I’m starting this as a much lower maintenance, and far more topical, replacement to my old daily music thread, with each new album I rate. Besides my favorite tracks off each album, as well as any 10/10s (as I very rarely hand those out), I’m keeping my ratings to myself, writing a brief review for each of the albums instead. If I listen to a single I give an especially good rating to around the same time, I’ll also add it as a bonus.

Because of the lower maintenance nature of this post, I’m not going to link directly to any albums; I apologize for the inconvenience.

4/25/25 | 椎名林檎 × 斎藤ネコ - 平成風俗#

If you need proof I’m a harsh judge of music, let this review show how unwilling I am to give out a high rating.

I loved this album. I say this wholeheartedly and I say this straight. It’s so hard to pick out a favorite here because everything here is so, so good. Sheena Ringo is an artist I’ve always liked, but never listened to at length, and I’m glad that I was able to change this tonight. Neko Saito’s work on this album is not to be understated, of course, because I love the production work even more than Sheena Ringo’s vocals at parts, but it’s very clear how much talent in the vocals she has: She’s loud when she needs to be and delicate when she needs to be; beyond that, her tone of voice is so strikingly unique in a way that is almost immediately recognizable.

I think I need to give Japanese art pop another chance.

  • 椎名林檎 × 斎藤ネコ - 花魁 (8/10)
    • Since I can’t decide on a favorite from the album, I’m gonna shout this one out for being a “sleeper hit” in my eyes. It’s one of the few songs off of the album I haven’t already listened to in full because I initially didn’t give it much of a chance from the snippets because of how weird the production was. It’s that weirdness that’s holding this back from making it past the rest of the pack, because Sheena Ringo’s vocals and the choruses are something else.
  • 椎名林檎 × 斎藤ネコ - 夢のあと (8/10)
    • A Horse Race Tests fancam convinced me to listen to this album. I’ll think about that for a while.

4/25/25 | Jane Remover - Revengeseekerz#

I was given really high expectations going into this album that I managed to be entirely disappointed on and I think that’s tainting my view of the album heavily. I was told that this was going to be Dariacore 5, but it wasn’t. This album, despite being as good as it is, isn’t on quite that level, and it’s a big letdown that it wasn’t. It’s a great album with too much hype around it that it cannot live up to for me.

  • Jane Remover feat. Danny Brown - Psychoboost (8/10)
    • Danny Brown really just collaborates with anyone at this point, doesn’t he. …That’s a good thing, for the record. The weakest part of the track is his feature verse; besides that, this is some excellence from Jane with incredible vibes that’s hard to come across.
  • Jane Remover - JRJRJR (8/10)
    • This was a huge tone-setter for the rest of the album when it came out that matches it in energy, but exceeds it in quality. The progression of this one is beautiful in a way that works, but still feels like Jane; notably, the outro is very nice.

4/10/25 | Machinedrum - A View of U#

I remember hearing people clowning on this album when it came out, and I really don’t understand where that comes from listening to it now; sure, this isn’t some bespoke experience, but I actually consistently liked this one (at least, mostly consistently), as opposed to the limited gems from Room(s). This was a solid album; maybe not extraordinary, but solid, and I’m definitely coming back to listen to a lot of this again.

  • Machinedrum feat. Sub Focus - 1000 Miles (8/10)
    • This uses that guitar I really love off of a lot of the best of Room(s) and it’s a drum and bass song. Of course I’m gonna adore this one.
  • Machinedrum - Spin Blocks (1/10)
    • I had to skip this one. This one gets a shoutout not for being good, but for being absolutely dogshit. I don’t know how to explain it because I couldn’t give it the dignity of a full listen through.

3/26/25 | Machinedrum - Room(s)#

A few spots of gold in a sea of things I really didn’t end up vibing with. A few tracks really stuck out, with the bulk of the first half being bad and the bulk of the second half being a bit better. This tends to be how every album I end up reviewing because I liked one song ends up, but that’s not going to stop me from doing this again. I appreciate listening to more of this genre, at least.

