Posts

Showing posts from 2022

The Best (and Worst) Albums of 2022

Image
Okay, let’s cut to the chase. 2022 was a pretty incredible year for music. However, I’m not gonna do a formal year-end list. I wanted to make a list of all the essential albums of 2022 that need to be heard, along with the honorable mentions and even the worst of the worst. These aren’t ranked, just albums I enjoy. Any genre is open, but there’s only one album per artist. I also want you to comment what your favorite album was this past year. I bet you’ll be surprised by some of the choices I have on here. Have fun reading, and I’ll definitely be more active in 2023 once things start to ramp up. The Best of the Best A Light for Attracting Attention - The Smile      Genres: Art Rock, Post-Punk, Art Pop, Chamber Pop, Math Rock, Jazz-Rock      Favorite Track: The Smoke Aethiopes - billy woods      Genres: Abstract Hip Hop, Experimental Hip Hop, Drumless, Jazz Rap      Favorite Track: Heavy Water (feat. Breeze Brewin & El...

Metro Boomin’ - HEROES & VILLAINS ALBUM REVIEW

Image
Loving the Pink Floyd homage, not gonna lie. I think it’s a safe bet to say that Metro Boomin’ is a modern legend. I’ve always liked him and his contributions to rap and trap specifically, and he’s also had a huge hand in some of my favorite albums in trap. His collab albums with 21 Savage, mainly Without Warning with Offset and Savage Mode II , have been the standouts to me. Also, while writing this, I also found out he produced the entirety (sans one track) of Future’s DS2 , one of my favorite Future projects. It may also be a little bit of bias, but he’s also done a good amount with The Weeknd as well, who appears on this album. However, I think his last solo album, NOT ALL HEROES WEAR CAPES , is just fine. I don’t really remember a bunch of it, but I still got pretty excited for this when it got announced. Let’s just cut to the bullshit and see how I felt about HEROES & VILLAINS . I’m just gonna say that I don’t know how he connected with Morgan Freeman, but he always sounds s...

Weyes Blood - And in the Darkness, Hearts Aglow ALBUM REVIEW

Image
Honestly, if you’re heart is quite literally glowing, you might have to see a doctor. Okay, hi. It’s been a hot minute. I’m gonna be more consistent with the reviews and do a little catch-up with some other albums I’ve heard, but this is one I’ve sat on for a while. Weyes Blood has been an artist that I’ve fallen in love with. I know I’m not the only one thinking that her last album, 2019’s Titanic Rising , is probably a contender for the best indie rock album of the 2010s. I think it’s a landmark album that set the bar for indie rock/singer-songwriter albums for this decade. Now, we have something that could match the quality of that: Weyes Blood’s next album. And in the Darkness, Hearts Aglow dropped last month, and I’ve had a good amount of time to sit on it. Let’s get into how I felt about it. The reason why I’ve had to take some time with this project is because I’ve had a hard time putting to words just how nice this is to listen to. This has a nostalgic, old school feeling that...

BROCKHAMPTON - The Family ALBUM REVIEW

Image
Might as well review an album called The Family on Thanksgiving. Well, happy Thanksgiving. At least on the day I’m writing this, it’s a happy Thanksgiving. Or a year from this post. It doesn’t matter, though, because it’s typically a time where you sit and argue about whatever comes to mind. There’s also food there too. I have no idea how to segue into the next part of this, so… The Family . BROCKHAMPTON, everyone’s favorite boy band, had slowly been falling apart for a couple years now and, as of today, the group is no more. There’s a lot of history there to unpack, but I’ll let you do that yourself if you want because there’s a *lot* of ground to cover there. Last week, the group’s final album titled The Family dropped. They also dropped a second album with it, TM , and if I’m being honest, there’s not a lot to talk about, other than how underwhelming it was, in my opinion. I have much more to say about The Family , though, so let’s not waste any time and get into it. Right off the...

