“STAMPEDE” has the energy a song needs when it channels TV on the Radio. When the album has energy, it is very strong. “LIFE KEEPS GOING” has a great beat, a great beat shift and a fun dash of Robyn. “THE WORLDWIDE SCOURGE” raps well and has fun voiceovers. “DEATH CULT ZOMBIE” is a fun Clash-style song. Unfortunately, the energy flags too often and so an album with lots of styles and lots of ideas sags under its own weight.
In “the cure”, Olivia sings the tremendous couplet “Used to play a game in my head when I’d date a guy / Tally up the girls that he fucked ‘til I started to cry” and she sings it softly as she matches an indie rock backing and indie twee music video to it. This rock swells and grows as she does over until it crests in self-acceptance. This is why you seem pretty sad is exceptional. She matches music to emotion masterfully and so crafts a spectacular narrative across the entire album.
Her flexibility allows for this. “the cure” could be a Phoebe Bridgers cut, “stupid song” shows her in Taylor mode, “expectations” draws from Madonna. When she brings in Robert Smith for “what’s wrong with me,” their vocal harmony is a pleasure.
I do wish however that she was able to transcend her influences. She keeps each song within genre lines and none of her forays truly approach the best of each of their respective classes. She often comes close though. I love the riot grrl of “my way” and her caustic lines are expertly placed in her narrative of the shaping and reshaping of her own personality. “u+me = <3” is very well crafted pop and “I know everybody changes but I hope we don’t / Carve our names into the carseat leather” are great lines.
More saliently, does it make sense to quibble over whether the songs are genre-bending when the album moves so freely? Does it make sense to say that the songs are merely very good when the album is exceptional? It is no matter, for you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love is truly an exceptional album.
I find myself surprisingly emotional listening to The Boys of Dungeon Lane. The best of the Beatles albums, Revolver, turns 60 this year and the best of the Beatles will turn 84 and somehow Sir Paul is still making music. He’s more bluesy than in his youth and his rock is harder and his voice is rougher. He’s often searching for the beauty of his truly great melodies and he never finds them and the rock never gets as complicated as one would like. It doesn’t matter. This is Paul McCartney, making music that he clearly enjoyed making and that I truly enjoyed hearing. This is a delight.
This is very competent indie rock. “What’s Right” is well done, well constructed music. Similarly, “Burn It Down” is crafted well. It’s good a good instrumental break and lots of nice sparkles in the sound. It’s unfortunate then that it has nothing to say. “At Peace in the Hundred Acre Wood” has some nice music but doesn’t match the wit of an incredible title. I come to indie rock like this for the epigrams and the razor blades and without that cleverness, an album like this sounds hollow.
Some albums should warn you about catchy they are. “Wish You Well” will get stuck in your head. “Do It” does Timberlake better than he has in a long time. “Hollywood Forever” is propulsive.
Despite a lot of great singles though, the album is variable in both experimentation and quality. “Lovefield” has an excellent knock on wood but doesn’t do much otherwise and “Tell Me (U Want It)” is too formulaic despite a decent beat switch.
Mostly though, the album is songs like “Innuendo” that have a great groove and clever ways to punch through it.
Gorillaz – The Mountain
My favorite track here, “Manifesto,” starts with a Bollywood backing and then brings in Trueno to drop reggaeton vocals only to hard switch to jazzy rap with Proof bookended by Albarn’s crooning to tie the whole thing together. I’m sold. Albarn’s omnivorousness results in the most unexpected combinations and yet his own voice is so consistent here that the album always works.
He’s also restrained. There’s a minor sitar in The Empty Dream Machine that lifts the song just before Black Thought’s excellent verse that goes back into Damon’s wistful singing and all of the pieces are proportioned expertly.
He does fall back into unexciting britpop for good chunks of the album though and while his stuffed rolodex leads to some great tracks like Omar Souleyman and Yasiin Bey in “Damascus”, it also means that the album could have done with some curation. Honestly though, this album sins much less than many in that regard and the music is consistently solid, often excellent and frequently fascinating.