  • Machinedrum - Sacred Frequency (9/10)
    • The rest of the album almost made me forget that this gem came from it. It’s the reason I know about this album at all and decided to give it a chance, and it stands so distinct from the rest of the album to where I love it a lot.
  • Machinedrum - Come1 (9/10)
    • This is just a very fun six minute long breaks song with an interesting switch-up that happens gradually throughout the midsection of the song. I’m a sucker for interesting progressions like these, so it was a joy to listen to.

3/26/25 | Asian melancholic - at first#

It’s a shame Kikuo never really came back to this project, because there were definitely entries from it that I’ve really liked. This entire album is fine work as a whole, but its lowlights are as drastically middling as its highlights are standout, which is unfortunate.

  • Asian melancholic - jazz in parallel world (9/10)
    • It turns out I’m really bad at describing music.

3/26/25 | leroy - Dariacore 2: Enter Here, Hell to the Left#

I love dariacore to death. This, however, is no simple dariacore album. It is one of the quintissential dariacore albums and defined the genre as a whole. It’s no surprise, then, that I liked almost everything I heard off of this. I’m sad I had never listened to this in full before now, because it’s incredible.

  • leroy - wants mom to know she looks cool and doesn’t plan on changing (9/10)
    • I love the breakdown near the end of this one, and that’s part of the reason I keep coming back to it.
  • leroy - lil mama vip tickets (9/10)
    • This doesn’t just feel very different from the rest of the album, this feels very different from what dariacore presents itself as a whole, at least in tone. There’s no melody for a good portion of it, and the closest thing to that is being chopped up near the end in a way that blends in rather than stands out.

3/26/25 | Jazz Emu - Ego Death#

This isn’t a visual album as much as an experience, so to go into it expecting a very fine-tuned musical masterpiece is really weird work… so, that’s what I did.

Every song in this album tells a story. The visual album implies they’re all connected, but the visual album spends four to five songs trying to present the same character as what feels like four very different characters. A lot of this doesn’t make sense. That’s the point, but how disconnected some of this feels doesn’t really do any of this justice. A majority of this isn’t anything I’m going back to for casual listening, though it will end up in my shuffle play because I did at least like it a little bit.

  • Jazz Emu - Easier (8/10)
    • This is just a nice, simple song, honestly. It provides a nice juxtaposition to not only Ego Death, but Jazz Emu’s online persona as a whole. If not the musician for me, he is still a true talent.
  • Jazz Emu - Fun Kitai Furai Dei (7/10)
    • It is insane work that the leitmotif featured in this albums trailer, as well as its climactic moment, is a song called “funky tie friday” of all things. Only with Jazz Emu.

3/26/25 | Kenny Beats - LOUIE#

Kenny Beats drops an album of wack ass… beats… Wait…

Not too much more to say, and not too much more that I can pick out of this to keep listening to, even though I thought they were either alright or pretty good.

  • Kenny Beats - Still (8/10)
    • This is the reason I know about this album at all, and I’d say it stands up. Fun beat. If that’s Kenny on vocals, I think that’s really funny.
  • Kenny Beats - Last Words (8/10)
    • This one got into my earworms playlist. Can’t really say much about it.

3/26/25 | Jane Remover - Frailty#

This was the weirdest album review I could have possibly done, because it turns out I had a really old version of the album that had a single that shouldn’t have been bundled with it as well? Weird.

I can’t say I don’t get the hype. I’ve heard the first disc of this album already, but never really got the chance to hone in and listen to it until now; unsurprisingly, save my favorite song off the album, I liked it considerably less than the second disc, where I think Jane hones in on what I like a lot more. Needless to say, though I think they’re quite long for what they are, it’ll be nice to hear these songs in my shuffle play again.

  • Jane Remover - kodak moment (9/10)
    • The first half of this song is the best of its sort of song on the album, while the second half is just a ton of ear candy that I love. I’m 100% down.

