus flatter than those two though, but the first, last, & roll with me are all great anthems
'24 apr 27:	CRASH – Charli XCX while her shift away from hyperpop & towards 80's dance hits high enough peaks, particularly its first handful and scattered tracks after, it's just less memorably intriguing than her other post-sucker music
'24 apr 26:	Amnesiac – Radiohead truly a grab bag of kid a's fruitful recording sessions; scurrying, disjointed, and begging to be given a proper timeline; it fits with the lp's themes, but it just isn't as captivating consistently or monumental
'24 apr 26:	Kid A – Radiohead likely more consistently interesting, swarming with anxious, completely consuming depression compared to okc; another essential lp, constructively imperfect & disjointedly muddy, exactly as it should be
'24 apr 24:	OK Computer – Radiohead its ideas and palette became such a standard that, as i am now, out of context, it's almost plain in its ubiquity—and yet, it's so well performed & so transient that it is just a naturally apparent classic
'24 apr 24:	Have One on Me – Joanna Newsom completely fascinating and dauntingly enormous; its constantly varied melodies are gorgeous—despite how long it wears on—knitting together a triple lp of complex, non-linear, abundantly cryptic hymns
'24 apr 20:	music for bugs – camiidae serene, abundantly whimsical, naturally simplistic arrangements; it's very well sequenced, and (while i personally have minimal attachment to its atmosphere), its joy is seriously infectious while present
'24 apr 20:	Anti – Autechre very facetiously made protest music, and as a sub-30min ep, the scurrying, synthetic rhythms (even if not particularly dramatic) pack just enough ideas in; its start & end are where most of its value lies
'24 apr 15:	Double Cup – DJ Rashad its opening set displays an immediate capacity to thrill with breakbeat rhythms, and last winter is a great closer, but its meaty duration makes it feel slightly strained; monumental, but not perfect
'24 apr 14:	Gmail and the Restraining Orders – Death Grips a pure exercise in parsing harsh improvisation and shrouded shouts; it never catches a particular high, except for the initial shock of its utter ability to overwhelm, but it's still a fun half an hour
'24 apr 14:	Heaven knows – PinkPantheress the best moments are at least on par with to hell with it, and its construction and murkier song topics keep it dynamic & interesting; her vocals are fantastic, & capable of love is likely her best yet
'24 apr 10:	LP1 – FKA twigs not so in your face throughout, leaving it gently growing more tepid as it goes—but twigs's soft inflection mixed atop clicking, drenched instrumentals from arca and others is a wonderful, lovestruck pairing
'24 apr 10:	Year of the Snitch – Death Grips disorderly & disconcertingly weird, so much so that its production—for as many creative twists that it has—shrouds the weight of the rest; there's great cuts, but most are good solely by their context
'24 apr 10:	4:44 – Jay-Z its goal of black excellence post- ego death is tantalizingly self-effacing, while still a bit askew preaching as someone so powerful—but its best distillations on smile & the title track are worthy of praise
'24 apr 8:	NO NOW – Clarence Clarity as much as its challenging nature might be a slight turn-off on subsequent listens, the sheer amount of textures & instrumental freedom on display is amazingly apparent; a great, amalgamated mess
'24 apr 7:	Dragging a Dead Deer Up a Hill – Grouper fetching & abundantly pleasant, dainty to the point it feels like it weeps a warm glow of comfort; it is more tranquilizing than simply sedative, harris's voice ensnared alongside pretty, lo-fi strumming
'24 apr 6:	7G – A.G. Cook just immense tracklist, but it starts really strong & its last two discs have a lot of energetic progressions; almost a playlist that can be freely picked apart, filled to the brim with creative, uniquely a.g. synths
'24 apr 3:	発見集 – Okina blurry, eclectically performed, and just really fun; it's nothing incredibly groundbreaking or jaw-dropping (bar maybe tracks around the very middle), but the instrumentation is potent under vocaloid warbles
'24 apr 1:	Intro Bonito – Kero Kero Bonito certainly less polished, outwardly leaning on its mixing of jovial angst on less layered instrumentals, but it comes together as a nice prelude to their later work; its start and end are both cutely relatable

