#THAT LIL PIANO INTERLUDE

[kvatyakatushkina]

the girl who kissed a butterfly on her right shoulder

[lokisrealpurpous]

about me

my names amelia and I'm 17 years old, I play the guitar and the piano and love to write and draw. I love cats, like love cats, especially black ones! I play netball and I used to play football and I own a fairly popular marvel tiktok account which I'm trying to grow. If you've came from my tiktok pleasee comment :)

My kins are loki and sherlock and they're, I hate to say it, but my comfort characters. I also love BBC sherlock and Marvel.

My favourite colours are dark wine red and dark moody green and I love abandoned places and plants and going out at night. Despite being a little scared of them thunderstorms have my heart and listening to heavy rain with my headphones on.

Dior perfume and silver/pearl jewlery has my heart guys

My aesthetic in 10 photos 🙀

Y2k, old money, downtown girl, grunge.

My music taste:

To be added to my taglist just ask! I'll be posting headcannons, fanfics and alot more ♡

[pre1ude]

What type of music does your muse enjoy listening to? // @rhpsdys

Anything and everything. He may be a snob at heart, but there aren't many types of music he despises in entirety. At least one or two songs of each is bound to charm him, either with lyrics alone or melody. He has a whole collection of guilty pleasure listening.

It all hinges on the way he experiences music in general - He devours all genres with the ardour of a newly arrived extraterrestrial, buys in bulk from record stores and always tends to have a new track spinning as background noise during his downtime. All at the risk of whatever task he's performing suffering a big fat record scratch if the song turns out to be trash, of course. But he's discovered plenty of gems like that as well, so he sticks to it, since it trumps heeding anyone's suggestions.

Classical, obviously, is his bread and butter. He's partial to the more structured Baroque and mid-period Romantic era pieces, as well as actual Plainchant. Orthodox cathedral chants in particular, what an otherworldly genre of choral music. It does make him feel like a bad catholic, though. Would never subject himself to solo piano and violin concertos unless he's preparing for a performance. As entertainment, he likes orchestral or choral arrangements a whole lot more. Puts himself to sleep with the most unhinged requiems of the Lacrimosa variety.

There's a lot of strange, obscure and foreign music on his list too. Or genres he enjoys for the esoteric experience his synaesthesia allows him to have. Percussion-only music, hard metal and bassy jazz feel thick and powerful, a neat sensation whenever he's upset, for example. The classical guitar techniques applied to latin music, on the other hand - calming, pleasant, often warm.

But reacreationally? In terms of casual listening? Rock is his favourite. Oh man, classic rock and roll & glam secretly have a soft spot in his heart. Anything grainy, upbeat and campy with boogie-down potential gets put on a spin loop for him to bop his head to, maybe dance if no one's looking. It's his pump-up, feel-good music for whenever he needs a lift of mood. Legitimately the happiest whenever he has his funky little hair bands on, so I would honestly say he enjoys listening to rock the most.

Bonus: In a cheesy fantasy where I get to direct a fight scene for him, I'd have it play out to I Was Made For Lovin' You by Kiss. As in, him actually putting on the song and using his sonomancy to weaponize it. Just a groovy lil' interlude.

Headcanon prompts // accepting

[simonhopes]

Striking the Chords of Creativity: A Day in the Life of a Musician

Music, often dubbed as the universal language, possesses the profound ability to connect with souls worldwide. It serves as a potent medium, surpassing boundaries and stirring emotions in a manner unmatched by words alone. Have you ever pondered the intricate process behind crafting melodies that stir our hearts? Let's embark on a journey into the life of a musician, where creativity knows no limits. Discover more about the life of a musician on Lil Man J.

Top of Form

The Morning Prelude:

As the first light of dawn breaks through the curtains, the musician begins their day with a ritual as sacred as their art. With a gentle stretch and a sip of warm tea, they prepare their mind and body for the day ahead. The morning is a time of reflection, where ideas simmer and melodies dance in the corners of their consciousness.

Tuning In:

With the sun rising higher in the sky, it’s time to tune in – quite literally. The musician picks up their instrument, whether it be a guitar, piano, or violin, and begins the delicate process of tuning each string to perfection. This act is not just about ensuring the right pitch; it’s about attuning oneself to the vibrations of the universe, ready to channel inspiration at a moment’s notice.

The Rhythm of Practice:

Practice makes perfect, they say, and for a musician, this adage holds. Hours are spent honing skills, mastering techniques, and exploring new avenues of expression. From scales to sonatas, every note played is a step closer to musical mastery. Yet, amidst the discipline, there’s room for spontaneity – a riff here, a chord progression there – as creativity flows freely.

Harmonizing with Others:

Music is often a collaborative endeavor, and musicians thrive in the company of others. Whether jamming with bandmates or rehearsing with an orchestra, there’s a special magic that happens when individuals come together in harmony. Each player brings their unique perspective, adding layers of depth and texture to the collective sound.

The Creative Interlude:

Amidst the structured practice sessions and collaborative rehearsals, there’s time for creative exploration. This is when the musician lets their imagination run wild, experimenting with new melodies, lyrics, and arrangements. Sometimes inspiration strikes like a bolt of lightning, while other times it’s a slow, steady burn. Either way, the creative process is a journey of discovery, filled with moments of both frustration and euphoria.

Performing on Stage:

The pinnacle of a musician’s day often comes when they step onto the stage. Whether playing for a small, intimate crowd or a packed arena, there’s an electrifying energy that courses through their veins. The spotlight casts its glow, and for those fleeting moments, time stands still as music fills the air. It’s a rush like no other, fueled by the passion of performance.

The Night’s Crescendo:

As the final notes fade into the night, the musician’s day draws to a close. Exhausted yet exhilarated, they reflect on the day’s highs and lows. Each experience, whether a triumphant solo or a missed cue, contributes to their growth as an artist. And as they lay their instrument to rest, they know that tomorrow brings another opportunity to strike the chords of creativity once more.

Conclusion

The life of a musician is a symphony of dedication, passion, and creativity. From the quiet moments of introspection to the exhilarating rush of performing on stage, each day brings new opportunities to strike the chords of creativity and touch the hearts of listeners around the world.

FAQs:

Q: How long does it take to become a proficient musician?

There’s no one-size-fits-all answer to this question, as proficiency depends on various factors such as natural talent, dedication, and access to resources. However, consistent practice and a passion for learning are key ingredients on the journey to mastery.

Q: Do musicians always follow sheet music, or do they improvise?

While sheet music serves as a valuable guide, many musicians also engage in improvisation, especially in genres like jazz and blues. This allows for spontaneous creativity and personal expression within a musical framework.

Q: Is being a musician a financially stable career choice?

Like any artistic pursuit, the financial stability of a music career can vary greatly. While some musicians achieve fame and fortune, many others navigate a more modest income supplemented by gigs, teaching, and other related endeavors. Passion for the craft often outweighs monetary considerations for those who choose this path.

[kickmag]

Diddy Releases The Love Album: Off The Grid

Diddy's The Love Album: Off The Grid is his first in 17 years and a necessary invention for the visibility of R&B to the masses. It's no coincidence that in 2023 the only household name in R&B is his artist Mary J. Blige who also makes an appearance on TLAOTG. Off The Grid has a sundry of players repping for the genre on the generous 23-song tracklisting. The title is explained on the opening track "Brought My Love" featuring The Dream and a sample of Herb Alpert's "Rise" when the mogul tells his partner that his sister has his phone. The plan is to escape into their love free of distractions and that intention is heard throughout the album. There is a lot of flirting, slow-dancing and lovemaking with a list of producers almost as long as the artists. Busta Rhymes, Dawn Richard and Kalenna join Diddy on the lively "Deliver Me" which gives a Dirty Money flashback while sharing an intimate conversation between lovers. J. Dilla is one of the producers of the song that should be heard on a dancefloor or in a moving car. 

Jozzy is the first artist signed to Diddy's Love Records and her profile has gone up since co-writing Lil Nas X's "Old Town Road" remix and Beyonce's "Virgo's Groove." She is featured on the yearning that is  "Homecoming" which is led by the bass from disco band Ecstasy, Passion and Pain's "Born To Lose You." Diddy has another past reflection with "Stay Part 1" recalling Jodeci's classic with group member K-Ci and Compton rapper Kalan.FrFr. He shares the love he had with Kim Porter on the song named after her with vocals from Babyface and John Legend. Afrobeats superstar Burna Boy performs one of the interludes which keeps the romantic mood with operatic strings. It is hard not to feel like being encapsulated in a love bubble when Jazmine Sullivan sings "Need Somebody" with atmospheric drums and sacred organ chords in the background. The whole thing ends with H.E.R. surrendering to a  sensuous connection on "Space" with a sparse arrangement of piano and percussion. Diddy's reputation was built from his legendary contributions to hip-hop but TLAOTG's dedication to rekindling the true spirit of R&B in the mainstream proves that he really has become Brother Love. Stream the album and check out the video for "Another One Of Me featuring The Weeknd, 21 Savage and French Montana." 