3/25/25 | Tyler, the Creator - IGOR#

Yeah. Yeah, that’s Tyler, alright.

I remember people talking about this album when it came out. I liked a few tracks off of it then, but never got the hype over it as a whole. I still don’t. That doesn’t change the fact that this album is a great listen. I think this paragraph is confusing, but I can’t really help it.

I haven’t heard a real Tyler flop yet.

  • Tyler, the Creator - GONE, GONE / THANK YOU (8/10)
    • A very fun beat I appreciated a bit more than I thought I would the first time I thought of it. I love the outro to death.
  • Tyler, the Creator - NEW MAGIC WAND (8/10)
    • This song has stood up since I first heard it. I didn’t give it much of a chance when I was much younger, but I had listened to it before this album review and liked it a lot then.

3/25/25 | Oshiribeat - Multi Flavor#

I found this compilation because of Ning and unfortunately, at the end of the day, it’s the only song off the entire thing that stands out. The only other things I liked off of this were the two songs that played it safe, and that’s really disappointing. It’s an album from some level of obscurity that, unfortunately, deserves to stay there.

  • mybear - Ning (7/10)
    • This one was buried deep in my SoundCloud likes at a point, which is why I know about the album at all. It’s really fun. It’s a good ol’ time.

3/25/25 | Emicida - AmarElo#

I listened to the live album before I even knew the actual album existed, somehow. To some extent, that’s the curse of this artist not marketing in English at all, save his Fortnite appearance, which is probably the only reason I actually know about him and has literally none of his modern music in it. At the end of the day, it was alright at best.

  • Emicida feat. Fabiana Cozza, Henrique Vieira, & Pastoras do Rosário - Principia (8/10)
    • Despite the vocals in the chorus sounding a bit weird, I liked this version better than the live version, though I think it’s close. This song just has a very bespoke sound to it, one that got stuck in my head for a while, for the better.

3/25/25 | Doechii - Alligator Bites Never Heal#

(Reviews prior to this point were made based on an old Topster. The dates shown are not accurate to when I listened to the album initially.)

It’s really unfortunate that the album was so long given how little I’ve ended up remembering of it. What I do know is that it’s a mixed bag of good and really good to the point where it was absolutely worth my time to go out of my way to listen to it.

My music taste has changed considerably since the sheltered Monstercat fan I was in middle school, and for the better; I’ve looped around from disliking popular artists to finding things that blow me away and learning exactly why they’re popular. Not to say that every popular artist is good; there’s a lot I still hate, but when it’s come to hip-hop, I’ve been blown away by some of what I’ve heard, especially some of the albums I reviewed earlier on this page. Doechii hasn’t blown me away here, but has demonstrated a very solid style, one that’s got me looking forward to her next release.

  • Doechii - DEATH ROLL (9/10)
    • Listening to this again, I remember why it’s my favorite off of the album. This is Doechii. This is the culmination of the style I’ve heard off the rest of the album into one package, and a good one at that. Her flow is incredible here.
  • Doechii - BOOM BAP (8/10)
    • This song is so stupid. I love it.

3/25/25 | goreshit - semantic compositions on death and its meaning#

It’s a classic. Two 9/10s and a 10/10. Enough said.

  • goreshit - o’er the flood (10/10!)
    • I’m definitely rushing this review a bit, but there really isn’t that much to say about it. It’s just beautiful sampling and iconic usage of the amen break, and this track does it the best out of the three by far.

3/25/25 | aran - ARTFCT#

Save one song, I liked everything off of this album, and I liked it a lot. This is what I liked about Mameyudoufu’s “SHOWCASE” with a very well crafted sound. I don’t know what other praises to sing for this album since it’s been so long since I’ve listened to it front to back, but if there’s any indication that I need to check out more of this guy, it’s this.