20 — march '24

'24 mar 28:	Pang – Caroline Polachek catches more of an atmospheric energy with occasional slow burns, rather than the world-building she cultivated on desire, but the highs here are just as memorable; beautifully arranged and performed
'24 mar 28:	Bonito Generation – Kero Kero Bonito sugary but not annoyingly so, & playful but with enough still under the hood to be upliftingly interesting and completely appealing; there's more it could've been, but while it's on, it's everything it needs to be
'24 mar 26:	So It Goes – Ratking as much as i expected its at-first tepid and grimy atmosphere to grow tired, the ante kept increasing; wiki & hak provide really cogent bars across a wide breadth of shrill production shifts; genuinely raw
'24 mar 26:	This Is Why – Paramore controlled seething at sociopolitical topics atop an even more bold genre shift for them, resulting in really fun anthems; there's certain repetition and less meaningful points, but it succeeds really well overall
'24 mar 24:	TA13OO – Denzel Curry the cohesion is loose, & the lulls between lush or hard-hitting tracks weigh the album down—but its two tone-setters are beautiful, most of act II walks that tightrope well, and its final three are outstanding
'24 mar 24:	H.A.Q.Q. – Liturgy as an outsider to black metal, my thoughts are tacit, but the voice & vision of ravenna & co. is show-stopping & brilliant; the vocal style still isn't my favorite, but its tension & release is brutally magnificent
'24 mar 20:	XXX – Danny Brown explosive, volatile personality, and proto-deconstructed production in spots; bookends with poetic contemplations, mixed in with slowly-fading tales of drug-fueled survival; indelible & timeless
'24 mar 20:	SATURATION – BROCKHAMPTON they'd reach higher peaks later, and some instrumentals are slightly plain, but their debut album has a lot of heart; the peaks are certainly bookends though, as a lot of hard-hitting, boy-band fun
'24 mar 20:	III – BADBADNOTGOOD the melding of live nu jazz and instrumental hip-hop leaves behind something only slightly memorable—though during its runtime, it's on the nose with its intent and technically interesting
'24 mar 19:	Die Lit – Playboi Carti might come off as less boundary-pushing now after its style's been repeated ad nauseam since, but pi'erre's 'outsider trap' instrumental palettes push carti's high-pitched ramblings to something near-elysian
'24 mar 18:	SINNER GET READY – Lingua Ignota an exercise, reminder of smallness, and lonely acceptance after horrifying trauma; droning poetry as vicious hymns; hayter's voice magnificently swells between transfixed fury and faded affirmations by close
'24 mar 17:	Wide Awake! – Parquet Courts its slightly subdued sound palette for what was expected threw me off, but the decisive, exacting political nods and poetic commentary in near-spoken word at times makes its art punk satisfying and immediate
'24 mar 16:	Loading... Fun! – babyMINT its production might wear some of its influences on its sleeves, but the group performances and sheer joy of how extra everything feels, and how consistently it remains high, is super appealing
'24 mar 15:	Cheat Codes – Danger Mouse & Black Thought i may have missed the boat on this; the mouse's production is captivating and an immediate hook, and tariq's flow is smooth and biting, but somehow it amalgams to less than its parts, at least in pockets
'24 mar 15:	Run the Jewels 2 – Run the Jewels frighteningly powerful and politically charged, they team up again for even more fireworks; its first half up to early is near-perfect, its electro-industrial production working in stride, and it ends on a great note
'24 mar 13:	Se Bueno – TURQUOISEDEATH the last two tracks meander just a bit, but the atmospherically pretty opening and breakbeat jungle that skips and shifts around all throughout the middle is endearing, both energizing and hypnotically lovely
'24 mar 12:	minecraft vol. 1 – crafter2011 without a doubt derivative of leroy in dariacore being such a small microgenre, with little space to move through; its obtuse, pointedly silly mashups are still fun though, in a pretty small package
'24 mar 7:	Desire, I Want to Turn Into You: Everasking Edition – Caroline Polachek wonderful expansion of the universe created originally, even if the bookends aren't anything particularly special—but the two covers are stunningly gorgeous, and it's aesthetically pristine through the middle
'24 mar 2:	Mezzanine – Massive Attack after its first six, it trails slightly, but the title track and group four are still great—and the first four are one of the best album starts ever; dark and deeply nocturnal, and just grimy enough to be thrilling
'24 mar 2:	Meddle – Pink Floyd the second-start that confirmed the band's myth; echoes is their most maximal and psychedelically bold experience, especially for its time, and all but san tropez on the a-side are great tone-setters