FEMCELS – I Have To Get Hotter
I Have To Get Hotter is genuinely a very funny album. Zine-style random humor can easily be fatiguing instead of funny but this maintains an internal and hilarious logic and that lets them get away with a full stanza on the wonders of JavaScript.
I could have used more interesting music but their indie rock is impressively consistent. “Monster In You” breaks from the rest to mine retro emo-rock into something quite clever but besides that stand-out, it’s a collection of quite competent music elevated by outstanding humor.
Kim Gordon – Play Me
Play Me has truly excellent production. Justin Raisen has lots of space to play in this album and he uses it very well. It feels more like a rapper / producer collab album than anything else given his energy here and Kim Gordon’s spoken-word vocalizing. She is a star and she has the power of the star here, but she uses it with restraint. Her lyrics attempt to be poetic and evocative but are mostly trite, but that’s perfectly fine in so sonic an album and when you listen to “DIRTY TECH”, it’s impossible to have any complaints.
Slayyter – WOR$T GIRL IN AMERICA
I really like the punk rock evolution of “CANNIBALISM!” Hyperpop, alongside other genres of the moment, seems intent on doing something with the raw material of my childhood. Slayyter is too omnivorous to stay there though. “BEAT UP CHANEL$” takes from everything and that makes for some interesting transitions even as it doesn’t stick every landing. This genre bending really wakes you up when something like “I’M ACTUALLY KINDA FAMOUS” slips in, and while this is a very good album, it does sometimes really need that kind of jolt.
A$AP’s long-awaited release is overstuffed, bloated with filler and has some very interesting moments in the morass. This is dog-bites-man news; absolutely unsurprising. I do want to tell you about the interesting moments though.
Firstly “STOLE YA FLOW” goes hard. It’s a great song and great swagger. The jazz of “ROBBERY” is fun and I like Doechii’s Esparanza Spalding impression in it. “PUNK ROCKY” continues the dream pop of “Sundress” and I wish the whole album just delved into that instead. Both “SWAT TEAM” and “WHISKEY” have interesting moments but are let down by laziness.
So, we have about a third of the album be interesting and the rest is inoffensive but unnecessary. “PLAYA”, for instance, does nothing and goes on too long. The voiceovers are lazy storytelling and don’t fit the make-your-own-mixtape style of throwing everything in an album.
At its very best, it reminds me of the inventiveness of Yeezus but is too unfocused to hold anything like the same power.
Gabriel Jacoby – gutta child
gutta child is really excellent dirty Southern funk. It clocks in at a quick 20 minutes and doesn’t miss once over the course of it. “bootleg” shows Jacoby in a party mode while songs like “dirty south baby” skews more to funk, where he’s a bit better, but he’s a lot of fun whatever he chooses to do. gutta child showcases Jacoby perfectly and gets out once the job’s done.
KP SKYWALKA – I Tried To Tell You
KP SKYWALKA’s flow is immediate. When you hear “ITTY” or “A DROP OUT”, the breakneck flow over the leisurely flow grabs you hard. Even softened by the beats, even when the beat is Erykah Badu in “HELL OR NOT”, the flow can be punishing.
It’s a rough album though. The flows are interesting but the album is raw and overstuffed. It has plenty of weak cuts and gets repetitive. A mixtap ewould have done better to showcase KP SKYWALKA’s talent but the talent is certainly there.
J. Cole – The Fall-Off
This is J. Cole’s best album and I don’t even like J. Cole. The man has always been able to rap. There are stretches here that remind me of mid-00s Lupe. His flow on “Drum n Bass” is immaculate as he navigates an impressive rhyme scheme over a clean piano line.
There is inevitably too much of J. Cole’s trademark self-indulgence in the album. No matter his protests, you can write the history of rap without mentioning him once. J. Cole lucked into the middle of the biggest rap beef in history and apologized his way out of it.