  • aran feat. Kanae Asaba - Skyriser (10/10!)
    • I really wish this thing had official lyrics, because I really don’t understand what Kanae Asaba is trying to say here. Production wise, this thing is a miracle upon this earth. I’m already trying to search for more of this genre, but I don’t know if anything quite tops this.
  • aran - Mazy Metroplex (Extended) (9/10)
    • I liked this song a lot when it came out as a single, and I like it a lot now. The rhythm is infectious.

3/14/25 | Serph - Psychic Music#

I discovered this album through another work by the artist I was sent; needless to say, I was immediately hooked. This album is an incredibly solid taste of a style that feels otherworldly, but is still very grounded, incredibly consistent despite being as varied as it was. Should ever I get the drive to revisit this artist, I know I will enjoy what I hear thoroughly.

  • Serph - idio-savan (9/10)
    • It’s been a while since I did these ratings, so I don’t know why this track stands out this much to me still, but it’s still incredible and worth the rating.

3/14/25 | Rav - BENEATH THE TOXIC JUNGLE#

I had to listen to this album again a second time because I thought I was incredibly hard on it the first time around, before coming to the rude awakening that I wasn’t, not one bit. Between pretty much every feature besides Kill Bill being hard to listen to and the weird decisions Rav makes with some of these tracks, only a handful of these are even listenable, personally. Because of Solanine, I had high expectations for this album, only for the floor to be shattered below me. Perhaps I’m overselling how much I didn’t like this album, but it certainly wasn’t one I would return to as a whole.

  • Rav - Solanine (8/10)
    • The reason I decided I should listen to this album, and, as far as I’ve heard, one of the best tracks Rav has ever made by a longshot. An incredible beat paired with surprisingly interesting lyrics makes for a very nice experience.
  • Rav feat. Kill Bill - Lavender (7/10)
    • This is basically two entirely different songs blended into one, and surprisingly, both halves are very good. The main issue I have with this track is that the two halves don’t blend at all; however, both Rav and Kill Bill demonstrate their talents on this beat in a way that makes each section work.

3/14/25 | in theory - singularity#

I was supposed to review this album earlier, but didn’t; perhaps I missed it or the order in which I was going through the Topster was entirely different a month ago, but I’m finally here now to say that there’s good reason I keep revisiting this album over the years, and unfortunately, it’s not for a majority of the tracks in the main list. When in theory’s work shines, it really shines, making the best three tracks on the album (clarity, singularity, and duality) shine brightly; meanwhile, just a track earlier lies probably one of the worst, hardest to listen to samples that I’ve heard in a while, which is saying something after I listened to all of † not that long ago. All in all, I think wherever in theory is, if they kept doing exactly what they were doing at the peak of this album without looking at their samples folder, they would make gold.

  • in theory - clarity (9/10)
    • I discovered this through SaltyBet and it had such a profound impact on my music taste that I just had to download the entire album. Genuinely incredible composition work for how simple the track is.
  • in theory - duality (piano arr.) (9/10)
    • Maybe I just like the piano work that in theory did more than anything, but hearing this in such a pure form helps it shine that much brighter.

3/14/25 | Madeon - Good Faith#

After being a long time casual Porter fan and accidentally skirting around Madeon far too often, I decided to give this album a listen to after Nurture, eventually ending my liveblog of the experience by saying the equivalent of “my life is a lie”. I think I was overexaggerating back there, as I think Nurture’s highlights are far better than what’s going on here, but that’s not to say this isn’t an incredible experience of an album with many solid highlights scattered throughout. It’s a lot less intense of a listen than I thought it would be initially, making it a pretty casual experience, but the tracks off of it that I have liked will stick with me.

  • Madeon - Mania (9/10)
    • If there was a clean version of Hypermania, I know for a fact that would be an incredibly easy 10/10; that version gives me chills every time. I think it’s because of Hypermania that I grew on the album version of Mania so much, as it’s by a good margin my favorite song on the album due to its very fun sound.
  • Madeon - Borealis (8/10)
    • I already liked Mania before I grew on it. I did not like Borealis until very recently. I’m surprised to say that I think the sound of the vocals is what is bringing this track up in my eyes, though.