[lisahiltonmusic]

        P A R A D I S E  C O V E Available Everywhere Dec 2nd

Composer, Pianist & Producer Lisa HiltonDebuts Her Dynamic New Quarte “A unique & brilliant sound by one of the best jazz pianists & composers around." — KVNF Radio

“Reminiscent of many reflective moments intuited by such influences as Dave Brubeck, Brad Mehldau, & Bill Evans.” All About Jazz

“Hilton channels the everyday beauty she sees around her into her music…jazz played with style, soul, spirit and sophistication…” Modern Jazz Today

“Elegantly-crafted and warmly-conveyed new album…” Exclusive Magazine

I love the way jazz tugs at our emotions in a way no other music can: it can calmly seduce your soul or prompt you to dance," states the award-winning composer and acclaimed pianist Lisa Hilton in the liner notes for her latest release, Coincidental Moment (Ruby Slippers Productions 1029), out December 1, 2023.  She continues, “The music here reflects the cool energies and history of jazz, but definitely sounds like today.”The nine original compositions and two cover tunes are laced throughout with rich blue tones augmented by modal flights all shimmering and swinging with Hilton's expressive touch on the piano. Coincidental Moment gracefully shares the spotlight with quartet mates Igmar Thomas on trumpet, Luques Curtis on bass, and Rudy Royston on drums and percussion. Royston's drum mastery is evident throughout the album, but his delightful and catchy bongo rhythms are also featured on tracks Jagged Lil' Bluesand Blue Tropics. Jazz traditionalists will enjoy the retro vibes of Happily Go Luckily and Anxiety Society with their cool grooves and snappy trumpet improvisations by Thomas. The entire quartet shines on the evocative Spanish-tinged Enigmatic Adventure and infuse Everyday Anthem with a stirring gospel energy. The inclusion of the iconic Miles Davis/Bill Evans track Blue In Green, shows the breadth of this band – Thomas's moody muted tones, contrasting but blending with Hilton's fluid piano, are underscored by Curtis's deep bass timbre and Royston's delicate touch on cymbals. An interesting choice was the inclusion of West Coast, written by singer/composer Lana Del Rey: the quartet easily turns this pop track into a darker and very expressive experience. Curtis is a vital contributor throughout, especially on the trio track Multiple Perspectives, which blends jazz rhythms and classical interludes with agility. Hilton's skill in composing intimate ballads is apparent on the title track - performed as a trio – and on Uncommon Poetry, which closes the album as an eloquent solo piano piece. Saturated with lush harmonic ideas and brimming with textures and emotions, the album Coincidental Moment is jazz just right for any moment. About Lisa Kristine Hilton The music of Lisa Hilton draws on classic American jazz greats such as Duke Ellington, Thelonious Monk, Horace Silver, and Count Basie, as well as blues heroes Muddy Waters and Robert Johnson. She is a prolific composer who records and performs with many of today's jazz luminaries. Her twenty-eight albums sit regularly at the top of the Jazz Week and other radio/streaming charts for the last two decades, drawing millions of plays on streaming services and appearing regularly as an Amazon #1 New Jazz Release. Hilton has performed at venues such as Carnegie Hall, The Smithsonian Institution, UCLA's Royce Theatre, San Francisco Jazz, and Chicago's historic Green Mill. Hilton is also the creator and co-author of the popular children's book If Dinosaurs Were Alive Today (Price Stern Sloan), which she co-wrote with her sister, Sandra L. Kirkpatrick. The book was recently updated and published as a digital version by the same name.  

[bananadetroit]

Baby blue action bronson hulkshare

The Lil Chris-directed video is a tribute to Eddie Murphy's 1988 comedy Coming to America, with Bronson playing every character Murphy played throughout the film. Two days later, it premiered on Bronson's YouTube page as part of the 2015 YouTube Music Awards. He released a one-minute long " teaser" for the video on his YouTube page on March 21. On March 9, 2015, Bronson stated via his Twitter account that a music video for the song is in the works. Wonderful." Jordan Sargent of Pitchfork Media criticized Bronson's whiny vocals and Ronson's production throughout the song but gave praise to Chance's quirk-filled verse, saying that "he pulls off in half a minute what Bronson couldn’t in fifteen: using an imagined story to reveal humanity through humor." Music video Colin Fitzgerald of PopMatters put the track alongside "Easy Rider" as 'album highlights', saying that without them "the album's second half would seriously hinder the overall value of Mr. Pat Levy of Consequence of Sound praised Bronson's singing over the piano-heavy production but singled out Chance's verse as the song stealer for his "laundry list of things he hopes will happen to the girl who romantically maligned him." Dan Weiss of Spin called the song the standout of the album's suite, due in particular to Chance's absurdly dark and humorous lyrics. "Baby Blue" garnered a mixed reception from music critics. Critical receptionĬritics praised Chance the Rapper's verse in the song. Chance the Rapper, the featured artist in the song, explained to Complex that his verse for the song was inspired by an amalgam of various women he had previous encounters with while lending levity to the outcome of it all. The chorus to the song: "Why you gotta act like a bitch when I'm with you / Baby girl, I'm blue," was co-written by then- BBC Radio 1 host Zane Lowe with Bronson providing vocals to it. The beat to Lord Tariq and Peter Gunz's " Deja Vu (Uptown Baby)" was used as a reference by Ronson to come up with the song's opening. In an interview with Complex, Bronson explained that he wanted to put together a small musical with the three tracks he had within the album and found the ending to it as a kiss-off to a former flame and moving on from it. It acts as the closer to a three-part suite set by "City Boy Blues" and "A Light in the Addict" that was preluded by the album's interlude, "Thug Love Story 2017 The Musical", about an elderly man singing to Bronson about a former love that left the streets. The song was written by Ronson, Arian Arslani, Chancellor Bennett and Zane Lowe. "Baby Blue" was produced by Mark Ronson, who previously did production for singers like Daniel Merriweather and Bruno Mars. Wonderful and showed which songs had collaborations to them. Background and developmentįollowing the album's first single "Easy Rider" and the digital release of "Actin' Crazy", Bronson revealed the track list for Mr. The accompanying music video for the song, directed by Lil Chris, was released on Bronson's YouTube page as part of the 2015 YouTube Music Awards and pays homage to the 1988 Eddie Murphy comedy Coming to America. It also charted at numbers 21 and 30 on the Hot Rap Songs and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs charts respectively. "Baby Blue" was Bronson's first solo appearance on the Billboard Hot 100, debuting at number 91 for one week. The song received mixed reviews from critics who praised Chance's verse but questioned Bronson's musicianship. A hip hop breakup song, "Baby Blue" is the closer to a three-part suite along with "City Boy Blues" and "A Light in the Addict" that's preluded by the album's interlude, "Thug Love Story 2017 The Musical". It was co-written by both artists, along with Zane Lowe (who co-wrote the chorus) and Mark Ronson, who also produced the song. It features a guest appearance from fellow rapper Chance the Rapper. It was released on Maas the fourth and final single off his second album Mr. " Baby Blue" is a song by American rapper Action Bronson. Single by Action Bronson featuring Chance the RapperĪrian Arslani, Mark Ronson, Chancellor Bennett, Zane Lowe

[heejinsgf]

Sunday Best - Surfaces, Like That - Doja Cat, Lips Don't Lie - Ally Brooke, RNP - YBN Cordae, Me No Evil Armani White Remix - Abhi the Nomad

like that > lips don’t lie = me no evil remix > rnp > sunday best

[lopez-richter-fangirl]

Okay here’s everything I can remember hopefully further viewings can fill in some gaps:

So they opened doors early and there were just a few of us in the lobby with Jaime still walking around taking pics of all her decorations half in costume

Curt got there from a class and he came to talk to us and was really excited about the show and telling us how much we were gonna love it

And Jaime was still wandering around and she came over and was like you’re here early so she took us over to show us the christmas tree and said you can be in charge of making sure everyone knows about this decorate your own ornament station and I cannot overstate how excited and proud she was of her decor and it looked so good and she’s so fucking sweet (and it brought me back to my very first irl starkid interaction being her talking to a group of us at avpw right after getting off her flight she really is an angel🥺) and then she said she had go eat dinner but her hand was hovering by my shoulder as she was saying it and I was like oh no will she won’t she and then she DID and I was like OKAY BREATHE oh my god I love her

