Feel like I need to start posting here again, if only because I find RYM to be a mess. Everything is /10
NEW
Mac Miller, Circles - I appreciate Mac. He was good at what he did. A much more subtle album than I was expecting, with layers of both warmth and trouble, and vibes of folk/indie soul. A lot to like here, and it's sad that we won't see it built on moving forward. 7
Alexandra Savior, The Archer - Creative, eclectic, fun, but also harrowing and introspective baroque pop. 7
DJ Shadow, Our Pathetic Age - Some OK Boomeresque vibes from a guy who I haven't really paid much attention to since Endtroducing... Not a lot to write home about. 3
Floral Tattoo, You Can Never Have a Long Enough Head Start - An absolute punk/shoegazey banger that left me feeling all kind of ways. A little heavy-handed at times, but a beast of a mood throughout. 6
Erasers, Pulse Points - Came highly recommended - 'creative' indie nose that feels too similar across an album that mostly bored me. 2
Sharon van Etten, Remind Me Tomorrow - Was in my backlog. I really appreciate her songwriting chops, though the album doesn't flow super great, and a handful of the songs are forgettable. 5
Bruce Springsteen, Western Stars - It's fine. It's the Boss, man. He gives you what you want. You'll listen to it and smile, but I feel like I'll need some time with it before I start feeling like I can compare it to Darkness or Nebraska. 5
Michael Kiwanuka, Kiwanuka - I wrote Michael Kiwanuka off way too early. This album is fantastic, nearly from beginning to end. 'Rolling' and 'Hero' are toe-tapping conversation starters, and everyone I played the album for (grabbed the vinyl) just loved it. Can't say enough how impressed I am with how he's evolved here. Danger Mouse on production helped, I'm sure. Will probably sneak into my top-15 of the 2010's when I revise my decade list a few years down the road. 9
Richard Reed Parry, Quiet River of Dust Vol. 2: That Side of the River - The most under-appreciated member of the Arcade Fire gives something that's the best contribution from anyone associated with that band since The Suburbs, by my reckoning. A warm, intense, introspective trip downriver that left me smiling. 8
OLD
Bonnie 'Prince' Billy, I See a Darkness - Was listening to a lot of older sadcore this week, and this was probably the best of the bunch. It's all about juxtaposition between music that lilts and has hints of happiness, but cut with lyrics that are harrowing and crushing. 7
Father John Misty, I Love You, Honeybear - I still reckon this is his best. I know Pure Comedy gets all the love, but that album feels heavy-handed and self-indulgent. Honeybear is sarcastic but clever, loving in an overbearing, syrupy, but appreciable way. I'm not sure he has given us anything better since. 7
Slint, Spiderland - As someone who loves noise rock, I wish I could get more into this album. Maybe its because so much of the stuff that the genre produces nowadays (Swans, Daughters, black midi) is so polished, well-produced, and well conceptualized that Spiderland just feels... flat, to me at least. It feels like noise rock in its infancy... which to be fair, it was. So I guess I might be reviewing it with a little too much jade to my listening. 4
Altar of Plagues, Teethed Glory and Injury - Easily one of the best metal albums of the last decade, and something that I'm surprised I overlooked (it was in my Library) all these years. Right up there with Behemoth and Gojira as one of the best of the 2010's. 8
Peter Gabriel, So - A near-perfect pop record that I don't think I have much to say about that has not already been said. People nowadays seem to overlook Gabriel's musical prowess, and pin a lot of his success on the catchiness of his singles - but goddamn if the album's high points aren't also its lesser-known. 9