13 — february '24

'24 feb 28:	Diaspora Problems – Soul Glo it's a soft spot for me in my early hardcore punk dive, but it's just a bit weaker now; the first six have an unmatched, seething energy, but it slowly trails, up until the wonderful theatrics of the final cut
'24 feb 27:	Run the Jewels – Run the Jewels unapologetic, seriously adventurous in its main two voices, and a bombshell start to a legendary duo; it's not nearly consistent enough to warrant no-skip future listens, but its peaks are jaw-dropping
'24 feb 27:	Black Metal – Dean Blunt it starts wonderfully strong, seamlessly fusing dean's somber and willful voice with gorgeous, layered instrumentals—up until the fittingly-titled 'forever', thereafter the quality only blips up occasionally
'24 feb 21:	Slide – George Clanton a wonderfully hypnotic and nostalgic fusion of vaporwave aesthetics and oddball pop fun, even if its middle jolts back and forth a bit in an off-kilter way—but its majority is atmospherically lush
'24 feb 15:	Crest – Bladee & Ecco2k somehow uplifting in plucky imagery of arrowheads, death, and discarding the self; it's no masterpiece, but how they mesh together on something so soothingly pastoral in its high-pitched ether is lovely
'24 feb 15:	G.A.S. Get a Star – Undo K From Hot cool sounds in a directionless heap; tracks like the opener, 750 dispel, and moments across the final leg have enough dense complexities to stay heavy, but it never excels too much at its freneticism
'24 feb 13:	songs – Adrianne Lenker simplistic and ephemerally pretty, its poetry apparent but ageless; it is a soothing listen that nudges towards repetition well in the finger-picked harmony and lenker's perfectly matching vocals
'24 feb 12:	going...going...GONE! – hemlocke springs a wonderfully upbeat and personable synth spree, indebted but never derivative of 80's and 90's synth-and new wave; her vocal style adds a lot of unique flair, and even with tepid blemishes it shines well
'24 feb 7:	/\/\ /\ Y /\ – M.I.A. intensely creative and cutting-edge even now, with or without bonus tracks; in a fitting and at times sporadic way, it fuses pop-adjacent thrills and industrial, factory-floor hits so compressed that it hurts just right
'24 feb 7:	Veteran – JPEGMAFIA despite containing some of his best breakout tracks, its highs certainly admirable, it is simple in its approach; the production is amazingly claustrophobic, but it just feels off overall, not uniquely 'him' quite yet
'24 feb 6:	Audio Diary – Casper McFadden certainly creative in some of its oddball approaches to jungle and breakcore, and the interjections of close friends around it all is endearing—it simply drags its feet at times, and stretches its runtime a bit more
'24 feb 5:	No Love Deep Web – Death Grips turning away from layered internet-based industrial hits to self-referential terrors, their breakaway lp is twitchy and intense, poetically and instrumentally; as a cohesive listen it is gratifyingly frightening
'24 feb 3:	Grave Robbing – leroy likely the greatest collection this side project has produced; it's so incessant and hard-hitting, feeling even more creatively varied despite reaching into the same grab-bag of hard dance standards and grooves