Quadeca - I Didn’t Mean To Haunt You ALBUM REVIEW

Image
Shoutout Hivemind. Right off the bat, I’ll say that I didn’t expect this from Quadeca. The section of YouTuber-turned-musicians that are on my radar are pretty big, especially since I upload on YouTube. Of course, there’s Joji who successfully made the jump, but there are other YouTubers that happen to make music like KSI that really just don’t hit hard to me. Quadeca’s last album, From Me To You , really set up some potential for Quadeca to be a pretty successful YouTuber-to-rapper jump and I still enjoy that project today. His latest release, I Didn’t Mean To Haunt You , leans into a much more experimental and ambitious project. I plan to watch the accompanying visual album too, but it’s just been busy. So, let’s just get into it. So, if I didn’t make it obvious, this project is a whole different beast compared to the other Quadeca projects I’ve heard. This is much more of an art pop album with some alternative R&B, experimental rap, and even a little tinge of industrial thrown i...

Nas - King’s Disease III ALBUM REVIEW

Image
He mentions the best character in Super Smash Bros. on this album. It’s getting a little ridiculous over here. Starting this decade, Nas has been on an insane run. The first two King’s Disease albums are pretty good, with the second one being great, but his last release, Magic , is one of my personal favorites of his since its drop a little less than a year ago. The gel between all of these projects is Hit-Boy, producing every one of the aforementioned albums. Now, they’ve brought King’s Disease III to the table. Not really a lot to make an intro for, so let’s get into it. I definitely don’t agree with this, but apparently there are some people out there that aren’t fans of the Nas/Hit-Boy pairing. So, I’ll counter that with this: I think that this is some of the best beats Nas has ever been over. The funniest thing is that Nas even has said on tracks that you buy my stuff for the lyrics, not the beats. I think that’s a good case for a lot of the middle section of his career, but ev...

Backxwash - HIS HAPPINESS SHALL COME FIRST EVEN THOUGH WE ARE SUFFERING ALBUM REVIEW

Image
I’d just love to have this cover on a shirt, you know? I’m ready to fully admit that this review is coming out way later than I was hoping it would, but I’m glad I’m writing it at all. I’ve spoken about Backxwash (a.k.a. Ashanti Mutinta) in the past and even got the chance to get an advance copy of her last album, I LIE HERE BURIED WITH MY RINGS AND MY DRESSES , which ended up being one of my favorites of that year. The overall darkness of her sound has just been so compelling to me and feels so different from not just rap but from music alone. That being said, there’s no reason for me to doubt that whatever she did next would be one I’d look forward to. We now have HIS HAPPINESS SHALL COME FIRST EVEN THOUGH WE ARE SUFFERING , the conclusion in a trilogy of albums that she’s been releasing for the past three years, the cherry on top being its Halloween release date. Let’s not waste any time and get into it. While this whole series of albums that started with God Has Nothing To Do With ...

King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard - Changes ALBUM REVIEW

Image
They’re just farming for XP to level up by the end of the year, don’t worry about quality over quantity. Since I literally wrote about these guys a few weeks back, I have no idea how to properly introduce you other than to link you to my Ice, Death, Planets, Lungs, Mushrooms And Lava review so you can get the full picture. However, there’s even more context behind this release. In 2017, King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard put out five albums, just as they did this year with this album, Changes . This album, however, was meant to be the fifth album of 2017. With most King Gizz releases, there’s a core concept, with this one having every track in D major / F# major chord changes. I’m not even sure if I worded that correctly, but you get the idea. There’s also a pretty visual reference to the track titles, if you’ve got a keen eye. King Gizz have continued to raise the bar all this year and this shouldn’t be any different. Let’s get into Changes and see how I felt about it. As I looked ...

Cities Aviv - Working Title for the Album Secret Waters

Image
Still mad that I never got the vinyl release of his last album. Every time I review something that ended up being a surprise release, I always talk about how nice surprise releases are. Even if it’s by an artist you’re not a giant fan of, a surprise drop is always something cool. Memphis rapper Cities Aviv is one I got real excited about. Then again, I was always gonna be excited to see what he did next after his two-hour-long epic MAN PLAYS THE HORN , which is in my top 10 favorite albums of this year. I would’ve never expected there to be a new album so soon given just how large his last project was. Now, we have Working Title for the Album Secret Waters , a damn good surprise release that genuinely caught me off guard. Knowing that this project is only a fraction the length of HORN , does that addictive, hypnotic sound translate into a shorter project? Let’s tread into Secret Waters . What I think stands out here the most is the production, more specifically the sampling done here. ...