Angela from shitty broadway was there to play piano in the lobby and she was so nice (everyone’s so nice lol) we did the whole ‘where have you come from’ so she got very excited about me coming from London and then she was taking group pics of us

Amy was on merch and she was so nice SK customer service is really :)

Then Corey had to run around handing out wristbands to confirm our vaccine status for those of us that got there early before they were actually giving them out and thank god he did because some people had to go back to get them when they got to the point of seating us and then I wouldn’t have been so close but also two second interactions with Corey are scarier than conversations with anyone else lmao (I mean except J&L but I didn’t talk to them)

And no surprise Bob and Denise were there but I didn’t need them to be in my eyeline, as I said I could barely manage to look at them because the show was a damn spectacle but the couple moments I did see they looked so damn proud of their kids also no surprise

But yeah my seats were SO GOOD and I couldn’t believe I was seeing them all in person again and having them be that close like it’s so surreal. And they also made such good use of the space it was really cool

As I said AJ KILLED the preshow oh my god. And they got Britney to do a fun filmed thing even though they asked her to do it during company tech week lmao she’s such a good sport

Also like I’ve said it and starkid and curt have said it but truly the ENERGY in the room, we were so excited, THEY were so excited, genuinely eeeeverything was getting cheers. And it’s always so special to be in a room full of starkid fans like that’s home brb crying 😭

Okay actual show specifics lmao (or sometimes not specifics just yelling)

Clark is phenomenal and he wrote the best show and his costume? So good

Dylan’s just so damn good in this role

Teared up just when Joey came on I love him okay and I missed him so much, but his background acting is truly divine

Lauren’s first appearance was from the audience so my simultaneous first thoughts were “god she’s so fucking GORGEOUS” and “fuck she’s TINY” because she was barely taller than people sitting down lmao

Meredith looked so happy 🥺

JAIME queen she killed her choreo lmao

And I’m not getting over Lauren and Brian as siblings and Lauren and Brian hug we won 😭

Janaya was INCREEEDIBLE oh my god

CHRISTMAS ELECTRICITY JAMES HE’S SO GOOD AND THE CHOREO AHHHHH AND HIS LIGHT UP SHOES and EVERYONE’S costumes looked so good excellent work June and we got a lil James Lauren and Jamie dance trio ugh it was so good

But then the cratchit interlude 😭 It was very fun to have new little bits of content to the show but this one just made me want to sob already, Lauren walking up with the kids (wearing the fucking boots I just can’t escape them) and then Joey did fully carry Brian on and wonders why he has back problems lmao

And then he held his hand out for her to join him when he started the song and this is me just being overemotional about them lol but it did feel really symbolic for their first live performance as a public couple 😭😭 And I did have a moment of ‘oh my god *everyone* knows they’re together now’ and you could feel how special it was and ugh crying forever

And he spun her which honestly when I was picturing the performance I was like god that would be so cute if he did and then HE DID but it made me think about their first dance so I didn’t need that because god they’re just so soft and sweet and the heart eyes 😭

AND THEN they did an almost kiss and got cut off by tiny tim which thankfully I was forewarned about because I would have died they live to torture us but ALSO that’s when Lo’s wig almost came off (because she has to tilt her head so far back to kiss him because she’s so tiny byeee😭) so that alleviated the feeling of wanting to die a little bit 😂

But the hand on her stomach literally just holding it for a few seconds Joey let me BREATHE

Oh the “honey” did come back 😒

And the high note 😭😭😭

I just literally will never get over how fucking incredible priceless was and how much it feels like this is just what they’re *meant* for like they’re so in their element and they’re so in love 😭😭

Okay remember in final ghost how brian and mere played those spouses yeah it was brian and AJ lol

But J&L were holding hands in their part kill me 😭😭 They made me cry again fuck them

Also Jamie’s costume was GORGEOUS

And okay christmas day DYLAN’S RED SEQUIN JACKET THAT WAS A SURPRISE YES JUNE

And god Ali turkey boy I love you so much

I think this was where AJ was over enthusiastic in his exit and slammed right into Lo as she came on so she got giggly

And the bit where scrooge gives bob a raise Joey and Dylan hugged and it was so cute oh my god 😭

Then curtain calls I love curtain calls but this one felt so special like Joey and Lauren’s faces and Brian and Mere’s hug and everyone being so damn happy to have done a live show again

God the show literally left me breathless and no one wanted to leave at the end lmao

Also I don’t remember specifics but there were little changes in the way some of the lines were sung and ugh so good it made me wish they were doing like a live album

Anyway that’s it for now but I can’t believe I get to do it all again four more times 😭

[mahlymal]

A Collection by Montero Lamar Hill 🐎

Thank you Lil Nas X for breaking the gay agenda every day and not only living your truest life through how you present yourself but through your music as well. In his 2021 album MONTERO, Lil Nas X served us with tracks that are not only personal to him but can be relatable to many queer people of color, and I am grateful for that. Through all the hate and pain he was able to give us an album that showed who he truly is and that he was okay with who he is and I think we need more artists today spreading that message. Though some tracks sound similar they each individually have their own personal vibe, with some also having greater meanings than others.

MONTERO(Call Me By Your Name):

With it being the first track on the song, Call Me By Your Name reels us in with its seductive chimes. Not only does the music sound amazing and throws it back to ancient Egypt but Lil Nas soothes us with his muffled, but understandable, voice.

DEAD RIGHT NOW:

Off the bat, I knew this song was going to hit different on a personal level since the title is named what it is lol, but overall this song gave what needed to be given. With its message behind individuals wanting you in their life when they were not in yours, Lil Nas gives a brutally honest backstory on the life of pop stars such as him and how people will only want something from you when you are doing good in life.

INDUSTRY BABY:

The sweet trumpets as the opener of the track grab your attention automatically and make you so excited for what is in store for the rest of the song. With its marching band/ hip hop swag, Industry Baby is hands down one of the best songs to vibe out to or get hype to during a car ride with friends or even to get pumped during a good workout. And don’t get me started on Jack Harlow’s feature on this track. Respectfully, Jack ate that shit up and you can’t but help but love his verse on the track.

THATS WHAT I WANT:

I’m still trying to get the vibe of the song because at first I didn’t really care for it and I still kinda don’t but the message that we all just someone to love us was a message a rocked with. My favorite aspect of the song was definitely him singing the chorus and pouring out his emotion in it.

THE ART OF REALIZATION:

Only being 24 seconds long, I really couldn’t tell the message behind this interlude, I guess if you want to call it that, but I feel like there is a hidden message somewhere.

SCOOP:

https://youtu.be/iHLmSXJLH8E

Another song that I kinda didn’t understand the message behind but I think the beat in the song is absolutely fire. Featuring the amazing queen Doja Cat, this track could have been better if her verse was longer for it was way too short.

ONE OF ME:

https://youtu.be/PMHACPDlarM

Nas switches it up with a beautiful, mellow track still delivering his rapping skills. What definitely carried the song was the amazing piano work by Elton John was phenomenal. I became so joyful when I saw him featured on the song for I knew he was going to kill it.

LOST IN THE CITADEL:

https://youtu.be/9YJvvfuLqmA

Nas switches up his poppy style to give us a rock vibe that was absolutely amazing. Whatever band he chose or worked with on this track fucking DID WHAT NEEDED TO BE DONE and I was here for it !!

DOLLA SIGN SLIME:

https://youtu.be/daQsxpitJV4

In my opinion, I was more excited for Megan THee Stallions featured verse on the song rather than Lil Nas rapping and as great of a job he did Megan left NO fucking crumbs because she fucking ate that shit up.

TALES OF DOMINICA:

https://youtu.be/NIgeyUn8fVk

The vibe of this song reminded me of music I listen to when I am doing work or trying to focus and although I didn’t understand the message behind the track I still enjoyed it.

SUN GOES DOWN:

https://youtu.be/NIgeyUn8fVk

LORDYYYY, WHAT A MASTERPIECE THIS SONG WAS !! Nas gives us a backstory behind all the pain he endured growing, not only being a black male in this world but a gay black male in fact. The message of constantly feeling lonely was prominent in the song and this track is by far my favorite song by him for it being so personal and raw.

VOID:

https://youtu.be/ccOr_DTgKEs

Being the longest song on the album, Nas delivers another very personal track in which he sings I believe what was either a note to someone he loved or a note to himself. I could hear the rich emotion behind his voice and I loved it.

DO WHAT I WANT:

https://youtu.be/1m0gYENb9R4

Back to the poppy/rap vibe, I didn’t really care for this song and I probably never will but a cool touch on the song was the voice recordings of him winning awards and his song being praised by a news reporter.

