I’ve been on the fence about many albums this year, but this is one of the few where I’m torn. For every great moment on the new Arcade Fire record, there’s one that falls incredibly short of whatever stylistic mark the band was shooting for. Rather than
On her debut, Rings, I was pretty impressed with the seductive songwriting and primal rhythms that made their way into the songs of Caren Mesirow, a.k.a. Glasser. While her music was obviously influenced, it was still really enjoyable. Interiors changes things in that regard, however. This time around,
Alternative rock outfit Cage the Elephant completely surprises me with a record of songs that have uniformly interesting production, energetic performances, memorable hooks, sharp melodies, and a pretty diverse array of instrumentation.
While Toxic Holocaust’s latest album is a fast, hard-hitting combination of thrash metal and punk, I think I prefer their earlier releases due to a total lack of surprises and variety on this one.
AFI’s Burials is the latest in a long string of uninteresting records from this California band. While I’m not a big fan of the group’s early stuff, at least LPs like Sing The Sorrow had a modicum of aggression or excitement. The radio-friendly records the band has
Canadian MC Shad’s latest album is one of his most ambitious yet. The guy spits his usual brand of clever, playful wordplay over some pretty bright, uplifting instrumentals, I wish the sadder tracks had more emotional impact, though.
Billy Woods and Elucid team up on Race Music to make one of the most dense hip hop albums to come out this year. With seventeen tracks laced with this duo’s esoteric lyricism, this one’s gonna require quite a few replays for maximum enjoyment and comprehension. A few
Loaded with insipid lyrics, amateur singing, and childish melodies, it’s pretty clear the the pop duo known as Cults has no desire whatsoever to mature their sound. There’s definitely more ambition on this record on the instrumental side; featuring an increase in instrumental layers. However, what ends up
Washington D.C.’s the Dismemberment Plan return after more than ten years of studio album silence, but this latest release of there’s feels like a less peppy and eccentric version of their former selves.
Eminem’s major singles leading up to the release of the sequel to the Marshall Mathers LP have underwhelmed me a bit, honestly.
