Music Reviews

What’s a better way to kick the new year off than with me once again being super lazy and doing one of these instead of fully fleshed out reviews! Well anyways, since quite a lot has came out already and I didn’t really get the chance to review anything yet, I thought we might aswell start with another „Albums I Missed“ installment to kinda just keep up with everything. So here you go, I hope you enjoy!

Kid Cudi – INSANO (pop rap, trap)

Yeah I’m sorry, but this really wasn’t it. This album fails in almost everything it tries to do – the beats are mixed horribly and sometimes straight up don’t even sound good to begin with, Kid Cudi sounds like he’s barely even awake on half of these and when he is it just sound abysmal a lot of the times. On this whole 21 TRACKS LONG album there is legitimately only one song I ever return to and that is „BLUE SKY“ which I actually really don’t recommend checking out because once you do, the rest of the album will sound even that much worse to you – that being said, this one song is pretty alright. But besides that, this was overall just a colossal failure (even though Dj Drama REALLY tries his best to salvage a lot of these songs, emphasis on „tries“) and I honestly expected a lot better from Cudi.

Strong 4/10

Green Day – Saviors (pop punk, alternative rock)

I mean, this is still pretty mediocre for Dookie era Green Day standarts, but compared to their last LP it’s a goddamn masterpiece.

Light 6/10

Kali Uchis – ORQUÍDEAS (latin pop, R&B)

Lush, sensual and just all around great. This was my first full-length Kali Uchis project and I gotta say, I’m pretty impressed. The album deinitely drags on a bit in the middle, but the first three tracks and „Te Mata“ are absolutely stellar and it also ends on a pretty strong note too. Kali’s buzzing personality and really imprressive vocal delivery is what really sold me on this one. Definitely recommend it, especially to people who speak a little bit of spanish because it really enhances the experience I feel like.

Strong 7/10

21 Savage – american dream (trap, southern hip-hop)

„Live on the toilet, I stay on my shit“ is like one of the worst bars I’ve heard in my life but the album is pretty alright besides that. I feel like a lot of the more introspective moments („dark days“ etc.) actually work really well and while there is also just some blatant filler in the mix too, the overall „killer-to-filler“ ratio on this album is not that bad. Pretty alright.

Light 7/10

6ix9ine – BLACKBALLED (trap, gangsta rap)

Reggaeton didn’t work out huh?

Light 1/10

SPRINTS – Leter To Self

This one’s tough, because I like a lot of the ideas on here plus the instrumentals quite a bit but I really can’t stand most of these lyrics if I’m being completely honest. They are just so bland and have no real depth to them to the point where it’s really distracting a lot of the times. Take for example one of my favorite songs on here „Cathedral“ which right off the back has one of the most pummeling and hard-hitting instrumentals out of any song on here – but then the lyrics come and it’s literally just:

„Maybe I’m living, with eyes closed shut. Maybe I’m giving, maybe not enough. Maybe that’s the beauty, maybe that’s the pain. Maybe living’s easy, maybe dying’s the same“

It’s just such a nothing-burger! I don’t know, maybe I’m digging too much into this but this album overall is just alright, I don’t return to it like ever though.

Strong 5/10

SLIFT – ILION (space rock, heavy psych)

It definitely drags on a bit too much, but for what it is, I actually really enjoyed this. Especially like the first 5 tracks, those make for a really solid cohesive experience, but admittedly the latter half of this album isn’t as captivating as those songs are. The closer was a nice touch though and the opening title track „Ilion“ is like one of the best songs of the year I feel like. For a genre I’m not that familiar with, I think this was a really captivating project.

Decent 7/10

glass beach – plastic death (art rock, indie rock)

Wow. This was one hell of a journey. I haven’t listened to the first glass beach in full, but I’ve heard some songs from it before, but this definitely out-does anything I’ve heard from that project. There are just so many amazing tracks – the opener „coelacanth“ with its beautiful piano and guitar passages, „rare animal“ with it’s beautiful passionate vocals and the pure instrumental bliss that is the second half of this track and then of course the ambitious and breath-taking „commatose“ which is just stunning front to back. Honestly besides a few vocal passages I’m not that used to and some forgetable moments, this album is just through and through pretty amazing. Definitely my aoty as of writing this.

Decent 8/10

twikipedia – still-life (indie folk)

This album definitely exists alright. At least I think it does – I don’t really remember anything from it, but it was nice while it was on. Some decent background indie folk that doesn’t really go anywhere but it does what it does and it does it pretty well so I can’t hate on it too much.

Light 6/10

Drake – For All The Dogs (pop rap, alternative R&B)

The middest project that ever midded. Some cool highlights. Some pretty attrocious lows. Most of the songs just sort of exist. That being said the first half REALLY out-shines the other though, like the drop-off oo this already so-so album is insane around the 12th song. Drake should honestly either just retire at this point or really take some time to make an album that’s actually worth everyone’s time.

Light 5/10

Danny Brown – QUARANTA (conscious hip-hop)

Now this is more like it! Yeah this album goes – even though it maybe isn’t as ground-breaking as Atrocity or XXX, it shows great maturity and Danny coming to terms with him being already 40. The production is really lucious and well-mixed and much more tame (with some exceptions such as „Jenn’s Terrific Vacation“). It’s far from my favorite Danny release, but it’s definitely one of the more important ones in his catalogue. Great album.

Light 8/10

Sampha – Lahai (Neo-Soul, alternative R&B)

This man’s voice could fix all the world’s problems.