LIFE AFTER SALEM:

https://youtu.be/zq3f3D4sW8Q

With its slightly heavy metal feel, this dark and twisted track was very interesting to listen to since it felt so different from his other songs and the rest of the album.

AM I DREAMING:

https://youtu.be/RJ2eo79GUBM

The acoustic, soothing vibe on this was absolutely amazing and to have Miley Cyrus featured on this song was even more amazing. Her voice captivates my soul every time especially when I can hear the emotion behind her voice in a performance or song, and I sure as hell heard it in this song.

Honestly, as much as this album had its ups or also had its downs with certain songs. When it comes to music and artist I start to like I always try to find a clear message in their songs and if one is not delivered I find it hard to really ever enjoy the song again. With that being said tho I am proud of Lil Nas X for making such a raw and emotional album for not a lot of artists are doing what he is doing today. I cannot wait to see what he has in store for his fans as his music career has only begun.

[marsthemusicfairie]

Son of a Sauce! - Salami Rose Joe Louis

Album Review - link to album attached   

      I recently discovered Salami Rose Joe Louis from their song ‘Nostalgic Montage’, and it was enough to get me curious about the rest of their discography. The style was right up my alley. Planetary scientist gone full time artist, and it’s very obvious.

Album cover- 8/10

Album rating- 8/10

     ‘Son of a Sauce!’ is Salami Rose Joe Louis’ debut album released in 2016. After listening to this album I’m left feeling wowed. I believe Salami produced the album, and I am really impressed. 45 minute, 26 track album filled with dynamics, space/galactic/psychedelic feels, interludes, mind-warps and dreamy, mysterious vocals. 

     The album fits perfectly with the blog because i have no idea how to categorize the genre of the album. It’s weird, it’s beautiful, it’s very interesting. Some lo-fi, alternative, experimental, bedroom, abstract, qualities. Why even try to describe it? The album is full of personality and fluidity. There are many songs on here I would love to listen to while tripping, on a night drive, in the woods, or honestly just in my bed completely in the dark. Or like cleaning. You will be stimulated and feeling like you’re a little alien on an adventure while listening to this. Very cool, one of my new favorite albums. 

     There were many times where I wondered if Salami was foreign because of the way she enunciated and phrased words, but upon research she’s from the Bay Area! Regardless, I love the way she sings because it adds a whole new layer of uniqueness to the tracks, and actually in many tracks the lyrics are very undistinguishable. There are a couple tracks where her vocals are not the forefront, but the production is, so her vocals will be low, quiet, and muted. Other tracks full of beautiful harmonies and clear, sweet vocals. I’m glad she chose to highlight her production in various tracks, because truly it is incredible and should be focused on. Very interesting artistic choices all throughout the album and Salami is a true artist. 

     My only note is towards the end I did get slightlyyy tired...only ever so slightly. That’s why I took off half a point. It just got a little redundant and slow especially with the piano ballads, even though it was still unique. I started to need a little more excitement. But, it picked back up around Gabush and Why Do You Care When Im Gone. 

Re-listen?- Definitely. I am right now, haha.

Favorite tracks- I Miss You So, Crawwee, Tell Meeee/Tell Meeee Again, Losing Sleep over the Cretaceous, Why Do You Care When I’m Gone

Skips- Trust, Lil Wednesday Idear, Evection Resonance, I Used to Think I Knew, To Take and to Wander

Notes made on favorite tracks 

*I Miss You So- love the guitar so much, voice is sooo enchanting and sweet but mysterious, simple lyrics but delicious. The break at 2:00 is everything, extremely fluid and moving, as well as the outro 

*Crawwee- the percussion immediately draws me attention, I love the sound of the gentle tapping and the clouded drums and and bass combo. so dreamy. her soft voice compliments it so well. The chorus vocals are so interesting. 

Tell Meeeee- the percussion on this song is new. this songs a little grimier but short and leads us into the next track quickly 

*Tell Meeeee Again- evolving instrumentals from the last track. lovely

*Losing Sleep over the Cretaceous- upbeat again, the time signature/timing on this is fascinating. All the sounds are slightly overwhelming at parts but in the best way. It’s just your brain trying to catch up with all that’s happening. The ending of the song is lovely. 

*Why Do You Care When Im Gone- dreamy, starry, upbeat. paints a dreamland in your mind. Absolutely adore her vocals here. Love how in her production she’s not afraid to use any sound. 

[nothingsolutions]

**2020 Short Film** screen play draft

Showcase life as a teenager in the 2010's. What defines this generation? What will we be remembered for?

Have random segments appear and "add" to the story but take you down another rabbit hole. Keep having people asking for more but still not having answers to their previous questions.

*Have the entire story loop.

Gut Feeling

Gut Feelings

Genetically Modified

Burn if Found

Disorder

FDA Approved

Stimulant

Sensory Overload

Inborn Pattern

MUSIC

Sooner or Later - N.E.R.D

(Perfect for drive home)

Everyone Nose - N.E.R.D

Purple Baguettes - 88GLAM

Dirt and Grime - Father's Children

Territorial Pissings - Nirvana

(Skating away from home)

Never Can Say Goodbye - Jackson 5

(Perfect for falling back in bed / ending)

The End Has No End - The Strokes

(Loading Docks)

Anti Matter - N.E.R.D

Partners in Crime Part Three - The Internet

(Playing loud in the car that almost hit MAIN)

She Works Out Too Much - MGMT

(Right when they fight / spinning)

Heavy Hitter - Jack Harlow

(Loading Docks)

Molly - Iann Dior

Hive - Earl Sweatshirt

Gonna Love Me - Teyana Taylor

My Pain - Lil Capi

Shoes - Lil Capi

Swim in the light - Kid Cudi

No Church in the Wild - Jay Z & Kanye

The Boy - Shannon and the Clams

Tongue Tied - Grouplove

La-La means I love you - The Delfonics

Dance yourself clean - LCD sound system (3:08)

I hope youre doing ok - Pity party girls club

Creep - Radiohead

Lose my sleep - Jacob Boring

Hometown - French 79

Between the buttons - French 79 (2:09)

Leaf Wraps - The Homies

Oblivion - Grimes

Cha Cha - Freddie Dredd

Switch: Six - Gums

Hottest in the city - Ty

Hell n Back - Bakar

Oof - Inner Wave

New Flesh - Current Joys

Pill - D.Savage

Wow, I can get sexual too - Say Anything

Angelic Hoodrat - Kenny Mason

Sometimes (feat. Swo) - Anxiety Attacks!

Vertigo - The Hellp (running scene)

Beans - Dirtboimil

Ghostbusters - Jayy Davi$

Paper Planes - M.I.A.

Lethal Presence - Night Lovell

Phone - Lil Capi

New House - Toro y Moi

Oblivion - Grimes

Float - The Neighbourhood

Love my Way - The Psychedelic Furs

The Sharpest Lives - My Chemical Romance

Last Living Souls - Gorillaz

Mystery of Love - Mr. Fingers

Mac Miller - Congratulations piano

((https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AmXJpbIizUU) perfect for orange bag scene in field)

Blowout - Radiohead (last scene running down the hill)

CAST

Couple on Roof - Tori + Pablo

People in living room - Jackson,

People in Chris room - Chris, Arya, Capi

Kitchen Chopping carrots - Emma

Emma's Room - Cole

Plastic Bag/ Girl bumps into -

Bleeding Skater -

Puts down camera / in car -

Car Passangers - Levi, Casey,

*Concert

Audrey - Herself

Levi - Himself

Driving car hits Levi -

Dinner Scene - Emma +

Mirrored Dinner scene - Emma + Lookalike (Salena)

**Concept**

*Intro

\Audio: Angelic Hoodrat - Kenny Mason fade 2 Cha Cha - Freddie Dredd\

Beginning of the video is sitting in Emmas room. Shot from the opposite side so you can see the whole room and subject.

Very dimly lit (only red lights on) with music blasting.

Constantly zoom shots throughout the house with muffled music in the background to show where the movie starts. (Hallway zoom/ kitchen zoom/ bedroom zoom (Chris)/ all slow-motion with people interacting in the scenes.) People sitting on the couch/ playing Fifa/ coming out of the bathroom. Shot from outside the house to signify the volume of the music?

Cut back to subject on the computer in the right side of the room sitting on the bed.

The computer screen is glowing on the with the face of the subject. You can just see the subjects eyes over the top of the computer screen.