This makes “I Love Her Again” feel false. It’s tough to make “I Used to Love H.E.R.” at the best of times and J. Cole comes off misogynistic in his version. Additionally, he’s not as central to rap as he thinks he is. His failings undercut “Run A Train” as well. Why lie about your height to make yourself shorter? Why mention Gaza if you have nothing to say about it? J. Cole’s singular focus on narrativizing himself into rap’s pantheon leaves him with nothing of value to say.
And yet, J. Cole can rap. When you put on “SAFETY” or “POOR THANG”, his ability is undeniable. He can make great music and The Fall-Off is the best music that he has ever made. He may not have made a career for the history books but he has made a lot of music well worth listening to.
Jin Dogg – Pain Makes You Better
Jin Dogg has tremendous charisma but like a lot of regional acts, he’s an omnivore for trends but has yet to synthesize them into something his own. “NEED ¥” is very easy to get into the flow of and he’s easy to groove to but the person is currently far more interesting than the rap.
Amaarae takes us to the club with this one and brings all of her friends. Black Star is fun, it’s inventive and it is 100% Amaarae.
4. KATSEYE – BEAUTIFUL CHAOS
The origins of KPop are omnivorous and BEAUTIFUL CHAOS consumes hyperpop and Latin music to bring the genre to places both new and exciting while hitting all of the notes of traditional KPop fun.
3. Sleep Token – Even In Arcadia
By uniting trap and death metal in the common ground of over-the-top emo, Sleep Token have created the modern Linkin Park but untainted by my memories of being a teenager.
2. Infinity Knives + Brian Ennals – A City Drowned In God’s Black Tears
DMV rap is still underground enough for an album as uncompromising as this. Fear is for people without talent.
1. Nourished By Time – The Passionate Ones
The Passionate Ones is somehow superb synth-based soundscapes that submerge you, politically aware and simply beautiful singing all in one incredible album.
Wet Leg is fundamentally a band that thrives on absurd, catchy songs. It’s a little awkward for a band as cool as Wet Leg but it is nonetheless the engine that makes the whole project go. moisturizer has plenty of catchy, absurd songs like “pillow talk” and “catch these fists.” The chorus of these songs will sneak up on you when you’re distracted in a day and have you repeat them until you scratch their itch. There is, however, nothing quite as infectious as “Chaise Longue.” It’s an album that once exorcized is unlikely to return. It’s still a fun ride while you’re on it.
Kpop Demon Hunters
I really liked both the movie and the soundtrack. I was honestly surprised by how much I liked the soundtrack outside the container of the film. Andrew Choi’s singing stands out. “Soda Pop” was comfortably the song of the summer and “Your Idol” was the song of the movie. “Free” does really well to strip down the song to just him and EJAE and let them shine.
EJAE herself has crafted the big setpieces of the album very well. “Golden”, “Takedown” and “What It Sounds Like” revel in their maximism and so sell the ritual narrative beats that they punctuate which in turn justifies the traditional KPop in a moment where bands like LE SSERAFIM and KATSEYE are redefining the genre.
The soundtrack is really helped by the movie providing both a narrative backbone and the necessary connective tissue. When Rumi sings “This is what it sounds like”, the movie has already provided the stakes. It also provides a strong visual for each song. “Soda Pop” does better for having the candy colored visuals behind it. Now all I need is for them to do the Gorillaz maneuver and create the fully animated bands.
Tunde Adebimpe – Thee Black Boltz
TV on the Radio is still a must-play whenever it shows up on my YouTube page. They’re an eminently likable band and Tunde Adebimpe’s solo project changes none of that. This is dirty, unapologetic rock. It’s tremendous fun in “Something New,” it’s layered and emotional in “Drop,” it’s clean in “ILY.”
It’s unfortunately also too formulaic. There’s a lot of rock that’s done very well here but there’s little that surprises or sticks. It’s still very likable though.