3/14/25 | Jazztronik - Nanairo#

I cannot express just how much I love this sound. The style presented on this album is incredibly fun throughout, with pretty much every track doing something really interesting in its own right. I could put any of these songs on for casual listening and still be enraptured by what I’m listening to. I don’t know how to describe what I’m listening to in any substantial capacity. All I can say is to tell you to listen to literally any of these songs; if you’re like me, you’ll understand immediately.

  • Jazztronik - Arabesque (10/10!)
    • The high energy percussion. The lovely refrain. The amount of interesting sounds blending together. If this was the first thing I heard off of this album, I would be disappointed by the rest of it, which is saying a lot considering how much I know I loved everything else on this album.
  • Jazztronik - Nana (9/10)
    • This is maybe about as pure as Japanese jazz can get for this album, and I adore the sound thoroughly as a result. It’s incredibly fun, with pretty much every section of the song catching your attention.

3/14/25 | Lamp - 東京ユウトピア通信#

I don’t know why, because I thought it was alright, but this album was incredibly forgettable. I put this on in the background more than once in order to listen to it without absolutely ruining my attention span, and when I came back to put in a rating, I just couldn’t, because I was not paying attention to the song in any substantial capacity. I couldn’t bring myself to do much more than casually listen to this, and I really don’t know what the issue is. Actual anomaly of an album.

  • Lamp - ムード・ロマンティカ (7/10)
    • I don’t know what’s going on, but it’s pretty fun.

3/14/25 | underscores - Wallsocket (Director’s Cut)#

Another case of the trans women in my life begging me to listen to an album and me not really understanding it, though I did think this one was great from a production standpoint to the point where a lot of these songs were just fun to listen to. This album is weird. It knows it’s weird and revels in it. In my opinion, its highlights have slightly less character, but a lot more soul, or at least more interesting production value; not to say that much off the album was properly bad, save two songs early into the album, but that’s less because they were poorly made and more that they were boring.

  • underscores - Stupid (Can’t run from the urge) (8/10)
    • Is anyone surprised?
  • underscores - Shoot to kill, kill your darlings (8/10)
    • Of all of this hypersubglaggle of songs on the album, this one has the most full sound and good enough lyrics to boot. It’s a fun song. Can’t say much.

3/14/25 | Mameyudoufu - SHOWCASE#

You cannot get more to the point with any other album name. The variety comes at the cost of much of the album feeling weak, with some weird decisions made on some of these songs that I don’t love, but what stands out in this set really stands out and sticks with you. It’s kind of unfortunate that the two songs I love the most off of this album I had heard well in advance.

  • Mameyudoufu - Point (9/10)
    • Of the sort of niche that “rhythm game music” is, this is one of the finest, cleanest slices. It doesn’t stand out to me enough to rate it higher, but if it did, I wouldn’t be opposed to calling it “perfect”.
  • Mameyudoufu - あわ (9/10)
    • This is a track with energy, and a lot of it. Miku is tuned excellently, and the production has a lot of oomph behind it. I don’t tend to like Vocaloid, but this takes it and does it very well.

3/14/25 | JPEGMAFIA & Danny Brown - SCARING THE HOES#

I don’t know how to review this one seriously, sorry.

I thought it was alright. I liked JPEG more than Danny here, but Danny did some great work still.

  • JPEGMAFIA & Danny Brown - Garbage Pale Kids (8/10)
    • Thank you, Danny Brown.
  • JPEGMAFIA & Danny Brown - Steppa Pig (7/10)
    • Solid beat.

3/14/25 | Sungazer - Perihelion#

I would ask how Adam Neely does it, but I know how he and his bandmates do it, because they know what they’re doing, and very well at that. The best of these works have a beautiful progression to them with a sound that stands out almost immediately upon listening and is consistent across the entire album, making almost every track on it so interesting to first hear with a style that stands out on repeat listens.