Light 9/10

AJR – The Maybe Man (alt-pop, indie pop)

I mean… It’s better than their previous releases. The lyrics are still the main problem really, aswell as some of the production choices that really drag this thing down. The awkward pointless profanity, the trash clap beats, the random instrumental freak-outs at the end of the songs for no other reasons other than subverting your expectations. It’s still got your typical AJR-isms, but there are some improvements. The production overall is much more tolerable and at points even pretty enjoyable, some tracks (like 2 or 3 really, ESPECIALLY „The Dumb Song“) are actually pretty cool and the attitude feels a little bit less disconnected. Honestly? It ain’t the worst thing in the world.

Strong 3/10

Poppy – Zig (post-industrial, electronic)

What happened here? Like I LOVED her LP „I Disagree“, which was a really tasteful combination of metal and pop and the follow-up to that „Flux“ wasn’t that bad either, but this is just… Like I don’t know, there isn’t much here. The sound is much more electronical and industrial, which isn’t a bad thing by itself, but the sound just isn’t done in a way that’s intresting. There are almost zero stand-out tracks, it all sounds the same and the lows are actually kinda low, at least for Poppy standarts. Also the more heavier moments are honestly kinda the roughest (case in point the title track). I don’t know, it isn’t horrible but just really dissapointing in my eyes. Don’t see myself returning to this honestly.

Strong 4/10

Wilbur Soot – Mammalian Sighing Reflex (singer-songwriter, indie folk)

I find this type of intimate sound really endearing + I honestly really enjoy Wilbur as a lyricist, so I was kinda destined to at least like this. The electronics are sometimes a bit awkaward though and I overall think that this is a slight step-down from WIlbur’s last project even though I appriciate the slight experimentation of this album and some of the autotune uses are really tasteful too.

Light 7/10

underscores – Wallsocket (indietronica, electro-pop, pop-punk elements)

Yeah, it slaps. The slower moments are really heartfelt and the bagners, well they bang. Really solid throughout. First two songs on this album are probably some of the, if not THE, best two songs that go after each other on any album released this year.

Light 8/10

Jane Remover – Census Designated (shoegaze, post-rock)

I mean, it takes a lot of listens to fully grasp and a lot of patience to fully appreciate, but I feel like the imagery of this album is overall really strong. And even though I’m not in love with every bit of everything that’s always going on I feel like the highlights are really high, enough for me to consider it worth sitting through. Very rewarding, very ambitious, a bit long-winded, but overall really well crafted. It’s a slow-burner, but it’s one that at the end of the day burns really bright.

Decent 8/10

Earthbong – Church Of Bong (doom metal, stoner metal)

This took me completely somewhere else. I’m not always in the mood for this album, but when you give it the patience it needs it’s actually a really transcending doom metal experience, especially the first song „Bong Aeterna“. It’s still got its issues, it honestly drags out a little too long, but I can look past that as the overall experience is just really solid.

Strong 7/10

Post Malone – AUSTIN (pop rock, indie pop)

I mean at least it’s better than his last record… Yeah this one is kind of a nothing burger if we’re being honest with ourselves. There are some redeeming tracks such as „Something Real“ and the closer, but most of the album is just some really decent background music – I like that the lyrics are more personal though, I’ll give it that and occasionally there will be some really catchy melodies etc., but it’s still a real mixed bag. Overall a step in the right direction, but still very far from what I think Post has actually got in him.

Strong 5/10

QUEEF JERKY – QUEEF UNDERGROUND (comedy rap, experimetnal hip-hop)

I don’t honestly care about the lyrics being really dumb most of the time at this point, the production is just that good. And look, the members themselves are obviously having an enormous ammount of fun with this so as a result it’s kinda hard not to vibe along – also at least in my eyes the production and overall musicianship of this album has actually quite improved since the last release. Yeah, the lyrics still don’t crack me up as much as they should but you know what, I’m warming up to them. Kinda fun (the rapping still mostly sucks though).

Decent 5/10

Sprain – The Lamb as Effigy (post-rock, experimental rock, noise rock)

Okay so originally I was gonna write just something along the lines of just „wtf“ and then give this album a 9 but man I just HAVE to talk more about it. I would write a seperate review on it but time is tight and I’m already a planning one seperate review for one album I really wanna just absolutely dissect for why it’s the worst thing ever (you’ll get to see that soon don’t worry) – but this album right here is like one of the best releases I’ve heard all year. From the amazing opener „Man Proposes, God Disposes“ to the absolute opus that is the 24 minute track „Margin For Error“ this album just keeps on giving. Each track has something unique about it, my only real complaint is that sometimes when you’re not in the mood for it an hour and a half is kind of a lot to process, but other than that and that some of the tracks are not all THAT memorable, I think this is easily in my top 10 of the year so far and I really think it’s gonna probably stay that way. Absolutely brutal.

Light 9/10

Big Baller B – Clearface (comedy rap, mashup)

On par with the Sprain album, if not better. Truly the album of all time.

Brad Army HOO HA/10

Slowdive – everything is alive (dream pop, shoegaze, neo-psychedelia)

Hey this is pretty good! I’ve never been all that huge on Slowdive to be honest, I obviously enjoyed „Souvlaki“ but I always heavily prefered My Bloody Valentine between the two shoegaze giants. However I gotta say, this new album of theirs over here isn’t half bad – „kisses“ has been on constant repeat since it came out and besides like one or maybe two songs at the most, this album is full of absolute dream pop bangers. It’s all really ambitious and cohesive as well, I honestly really like what Slowdive managed to achieve here, great album.