Blondshell – If You Asked For A Picture
There’s a lot to be said for an album that does its job well. The craft of If You Asked For A Picture is impeccable. Blondshell has razors to spare throughout the album. “23’s a baby / Why’d you have a baby?” needs no ornamentation.
They add spectacular, dreamy indie rock to this. “Strange” has very compelling guitar lines and then shifts into an incredible emotional breakdown that all pays off with “I’m sorry for changing.” The two pieces don’t always come together like this. Sometimes, like in “Event of a Fire” and “Model Rockets”, the lyricism makes up for unimaginative music but it’s much more frequent that both sides click at once like in the excellent “He Wants Me.”
If You Asked For A Picture is beautiful dream pop throughout. It’s excellent music and clever lyrics and an unmissable album.
Nubya Garcia – Odyssey
Odyssey ends up disappointing slightly. There are excellent spots in here. “The Seer” has good solos from both the sax and the keys and the percussion puts down excellent fills. “Water’s Path” is beautiful nature jazz. The album as a whole lacks challenge however and so ends up a little unsatisfactory. Neither the groove in “Triumphant” nor the sonorousness of “We Walk In Gold” are enough to make up for how easy both are to anticipate and so the album’s virtuosity is undercut by its mildness.
There’s no holding Amaarae back. She’s evolved her sound into rave music and kept going. Black Star has a singular, compelling sound and Amaarae is able to integrate a wide range of artists into the album seamlessly. PinkPantheress is a standout in the excellent “Kiss Me Thru The Phone pt. 2.”
At every step in the album, one clear fact stands out; there’s only one Amaarae. This is her at her most club friendly and I hope that her music takes them over. It’s too good to not hear in the streets.
Sleep Token – Even In Arcadia
There’s a lot in Even In Arcadia. “Provider”, for instance, is very interesting. It’s an emo-rap track but Vessel blurs genre well. The song itself changes pace halfway in. Sleep Token at their best make each song the combination of three or four very different ideas and their ability to stitch these ideas together is incredible.
This comes through most in the magnificent “Caramel.” Vessel’s emotional reflections on fame are a great fit for the music and startlingly honest. He wallows in the contradictions and in the self-pity and it fits really well with both the early trap and the pivot into death metal that the song makes midway through. Vessel absolutely sells the emotion of the track.
Some of the other music is less genre-bending. “Gethesemane” is essentially early 00s alt-rock. The lyrics take emo into comical, probably unintentionally and the music is fine. For four minutes , it doesn’t do anything novel. It does have some interesting percussion after that but the song stays pretty standard. It’s still a decent song, it’s just not the most interesting.
“Even In Arcadia” is also not the most interesting song but the maximalism is done very well. “Damocles” is similarly emo alt-rock but it’s willing to thrash a lot more than its forebears and keeps multiple modes running and that makes it much more compelling. The melodicism of “Past Self” is great and showcases what the band does well.
Even In Arcadia is a spectacular album. I wasn’t thinking about the modern evolution of death metal before now but Sleep Token have exceeded anything I could have imagined with this album.
Nourished By Time – The Passionate Ones
The Passionate Ones is spectacular music. Nourished By Time’s first great strength is his fantastic synth work. They’re varied, textured and atmospheric but above all, they are seductive. It’s wonderfully easy to fall into them. His second great strength is how beautifully his voice complements the grooves.
“BABY BABY” would be the best song Tame Impala ever made and simultaneously drops the line “If you can bomb Palestine / You can bomb Mondawmin.” This is spectacular music.
Dijon – Baby
It’s definitely unfair, but I start with Prince when thinking about BABY. Of all the Prince inheritors, Dijon feels the closest here despite very forgivably having less funk and less fire than one of the funkiest and most fiery pop musicians. He does very well with the Prince cuts too. “Yamaha” is quite a good song.
The album is most interesting when he updates the formula to add modern sounds. “FIRE!” Is excellent for this and “(Referee)” has a strong spikiness. “my man” is maybe the most interesting cut in the album though, not for the innovation, but for the heartfelt singing that grounds the whole project.