Close up on eyes scanning the room (slow down x35/ x45) name title appears (REF1) and goes back to typing (can barely hear the typing)

Through the glass window of the kitchen (low shot looking up) show sibling cooking something. You hear the chop of the carrots rhythmically just a little off beat to the music heard from Emmas room. Eventually she cuts one last carrot and walks to the room.

Cut to the same zoom shots but pulling back still in slow motion showing that the sibling is marching to the room.

Shot from inside the room is zooming to the door after you hear a faint knock and the Sibling passes the camera (rotate the camera) and slams the computer screen shut. As the computer screen is shutting close up on eyes slowly looking up.

Starts to scream and slowly closes eyes.

**Goes into the first transition.**

Goes black for a second but can still hear scream.

Goes back to color and MAIN is still screaming but you can only see the sky. (Head neck and blue sky)

!!!HEAD MUST BE IN THE SAME PLACE AS THE PREVIOUS FRAME!!!!

FOR CONTINUITY THIS IS A MUST Mid section head on the top line.

When the drop of the song CHA CHA - FREDDIE DREDD starts pan down in a parallax motion showing the subject is in public. Walking 'against the grain'. If everyone is walking one way have subject walk the other. Essentially getting in peoples ways.

When walking bumps into someone hard, abruptly, startling both people. By bumping into that person, the perspective is shifted to her.

@Her

Can see she's speaking but entire thing is bleeped out

(Hit each other and starts to walk away still on MAINS perspective and and she's passing she said what theeee and after it switches to her to see his perspective on the situation but then it just sticks with her.

Cuts to a kid almost getting hit by a car

'Life flashes before his eyes'

REF1

For introduction to character have a close up with face (only eyes) and name mid center

*REF: Screen Shot 2020-01-13 at 12.25.51 PM*

*Jean Jacket interlude

Back of jacket always in view from the middle of the rule of thirds.

Always shot so the jacket is right in the middle.

Only the back of the person at all times

Short shots Burst style

About 45 seconds spread throughout the video??

Or just one segment??

Shot ideas

*Making out see back of dude wearing the jacket dark shot

*Concert shot wearing the jacket walking through the crowd

*Wearing it in a house party with people doing shots around him

*

Burning candle to show the passing of time.

Shot with the LED light but only a circle of light.

Shoot with a projector over the subject

((

Make sure its apparent the music is coming from cole

As she walks closer it gets louder and louder and the music keeps on changing throughout the beginning shots

-

Shot of outside of Emmas house

Shot with 2 people 1 dude 1 girl

Dangling feet off of the house

To establish location

At sunset

Close up of them

Acting like a couple

Being close and messing around with the blasting

Music in the background

ZOOMING SHOTS THROUGHOUT THE HOUSE PULLING IN

See people all throughout the house

Playing Fifa

Gitar hero

Cooking in the kitchen

REF: 2

Low shot thru kitchen window you see (Emma/) cooking

Something. Low shot with light coming from behind her light

Coming out the window

Cut to shot of her back and see her

Cutting carrots and after a few chops she throws down the knife

And says "ughhh"

ZOOMING SHOTS THROUGHOUT THE HOUSE PULLING BACK

Showing Emma walking thru the house

Going to ""Coles room"" to shut the laptop

See people all throughout the house

Pass Gitar hero

REF: 2

))

[voodoochili]

My 75 Favorite Albums of 2020

Every year produces excellent music and 2020 was no exception. The exceptional thing about this year, though, is the loss of livelihood so many musicians suffered as a result of the pandemic. To better celebrate all I’ve listened to and loved this year, I’ve expanded my albums list from 50 to 75 albums and included a highlight track from each in the Spotify playlist below. If you like what you hear, why not throw the artist a few dollars on Bandcamp?

Check the Spotify playlist HERE.

Without further ado, my favorite albums of 2020. Happy New Year, and happy listening!

10. Playboi Carti - Whole Lotta Red: Carti’s long-awaited opus has only been out for a week, which is probably not a long enough time to give an album as sprawling and surprising as this one a full critical evaluation. But I do know when I’m hearing something that’s unlike anything I’ve ever heard: this album rearranges hip-hop at the molecular level. 

Whole Lotta Red is overstuffed with invention, the glitchy, expansive production giving Carti ample opportunity to glom onto the contours of the beat and experiment with his voice. That voice is the album’s main attraction: it squeaks, it squeals, it roars, it spits, it shudders, and organizes itself into irresistibly ignorant mantras (my current favorite is “Lamborghini parked outside, it’s purple like lean”). 

Across its 24 tracks (which feels like too many, sure, but only the 5-minute long Kid Cudi-infected droner “Metamorphosis” overstays its welcome), Carti plays with listener expectations, annihilating rap songwriting conventions (why do you need verse-chorus structure if every line is a hook) as he defiantly proclaims his desire to be unlike anybody else. Though it bears some resemblance in sound and subject matter to Future’s Monster (and much of the production owes a debt to the work of Lil Uzi Vert’s favored Working Of Dying collective), Whole Lotta Red firmly establishes Carti as a totemic figure connecting mainstream and underground sounds.

9. BbyMutha - Muthaland: BbyMutha is a natural born spitter, armed with a drawly stutter-stepping flow that routinely annihilates unconventional instrumentals. She glows with supreme confidence and comfort in her own skin, especially when she’s dripping with disdain with those who’d dare refuse her the respect she deserves. A 25-track opus that earns every minute of its runtime, Muthaland is an engrossing immersion into Mutha’s world, balancing a fascination with the occult (“Sorry I don’t fuck with n****s who don’t fuck with Satan”) with grounding interjections from close friends and her four children. Boasting rockstar fantasies like “Heavy Metal,” bad girl anthems like “Nice Guy,” and dancefloor-ready jams like “Cocaine Catwalk,” Muthaland is a tour-de-force by one of rap’s singular voices, and if she’s really finished with music as she’s claimed (rappers never really retire, but Mutha has indicated she wants to focus full time on her Apothecary), the game will greatly miss her incisive punchlines and crudely empowering perspective.

8. Westerman - Your Hero Is Not Dead: In 2020, Mid-’80s sophistipop grew into one of my favorite comfort foods. Westerman’s Your Hero Is Not Dead struck me directly in the sophistipop sweet spot, evoking the attention-to-detail and synth-heavy craftsmanship of that era and pairing it with harmonic complexity and a piercing emotionalism that recalls his idol Neil Young. On songs like “Blue Comanche” and “The Line,” Westerman constructs tales as twisty as his melodies, economically exploring how people relate to each other at the beginning and end of romantic relationships. Westerman complements his tasteful palette of synth sounds with intricate and lyrical guitar playing, most notably on the sighing, gorgeous instrumental “Float Over,” which softly segues into the title track to end the album on a gently-rising high note.

7. WizKid - Made In Lagos: The focal point of the sub-Saharan Afrobeats renaissance, Lagos is having one of the most exciting musical moments of any city since Kingston in the early ‘70s. WizKid is one of the scene’s biggest stars, with an ability to combine the sonic tapestry of his hometown with Caribbean-influenced beats and vocal styles. Made In Lagos is a masterwork of sound design, bringing creamy bass, chicken-scratch speckles of guitar, tasteful interjections of saxophone and brass, and an intoxicating mix of acoustic and electronic percussion, all offered in service to an immaculate vibe that matches the album cover’s shiny, monochromatic color scheme. Made with lockdown in mind, the album eschews uptempo dancefloor workouts in favor of stress-relief and romance. WizKid plays the perfect host, tamping down his melodic flights of fancy and embracing a song-serving smoothness. He’s a warm and inviting presence throughout, laying out the red carpet for a cross-continental cast of collaborators like H.E.R., Skepta, Burna Boy, and Damian Marley. The result is a truly global pop masterpiece, capable of brightening even the dourest day of a miserable year.

6. Ka - Descendants of Cain: Firefighter by day and rapper/producer by night, Ka is a master of allusion. He organizes his thoughts into themed collections of metaphor, illustrating the bleak realities of street life with gnomic symbolism. On Descendants Of Cain, Ka’s strongest work to date, the enigmatic rapper expresses himself through a litany of biblical references, drawing parallels between ancient parables (he goes far deeper than the Cain/’caine double entendre that rappers have been using for decades) and the stark code of morality with which he lives his life. The 48-year-old hermit produced the project himself, creating an immersive sonic realm, crafting expansive, noir-ish backing tracks populated by late-night saxophones, sparkling pianos, and the occasional shot of sweeping strings. Once again, Ka’s music comes almost entirely without drums (certainly without “beats” in the traditional hip-hop sense–every once in a while, he adds an open hi-hat or a subdued shaker), the artist preferring to let his music swirl around his half-whispered words of wisdom. The album ends on a tearful, sentimental note with “I Love (Mimi, Moms, Kev),” in which the artist ditches the biblical lyrical conceit and expresses his love for his wife, his mom, and his best friend atop light percussion and a warm soul sample.