Light 8/10

Carly Rae Jepsen – The Loveliest Time (dance-pop, synthpop)

A little bit superior to its sister album. I just feel like the tunes are more there with this one then with the last album – take songs like „Kamikaze“ or „Shy Boy“ or the funky aesthethics of „Kollage“ and „Psychedelic Switch“. Just bangers all around, it’s the loveliest time to be a Raecist.

Light 8/10

City Morgue – My Bloody America (trap metal, horrorcore)

Really front-loaded, all over the place and as is usual with City Morgue, ZillaKami absolutely outshines SosMula on every song here. It’s kinda sad that the duo ended off on such an underwhelming note, but what can you do – it’s pretty decent, but there is just the spark missing from the previous projects. Could have been, well, should have been much better. The hook on „FUNNY“ is really really good though, it’s like the closest this album gets to the old City Morgue feel.

Light 6/10

BABY GRAVY – Baby Gravy 3 (pop rap, trap, comedy rap)

The beats and hooks mostly slap. But yeah, it’s nothing ground-breaking. For what it is, it works, but it really isn’t something I’ll come back to a lot – bbno$’s solo stuff is honestly way better as of late, this is still just two goobers goofing around on some decently produced songs with really mixed results. The slappers on here do slap though.

Light 6/10

Jeff Rosenstock – HELLMODE (pop punk, power pop, indie rock)

This man DON’T MISS – I mean, there are still albums of his that I prefer to this one pretty substantially but bangers like „DOUBT“ or „3 SUMMERS“ can’t be ignored either. Yeah it’s pretty great front-to-back, only a few brief moments that maybe aren’t as memorable, but this man is honestly carrying the entire pop punk genre on his back right now.

Strong 7/10

Divokej Bill – Bazilišek (pop rock, folk rock, punk rock)

Yeah, this one’s pretty alright – the members sound really comfortable in the sound they’ve created for themselves. My only real gripe with this album is that the ratio of melodramatic ballads to folk rock bangers is perhaps a little higher then I’d like it to be, because the bangers on this album all slap and as for the slower songs, they can honestly be a little hit or miss. But as at least half a true Úvaly patriot, I still can’t give this album too much of a bad time. Pretty fun overall.

Strong 6/10

Liturgy – 93696

Starting off on a strong note we have an album I didn’t get the chance to mention in my last „Albums I Missed“ installment and that is none other than Liturgy’s 93696 and if I had the patience to do so this album would make for like 3 full-blown reviews, however I am simply just super lazy so this will have to do – like to be fair not even 3 full reviews would do this thing enough justice, this album just absolutely steals the show on all fronts. In about 80 or so minutes this project delivers an absolute avalenche of sounds and ideas that really elevate it above your average black metal album. All of the „Angel of…“ interlude tracks are really nice and make the whole thing feel more conceptual and complete, but the core in typical Liturgy fashion 10-minute or so long songs are obviously the heart of this album. I mean just listen to the title track, that song just couldn’t be made by an actual living human. And the shorter tracks go unreasonably hard too, like I still have a little bit of a bias towards Liturgy’s last project „H.A.Q.Q.“, but even I have to say that this is overall just a more ambitious and a more complete body of work. I mean honestly, besides a few nitpicks here and there this thing is almost perfect who am I even kidding.

Decent 9/10

Lovejoy – Wake Up & It’s Over

It’s kinda impressive how this band went from a sort of guilty pleasure of mine to now actually releasing some unironically great music – like the opening track „Portrait of a Blank State“ is just straight up their best song and it’s honestly kinda funny how it’s not even close. The rest of the project is fine too, I really enjoy the single „Call Me What You Like“ and some of the other songs too but realistically nothing compares to that first track, like that song gets stuck in my head at least 5 times a day now. So yeah, definetly their best effort so far overall.

Decent 7/10

Depeche Mode – Memento Mori

This is the best Depeche Mode has sounded since the 90s and I will die on that hill.

Light 8/10

The National – First Two Pages of Frankenstein

This album alone cured my insomnia. I mean seriously, how do you have SUFJAN STEVENS, PHOEBE BRIDGERS and FRICKING TAYLOR SWIFT all on the same album and make it this long-winded and unintresting. Like okay, the Sufjan Stevens song isn’t all bad when you first put it on but the more this album goes on you realise that that’s literally the best this album has to offer. Overall just an absolute snooze fest and a complete disapointment, I seriously don’t remember much of anything from this.

Strong 3/10

Waterparks – INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

It’s like a combination of some new Bring Me The Horizon songs, Hobo Johnson and One Direction… Make of that what you will. Anyways with this being my introduction to the band I have to say I’m very unsure how to feel about this – like some of the ideas are really cool but fall completely on their face in execution, some songs are just catchy enough for me to overlook that and some are just… Yeah. Like from what I’ve caught here and there the lyrical themes are actually really cool at points, talking mostly about religious trauma, manipulative relationships and so on, but after the first two actually kinda intresting sounding songs (even though maybe a bit for the wrong reasons) the sound of this album just boils down to really generic pop punk-ish (emphasis on the pop) riffs and hand clap beats. So yeah, I don’t remember the last time I’ve felt this indecisive about a project, like I said the lyrical themes are actually really intresting, but the sound of this project just isn’t for me for the most part.