29 — january '24

'24 jan 31:	DAMN. – Kendrick Lamar likely his weakest, but not at all unimportant; it seethes with self-hatred and dread, and the tracklist's build is a welcome invention, it just falls a bit short of its lofty heights, despite the unique change of sound
'24 jan 31:	untitled unmastered. – Kendrick Lamar a set of leftovers and expansions on to pimp a butterfly's ethos, an abstract treat to follow up with; it doesn't feel as heavy or present or essential, but it is an undeniably unique and intriguing piece of his
'24 jan 31:	To Pimp a Butterfly – Kendrick Lamar an even more ambitious undertaking, and without a shadow of a doubt perfect; it's a tough pill taken all at once, a politically cogent and progressively poetic outcry on america's bloody history and present
'24 jan 31:	good kid, m.A.A.d city – Kendrick Lamar easily one of the best concept albums of all time; kendrick's introspectively muddy storytelling and sentiments laid over west coast production come off near-perfectly on every cut and switch-up
'24 jan 30:	Census Designated – Jane Remover devastating; an ambitious undertaking as another noisy genre leap, and even if its balance is off-kilter at times, it sticks the landing in spades, jane's identity so present and intractable throughout
'24 jan 30:	Fashion Week – Death Grips has some great instrumentals peppered throughout, but its length and spacing keeps it from being much more than a momentarily interesting blip in their canon; ride's absence certainly doesn't help
'24 jan 29:	To Be Kind – Swans one of the most repetitively suffocating and existential (both positive and negative) lp's i've yet heard; the 1st disc trudges along a bit, but its 34-minute opus & the whole 2nd disc are near-completely perfect
'24 jan 26:	Bottomless Pit – Death Grips easily their most confounding; it recontextualizes their industrial hip-hop sound with rock-ish spite, but often without their it-factor, and its midsection is surprisingly tepid despite the bookending thrills
'24 jan 24:	Jenny Death – Death Grips most likely the best, noisiest, and most abrasive rap/rock hybrid of all time; it is their best and most artistically potent record, a seething, nihilistic ten tracks, all culminating towards symbolic suicide
'24 jan 24:	N——s on the Moon – Death Grips one of the most avant-garde hip-hop records i've ever heard, even for one of the genre's most consistent innovators; half an hour of hauntingly cryptic samples and spattered poetry, both manic and cold
'24 jan 24:	SCARING THE HOES – JPEGMAFIA & Danny Brown addictive, indulgent, and chaotic in just the right ways; both artists bring some of their best energy and performances with tons of earworms—even if the substance is singular and aggressively satirical
'24 jan 22:	My Agenda – Dorian Electra genuinely baffling; there's a lot here that even to me is too much instrumentally during their satirizing, but the concept is as interesting as flamboyant's, with choice highlights just as uniquely special
'24 jan 22:	Strange Cacti – Angel Olsen it is lo-fi to the point of a cave-like atmosphere, echoing bittersweet lyrics of loneliness—and even if it's short and doesn't unfold much, all six tracks have something great to offer; poetic and touching
'24 jan 22:	I'll Try Living Like This – death's dynamic shroud despite concerns about how little i've returned since first listen, not being as receptive to its off-kilter mess as i have before, its highlights are still some of the most interesting vaporwave i've listened to so far
