The magical monthly segment where I briefly touch down on a gauntlet of albums I didn’t get a chance to review this past month. These are just my short, straightforward, passionate, biased opinions.
While I enjoy the creepy, subdued style of New York City rapper Ka, this new collaborative project with producer Preservation doesn’t seem to push his artistic vision beyond his last few projects. Nor does it capitalize fully on the Manchurian Candidate references.
The bubbly and danceable singles from Shamir’s debut LP are fun and fantastic, but the rest of Ratchet is weighed down by a series of off-the-mark ballads.
Ohio pop/rap/rock/electronic music duo Twenty One Pilots chases 2013’s breakout Vessel with a series of radio pop and reggae-infused tunes on Blurryface.
Prurient’s new double album is a soul-crushing carnival of blissful, tundra-temperature misery.
Cali alternative metal band Faith No More drops a comeback record.
Jack of all musical trades Jim O’Rourke makes a colorfully arranged return to pop music with Simple Songs.
Blanck Mass’ sophomore LP takes the noisy, texture, drone-laced production of Fuck Buttons, and lays it against a varied series of electronic music styles.
Snoop Dogg returns from his reggae stint with a Pharrell-produced synth funk album.
Electronic music producer Holly Herndon’s latest release here is an expansion of the glitchy and abstract ideas on her last album, tossing some art pop tracks into the mix in the process.