Light 4/10

Metallica – 72 Seasons

I mean sure, but do the songs REALLY have to be 6 minutes long when they are literally just the same unintresting riff repeating over and over again? Like the only thing saving songs like this (which unfortunately make up a decent chunk of this album) are the solos which are actually up to old Metallica standarts, but besides that the only songs that are actually intresting all the way through are the title track and the last two closing tracks and honestly even those aren’t THAT crazy. At least it’s not St. Anger all over again… This one just gets kinda boring and repetetive after a while.

Decent 5/10

boygenius – the record

The boy really is genius huh.

Decent 8/10

Ed Sheeran – – (Subtract)

The fact that I enjoy this about the same as the new Metallica and waay more than the new The National is something I think about daily, but yeah, this new Ed Sheeran honestly ain’t half bad – like the songwriting is really on point for the most part, the instrumentals sound clean and really natural and not just overblown, like is this even really an Ed Sheeran project? And sure, the songs still are really generic and kinda bleak but there is legitimate soul put behind them this time and even though I probably won’t be returning to this in the near future I still didn’t absolutely hate my listening experience.

Decent 5/10

Black Country, New Road – Live at Bush Hall

After loosing a key member with the band’s former lead singer Isaac Wood the band had to regain their footing and I can safely say that I believe that they achieved just that – this live album is full of new unheard songs that all sound absolutely amazing. The music is lively and colorful and all the new vocalists are a nice change of pace without the band loosing their identity. Songs like the in-your-face opener „Up Song“, the beautiful and energetic „Laughing Song“ and obviously the highly praised 9-minute long „Turbines/Pigs“ all prove that the band is still capable of creating insanely powerful and moving pieces of music. Overall just a really great project as is basically expected from the band at this point.

Strong 8/10

Foo Fighters – But Here We Are

…ouch

Strong 7/10

M83 – Fantasy

After what felt like an eternity we FINALLY got a new M83 album – so did it deliver? Well, it depends on who you ask – some people got everything they wanted from it, some people are really dissapointed. Me personally? Well I’m kind of in the middle with this one – it for sure has its moments, but it’s definetly not even close to the most exciting thing I’ve heard these past couple of months. The album also really falls off in the second half and just sort of fades into the background after a while but it at least kicks off fairly strong – the opener „Water Deep“ combined with the follow-up „Oceans Niagra“ are a nice touch but through and through this album just leaves a lot to be desired. Feels kinda half-baked if you ask me. „Us And The Rest“ is a certified banger though, even though it takes a while for it to get there.

Strong 6/10

Skrillex – Quest For Fire

Wow, this was a pleasant surprise! Really didn’t expect to enjoy a Skirllex record in 2023, but here we are. If this record screams anythig it’s maturity – this is in my humble opinion definetly Skrillex’s best effort to this date. The beats are insanely well produced and mixed and are surprisingly layered and intricate. Really can’t believe that this is the same guy who made Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites (which is by the way still an album I will defend to this day).

Light 7/10

Really great record that showed great promise for Skrillex going forward – can’t wait for whatever he gets up to nex- oh…

Skrillex – Don’t Get Close

Yeah no this ain’t it chief. I mean it’s not like unlistenable – „Way Back“ with PinkPanthress and Trippie Redd ain’t half bad and „Real Spring“ with Bladee is honestly even quite good. But besides that it’s just a bunch of sugary soulless but admittedly well-produced half vibes that sort of come and go and don’t leave much of a lasting impression. Don’t understand what happened here considering the first album was so good but yeah, I didn’t get almost anything from this. I guess the album title is quite fitting.

Light 4/10

Model/Actriz – Dogsbody

Yeah I’d rather not show the cover for this (google at your own risk, you’ve been warned), anyways yeah this thing slaps. It’s not quite as perfect for me as it is for many people but it definetly is at least like in my top 10 of the year so far. The dark twisted sounds on this album are given life with lively energetic percussion that glues all of it together seemlessly and really make for an insane ride all the way through. Kinda sounds like a dark version of LCD Soundsystem at points. My only real gripe with this album is probably that the lyrics at points are really… Off-putting I guess? I mean that’s probably a good thing for many people but it can be a bit over-whelming for me personally at points. But besides that yeah, lived up to the hype.

Strong 8/10

Lil Pump – Lil Pump 2

This feels like twice the length it is and I legitemately don’t remember a single note from it. He is obviously trying to relive the glory days of his career here but all the attempts just fall completely flat on their face and are just laughably bad. Also just the „heavy metal“ song alone, enough said.

Light 2/10

Xiu Xiu – Ignore Grief

Another wholesome and fun release from Xiu Xiu! 🤗 Definetly worth listening to if you wanna just chill and listen to some feel-good music! 😝(I am scared for life by this record and this is me trying to cope)

Strong 6/10

Fall Out Boy – So Much (For) Stardust

I mean… At least it’s not Mania right? I mean to be fair the first and the last song on this album are legit some of the best Fall Out Boy released in a hot minute, especially the opener „Love From The Other Side“, I mean that song is almost flawless for the Fall Out Boy standarts lately. But yeah everything in the middle I can just take or leave – got me moving a bit here and there, had some catchy riffs at points, definetly a step in the right direction overall. But man if the album cover isn’t ugly to look at.

Strong 5/10

Yves Tumor – Praise A Lord Who… (sorry I ain’t writing all that)

Even though this is probably my least favorite Yves Tumor album so far (which is like saying DAMN. is my least favorite Kendrick album, I mean c’mon it’s still really great), it still packs a serious punch. The hook game isn’t alway there as it usually is, but songs like „God Is a Circle“ or „Heaven Surrounds Us Like a Hood“ are still some of the best songs to come out all year and some of the deeper cuts aren’t half bad either. I mean this album really has a strong vibe going through it that makes it a really cohesive listen, I’ll give it that. Definitely another very solid effort from Yves, if just a teensy bit forgetable at places.