5. SAULT - Untitled (Rise): Rise is the second part of a diptych that SAULT recorded in response to the movement that exploded in the wake of George Floyd’s death. Black Is, the first part, is a great album (you’ll find it in the lower reaches of my 2020 list), but the mysterious UK collective fulfilled their immense potential with Rise, a propulsive, powerful, and danceable album that doubles as a thought-provoking examination of the nature of freedom and liberation. The album tackles weighty topics–police violence, fake-woke “allies,” protest, cultural appropriation–but handles them with an inspiring effervescence and a propulsion meant to usher right-thinking people into the streets. The music itself is an intoxicating marvel, combining elements from every trendy musical movement from the early ‘80s (post-disco, post-punk, house, hip-hop, whatever the hell ESG was) into a percussive and surprisingly cohesive cocktail. The album immediately makes its greatness known with its first four songs, one of the strongest opening runs of any album in recent memory: the swaggering, funky, keep-your-head-up anthem “Strong,” which features a drum solo from SAULT architect Inflo, the soaring, club-ready vamp “Fearless,” concept-establishing, string-heavy interlude “Rise,” and especially “I Just Want to Dance,” the best song ESG never wrote. 

4. Fiona Apple - Fetch The Bolt Cutters: Fetch The Bolt Cutters arrived with the kind of universal acclaim that can make some people suspicious. The Pitchfork review got a lot of attention, not just for its perfect score but for its bold statement that “no music has ever sounded quite like it.” 

That statement might’ve been slightly hyperbolic. Fetch The Bolt Cutters has the kind of propulsive left-hand piano figures, chest-thumping percussion, and impassioned vocal performances that we haven’t heard since...the last Fiona Apple album. But the album deserves its experimental reputation. These songs mess around with song structure and melody in ways that resemble avant-garde singers like Meredith Monk, use overlapping vocals that occasionally evoke the works of post-modern composers like Luciano Berio, and echoing modernist composers like Edgard Varese in the way she wrings pathos out of rhythmic elements.

Though Fetch might be a slight step down from The Idler Wheel, it’s an invigorating listen, packed with the soul-baring confessionals that only Fiona is capable of executing. Combining literary wordplay with plainspoken directness, Fiona forces the listener to confront her trauma and contemplate her diagnoses of patriarchal ills. The songs are uniformly excellent–especially opener “I Want You To Love Me,” the most “traditional” song on the record, and “Shameika,” a burrowing childhood rumination with a happy ending–but Fetch The Bolt Cutters stands out to me as a collection of amazing moments: when the jig-like “For Her” fades into an unforgettably painful cadence (“Good mornin’, good mornin’/You raped me in the same bed your daughter was born in”), Fiona’s ground-shaking vocal intensity at the end of “Newspaper,” her dogs howling over the outro of “Fetch The Bolt Cutters,” the winking repetition of the title phrase on “Ladies.” Her albums display more than enough ambition to forgive the long gestation periods, but hopefully we won’t have to wait another 8 years for Fiona to bare her soul once again.

3. Drakeo The Ruler - Thank You For Using GTL: Embroiled in a Kafkaesque legal saga that shines a light on the worst aspects of our horrendous justice system, Drakeo The Ruler spent more than three years wrongly incarcerated for a crime he not only did not commit, but for which he was acquitted (for more info on Drakeo’s ordeal, read Jeff Weiss). He’s now mercifully a free man, mostly due to the work of his lawyer, but at least partially because of publicity generated by Thank You For Using GTL. Recorded over the phone from prison during the height of the pandemic, it’s a miracle that an album created under such sub-optimal conditions sounds as excellent as it does, but credit producer JoogSzn–who not only supplied the creeping, head-nodding backing tracks but recorded Drakeo’s phoned-in vocals–and engineer MixedByNavin for the project’s astonishing fidelity. Drakeo and Joog spent hours on the phone to record the album, in the process paying thousands of dollars to GTL, the predatory telecom company of choice for the L.A. corrections system, whose mechanical interjections serve as a constant reminder of the injustice that made the album necessary. Of course, a good story is a good story, but that alone doesn’t get an album on 2020’s most prestigious Best Albums list (mine). It’s a classic rap album, perhaps the best ever released by an incarcerated rapper, and a thumb directly in the nose of the D.A. and the LAPD. The album is a lyrical marvel, packed with winding wordplay and outlandish flexes, as Mr. Mosley takes aim at 6ix9ine, cackles at sorry-ass Instagram haters, and sneers at American-made cars (“To be honest, a Hellcat isn’t a foreign”). Each song has a carefully considered concept, the rapper’s punchlines building upon one another to make an airtight case for his status as L.A.’s top dog. He contrasts his own whip-crashing lifestyle with flashy wannabes on “GTA VI” and “Backflip or Sumn,” mourns a favorite department store on “RIP Barneys,” and proves he still doesn’t rap beef on “Maestro’s Tension.” The album’s masterstroke comes with “Fictional,” the final track, in which Drakeo exposes the prosecution’s use of his lyrics as evidence in criminal proceedings as the farce it is: “It might sound real, but it’s fictional/I love that my imagination gets to you.” Drakeo’s story was a rare bright spot in 2020, and a rare one with a happy ending. Just last week, the rapper released Because Y’All Asked, a studio-recorded version of Thank You For Using GTL, giving the album’s songs the clarity they deserve. But I think I’ll mostly return to the original, which will live on as an excellent album and a vital document of post-George Floyd America.

2. Pa Salieu - Send Them to Coventry: Hailing from the middle of nowhere–or, more accurately city in the English Midlands only known in the states for its middling Premier League team–Gambian-British artist Pa Salieu served up the most distinctive, visceral, and daring rap debut of the year. His style fuses elements of grime, drill, afro-trap, dancehall, and the darker edges of U.S. hip-hop into a percussive slurry, injected with the urgency of his struggle to survive. The magic of the album comes from the way Pa’s fluid flows interact with the shimmering and foreboding production (Felix Joseph and Aod lead the cast of the project’s sound architects), which is perfectly suited for cold city nights. He slips effortlessly into the pocket, toe-tagging the beats with a combination of aggression and trance-like meditation and uttering casually powerful pronouncements (“I'd make a killa riddim offa any riddim/The grind can never stop 'til I'm wrapped in linen”) that make you believe he’s Britain’s next great rapper. Pa keeps the vibe consistent throughout, but the moments that stand out are the moments when he locks into an unbreakable groove over no-frills production, like on singles “Block Boy,” “Betty,” and “B***K.” The artist’s wry sense of humor and brash confidence keeps the album from feeling bleak, but Send Them To Coventry wisely ends on “Energy,” a warm and bright ode to keeping your creative spark safe from the prying forces of fame and fortune.

1. Kassa Overall - I Think I’m Good: “I think I’m good”–a phrase that’s ran through my head throughout this shitstorm of a year. Sure, I postponed a wedding, cancelled trips, and saw my friends and family much less often than I would like, but I count myself among the lucky ones. Still breathing, still sane. Though it was recorded and released before the pandemic started, Kassa Overall’s I Think I’m Good became a lodestar of sorts for me. It’s a brilliantly introspective and deeply personal album about existing in enclosed spaces–whether a jail cell, an NYC subway car, or the inescapable prison of your own body.

Kassa Overall made his name as a jazz drummer, touring with icons like Geri Allen, but his solo music incorporates elements of hip-hop, classical, and trap to create a wholly original milieu. The album features contributions from over 30 accomplished voices, ranging from luminary Vijay Iyer, to Kassa’s saxophonist brother Carlos Overall, to virtuosic pianist Sullivan Fortner, to venerated activist Angela Davis. But all the disparate elements come together in service of Kassa’s deeply personal and engrossing vision.

Taking partial inspiration from Kassa’s struggle with manic depression, the music fluctuates between meditative calm and unbearable tension, mimicking the patter of an unquiet mind. Album opener “Visible Walls,” is a mesmerizing prayer for salvation soundtracked by fluttering harps, piercing woodwinds, and heartbeat percussion. “Find Me” buries a plea for help within a cacophony of sampled voices and rattling piano notes. Fortner’s piano guides us through the hauntingly devastating “Halfway House” and the Chopin-indebted “Darkness In Mind,” each highlighting a different stage of grief (despair and acceptance, respectively). The arc of I Think I’m Good concludes with the hopeful “Got Me A Plan” and “Was She Happy (For Geri Allen),” a Vijay Iyer-assisted tribute to his late friend and mentor. 

