Average Rating: 3.17 Rating Variance: 0.59 Objectivity Score: 88% (Well Balanced)
Sort by: Rating | Release Date | Rating Date | Name5.0 classicNick Drake Bryter Layter4.5 superbBinker and Moses Feeding the MachineTransporting free jazz that couples Binker's saxophone with dramatic production while leaving plenty of punch for Moses' drums. It's simply awesome.Cassandra Jenkins An Overview on Phenomenal NatureCecile McLorin Salvant Ghost SongAnother banger of an album from Cecile. It's a very provocative album and perhaps her most eccentric in terms of production and arrangement. The sources she draws from here are varied, as is the musical approach. It's eclectic to say the least and yet she has a great thematic through line between Wizard of Oz, Kate Bush, Gregory Porter, and Sting. Jacob Collier Djesse (Vol. 1)His voice might be a bit dry on this one. It better favors the ballads than the funk but putting that aside, everything else fires on all cylinders. The production is very detailed and layered with lovely flavors, harmony, great musicianship and clever theory.rIt's one of those albums you can return to, and each time you will hear something new. Very ambitious, explores a plethora of styles, sounds and ideas but finds a point of entry to sequence them all.Mathias Eick When We LeaveBeautiful. Effortlessly transformative and very creative.4.0 excellentChip Tanaka DomaniThe third album from Chip Tanaka introduces more acoustic elements to his music with songs that feature upright bass and a drum kit. It's another great record from a well-versed chiptunes artist.Cormac Begley BThis is an excellent record. Cormac's second album and a rare thing at that as it's a solo bass concertina record. It's very dynamic, playing in various different styles and genres with absolute ease. Daniel Rossen You Belong ThereFergus McCreadie Forest FloorFergus and his trio delivering me another record inspired by folk melodies that has driven his work so far. Fantastic dynamics that toy with melodic folk and jazz improvisation with strong performances from all members of the band.For Those I Love For Those I LoveImmanuel Wilkins The 7th HandJacob Collier Djesse Vol. 2Jacob Collier In My RoomClever progressions that sound like they shouldn't work but they do. Really nice textures, and bold ideas. I can understand listeners being turned off by the dry timber of his voice, but for me, that is subsided by the beautiful arrangements and creative melodies.Jacob Collier Djesse Vol. 4Jennifer Souza PacÃfica Pedra BrancaA soulful indie rock record with inflections of folk and jazz. I really like it.John Francis Flynn I Would Not Live AlwaysLeon Bridges Good ThingMatt Carmichael Where Will The River FlowRokia Koné & Jacknife Lee BAMANANMalian singer Rokia Koné partners with Irish producer Jacknife Lee for this wonderful meeting of worlds, bringing the experienced vocalist to the hands of a contemporary rock producer for an inspired body of work.Villagers Fever Dreams3.5 greatAnais Mitchell Anais MitchellIt's a very pleasant album from start to finish. Very good lyrics, nice melodies and breezy production. It's not reinventing the wheel, and maybe the song structures can be repetitive but the substance here is very good. Another Michael New Music And Big PopBlack Country, New Road Ants from Up ThereBrad Mehldau Jacob's LadderIt's a dense body of work that takes many of the eccentricities of Finding Gabriel and turns them up tenfold. A love-letter to Mehldau's influences outside the spaces of jazz and into some really bold territory.Destroyer LABYRINTHITISDestroyer Have We MetGabriel Kahane Magnificent BirdAs always, Gabriel is a great storyteller. I love how he explores the seemingly unassuming and banal in such specific and romantic terms. There are also touching ruminations on time, life moving forward and lives coming to a close, and all of this playing out over Zoom calls and phone- screens. Not all the production choices land for me on this one but all the same, I'm very fond of this album.Gang of Youths Angel in RealtimeHayden Thorpe DivinerJacob Collier Djesse Vol. 3Japanese Breakfast JubileeJonah Nilsson Now Or NeverKhruangbin and Leon Bridges Texas MoonKhruangbin & Leon Bridges remain a terrific match. Lara Rosseel HertAn eclectic jazz record from bassist Lara Rosseel. The record ebbs and flows between pastel ambience to fusion funk bops. Very listenable and entertaining.Nduduzo Makhathini In The Spirit of NtuPunch Brothers Hell On Church StreetDespite finding the delivery of songs like 'One more Night' as a little too clean, the musicianship and prowess on display here is strong as always. Some of their music beautiful work since The Phosphorescent Blues. Ryley Walker Course In FableTerence Blanchard AbsenceThe 1975 Being Funny In A Foreign LanguageTigran Hamasyan StandArtIt does exactly what it says on