Light 8/10

100 Gecs – 10, 000 Gecs

As, if not more, unhinged and out there as their debut, the gecs have done it again – this album was not only worth the wait but turned out waay better than i had anticipated from the singles, which except for „Hollywood Baby“ I was all a bit dissapointed in, but they all gained new life in the context of this whole album, „mememe“ especially. This album is everything I could have hoped for with a new gecs release – it’s got a bit of everything, really punchy in your face bangers, goofy ah ska songs about frogs, random ass „songs“ that are essentially just a bunch of sound effects thrown together with little to no rhyme or reason to them, I mean it’s the whole 100 Gecs package. Really solid.

Decent 8/10

Yeat – Aftërlyfe

… like ok but did it REALLY need to be an hour and seven minutes? There is a pretty solid rage album hidden in this, but Yeat really made sure it stays hidden with the ammount of songs on this. „No morë talk“, „Nun id change“, „Split“ and especially „Mysëlf“ are definetly the highlights though.

Light 5/10

I swear to god more album released in the last two months than the entire year before that. I’m obviously exaggerating a bit but still, there were quite a handful of releases that dropped in the last two months or so, so let’s go through some of them here shall we?

Slipknot – The End, So Far

Nah man, I’m sorry but this ain’t it chief. I actually enjoyed quite a good ammount of what was supposed to be Slipknot’s last album „We Are Not Your Kind“ which was an album that in my opinion was like the perfect send-off for the band, I mean in of itself it definetly had some flaws but overall it was a pretty satisfying listen but this? I mean I seriously don’t remember how a single song on here sounds with the exception of like „The Dying Song (Time To Sing)“ but that’s like the big hit from this album but even that song isn’t all that memorable. Honestly their weakest release in a while, I expected better.

Light 5/10

Architects – the classic symptomps of a broken spirit

The classic symptomps of a middle age crisis.

Light 4/10

Liturgy – As The Blood of God Bursts the Veins of Time (EP)

FINALLY some good-ass metal music. I mean it’s Liturgy, of course it’s gonna kick ass. This EP in particular consists of only 4 songs which all (with the exception of maybe the last one which you’re crazy if you think I’m gonna even try to type) absolutely rule, especially „696“ in my opinion, that one something about the melody just… Yeah it’s good. Go listen to it if you haven’t for some reason, it’ll only take you like 17 minutes but it will stick with you for waaay longer than that.

Light 8/10

The 1975 – Being Funny In A Foregin Language

I have a really on again off again relationship with this band… On one hand I think they’re super pretentious and at the end of the day just super mid, but on the other hand something just keeps me constantly coming back to their stuff, to the point where their album „A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships“ (yeah the titles are basically all like that) is like one of my all time favorites now. So yeah, this one naturally is like a 4/10 on the worst days and genuinely like a 8/10 on the best of them – so overall I’ll just put it somewhere in the middle. One thing I’ll say it’s definetly an improvement over their last album, it’s way less messy and all over the place and just more likeable I feel like.

Strong 6/10

bbno$ – bag or die

Wow, this really surprised me. bbno$ is super charismatic and confident here and the album is actually super well put together and produced, the songs for the majority of the album sound amazing. It’s clear that bbno$ is having just so much fun with this and I commend him for that. Best bbno$ release period and I will die on that hill.

Decent 7/10

Kid Cudi – Entergalactic

I was originally gonna write a full review for this one but it surprised me just how little I actually had to say about this. I mean this album’s sound pallete is just… Cardboard. It’s super bland and drab, I haven’t felt much of anything throughout the entire thing. Doesn’t mean it’s bad, just really boring. I’ll point out „Maybe So“ as the only song that really sticks out here though, that one is honestly gorgeous.

Decent 5/10

Behemoth – Opvs Contra Natvram

Wow a lot of metal dropped this past few months… It’s uhm okay?? I mean it’s a serious step-down from their previous efforts, but it’s passable – I’ll take it anyday over the Architects album, that’s for sure. It’s just crazy that these guys made fricking „The Satanist“ like one of the best metal records of the past decade and are now putting out just mediocre black metal.

Strong 5/10

Carly Rae Jepsen – The Loneliest Time

Wow really didn’t expect Carly to do a blackened death metal album and be more succesfull with it then Behemoth but I’ll take it!

Decent 7/10

Arctic Monkeys – The Car

Yeah so about this new Arctic Monkeys… I… Actually kinda like it! It wasn’t mindblowing or anything (I really wish all the songs didn’t sound the complete fricking same for example) but for the most part I think it evolved their sound and expanded on their last album pretty well! They just need to fire whoever named this thing, like seriously „The Car“? That’s the best you can come up with it? Anyways it’s solid.

Strong 6/10

Alright so that about wraps it up! Expect a full review for the new Taylor, Björk and Red Hot Chili Peppers soon and maybe a little something extra, who knows ;).

Viagra Boys – Cave World

What an absurdly fun album. Every single song (besides a few minor duds such as „Big Boy“ which I’ll be the first to admit does kind of overstay it’s welcome) hits hard in it’s own unique way but it all manages to stay consistent and cohesive. This album seriously has one of the most colorful sound pallets of any album I’ve heard this year, it’s like you can see the sounds this thing is throwing at you. Also honestly, find me an album from this year which sounds more exactly like it’s album cover.