It’s ironic that an album that so deeply explores the feeling of isolation vibrates with such a collaborative spirit. I Think I’m Good feels like an answered prayer–a community coming together to check on a beloved friend who’s gone through a tough time: “You good, man?” “I think so.”

Here’s the rest of my list.

11. Yves Tumor - Heaven To A Tortured Mind 12. Shackleton & Waclaw Zimpel - Primal Forms 13. Bob Dylan - Rough & Rowdy Ways 14. Duval Timothy - Help 15. Lil Uzi Vert - Eternal Atake 16. Moodymann - Taken Away 17. Secret Drum Band - Chuva 18. J Hus - Big Conspiracy 19. Headie One & Fred Again - GANG 20. Tiwa Savage - Celia 21. Andras - Joyful 22. Bill Callahan - Gold Record 23. King Von - Welcome To O’Block 24. Flo Milli - Ho, Why Is You Here? 25. Chubby & The Gang - Speed Kills 26. Madeline Kenney - Sucker’s Lunch 27. Empty Country - Empty Country 28. Smino - She Already Decided 29. Destroyer - Have We Met 30. Yves Jarvis - Sundry Rock Song Stock 31. Ela Minus - Acts Of Rebellion 32. Creeper - Sex, Death & The Infinite Void 33. Alabaster DePlume - To Cy & Lee: Instrumentals, Vol. 1 34. Good Sad Happy Bad - Shades 35. The 1975 - Notes On a Conditional Form 36. Kate NV - Room For The Moon 37. $ilkmoney - Attack of the Future Shocked, Flesh Covered, Meatbags of the 85 38. Eddie Chacon - Pleasure, Joy and Happiness 39. Kenny Segal & Serengeti - Ajai 40. Bad Bunny - YHLQMDLG 41. Kahlil Blu - DOG 42. Califone - Echo Mine 43. Boldy James - The Price of Tea in China/Manger On McNichols/The Versace Tape 44. Bufiman - Albumsi 45. Moses Boyd - Dark Matter 46. Thanya Iyer - KIND 47. Jyoti - Mama You Can Bet! 48. Obongjayar - Which Way Is Forward? 49. Rio Da Yung OG - City On My Back 50. Young Jesus - Welcome To Conceptual Beach 51. Owen Pallett - Island 52. Oceanator - Things I Never Said 53. Shootergang Kony - Red Paint Reverend 54. Shabason, Krgovich & Harris - Philadelphia 55. Six Organs of Admittance - Companion Rises 56. Lido Pimienta - Miss Colombia 57. Kelly Lee Owens - Inner Song 58. Polo G - The GOAT 59. Actress - Karma & Desire 60. Phoebe Bridgers - Punisher 61. Porridge Radio - Every Bad 62. Yg Teck - Eyes Won’t Close 63. Mozzy - Beyond Bulletproof 64. Ratboys - Printer’s Devil 65. R.A.P. Ferreira - Purple Moonlight Pages 66. Ulver - Flowers of Evil 67. Rina Sawayama - SAWAYAMA 68. SAULT - Untitled (Black Is) 69. Ezra Feinberg - Recumbent Speech 70. Davido - A Better Time 71. Hailu Mergia - Yene Mircha 72. HAIM - Women In Music Pt. III 73. Half Waif - The Caretaker 74. Key Glock - Yellow Tape 75. KeiyAa - Forever Your Girl

[iffyswriting]

Star Quality

Pairing: Pardison Fontaine x Black! Thick! OC

Summary: A story with some smut at the end. May give it a part two, I don't know yet.

I don’t know about y’all but that fine ass man right there got my ovaries on LOCK.

I blame my friend, Dom for this. She encourage the whortivity.

Anyway enjoy,☺🥴

The light shined bright on my face, my eyes slightly blinded. Anxiety rested in my chest as I looked over all the people in the stands. So many of them were screaming, pumped up with excitement. So many were screaming my name.

All these people here just to see lil ole me.

I searched through the crowd, hopeful to see his face but I knew he wasn't going to be here.

I wanted to be wrong but what's true is just what it is.

I blinked back my tears as I began with my first song of the night 'Heartbreak'. I started strong, singing my heart out as things went on my lyrics hitting closer to home.

My mama told me to stay away from the industry niggas.

If we both wanted a career, it'd never work she said. I didn't listen because I figured who better to understand me, than someone with my exact goals- we could be an it couple, we could be successful together.

I should've listened.

The year before.

"And you said we'd be late." I teased, taking my bodyguard, Tommy's hand as I stepped down from the car.

"You took your sweet ass time at the Hotel."

"My makeup is a whole regime- one lash out of place and my whole energy is off." I said matter of factually, pleased when he didn’t reply.

I looked up at the radio station, my heart swelling with happiness. I'd never been invited to do an interview before- I've never been famous before either. This year was full of firsts for me and honestly, I'm ready to accept it all.

"Nervous?"

"Not nervous- terrifyingly happy, I'll say."

"Those don't go together."

"A lot of things I do don't but I make it work." He chuckled to my side, his laughter easing my nerves. 

Plopping into a chair, I bounced in my seat giving the biggest grin I could to everyone in the room. You could say I was a little too eager.

"We got brand new artist- Sincerity in the building!" He started off cupping his mouth to make an echo effect.

"Wassup y'all!" I said excitedly, my bubbly giggle bursting through.

"I see your animated this afternoon.”

"I'm grateful as hell to be here, that's why."

"We're just as happy to have you." He spoke returning my grin. "Let's talk about your new hit single, Black Jack that just hit number 2 on the top 100 in the U.S. and number 12 worldwide. How does it feel as a new artist to become this popular, this fast?"

"It feels so good and so unexpected. When I recorded it, I had high hopes but they never went up this high."

"I guess that's on me for having such low expectations," I said shaking my head.

"Could you tell me the meaning of the song? Give a little insight."

"Black Jack is about gambling with your life and all the decisions you want to make with so little time. Everything we do feels like we're playing a game of chance and I think my song with its fast-paced beat really gives you that feeling."

"Any inspirations?"

"You'd be surprised to hear this but I had such a huge mixture of music growing up."  "Like from Lauryn Hill to Bjork, I was everywhere and I think that really shows in the songs that I make. I like to be versatile.”

The energy in the room shifted slightly and I braced what was he was going to say.

"So recently you've taken pictures with New York rapper, Pardison Fontaine." Tommy gave me a look and I sat up straighter, paying attention. Nervousness started to run through me because anything I say could be critical to my career.

Junior was a lot like other radio people, messy as hell because that's what people like to hear. They're interested in you but they're more interested in the drama that surrounds you because it creates traction.

My manager, Shanice couldn't come but she prepped me the night before telling me what to do. 

"Yeah, we took them at Meg's birthday party! It was so much fun." I said nodding my head at the memory. " I took pictures with a bunch of other people too."

"But Pardi is in all of them, one way or another."

"We were sitting together. We talked throughout the party."

"About what?" Junior looked me in the eye, his slick smirk making me scoff. He was trying to get into my head but I stayed resilient.

"About business deals and music really," Pausing, I leaned into the mic closer continuing to talk.

"I can admit he cute or whatever," I said with an eye-roll, everyone else laughing with me.

"But there's literally nothing between us, I super duper promise," I say crossing my heart. " We're just friends- friends, who when they cross paths, take a whole lot of pictures and talk."

"That's it?"

"Dassit." I said quickly, laughing afterward. The disappointment in his face spoke volumes and He looked like he wanted to press further but he knew he couldn't. He moved onto the next question, my interview going much smoother.

Finally leaving the radio station, my phone started to buzz in my hands. I already knew he was gonna call me the minute it ended and I took my time to answer letting it ring a little longer.

"You make me sick."

"Now, I know that's a lie." Pardi, or Jordan as I called him said, I could practically see his smirk over the phone.

"You don't know shit."

"So, I'm just cute or whatever?"

"Ain't that what I said?"

"You've said more than that."

"I been lying." I admitted playfully

"That easily? Wowww-" He faked shock and I bit back a smile, scratching at my hand. Despite my dodging, he did make my stomach flip inside out and made me think things I know I shouldn’t have been.

"You seemed to be so tuned into the radio today- I thought you didn't listen unless you were on it?"

"I had to support my girl."

"I'm your girl? That's crazy."

"You always gonna be my girl." I let out a breathless laugh, my heart thumping in my chest like a drum.

"Okay, Jordan."

"Come see me." He said confidently making me raise an eyebrow.

"See you where?"

"At the studio. You know that's my second home." It was mine too and my mama was constantly down my throat about not being stable with my sleeping. 

"Who else gon' be there?"