Taylor Swift - Midnights ALBUM REVIEW

Image
If it’s not blocked in your country, I reacted to this album live on my YouTube channel. Click here to watch it. Okay, let me start off with this. I don’t have to do an intro to Taylor Swift. Whether you like her or not, she’s one of the most recognizable names on the planet. Hell, a testament to this is that this album, Midnights , is set to be the first album in six years to sell over a million copies in its first week. The last time this happened was Swift again. In an age where it’s tough to reach half of a million, it’s really impressive. But I’m not here to talk about sales, I’m here to talk about the music. During the height of the pandemic, she dropped two indie-inspired albums, folklore and evermore . Both of these albums, especially folklore, opened my eyes on how good she was at writing these relatively complex stories into her songs when she teams up with The National. I was blown away by it and, for lack of a better term, I realized I was a Swiftie. Now, in the middle of...

Arctic Monkeys - AM ALBUM REVIEW

Image
I’d like to throw this cover into the fray of one of the most recognizable cover arts of the 2010s. Alright, this may be a surprising revelation to some, but I’ve never heard an Arctic Monkeys album in its entirety. Sure, I’ve heard a couple of songs and most of their last album, Tranquility Base Hotel + Casino , but never a whole project. The only song I’ve heard from this project, AM , is “R U Mine?,” which I think is a pretty good song. To my knowledge, AM is considered to be the sellout album in Arctic Monkeys’ discography, and that’s mainly why I decided to pick this as my first dive into the group. On top of their first album in four years releasing this Friday, I figured now would be a better time than ever to finally see what this group’s about. Let’s get into AM . I’ll say this off the bat: you can tell that most of these were singles or really wanted to be. Six of these songs were singles, that’s half of the album. It’s not as bad as the last Joyner Lucas album where there w...

billy woods x Messiah Muzik - Church ALBUM REVIEW

Image
Well, it’s time to peel back some layers. billy woods is yet another reason why I changed up my review schedule. If you’ve heard anything by woods, you know that you’re gonna get into more of a deep listening experience. I don’t mean to sound pretentious, but that’s really how it is. woods’s lyrics are cryptic and coded, and the songs themselves are pretty out there and experimental. Listening to a billy woods album usually means that it isn’t a background listen, it’s gotta have your full attention. Earlier this year, woods dropped Aethiopes with Preservation, one of the best albums of the year that I’m still trying to dissect. Every now and then, he drops two projects a year, whether it’s a solo project or an Armand Hammer release with Elucid, and this year’s no different. Entirely produced by Messiah Muzik, Church might be one of woods’s most rich projects yet. Let’s get into it. Like his last album, I’ve given this multiple listens. I’m still diving into the lyrical content and p...

Oneohtrix Point Never - Replica ALBUM REVIEW

Image
I just want this cover framed. Experimental music can be a tough sect of music to get into. I know it’s the basic line for this, but what else do I have to start with? Especially when it comes to electronic and ambient music, it can be very off-putting, yet it can also be hypnotic and genuinely great to listen to in a good amount of settings. If I’m being totally honest, I’ve been dying to talk about this project ever since I began writing reviews like this. Daniel Lopatin has had a hell of a career, with basically pioneering a whole genre with vaporwave over a decade ago under the Chuck Person alias, getting into scoring films with the Safdie Brothers, and also becoming an all-star collaborator with The Weeknd for his past two albums. I’ve written about his last studio album, 2020’s high concept Magic Oneohtrix Point Never , and I still enjoy it. However, this one is, cutting out all the fluff, the one. The first time I heard this album, 2011’s Replica , is one of the only moments in ...