  • Sungazer - Cytherean (9/10)
    • If any track off this album deserves a shoutout, it’s this one. The vocal performance is sublime, meshing incredibly well with the toned back composition.
  • Sungazer - Threshold (9/10)
    • If Cytherean stands on one end of the spectrum, this song stands on the other; it is dramatic and weird in ways I am entirely for.

3/14/25 | DOMi & JD BECK - NOT TiGHT#

I fell in love with this album from the first listen. I knew I was going to, and then I went off and did it anyways. This album doesn’t have highlights; instead, it just has one long, rarely intrrepted stream of jazz fusion masterclass that I’ve come to expect from this duo. There’s one miss on this album, and it’s literally just because I think the style is a bit weird in contrast to the rest of it; even then, there’s still something going on for the kind of person seeking it. An incredibly clean sound and wonderful features; what’s not to love?

  • DOMi & JD BECK feat. Mac DeMarco - TWO SHRiMPS (9/10)
    • I don’t know how to describe this as any different from the rest of the album because anything I say here is reflective of what I say of the rest of the album almost directly. This, in my opinion, is just the best of it.
  • DOMi & JD BECK feat. Herbie Hancock - MOON (9/10)
    • It’s Herbie Hancock. I don’t think I need to say much else.

3/14/25 | Geordie Greep - The New Sound#

Do I think the almost entirely clean sweep of 8/10s I gave this album originally holds up? Absolutely not, considering I had to go back and rate half of the album again; that said, it’s not very far off that original mark. I’ll be disappointed if this is truly a new sound, because I’ve been looking for it for god knows how long.

  • Geordie Greep (feat. Seth Evans) - Motorbike (9/10)
    • It’s a wonder I didn’t rate this one higher when I first listened through this album; knowing me, I don’t think I gave it nearly the chance it deserves. I love Seth Evans on this song’s vocals.
  • Geordie Greep - Blues (8/10)
    • I didn’t expect to be blasted with storytelling frame one upon opening this album, but it’s certainly welcome. I love how this one ramps up as it goes along; pretty much everything in this song feels like it’s moving in the same direction at once in a very satisfying way.

3/14/25 | Bon Iver - i,i#

Maybe a masterwork as iMi set way too high of expectations for me for the rest of this album; if so, the notion would be disappointing, but not unexpected. Bon Iver’s style is weird in a way I welcome, but I don’t think I quite get it how it’s applied to a lot of this album.

  • Bon Iver - iMi (9/10)
    • This floored me back in 2019 when I heard it first and still carries that energy even now; at least, now I’m using an actually sane rating system.
  • Bon Iver - We (8/10)
    • I was torn between giving this song and another one a shoutout; they’re both very strong entries, but I think I listen to this one less. This song resolves in an incredibly satisfying way while being captivating throughout.

3/14/25 | Justice - HYPERDRAMA#

In comparison to †, where I at least went in and came out with a song I loved beyond the rest, I didn’t really have one of those for this album; in exchange, I saw a much more refined take on what Justice had to offer prior that was still a decently fun listen.

  • Justice starring Connan Mockasin - Explorer (7/10)
    • It’s hard to pinpoint a real favorite off of this album for me, but if anything were to come close to that, it would be this. A unique sound for an album like this. I like how the entire track builds up to the vocals at the end; it’s something I want to do if I ever get back into music production myself.
  • Justice - Generator (7/10)
    • The nonbinary people in my life love this song, and so do I, by categorical proxy. I really don’t know why they did that music video, though (DO NOT RESEARCH).

3/14/25 | Tyler, the Creator - Flower Boy#

My raving review of CHROMAKOPIA when that came out eventually led me to look into a sliver of the rest of Tyler’s discography I’d been meaning to return to, a journey I was pleasantly surprised by due to just how consistently I liked what I was hearing. It’ll be interesting to continue down this path; the knowledge that CHROMAKOPIA references the rest of his discography makes the look back all the more eventful, in theory.