Light 9/10

black midi – Hellfire

Oh yeah this is a big one alright. Truly and honestly this has to be one of the most insane musical experiences I’ve had this year. I don’t know if this is a hot take or nah but this just may be my favorite album of theirs – I just feel like it’s their most realized album to date and it packs one hell (pun intended) of a punch. Go listen to „Sugar/Tzu“ to see what I mean.

Decent 9/10

Post Malone – Twelve Carat Toothcare

*sigh* now that we got the good albums out of the way… Posty PLEASE tell me what the hell happened here. Like seriously, I feel like I’m in the minority when I say I loved the frick out of Beerbongs & Bentleys, but even the people who weren’t crazy about that album have to agree that this is still a significant drop in quality. Like man, there isn’t A SINGLE SONG on the same level as ANYTHING of of that album, it’s just a miss after miss after miss. Oh what’s that, a song sounds actually promising? Nevermind the lyrics are trash. What’s this, the melody on this one kind of sticks? Yeah too bad the verses are insufferable. It’s just a big giant huge big mess and I seriously will probably never return to any of these songs.

Strong 2/10

Drake – Honestly, Nevermind

*insert obvious joke here*

Light 3/10 (i guess, I seriously don’t remember a thing from this)

Muse – Will Of The People

Sheesh, really continuing the streak of bad albums here huh… I mean I’ll say one thing this definitely seems like an improvement over Simulation Theory however that means absolutely nothing since it’s still the same garbage Muse has been feeding us for over more than a decade now and I’m seriously starting to get sick of it. I mean I just today listened to Origin Of Symetry just for a comparison point and what a fell from grace this band experienced, because you know what that album isn’t? Absolutely pretentious car commercial music that’s what. That being said there are some highlights such as „Kill Or Be Killed“ or the kind of guilty pleasure „Verona“ but besides that… Look I’m just tired of ranting about this, let’s move on.

Decent 3/10

Beyoncé – RENAISSANCE

Drake should fricking take notes, all I’m gonna say.

Strong 7/10

JID – The Forever Story

I… am kind of speechless? Like HOLY- this is the rap aoty and if you disagree your opinion is objectively wrong (/jk). But maaan does JID bring his absolute A-game here, I was in complete shock the whole album, because he just keeps setting the bar higher and higher and always keeps surpassing it, it’s honestly brilliant. My only complaint is the pacing gets a little too slow for my liking in the middle but that’s honestly more of a nitpick than anything.

Decent 9/10

Machine Head – ØF KINGDOM AND CRØWN

Funnily enough this is my father’s favorite childhood band and I gotta say, dad’s got some taste alright. If you’re looking for some good metal music this year then look no further than here.

Strong 7/10

Panic! at the Disco – Viva Las Vengeance

This feels like Brendon trying to appeal to his original audience with this Vices and Virtues-esk sound and it failing to appeal to not only them but literally everyone. It’s like copy and paste of the title track 12 different times each time in a new awful way. That is also the only track from this album that I genuinely remember.

Decent 2/10

Pusha T – It’s Almost Dry

This album may be almost dry but it certainly makes me very wet – wow, there probably isn’t a worse way to start this even if I tried… ANYWAYS yeah, this album’s pretty good. It’s basically on the same level as Daytona for me right now, still can’t decide which of the two I like better, but I have a feeling it just might be this one – definitely in my top 10 of the year so far, great stuff.

Strong 8/10

Three Days Grace – EXPLOSIONS

I mean for an album called EXPLOSIONS (IN ALL CAPS) this thing is one hell of a snooze fest. If it wasn’t for the fact I for some reason still follow this band on Spotify I wouldn’t even know it came out. Three Day Grace are back, more cheezier and cornier than ever and I mean honestly what did you expect me to say – they sound exactly the same as they did in 10 years back, they are just in a serious need of just some kind of evolution because I seriously don’t know how long they can keep this up. And that’s coming from someone who actually defended their last record which everyone hated.

Strong 3/10 (on like a good sunny day)

Red Hot Chilly Peppers – Unlimited Love

They are named RED HOT CHILLI PEPPERS and their music lacks any kind of spice to it, how do you even manage that. That’s like calling my band „the brutal goats killers“ and we would sing and preach about how we love goats. Anyways got a little side-tracked there – this album is still listenable you know, but compare it to let’s say „Blood Sugar Sex Magik“ and you’ll know what I mean. Stand-out tracks include „Poster Child“, „Aquatic Mouth Dance“ and definitely „White Braids & Pillow Chair“, but the rest of the album I could just take it or leave it.

Decent 6/10

Rammstein – ZEIT

The disappointment is real. This is like a sequel to Rosenrot – the album that the least amount of people wanted a sequel for. But as for Rosenrot I do have somewhat of a soft spot for this album – tracks like „Armee Der Tristen“ do legitimately go hard and „Lügen“ is not even joking one of Rammstein’s best songs in a darn while (than again it’s been a while since we got anything frkm Rammstein so). In conclusion the album has it’s moments but just suffers from a huge amount of forgettable choruses, redundant riffs and just an overall lack of idea. Really expected more.

Stark 5/10

Future – I NEVER LIKED YOU

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz…. Huh, is it over yet? Yeah, this new Future is BORING god it just draaaaags on for soooo looong. If you HAVE to listen to something from here I’d say go check out „Puffin On Zootiez“ but go just save yourself the time and go listen to the new Pusha T album instead. Recommend only if you have trouble sleeping.