Rosalia – LUX
A dirty secret about artists across creative fields is that a lot of them really don’t know that much about the artform. There are writers who don’t read that much, directors who don’t watch films and countless video game designers who don’t play games. Rosalia not only knows music well, she knows herself too.
She pulls expertly from a dizzyingly broad range of sounds. It’s no surprise that the opera in “Berghain” and the fado in “Memoria” are good fits but also in the details like the synth pop that ends the wonderful “Reliquia” or the sweeping strings of the excellent “Porclena” playing against industrial notes.
LUX is clever, it is full of interesting pieces and it is spectacular music. Rosalia really can do it all.
I didn’t really like Acid Rap and so Chance has never really stuck to me. I just haven’t really tracked his rise and fall beyond giving his albums a few spins each. Despite that, I found STAR LINE to be surprisingly fun.
The atonal rapping that defines him works a lot better when it’s not the only sound in the album. “Ride”, for example, is much more likeable when it’s mixed with other music. He’s not breaking any new ground when he tries contemporary sounds like in “Drapetomania” or “Gun In Yo Purse” but the diversity is welcome and he gets a bit of fusion in fragments of the songs.
So, when he returns to his comfort zone in “Pretty”, it underscores the confessions of the track. It lets us both sit down so that he can talk to us and the maneuver is very effective.
Nevertheless, there’s not enough here for the album to stick but it’s still a pleasant surprise and I’m glad to get an album that makes it so easy to appreciate Chance.
2. Tyler, the Creator – DON’T TAP THE GLASS
I appreciate an album that does something interesting either with the form of music or with the content of the album. Tyler’s trilogy had both. DON’T TAP THE GLASS has neither. His strength used to be how strongly he felt things. Nothing of that comes through with this album
It’s certainly competent music though. There are no weak tracks and plenty of earworms like “Ring Ring Ring.” He has found a space in which he’s very comfortable and he able to mine good music out of it effortlessly. Some sweat would have been nice though.
3. Young Thug — UY SCUTI
What’s left when you take the joy out of Young Thug? More than I expected, given how defined Young Thug is by his joy and energy, but still not enough for an album. There are moments here where he gets a sincere pain in his voice such as the “Do you know how it feel to see your face on the news?” of “On The News.” More interestingly, his flow is good enough by itself to carry you along for much of the album. It’s not as compelling without his usual freedom but it still stands strong as a reason to listen to him. “Whoopty Do” reminds you how interesting he is when he feels like himself but even in his duller tracks, he’s just a very talented rapper.
However, without the fun, the album sinks a bit into the morass of similar rap. It’s padded, like so many contemporaneous albums, and so, for the first time in Young Thug’s career, easily fades into the background.
4. Kid Cudi – Free
Vetinari in The Truth by Terry Pratchett posits that people don’t want the news as much as they want the olds. They want to read “Dog Bites Man” not “Man Bites Dog.” No man bites a dog in Free. Cudi does what he has always done.
As always, sometimes it works. “Submarine” is quite a bit of fun. It’s upbeat and psychedelic and reminds me of The Beatles. “Opiate” and “Salt Water” have sticky sounds. However, “Neverland” is .exhausting, “Past Life” draws from too much rather boring rock.
Kid Cudi is the same loner stoner that he has always been, both in music and in personality. It’s a strong image and one that he always sells well but there’s nothing left to say about it.
5. Earl Sweatshirt – Live Laugh Love
Earl’s music is never far from a drone. It’s so deep underwater and so muted and so sunken that it very easily just becomes murk. Normally, there’s at least a single cut like “Chum” or “Grief” to extract it from the morass and just enough propulsion in the raps and beats to keep it moving. Live Laugh Love misses both those pieces and suffers greatly for it.
HM. SABA – C0FFEE
Saba gets some credit here for trying out a variety of sounds but none of them really work. He brings little care, personality or energy to any of the tracks and the result is entirely forgettable.
Top Five Records 