Tyler, The Creator - Cherry Bomb ALBUM REVIEW

Image
I have a poster of this cover in my room, yet I have no idea why I have this over IGOR . Tyler, The Creator is arguably a superstar now. For the past few months, he’s been on a wildly successful tour, been doing features on some great projects since his last album, CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST , and he’s actually legally allowed to enter some parts of the world now. Personally, I think he’s one of the best artists working today. I definitely wouldn’t have thought that over a decade ago, mainly because I was a kid, but it’s mainly because he was known for Goblin , an album that I think had great ideas [especially that opening track, holy shit] yet is now plagued with material that hasn’t aged well in many different ways. I thought about reviewing Goblin , its better follow-up Wolf, or even give his first project Bastard a second shot. However, I chose this project, 2015’s Cherry Bomb , which I could safely say is Tyler’s most divisive project as of now. Let’s take a trip down memory lane and...

King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard - Ice, Death, Planets, Lungs, Mushrooms and Lava ALBUM REVIEW

Image
This is proof that AI art can sometimes be beautiful. I recently hit a milestone that I’ve been wanting to hit with my music-listening journey: I’ve gotten through every single studio album from King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard, just in time for them to ANNOUNCE THREE MORE ALBUMS RELEASING THIS MONTH. Yeah, that’s how these little Aussies roll with their music. King Gizz’s previous release, this past April’s double album Omnium Gatherum , is one of the best rock albums of the decade so far, in my opinion, so they’re setting the bar pretty high. With their third album of 2022, Ice, Death, Planets, Lungs, Mushrooms and Lava is tackling a pretty big concept: Seven tracks that are built around the main 7 Greek modes of music. It’s an interesting idea, so let’s see what tricks these little goblins have up their sleeves. As I mentioned earlier, each track on the album is built around and/or inspired by the seven major Greek modes of music. I’m not someone who knows about music theory or a...

Ghais Guevara - There Will Be No Super-Slave ALBUM REVIEW

Image
The moment I found out that this guy has a song called “I Personally Wouldn’t Revive Queen Elizabeth (Pack Watch)” was when I knew I’d like this guy. Most of this new set of reviews is gonna consist of two things: Whatever I heard in my backlog or a newly-released project that I’m excited about. This one lands as more of a backlog entry, but this dropped this past summer and I only found about it last month. I’m a little ashamed to admit it, but Anthony Fantano’s pretty positive review of this gave me the motivation to finally give this a shot. I pretty much have no idea who Ghais Guevara is, and both the title and cover of this already show something unique with the project. Let’s talk about There Will Be No Super-Slave . Right off the bat, I adore the production on this. It’s grimy and tinged with industrial undertones that really began to stand out as I was hearing the project. Even the wild, frantic samples on the intro track introduce Guevara as a producer in an interesting way. S...

Electric Specter 電妖怪 - Arctic Circuitry ALBUM REVIEW

Image
I’m gonna avoid using ‘wintery’ as a descriptor because, if I’m being honest, it’s just way too easy. Well, hi everyone. It’s been a hot minute since I’ve been here. I’ve had some great life updates that gave me less time to write, so I’m gonna accommodate that. I’m gonna review whatever I wanna review, and I’m happy that this was the project that the new era of Cordavision Records is going to kick off. I’ve talked about vaporwave before here, but I’ve never dove into the backlog of albums I have like this so I can write. Either way, let’s get into one of the genre’s most chilling releases, Arctic Circuitry . The first of two releases from Dennis Mikula, a.k.a. Electric Specter 電妖怪, Arctic Circuitry feels most like a soundtrack to an old SNES game, but a blizzard froze the cartridge and corrupted the files. The project’s haunting, cassette-like cover fits this image perfectly, especially with the little hits of static and aged computer graphics. After some extra listens, I even notice...