Light 5/10

Denzel Curry – Melt My Eyez See Your Future

First album I’ve heard from Denzel in full and MAN what an impression. Just go listen to „Walking“ you’ll see what I mean. This man can RAP.

Strong 8/10

Arcade Fire – WE

Another artist I am hearing for the first time in full right here and uhh… This definitely made an impression too? Yeah I mean I know I HEARD music, yet there is so little to it that I barely remember anything. It’s fine honestly, I just wish these songs had a bit more kick to them – this album is like 90% just stripped back piano/guitar ballads and it just doesn’t really amount to anything and the lyrical content isn’t really strong enough to carry the instrumentation on it’s back. But as I said, it’s fine. Definitely music – I think…

Light 7/10

Everything Everything – Raw Data Feel

Wow! This is… Honestly pretty good! Not ground-breaking or anything but I feel confident in saying that this is their best work since Get To Heaven. There I said it. Just a super enjoyable and MEMORABLE (see Arcade Fire? Take notes) pop rock album through and through. Some tracks land better than others but overall definitely a solid listen.

Strong 7/10 (*gives it the same score as Arcade Fire*)

Harry Styles – Harry’s House

Sigh… I’m probably gonna get cancelled for this by 14 year old white girls but this new Harry Styles is… It’s okay. It’s probably his worst work to date but it’s not like insufferable – all the songs just kind of blend together I don’t know, I didn’t pull much from it, which is a weird thing to say for a Harry Styles project, that’s like the one safe bet I have going into his albums but not this one. The exception being „As It Was“ but even that is starting to get overplayed a bit imo. Whatever, it’s still okay, don’t know what else to tell ya.

Decent 5/10

Soul Glo – Diaspora Problems

Punk rap?? It’s more likely than you think and it has never sounded better.

Light 9/10

Yard Act – The Overload (post-rock)

This album so far has recieved a pretty polarizing reception – like it seems you either absolutely can’t stand it or think it’s the greatest lyrical achievment of the year. Me? Well I’m kind of in the middle with this – I generally LOVE the sound this album tries to go for, but honestly like half of the time I can’t even make out what is being said with the spoken-word formula it uses and it’s so much easier for me just to focus on the instrumentals, which are honestly kind of hit or miss, but at least with those I know what’s going on. Still a pretty impressive debut album, one that I unfortunately don’t really see myself coming back to all that much – most of my problems with this album boil down to personal preference though, so maybe give it a spin yourself and see if it’s more your cup of tea (get it, they’re british) – I just don’t really care.

Decent 6/10

foxtails – fawn (screamo, post-hardcore w/ jazz elements)

Damn… So this is what the fox says.

Decent 7/10

Billy Talent – Crisis Of Faith (alternative rock, punk rock kinda)

Billy Talent in 2022.

Strong 5/10

Utada Hikaru – BAD Mode (art pop, J-pop, alternative R&B)

I could honestly do without the Skrillex track, but other than that for something called BAD Mode (or as I like to call it „SOO NOT HALAL mode“) this is pretty GOOD Mode. Also Evangelion.

Light 8/10

iann dior – on to better things (pop rap)

This guy couldn’t write an intresting song if his life depended on it, like all of these song sound literally the same – the beat is the same, the generic guitars are the same, his voice is the same, EVERYTHING SOUNDS THE SAME. Also at points (by which I mean the majority of the time) this album tries to copy Machine Gun Kelly’s last album, which boggles me why anyone would even think is a good idea to do (there is even a MGK feature on one of these songs which I didn’t even notice at first, which only emphasizes my point). But unlike that album this one is at least listenable, even though it sounds like if they just took „Mood“, copied and pasted it 15 times and called it a day. I like „let you“ though, so it has that going for it.

Light 4/10

FKA twigs – CAPRISONGS (alternative R&B, glitch pop)

I mean, it has it’s moments – it’s definetly not on the same level of ambition like her LP or even some of her EP stuff, but it doesn’t need to be – it’s just a fun collection of tracks, nothing more nothing less. It’s kind of all over the place, but that gives it that raw mixtape vibe that kinda just clicks – though the interludes could have easily been cut from the album and nothing would change at all, they kinda bring the project down for me. Maybe at the end of the day I’m just mad it’s not called CAPRISUN, then it would have been a 10.

Strong 7/10

Korn – Requiem (nu metal)

So this is the first album in the „4th of February drops“ installment, because everyone wants to drop their album on this day this year it seems. Anyways what can I say about Korn that hasn’t been said before – they have been making the same album for the past decade, except this one is just a tiny bit more listenable. Still even though it’s formulaic to a point of actual numbness, it at least does the formula right. Just be glad they’re not working with Skrillex anymore (damn, that’s already the second time I mentioned Skrillex in this bunch, that’s not a good sign).

Decent 6/10

Animal Collective – Time Skiffs (psychedelic pop, neo-psychedelia)

I don’t know if this is a hot take or not, but I never really understood the hype behind Animal Collective – I like maybe 2 of their songs but I just never really got what’s all the fuss about. I just think they never really clicked with me yet and I was kinda hoping this record would change that – but unfortunately no, I still can’t say I get it. I’m sorry, but these songs just don’t do anything for me – I like some ELEMENTS of them and some IDEAS here and there sound like they might be going somewhere, but that’s all they are for me – not fleshed out elements and ideas. And honestly the songs sound good on a technical level, but they’re not super memorable nor intresting most of the time – I don’t know, maybe it’s just not for me. I still overall enjoyed the record, like the expirience of listening to it was mostly pleasant, but I just wish I left it feeling… Well I guess anything.

