Sam Harkey

You could fill a whole back of double-stuff oreos with all the fluff on this record.

Yeat's really honing his voice and sound here with tons of futuristic hypertrap, but this album was too disjointed and lengthy.

I was a big fan of the singles and have been following her for years. I think that this only scratches the surface of her potential. The personal and introspective lyrics contrast the music well, but the jungle and d&b instrumentation isn't dynamic or complex enough. That said, this is a breath of fresh air and no singular track was bad, but when put together, the lack of diversity gets a bit fatiguing. She is definitely one to watch for electronic music moving forward.

Pretty corny bars for 80% of the record masked in decent production. Most of the features actually showed out, which felt out of place and didn’t help his case. The Kendrick diss solidified his place out of the top 3.

The album flows consistently from track to track, which is simultaneously its advantage and disadvantage. It felt like a safe release as they return with their first solo release in almost 7 years. Some unbelievable takes on shoegaze with "Fishbrain" and the two King Krule features. I really hoped for more experimentation here to push it to the next level, but it's a very enjoyable listen for a road trip.

A classic in its own right. Jerry took the liberty to lean more heavily on his psychedelic bluegrass and blues roots, but could have done more to change up "Deal" and "Sugaree".

Really an unbelievable record. No skips, with so many to return to. It's cohesive and dynamic, yet steadily builds from the first song through the last second of the last song. Definitely his magnum opus, but still very excited for Death Jokes.

Really enjoyed the spaciness of this record. They stripped things back in a tasteful way that showcases each individual's musicality in subtle ways. Definitely not disappointed, but looking for them to experiment a bit more on the next one.

One of the most important punk records ever made and continued to put the US in the same conversation as the UK in the aftermath of Never Mind the Bollocks. This album is witty and emotionally charged (i.e. "Forward to Death" and "I Kill Children") with certifiable rock and punk classics littered throughout. "California Uber Alles" will always remain my go-to dive bar jukebox cut.

Very listenable and smooth, but too comfortable musically. While this record dives in a lot more personally than November and Chasing Summer, the album tends to meander and doesn't offer tons of musical diversity. The features are all showing out, though.

Another step back from Thank U, Next lyrically (about on par with Positions). This album is super smooth with mostly great production, but it kind of masks some iffy verses.

Gotta love a good compilation. Their Switched On series is pretty legendary. Love the callback to the “Doubt”/“Changer” double single. This is a good taster of who Stereolab has been leading into 2024, including 2022’s “Trippin With The Birds”.

One of the most important records in Bowie’s discography. Really marked a departure from folk and baroque to a spacier glam rock that defined a new era. Unbelievable hits, with only a couple of “misses”.

An absolute party of an album from start to finish. The James Bond vibes are consistent throughout as the group explored techno, dnb, breakbeat, hip-hop and more. Honestly, one of the most perfect surveys of 90s electronic music.

Very strange, yet somehow fitting artistic exploration of underground popular sounds like jungle and dnb. "Little Wonder" with the Prodigy samples is just too lit and "I'm Afraid of Americans" is too fat. Sonically all over the place with some forced use of extra drums and overproduction, but largely the experiment lands well.

The influences here are obvious. Emulating the diversity of KG&LW with spontaneity similar to peers BCNR and Geese, all while plugging into experimentalism like Radiohead, you really don’t know where this goes next. The only issue is a vocal/lyrical performance that doesn’t fully match the rest of the energy. I’m excited for what comes next; they have tons of potential. “Motions”, “Whalefall” and “the CIA” go super hard, though.

An awesome introduction to Fontaines D.C. Infectious energy and clever and chaotic songwriting tied into a cohesive vision.

Awesome experience. Brooding, dark, spacey, yet poignant, urgent, and anxious. Will be up there in my end of year lists.

Gotta love some jazz fusion. Awesome Spanish elements sprinkled throughout a really fun and loose record by Herbie fully loaded.

Absolute classic and staple funk-jazz fusion album. Could be one of the best debut albums in either genre and it shows, being sampled somewhat frequently in hip-hop like "One Beer" by MF Doom and Madlib or "Mural" by Lupe Fiasco or "Exactly" by Earthgang and JID.

Not too many thoughts here. It's easy listening but lacks much return value minus a couple of staple tracks. Still feels like the band is finding their way a decade after the magic of Real Estate, Days, and Atlas.

Not the biggest americana/indie country vibe but I couldn't draw my ears away. Unbelievable songwriting that's a level up from Saint Cloud. Realistically high 8/10 and will likely end up in my year-end list.

Middle of the Top 10 in one of that GOAT's long, long catelog

Overall solid. Definitely lost its way a few times, but was a fan of the many highs.

Been following Packs for a couple of years and love her progression. She's still growing, so not every track is going to land. An acceptable follow-up to Crispy Crunchy Nothing.

So beautiful. The perfect follow-up to their first record. I'm a sucker for the ambient experimental aspect of this that really showcases Jonny's classical passion. Will be up there in my year-end list.

Pretty hollow tracks on there. The feature list is absolutely insane, but the output was mildly disappointing.

Found this record to be a great comeback that is reminiscent of the old days with Future Islands. Was a slower burn, but a solid release overall.

Love the fusion with electronic and the homage to some UK classics. She just has fun with the Drop series, and is still definitely one of the best MCs out there.

This album is truly fantastic and will be an AOTY contender. The fusion of so many unlikely combos of genres remind me of a more latin-sounding Floating Points or Jon Hopkins at times.