Doechii - she / her / black bitch EP REVIEW

Image
 

Calvin Harris - Funk Wav Bounces, Vol. 2 ALBUM REVIEW

Image
That’s a small-ass island. I have to admit, I’ve been anticipating this album for a long time. Calvin Harris’s first Funk Wav Bounces album from 2017 is one of my favorite albums of all time, and if I’m being totally honest, I think a second release in this series wasn’t ever going to happen. Either way, here we are. We have a DJ Khaled-esque murderers’ row of features which are Snoop Dogg, Young Thug, Normani, Pharrell Williams, Dua Lipa, Busta Rhymes, Justin Timberlake, Chloe Bailey, 21 Savage, Latto, Charlie Puth, Tinashe, Swae Lee, Stefflon Don, Offset, 6lack, Pusha T, Donae'o, Halsey, Lil Durk, Shenseea, and Jorja Smith. How do I feel about this new entry? Let’s get into it. I went into this not thinking that this was going to top the first one, mainly because it doesn’t come close to hitting the peak that is “Slide” with Frank Ocean and Migos from the first album, but I do think that there are some redeeming qualities here. Of course, the production here is gorgeous. Mixing ...

Domo Genesis - Intros, Outros & Interludes ALBUM REVIEW

Image
Honestly, this is one of the best album titles I’ve heard in a while. If you don’t know who Domo Genesis is, that’s perfectly fine. He’s a part of the now-dormant Odd Future collective, which jumpstarted the careers of Tyler, the Creator, Frank Ocean, and Earl Sweatshirt. Other members have been coasting along for a while now, but Domo Genesis really caught my eye now. I don’t even know what he’s been doing outside of featuring on Tyler’s last album, but now he has an album entirely produced by Evidence titled Intros, Outros & Interludes , where he goes in a drumless, more abstract direction with his music. Let’s get into how I felt about it. I think the idea of Domo Genesis doing more experimental rap is a great idea. After being in the industry for this long, it’s great to see him make something that’s finally caught my attention. Evidence’s beats are very dusty and match Domo’s cadence well, alongside the great features from Navy Blue and Boldy James. Obviously, I think Domo’s w...

Beyoncé - RENAISSANCE ALBUM REVIEW

Image
I see where Drake got his inspiration. Do I need an intro? I feel like I should for the sake of covering Beyoncé for the first time on the site, so I’ll be quick. Beyoncé has essentially built this cult-like fanbase over the years, especially within the past decade with the one-two punch of her self-titled release from 2013 and her last official studio album, 2016’s Lemonade, an event within itself that’s cemented its place in pop culture history. Now, after a semi-productive six years that included an entire album with her husband Jay-Z, starring in and soundtracking the new version of The Lion King , and a film on Disney+, we now have RENAISSANCE , the first release in a trilogy of new projects that will reflect on her mental health during the COVID pandemic. How does RENAISSANCE sound? Let’s get into it. There’s an inevitable comparison to come, so I’m just gonna get it out of the way right now. Earlier this summer, Drake surprise-dropped HONESTLY, NEVERMIND , an R&B album insp...

The Koreatown Oddity - ISTHISFORREAL? ALBUM REVIEW

Image
Ther's a great Hulk Hogan bit on here. Quite frankly, I have no idea who The Koreatown Oddity is. I’ve heard his music, especially one of the best albums of 2020, Little Dominique’s Nosebleed , and that certainly grabbed my attention for his career. To put it in perspective, I think Nosebleed is one of the best releases on the Stones Throw label, which includes classic albums like Madvillainy , J Dilla’s Donuts , and Yes Lawd! from Knxwledge and Anderson .Paak. It’s in very good company, and now, we have an official follow-up to it titled ISTHISFORREAL? , so let’s not waste any time and get into it. I should most likely state that I’m not looking for this project to top Nosebleed in any way, mainly because I think that project’s the closest thing we have to that lightning-in-a-bottle feeling in rap this decade. That being said, I still really fuck with this album. No matter if it’s an entire album or a feature, you can tell that a lot of passion has been put into this and cares ...