  • Tyler, the Creator - See You Again (9/10)
    • If not for this masterwork, I would have never had my eyes on this album in the first place. I think it’s what I like about St. Chroma as well.
  • Tyler, the Creator - Glitter (9/10)
    • Similar to some of the rest of this album, but is very fun overall. I love the first half of this one a lot, especially; the beat is very fun with a lot of oomph to it.

3/14/25 | Tyler, the Creator - CHROMAKOPIA#

Hope in a bottle. That was the phrase I used to describe St. Chroma the first time I listened to it, which I continue to use to this day, because it still applies. Though there are a few lowlights, the rest of this album is powerful and very interesting from a producer and artist like Tyler in a very captivating way. I was on the verge of crying the first time I listened to this, primarily because I was hyper-sensitive at the time, but I don’t think that diminishes how surprisingly impactful this album was to my life. I will continue to praise this album as long as I remember it.

  • Tyler, the Creator - St. Chroma (10/10!)
    • Hope in a bottle. I said it before, and I’ll say it again.
  • Tyler, the Creator - Tomorrow (9/10)
    • I don’t know why this track stood out to me as much as it did. Perhaps it just felt emotional? I know it was in the instrumental, but I can’t quite put into words what. I just know it was incredible.

3/14/25 | Nardis - Call#

I didn’t have the ability to listen to this album in full for a while, so I didn’t. I’m very glad that that’s changed. Nardis is incredible, I knew this already, but what I’m seeing now is such a unique spread of talent from them I hadn’t really exposed myself to before. It’s a worthwhile listen.

  • Nardis - Call (9/10)
    • This is how I know about this album and easily still one of my favorite songs off of it. It’s got a powerful impact behind it.
  • Nardis - Yggdrasil Leaf (9/10)
    • I’m a little surprised how much I liked this, especially because I thought this song was generic, but what it does well it does splendidly. It feels like it’s got a pace that never drops off.

2/16/25 | Kendrick Lamar - Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers#

I need to listen to more Kendrick Lamar.

When he makes something good, I love it. When he makes something I don’t enjoy, I still respect it, but I struggle to listen to it. This is an album that featured both of these in equal amounts, though even the low points were still strong. What shines through in this work, however, are the layers upon layers of storytelling at work in the album as a whole, as well as each individual track; in my case, a few tracks I wouldn’t normally like I paid more attention to because what was going on was so clear and meaningful. Either way, I’m going to remember this experience for the better.

  • Kendrick Lamar - United In Grief (10/10!)
    • I heard this one before I heard the full album and fell in love with the beat immediately. I’m only promoting this to a 10/10 now in context of the rest of the album. It’s enrapturing.
  • Kendrick Lamar - Mother I Sober (10/10!)
    • Kendrick’s storytelling at its finest. It’s such a hard contrast to something like United In Grief or N95 that fits with the theme of the album and presents a profound message.

2/16/25 | Cosmograph - WE ALIVE#

I was expecting not to like this album nearly as much as I ended up liking it, but I actually ended up liking the second half of the album consistently better than I liked the first half. I’m surprised by, save Fevertime and the remixes, how consistently good my ratings were. As a whole, this is a profound demonstration of how varied Cosmograph’s style is, and I liked pretty much everything I heard, even down to the intermission that bridges both of my favorite songs off the album.

  • Cosmograph - The Midnight (9/10)
    • This hits a weird soft spot for drum and bass for me that I know I will continue to go back to. It’s generally very uncluttered, yet the neuro drums still shine.
  • Cosmograph - Dreamer (EXTENDED) (9/10)
    • The gap between this and The Midnight is the half of the range of songs I would call a 9/10, but they’re still equal by rating. Lots of energy outside of the drops.