the tin. It's a very enjoyable listen but maybe it's missing what I would usually point to as being decidedly Hamasyan's work. Those elements of Armenian folk and fusion aren't present as much here, or more subtly implied. Usually, these are found more overt and so it certainly is an album I really like but maybe not Hamasyan's usual fashion.Vijay Iyer / Linda Oh / Tyshawn Sorey Uneasy3.0 goodAspidistrafly Altar of DreamsIt has been 11 years since this Singapore duo's last album. I love the ideas in this record, although it has some strange mixing choices that occasionally pull me out of the experience. All the same, great vocals, imaginative lyrics, and creative ideas make for a lovely listen every time.Big Thief Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in YouBirthmark Birth of OmniCarly Rae Jepsen EmotionFloating Points, Pharoah Sanders & The LSO PromisesHajna EleusisA really explorative trance epic with various acoustic instrumentals all composed and produced by Hajna. It's very much a trance album first and an instrumental epic second, but the two acoustic sprinklings add a nice texture to the songs.Hayden Thorpe Moondust for My DiamondHenry Jamison The YearsI always like Henry Jamison's music. I think he's a fabulous song-writer with a unique voice both vocally and lyrically. While I don't think this album quite reaches the exceptional highs of The Wilds or Gloria Duplex, it's still a lovely blend of melancholy and subtlety. Jenny Hval Classic ObjectsKhalab and M'berra Ensemble M'berraLaura Mvula Pink NoiseLeon Bridges Gold-Diggers SoundPinegrove 11:11Ryley Walker So CertainI really like this compliment to Walker's 2021 album Course in Fable. A very similar approach in all manners of speaking. Mostly pleasant and breezy vocals over musicianship and instrumental prowess. 'Pharaoh's Plastic' has a particularly rock vocal delivery that cuts the oft. mild-mannered and welcoming voice.The Antlers Green to GoldThe Staves Good Woman2.5 averageAldous Harding Warm ChrisAnthony Green Boom. Done.Arlo Parks Collapsed in SunbeamsBleachers Take the Sadness Out of Saturday NightBrandon Flowers The Desired EffectI really like some of these songs but some of the volume and compression is rough and really leaves some of these songs sounding too crunchy and flat for me.Eels Extreme WitchcraftThe record has a really nice sound to it. All the songs a very enjoyable. It's not reaching very high but it's a fun listen.Father John Misty Chloe and the Next 20th CenturyHiss Golden Messenger Quietly Blowing ItLocal Natives Violet StreetViolet Street is a very stylized record where each element has been carefully and artistically considered. I really like how bold the album is but I also feel it is overly produced and architected, with some songs sounding less like a band and more like a series of samples. That saturated ambition is very interesting for this talented band but I hardly find myself immersed here. I'd love if the songs had an anchoring point somewhere but no one element serves up the same aesthetic that forms a cohesive whole which makes tangible sense.Matthew Milia Keego HarborIt's a pretty by the book Milia album. Never a bad thing. He's a great songwriter, after all but I preferred his previous records.r'With the Taste of Metal on Its Tongue' is a standout, and reminds me of Deadmalls era Milia melodies.Mitski Be the CowboyI really like Mitski as an artist and I think that these songs could be more enjoyable to listen to but they're sadly very compressed.S. Carey Break Me OpenSt. Vincent Daddy's HomeThe War On Drugs I Don't Live Here AnymoreTyphoon (USA-OR) Sympathetic MagicYard Act The OverloadI like their vocalist, James Smith. He has a lot of wit and charisma in his vocal performances. It's not a bad listen, either. I quite enjoyed it. 2.0 poorArcade Fire WEBastille Give Me the FutureI didn't care for this much at all - not the production, nor the song-writing. I respect it, though. There's clearly a vision in mind here and a sense of cohesion among the whole project. To that end, I definitely appreciate it, even if it's not for me. Also, it has a Riz Ahmed feature and that's cool. Ed Sheeran =Foals Life Is YoursHarry Styles Harry's HouseMy Morning Jacket My Morning JacketTaylor Swift MidnightsThe Lumineers BrightsideIt's a pleasant sounding album altogether but I am not particularly fussed on the songs themselves. 'A.M. RADIO' has an interesting and deliberate shift in time-signature when transitioning to the chorus but the chorus itself isn't all that interesting. That's how I feel about much of the while listening experience. Wet Leg Wet LegIt's not my cup of tea. I bet they're a lot of fun live as the record has a really endearing humour to it, even if it's not my type of humour.Wolf Alice Blue Weekend1.0 awfulMaroon 5 Jordi
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