Lil Uzi Vert - RED & WHITE EP REVIEW

Image
Yes, we know what the color pink is made of, Uzi. I think it’s safe to say that we’re past the peak popularity of SoundCloud rap, and I’m not gonna lie, it was pretty fun. Now, I’m just curious to see who will try to break free of the mold and find out how much longevity their careers have. Rappers like Playboi Carti and even Denzel Curry to some extent have shown in their own ways how they can stay relevant and even innovative, but one of the bigger names that still has some way to prove himself, at least in my opinion, is Lil Uzi Vert. Their breakout track, “XO Tour Llif3,” is arguably the best song to come from this wave, but it’s been many ups and downs since then. Now, as a prelude to the long-teased PINK TAPE , we have the RED & WHITE EP. How does this little taster sound? Let’s get into it. I’m just gonna cut right to the chase here: This is the best Uzi has sounded since LUV is Rage 2 . Having viewed his last project Eternal Atake as a massive disappointment, I feel like ...

Joey Bada$$ - 2000 ALBUM REVIEW

Image
Nas jumpscare. I’m gonna be honest with you guys: Joey Bada$$ has never stood out to me that much. Maybe I was late to that party, but I do like his last studio album, 2015’s All-Amerikkkan Bada$$ . Maybe I was just not in the right mindset for his breakout mixtape 1999 , and his The Light EP from a little while back just came and went. Luckily, his loose single “The Revenge,” which was pretty awful, doesn’t make his new project 2000 , the sequel to the aforementioned mixtape that put him on everyone’s radar. Does this album bring him back to his own standards? Let’s get into it. What I probably like the most about this project is the beat choices. Nearly every beat complimented Joey’s voice and flow pretty well, so it was a very nice combo of the two. I’ve always been critical of his writing, but I really liked it when he got personal like on “Survivors Guilt” and “Eulogy,” which I think were the peaks of this album. Any track with Westside Gunn is also a little bit of a neuron activ...

Rico Nasty - Las Ruinas MIXTAPE REVIEW

Image
This cover just reminds me of Vespertine . Rico Nasty has been an artist I’ve been keeping my eye on for a while. The mixtape she released with Kenny Beats was really the first time I had even heard of her, and it was great. Her debut album from a couple years back, Nightmare Vacation , was also very enjoyable, and it even got her that mainstream appeal that I think she’s been deserving for a while now. After Nightmare Vacation , I was wondering if she’d stick with the more mainstream sound or not. After announcing her next mixtape Las Ruinas and some of the singles, it seemed like it was going to get much more experimental, which really excited me. So, let’s not waste any time and get into Las Ruinas . I’d say that the biggest change when it comes to Rico herself is her lyrics. They’re much more vulnerable than the other stuff I’ve heard, and this gives the mixtape a whole new layer that I like to hear. Alongside that, the turn to a more experimental sound helps make Las Ruinas a pr...

beabadoobee - Beatopia ALBUM REVIEW

Image
First off, Tinker Bell isn’t overrated. Honestly, I’ve always liked the sound of beabadoobee. The first time I’d even heard of her, like most of us, was being sampled on that one Tik Tok song about a cup of coffee or something. I’m not even bothered to look up what that song is because I’m not even a fan of it. Either way, it helped me discover bea, and her debut album, 2020’s Fake It Flowers , is actually pretty good, so I’d be tuning in to whatever she did next. Lo and behold, we now have Beatopia in our grasp, so let’s just get into it. What I like the most about this is the production and overall vibe of the album. It reminds me a lot of the radio hits of the late 90s and early 2000s, and quite frankly, the rose-colored nostalgia glasses are on for that era. The use of genres like folk, indie pop, singer-songwriter, and dream pop keep the sound of this album evolving throughout to keep the listener on their toes. Combining that with the impressive vocals from Bea makes for a dream...