2/16/25 | femtanyl - CHASER#

I’m disappointed that I didn’t love this one as much as all the other weird queer people I know do. I have to wonder if I think it tries to hard, or it takes doesn’t take what I like about the genres and works that inspired it. Not to say I didn’t like it, of course; I think the highlights of this album were still quite good, while the lowlights were singular (MURDER EVERY 1 U KNOW!, just because I hated the vocals). It’s worth a listen.

  • femtanyl - P3T (9/10)
    • This stands head and toes over the entire rest of the EP. Profound sound with a weight behind it unique among femtanyl’s discography.

2/16/25 | ericdoa - DOA#

I liked dancinwithsomebawdy a lot and thought I’d like the rest of his work as well, but by no means did that desire manifest. Most of the album is alright at best, but not incredible enough for me to come back, with a few exceptions that still feel too “pop” to make me fall in love more than a casual glance.

  • ericdoa - dancinwithsomebawdy (8/10)
    • I’m surprised ericdoa didn’t channel more of this with the rest of the album, but I honestly can’t be mad. It’s got weight and it’s got a unique and fun sound; what’s more to love?
  • ericdoa - imcoolimgoodimstraight (7/10)
    • A very fun to listen to track with an inoffensive sound.

2/16/25 | Justice - †#

I feel really bad for I’m about to say knowing all the Justiceheads I do, but I don’t really need to defend it either because what I didn’t like off of the album I genuinely found grating. From hard to listen to sampling to Newjack making my ears feel like they’re being microwaved, there’s a lot of awkwardness in this early work that I can’t bring myself to like. Sure, there was a highlight, but there was also a lot of the album that just didn’t have any reason to stand out to me. I wish there was more for me to get into here.

  • Justice - Genesis (8/10)
    • A very engaging track that takes a lot of different sounds and implements them in an interesting, fun way.
  • Justice - DVNO (7/10)
    • This would’ve been the easiest 8/10 of my life if the vocals were any better to listen to; instead, the drops sounded incredible and the verses felt so, so different.

2/16/25 | Charli xcx - BRAT#

The trans women in my life have been begging me to listen to this one, and honestly, I don’t really get it as much as I thought I would. Either I loved a song enough to take it away from the album as its own thing or I just ended up not liking it at all; in two cases, these songs are back to back in the tracklist. It’s inconsistent in many ways, and honestly, it didn’t feel good to listen to at the time; as much as I expected that, I was left disappointed regardless.

  • Charli xcx - Everything is romantic (9/10)
    • Every time I listen to this song, I just fall in love with it again and again. The sampling is tasteful and the production work is some of the finest off the entire album in my opinion, with both of the main sections having such a different sound to them that is incredibly refreshing.
  • Charli xcx - Club classics (8/10)
    • A track that knows exactly what it wants to be and executes incredibly well. I enjoyed it a lot.

2/16/25 | Scott James - Un#

I’m glad I experienced this.

Compared to Shelter Island Heights, the sound of this album is so distinct and jarring. The emotion of each song can be heard from its production just as much as the vocal work, and every song, enspecially the ones I ended up loving each have such a unique air to them. I’m mad this album wasn’t easier to listen to from an actually finding it perspective; music like this deserves to be preserved.

  • Scott James - Ballet (10/10!)
    • If I never listened to this song five years ago, one of my headmates might never have manifested.
  • Scott James - 2 Months Ago (9/10)
    • I don’t know exactly how to describe this one in a way that sufficiently represents it. I feel it. It’s only as long as it needs to be to communicate what it needs to and does so incredibly.

2/16/25 | Scott James - Shelter Island Heights#

Compared to the two tracks off of this that I heard well before I heard the rest of the album, one of which became an earworm for me not long after I listened to it again after a long time, the rest of this tracklist as a whole doesn’t compare. That’s not saying that much, all things considered, as half of those tracks still stood out somewhat profoundly to me.

  • Scott James - Ropes (9/10)
    • XXXTENTACION has good taste.
  • Scott James - Fourth Leg (9/10)
    • This song was an earworm for me not that long ago. I used to downplay it often, but it’s got a very profound sound to it with a stable progression.