'24 jan 17:	Minecraft Volume Alpha – C418 an hour of nostalgia, while still simultaneously an isolated, beautifully arranged set of ambient, synthetic impressionism; there isn't a single downturn, only greater euphoria in its ethos
'24 jan 17:	All My Heroes Are Cornballs – JPEGMAFIA under his contemporary pseudonym, his first truly-himself, cutting-edge success; refining the points of gold he hit on veteran into this more alt-r&b, psychedelic journey works beautifully well
'24 jan 17:	Guero – Beck maybe the most overlooked, truly good beck album; its style as a grab bag of odelay-esque sounds pushed in eclectic ways is appealing the whole way through, even if it's nothing boundary-pushing
'24 jan 16:	...And Justice for All – Metallica politically biting; a bleached, amalgamated monstrosity, its low-end erased after cliff's death... yet it contains more effectual, harrowing songwriting & construction than nearly any lp i've ever heard
'24 jan 16:	Ride the Lightning – Metallica likely their first truly fantastic record, and one that has reached an untouchable status in the metal canon; the second side may start less sure of itself than the spotless first half, yet it ends as well as it starts
'24 jan 16:	to hell with it – PinkPantheress both incredibly surprising and wonderfully, playfully smooth in its style; it may stay stagnant in keeping devoted to its fuzzy d&b roots, but it being as short as it is lets her voice, ethos, and energy shine well
'24 jan 16:	Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers – Kendrick Lamar perhaps a bit long-winded for the topics it brings up, but its breadth is still vital to how introspective and emotionally potent much of the record is; it rarely falters, both discs spotted with therapeutic gold
'24 jan 10:	Discovery – Daft Punk essential house and dance music as high-concept spatial bliss; its entire tracklist is near-perfect, and a spotless sequencing with some of the most creative, cutting-edge sounds to this day
'24 jan 10:	Flamboyant – Dorian Electra a somewhat loose but captivating concept album, the overall lp being wonderful despite choice tracks; dorian has a perfect voice for their playful analyses of masculinity & corporate life
'24 jan 10:	Teen Week – Jane Remover regardless of the tracks removed for personal reasons, both the original and true abridged versions have their bit-crushed eccentricity; a well-encapsulated frenzy of late-teen trans life
'24 jan 9:	Homework – Daft Punk repetitive beyond belief and rarely anthemic, yet it's hypnotic in its appeal; a simple, acidic 74 minutes where, even if its longest tracks are incessant to a fault, its bulk is almost playfully free and transgressive
'24 jan 8:	100 gecs – 100 gecs it contains much of what would make gecs the pioneers they are now (see bloodstains), but it simply has a denser, less polished personality compared to what makes their subsequent releases so immediate
'24 jan 8:	Steroids (Crouching Tiger Hidden Gabber Megamix) – Death Grips a near-complete, singular reinvention with such abstract and opaque lyrics and electro-industrial messes of noise; it is surreal and essentially an ep as manic episode, and it does exactly as needed in its time
'24 jan 3:	Donuts – J Dilla to myself now, this record is both imperfect and scattershot, a collage of messy ideas—yet its execution is as potent as its backstory, 'don't cry' being the triumph of it all; masterful, and an icon
'24 jan 3:	Top Gear – Barry Leitch & Hiroyuki Masuno an iconic part of my early life; the synths on this relatively obscure snes game are mesmerizing at its best, working well with so little even if it tires at times; las vegas and frankfurt are near-perfect