Steve Lacy - Gemini Rights ALBUM REVIEW

Image
CAPRISONGS vs. Gemini Rights . Fight. I’ve always enjoyed Steve Lacy’s work with a catch. Oddly enough, his first solo album Apollo XXI really didn’t do anything for me at all, but his work with Odd Future-adjacent R&B group The Internet has always stood out to me more than his solo work. I am a sucker for some good neo-soul though, so why Apollo XXI didn’t click for me is beyond me. Either way, I’ve been pretty excited about his next release, Gemini Rights . How does it sound? Let’s get into it. In a weird way, there was an immediate comparison that I made a little bit after my first listen of this, and it was André 3000’s The Love Below , the second half of Outkast’s iconic double album. There’s no deep comparison on it like a similar theme or Lacy sounding like 3 Stacks at all, that’s just the vibe I felt while listening to this. Another thing about this is that this is beautifully produced across the board. Lacy’s voice, the beats, everything just comes together so smoothly. H...

black midi - Hellfire ALBUM REVIEW

Image
Luckily, this didn’t sound like hell was engulfing my eardrums. There was a little phase last year where there were a bunch of post-punk albums that really clicked for me. One of my more controversial takes is that I thought that black midi’s Cavalcade , which is considered by many to be one of the best albums of last year, was just a little bit overrated. I understand the raw talent from each member, but I thought that it didn’t gel as well as their first album, Schlagenheim . However, this might be a different story. I haven’t heard any of the singles ahead of Hellfire , so I’m going into this completely blind. This is getting even higher praise than Cavalcade , not that that matters to me, but it’s worth pointing that out. Let’s not waste any more time and get into Hellfire . Since I never went into detail about it, I prefer Schlagenheim over Cavalcade because the more chaotic sound suits the group much more. I think that was sacrificed with more complex tracks on the latter, whic...

Lizzo - Special ALBUM REVIEW

Image
There are three different people with the name Chris involved in one song, it’s basically the Marvel movies now. It’s no secret that Lizzo is a star at this point. While I appreciate her social media game about positivity (even if it’s not necessarily for me), I thought her last album, Cuz I Love You , is quite good. Some songs from that project are still in my rotation, and “Boys” is one of my favorite pop hits from the past decade. That being said, whatever Lizzo did next from a music standpoint would have my attention. While “About Damn Time” was certainly a fine song, it just didn’t do anything. Either way, we have Special now, so let’s just get into it. Right off the bat, I’m very happy that the song she did with Cardi B isn’t on this because it’s one of her worst songs. That’s a good start. Like on her past music, her voice is honestly what hits it out of the park for me, and while it doesn’t hit the same heights as her last album, it’s still very good. Where this project lacks,...

Wormrot - Hiss ALBUM REVIEW

Image
They’re just little trolls. If you know, you know. I’m still just a little baby when it comes to metal in general, so grindcore is basically a new concept to me entirely. I’ve heard the iconic one, the great Nails’s Unsilent Death , and I covered the last Full of Hell album on this site. This time, though, is essentially my first dive into grindcore without any background on the group, this group being Wormrot. Hiss is the name of the project, so let’s get into what I thought about it. I’m of the mindset that grind needs to have that nasty edge, you know? I feel like it’s a given, but I feel like I gotta state this since this is one of the first times I’m covering it on here. So, that being said, I don’t have all the knowledge there is about grindcore or powerviolence or anything like that. However, this project is nasty as all hell. This has a lot of ambition laced into the performances and songwriting as well, with vocalist Arif Rot having had to sell his soul to the devil for his s...

Brent Faiyaz - WASTELAND ALBUM REVIEW

Image
I certainly hope this album isn’t a wasteland. I really don’t know much about Brent Faiyaz, and I was pretty late to the party when it comes to him too. The first time I heard him was as a feature on Tyler, the Creator’s CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST , and he sounded great. I gave a listen to his Sonder Son album not long after that and liked it too, and it ended up being the same with Fuck The World . It may not have been as long for me as the fans who’ve been with him for years, but we now have WASTELAND , a brand new project from him. How does it sound? Let’s get into it. First off, the production is rich and full of life here. It feels very cinematic, and that’s helped by the surprisingly great skits that are placed throughout the album. It’s not often where the skits can be that engaging, but what about the actual songs? A great throughline is Brent’s voice, which is always mesmerizing enough to keep your attention on the music. Something that I think has improved here is his songwriti...