Strong 6/10

Saba – Few Good Things (conscious hip-hop, jazz rap)

This album is the musical embodiment of riding around with your friends on a warm summer night – I genuinely couldn’t believe it was still February after listening to it. It’s just so warm and inviting and so lyrically sharp and hard-hitting, it packs quite a punch to be honest. Also for some reason it just sounds so much like the album cover, I can’t explain why, but just go listen to it, you’ll see what I mean.

Light 8/10

Mitski – Laurel Hell (art pop, synthpop)

There obviously is still one album from this 4th of February drop of albums that I haven’t talked about yet, but you’ll have to wait for a full review on that one – and trust me, you don’t want to miss out on that. Anyways this new Mitski is pretty damn solid in my opinion, the instrumentation is lush, Mitski’s vocals are passionate, pretty much the level of quality you’d expect from her – except for „Everyone“ though, that track is like such a dud in the tracklist – it’s not like unlistenable or anything, but compared to the rest of the tracks you immidiately hear that something is off. Other than that probably the second best album to come out of the 4th of February drop, made me for some reason think of My Bloody Valentine’s Loveless on tracks like „Working for the Knife“ – it’s like a more clean Kidz-Bop synthpop version of that and I do mean that as a compliment.

Light 8/10

Welcome to the second installment in the „Albums I Missed“ series, where I take a short look at some albums I didn’t manage to get a full review out on and give my brief thoughts out on. Turns out quite a few music has been released over the past few 4 months or so, so we got a few of them to cover. Now without further ado, let’s get started, shall we?

Magdalena Bay – Mercurial World

Now this… This does being a smile on my face.

Magdalena Bay? More like Magdalena BASED amirite? All jokes aside this project is a treat to the ears – basically everything I love about pop music is to be found in this project to some capacity. A must listen for anyone remotly intrested in pop music this year.

Decent 8/10

Ed Sheeran – = (equals)

Here is something that isn’t a treat to the ears, though my ears do need medical treament after listening to this firing pile of garbage. You couldn’t pay me to give this a full listen, I didn’t get through this whole project ONCE. That being side the opening track „Tides“ and „Visiting Hours“ are fine I guess, still not worth listening to the whole album though.

like a strong 3/10? Who cares tbh

Lovejoy – Pebble Brain

Wilbur and the gang have done it again – they released a slightly above the average project that still isn’t able to show off their whole potential. I’m sorry, this album is definetly a step up from the previous one, it shows that the band is capable off releasing longer projects and also is capable of some ambition on tracks like „The Fall“, but still, there is still so much left to be desired with this band.

Strong 7/10

Little Simz – Sometimes I Might Be Introvert

WOAH hold up there, you can’t just release one of the best rap albums of the year and possibly the decade just like „here you go guys, enjoy :)“. Well enjoy I sure did – this thing front to back is just spectacular. Also send this album to anyone who says that „women aren’t as competent rappers as men“, because this woman is better than 99% of the male rap game right now, on god.

Light 9/10, might grow on me over time even more though

Ice Nine Kills – The Silver Scream 2: Welcome to Horrorwood

Honestly, I can’t help myself, I’ve always been a sucker for this band and this project is in my humble opinion their best offering yet. Their album concepts are just super unique in my opinion and for the most part well executed too – basically taking different horrormovie/videogame franchises over the years and making them into songs. Sounds really edgy on paper, but trust me, the way they embrace it just makes it so much fun. So if you’re into metalcore with some slight edge to it, that doesn’t at any point become too cringy, then this might just be your thing.

„Hey Paul!“

Light 8/10, ratio me all you want

black midi – Cavalcade

So this one is TECHNICALLY from may, but f***k it, I make the rules here, I’m gonna review whatever I want.

I’ve been constantly postponing a review for this one, because for some reason, I was never in the mood to listen to it – well until I did this morning and holy moly, was I missing out. I really wanna scream at my half a year back self for not listening to this when it came out, because this is easily one of the most well crafted post-punk albums released this year and this year was especially generous on post-punk projects.

Strong 8/10, but it just gets better with every listen, so I imagine that will only improve

JPEGMAFIA – LP!

Damn Peggy! Really out-did yourself again huh, how do you do it? Anyways this new project over here really slaps, I mean it’s JPEGMAFIA, like I’m not gonna sit here and tell you it sucks, but I just wish that it hat that extra something to it, y’know? I wish there was like a director’s cut version off sorts that would include all the songs that didn’t make it to this version…

JPEGMAFIA – LP! (OFFLINE)

… well that was easy. Anyways yeah, this is clearly the superior version and the version that Peggy wanted to make – there was apparently some drama with the label and some samples on some of these songs and that’s why there are two version? I don’t know, anyways buy this s**t, it’s really good.

online version – Light 8

offline version – Strong 8

Taylor Swift – Red (Taylor’s Version)

So I guess I’m one of the few people who has actually heard this version BEFORE the original and I gotta say, for the most part, I was prety statisfied with what I was hearing – of course I then went back and checked the original version and found out that that version just has a special charm to it, that this album is for the most part missing – Taylor has definetly improved vocally over the years though, I’ll give her that. I would recommend checking out the 10 minute version of „All Too Well“ though, that has gotta be one of the best things Taylor has released PERIODT.

No rating, because it’s just a reissue of an already existing album that doesn’t really change that much from said original album – a pretty good album at that, if that helps you feel better.