23 — december '23

'23 dec 27:	Fanfare – Dorian Electra it's overtly theatrical, and the post-ironic flair of individuality is both a great and middling part of it all—yet the overall narrative is inexplicably well-formed, its highs completely out-there and still pointed
'23 dec 27:	Richard D. James Album – Aphex Twin even if it doesn't reach transcendent highs, and his catalogue is one i've yet to fully explore, the oddly playful and (in the case of the opener) seriously layered and fuzzy quirks still hit nicely
'23 dec 22:	Itekoma Hits – Otoboke Beaver despite my lack of hardcore punk knowledge, the incredible tones, vocal frills, and raw energy of this debut are clear from the get-go; its goal is singular, and often too are its sound palettes, but its brevity keeps it agile
'23 dec 19:	in the eleventh hour – amaii almost a complete switch-up from her first mixtape, this 14 minute excursion is dark and beautifully arranged; it swaps the former's split hyperpop drills with a patchwork, even more avant-garde melancholia
'23 dec 19:	I've Seen Better Days – amaii completely off-the-wall, and at times both better and worse for it, being so chaotic, noisy, and impenetrable—but its manic, genuinely progressive atmosphere, and its energetic arrangements are both wonderfully done
'23 dec 19:	Weatherglow – Asian Glow & Weatherday even if it's short and doesn't particularly gravitate towards one succinct mode in that runtime, the overall delivery of each part of its noisy, lo-fi packaging—with its vocals pushed so far back—is all put together very well
'23 dec 19:	Some Rap Songs – Earl Sweatshirt some of the most affectual and deeply meaningful abstract work in hip-hop of the past few years; the sparse yet detailed haze of the instrumentals tie in near perfectly to earl's despondent, personally moving poetics
'23 dec 15:	Lonerism – Tame Impala despite the praise this normally receives, the real great tracks fall sporadically throughout the LP; there's not a lot of immediate appeal to me, it leaning more on its summery washes than hypnotic swells
'23 dec 15:	Innerspeaker – Tame Impala without a doubt his most rock- and psychedelia-centric record, that accurately pins down the expertise he has in those lanes; even if the second half is more tacit in its energy, it works well altogether
'23 dec 13:	Apple – A.G. Cook while it's disjointed and on first listen not particularly focused on one particular emotion other than his unique brand of futurist playfulness, it still has real likeable moments that intersperse the record with good cuts
'23 dec 12:	Kiss the Ring – Rome Streetz it may not be the most far-reaching or outwardly creative of an east coast hip-hop blockbuster, but the dusty production, mixing closely with rome and the guest list in its space, is impressive throughout
'23 dec 11:	Isn't Anything – my bloody valentine it waxes and wanes, and has a lot of genuinely affecting guitar tones, vocal harmonies, and the like—but it often scatters around, and was both curt and didn't seem to expand or stretch out interestingly on initial listening
'23 dec 7:	OIL OF EVERY PEARL'S UN-INSIDES NON-STOP REMIX ALBUM – SOPHIE bar it's okay to cry & immaterial, the way the tracks are contorted, stretched far enough to backdrop an eternal party, is both easily and uniquely intriguing—despite it not hitting upon the same focus of its origin
'23 dec 6:	Atrocity Exhibition – Danny Brown it's not always perfect, but the overwhelming honesty, truly one-of-a-kind sampling and instrumental work, and danny's incessant, supremely versatile voice all shine in a simultaneously harrowing and beautiful record
'23 dec 6:	Old – Danny Brown despite it faltering slightly twofold—its first half not always consistently revealing, its other half so out-there with its detroit techno thrills—old is another integral work to danny's canon, and its ethos is fascinating
'23 dec 6:	Back From the Dead – Chief Keef an absolutely erratic and raw chicago drill triumph, with two of the greatest songs in its lane, one transcending to one of the best hip-hop tracks ever; the rest of its material is at least good, but its highlights are what sells it
'23 dec 6:	Dummy – Portishead even if it's verging on thirty years since its release, portishead's debut is still effortlessly enthralling through a current lens, a dark melancholy seeping through all of the nearly perfect trip hop instrumentals
'23 dec 5:	PRODUCT – SOPHIE it's simply a wonky and playful (if not left field) bubblegum and futuristic bass record that's less than a half hour; it certainly works as a collection of singles, but its textures aren't always helped by its loose structure
'23 dec 4:	Ys – Joanna Newsom an empyrean, far-reaching exploration that confirms all of the possibility shown on her debut; the five tracks totaling just under an hour are arresting, poetically diverse, and a constantly shifting, wintery bliss
'23 dec 4:	Vroom Vroom – Charli XCX certainly a curt listen, leading to a wish there was more here to digest; the absurdity of it throwing all of its elements into a patchwork, assorted mess, and it coming out as an enthralling, cluttered rave is amazing
'23 dec 2:	Melophobia – Cage the Elephant while its majority is a garage rock revival masterclass, its midsection is split from its starting and ending bliss by a few key lower moments; it still reaches considerable depth though, its charm undeniable
'23 dec 2:	Moanin' – Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers its presence is irrevocable and evident by the outset, but its improvisations, while warm, still fall within a style that feels slightly foreign; its bookend peaks are interrupted rather than helped by the less eventful
'23 dec 2:	Polo Sporting Goods – RetcH an overlooked gem; its highs are impressively produced in a fuzzy space, paired with cutting lyrics—and they're split by cuts in the same consistent style that rework and rehash in an intriguing way

12 — november '23

'23 nov 28:	The Milk-Eyed Mender – Joanna Newsom though it may be recency bias in my discovering of her music, the whimsical, beautifully poetic and odd atmosphere that newsom provides on her debut is absurdly captivating and colorful; it is uniquely refreshing
'23 nov 28:	Jubilee – Japanese Breakfast it is simultaneously a bit safe and still evocative in its arrangements and atmosphere; its starting and ending two tracks are its best peaks, but there's plenty of personality from michelle to carry it all through the midsection
'23 nov 27:	shut the fuck up talking to me – Zack Fox in no way does it take itself seriously, but that might be its greatest strength; it is absolutely absurd, both lyrically and in how catchy it matches with the instrumental work, and it's captivating in that wild appeal
'23 nov 24:	Pop 2 – Charli XCX even if it tires in spots with its commitment to its bubblegum bass ethos, its highs are still absolutely thrilling, a step in a new direction for what would become of hyperpop; a classic, even if its bearings aren't set in stone
'23 nov 24:	OIL OF EVERY PEARL'S UN-INSIDES – SOPHIE the sole, non-compilation or remix record from one of the most inventive figures in music of the past decade; a very human record with fine-tuned but shockingly synthetic energy, its noise both ethereal and commanding
'23 nov 24:	The Money Store – Death Grips their commercial, incessantly internet-based and catchy debut; it may not be the be-all-end-all of the band, or their absolute best, but it is undeniably iconic, absolutely seething with energy, and a classic
'23 nov 22:	Quaranta – Danny Brown it repeats its themes at times in between some of his most scarce, touching work; it is undoubtedly an important character portrait of a healing but still eccentric iconoclast, and a fitting update to his breakout 'xxx'
'23 nov 20:	Treasure – Cocteau Twins like a wintertime trance through a broken but healing fantastical empire; its very synthetic drum machines can be insistent, but its shape, alongside elizabeth fraser's undeniable vocal charm in this space, is utterly enthralling
'23 nov 15:	Exmilitary – Death Grips an iconic blend of electro-industrial and abstract hip-hop, with ride's now-signature lyrical prowess; even if certain tracks stretch their theme a bit too far, some of their best material ever is here, in spades
'23 nov 10:	Ants From Up There – Black Country, New Road completely ornate and bittersweet, a poetic stride of dense but beautifully constructed art rock; isaac's poetry, matched with the swirling and at times massive arrangements, reach soaring emotive highs
'23 nov 10:	Crack Cloud$ Over Arts Kitchen – Black Kray a swirling, psychedelic, and completely off the rails cloud rap and witch house epic that sounds like nothing else to this day; houses some of the genres' best works, showing in a single tape kray's intense creativity
'23 nov 2:	4NEM – Chief Keef after one of the most explosive starts of a hip-hop career in recent memory, chief keef continues a streak of mid-career highlights of experimental, idiosyncratic ragers that never tires too often for its style

1 — october '23

'23 oct 23:

uknowhatimsayin¿ – Danny Brown even if there's less trailblazing thrill compared to other works of his, the q-tip-lead venture into wild and journeymen shifts of hardcore hip-hop is a vital piece in his discography