"Nobody. Just the two of us." Blinking, I opened my mouth trying to find a response. 

"You plotting, you're trying to get me all alone."

"You gonna fall for the trap?"

"Maybe” Feeling frisky, I pushed harder. “I don’t feel so convinced, though.”

"If you come, I'll mix something for you."

"Something new?"

"Brand spanking new, baby." He slapped something for emphasis and I shrugged my shoulders like he could see me. 

"I'm feeling a little persuaded-"

"I also happen to have some new music- you know I trust your judgment." He came to me for a-lot of things, whether it be a critique or some advice we talked about so much. 

"Since you're begging me at this point, I'll show up."

"I can't wait." I could hear his grin and I couldn’t suppress my own anymore, full on biting my lip as a smiled.

"Don't cream your pants, now."

”I won’t even say what I’m thinking,” He chuckled. “See you in a second, Nelle.” 

“Bye, Jordan. “ Clicking off my phone, Tommy stared at me- a smirk on his lips. The kind i absolutely hated. 

"What?"

"Nose wide open over that boy."

"Just like I told Junior, I'm gonna tell you."

"We're just friends."

*********

Watching intently as his fingers danced over the keys, one by one he let my head lean on his shoulder. He made me feel so comfortable, his shoulder felt like a hard pillow. 

"How long you been playing the piano?"

“A long ass time.”He thought for a second. “My mom’s wanted me to be productive with something and music became that something.” 

"I want a kind of interlude, you know with the piano playing the back. Soften the soul you know?"

“Yeah, I can see it.” 

I opened my mouth to sing a couple of notes as he kept going. He went up higher and I followed suit, going low when he went he low too. He found somewhere steady and I let my voice rest there with him, finishing softly.

The way he looked at me, his eyes trained on my face so hard it's like he was entranced. Being his center of attention made my heart swell.

"I ever tell you, how much I wish I could sing."

"You know how to hold a tune."

"Nah but if I could belt out like I want, I'd be all over the place."

"How you feel singing from your chest." Taking his hand I pressed it right to my breast, and looked him in his eyes.

"It's like grabbing something from within and pushing it out." I took one deep breath and then another his hand rising with each breath I took.

His hand slowly dragged up my neck to touch my cheek. He seemed hesitant at first but I leaned further into his hand, moving in closer.

We kissed softly to test the waters but we weren’t gentle kind of people. The second kiss felt more impassioned and aggressive, as I sighed behind his lips his touches all over my body jolting me.

He placed his hands on my waist pulling me onto his lap. With my legs on either side, I pressed my panties against his clothed shorts grinding on him so he could feel how wet he was making me. 

"What we about to do here?"

“The fuck you think.” I said impatiently, swiping my gloss off his bottom lip even though I was going to stain it some more. 

“I’m just wanna know before, we get too deep.” 

"I know what I want."

"Do you?" Pressing my hand against his chest I started to unbutton his shirt, keeping up eye contact. 

"I do."

Scrunching my dress up around my hips, he pushed my thighs apart pressing his fingers onto my clit. He was gentle swiping against it but I want him to be rougher.

He lined up his tip and slid inside making me gasp. I threw my arms over his shoulder, my fingers becoming entangled in his curls as I bounced on his dick our cum echoing in the room. 

He gripped my ass, making me bounce faster. 

Standing up from the chair, we kissed as he stroked up into me. My back hit the cold glass and something clicked on behind me but with how good he was fucking me I couldn't care less.

"You feel so fucking good-" One of his hands grasped my neck, the other touching the dip of my back to get in deeper. I bit back a smirk, my breasts heaving up and down as he picked up speed.

His deep groans of pleasure, rumbled in my ear and into the pit of my stomach. 

I clenched around him slowing things down, his hand tightening it's grip. He guided my face up, sloppily french kissing me our tongues melding together. He pecked my lips one more time gazing at me.

“You gotta take it.” He mumbled, making me wrap my legs around his waist entrapping him.

I pushed him back onto his chair, plunging him back inside of me. 

“I’m not the one who needs to take it.” I said breathlessly, kissing his neck lining hickies where his tattoos were.

His chest rose and he shuddered underneath me, his big hands on my back rolls guiding me clearly as I fucked him into the chair. My thighs clapped together and I moaned quietly stopping in my tracks as my orgasm started to crash onto the horizon.

He pushed my thighs back open, circling my clit so I could cum all over his dick. He pulsated inside me and every movement made me feel more sensitive as minutes ticked on. 

“Gon head and cum.” He teased me, bringing our lips together once more. He swallowed back my moans, easing me into a steady lull of pleasure.

I came seconds later, a trembling mess. His name tumbled from my mouth in repeated chants, his strong arms surrounding my hips to keep me in place. He sat still in me, his own body barely holding on. 

I couldn’t tell if you it was lust, or the fact I had in the palm in my hand but as I ground onto him knowing he was going to cum in me, the power and love I felt was unmatched.

He stopped trying to stop me, relishing in his satisfaction as he painted my walls white. His cum filled me up to the brim and I slid back watching it ooze out a little, the sweat on pooling my forehead sliding between my breasts.

He caressed each part of fat on my body the look in his eyes so intense, my heart barely matched it. He said 4 words that cemented everything and from there I was locked in.

“Let’s do this again.” 

[1albumaday]

2020

2020

The Chats - The Clap

Easy-peasy punk rock album 

Loving - If I am only my thoughts

Charming sun-dappled folk-pop, clean, gentle melodies

Steve Spacek - Houses 

iPhone/iPad recorded, latino and jazz accented dance/house beats

Ghali - DNA 

Total Flop and failed expectations. Mishmash of bland and frivolous lyrics and arrangements.

King Krule - Man Alive!

Alienating, violent, romantic, anguishing, doomed, noir / jazz, post-punk, soul, dubstep, electronic, garage rock, hip-hop

Justin Bieber - Changes

Disappointing comeback - boring r&b with zero sex appeal and cheesy lyrics and all-the-same songs

Guided by voices - Surrender your poppy field

Unusual time signatures, song lengths, and baroque-prog structures - mature rock and sometimes pixie / 80s dreamy

Corrections - Simply Activities

80s new wave and post punk nostalgia - cheesy vocals at times - first half more solid than second

Swim Mountain- If

A lovely mix of indie and funktronica, synth pop, r&b

Caribou - Suddenly

Sly and sofishticated sound design flits between uk garage disco and more - some tracks way less strong than others

Grimes - Miss Anthropocene 

Mix “Ethereal nu metal”, ambient, dance, electronic, drum’n’bass, country - is violent and dark but sexy, delicate and dreamy

Porridge Radio - Every Bad 

A dissonant lush indie rock sometimes dreamy sometimes dark and ironic with mantra-litany dusky lyrics from peaceful to desperate

Four Tet - Sixteen oceans

Wind instruments, synths and drum patterns gradually fade to calming ambient sounds, intense and meditative but also danceable and powerful

Kamaiyah - Got it made

Short, stripped-down, bubbling keyboards and drum-machine handclaps. NO current rap trends. windows-down bass-rattle record of one person’s confidence in her own sound and charisma

Poolside - Low season

Funk percussions, retro synths, pop and disco influences + indie vocals

Morioh Sonder - Is this psychedelia?

Surf pop and psych rock, dreamy post punk influences, danceable and whimsical 

KEYAH/BLU - Sorry, I forgot you were coming 

Perfect blend of rap, rnb, experimental pop, dark rhythms textured electronics, intimate tales 

TOPS - I feel alive

Pop, radiant and 80s romantic with a contemporary experimental palette

The Chats - High risk behaviour 

Classic old-school pure punk / cheerily undemanding fun

NIN - Ghosts V: Together

Buzzy ambient, melodic hooks, emotional palette of sounds 

NIN - Ghosts VI: Locusts

Together’s opposite, anxiety-inducing, despairing horns, breathing and devouring sounds.

Roger and Brian Eno - Mixing Colours

Feels like a balm for these anxious times

Fiona Apple - Fetch the bolt cutters

Handclaps, chants, makeshift percussion, echoes, whispers, screams, breathing, jokes, dog barks, rattling blues. Contains no conventional pop forms. freeing and powerful. 

The Weeknd - After Hours

Satisfying collision of new wave, dream pop, R&B, synth-pop nostalgia

BC Camplight - Shortly After Takeoff 

Jazzy eighties rock with some icy funk and electronic pop, painfully personal and uneasy but so self-deprecating it speaks like your best friend

Rone - Room with a view 

Deft splicing of beats-based electronics and dance music with classical influences. 21st century baroque chords, snatches of conversations, speeches, children’s voices

Other Lives - For their love

Bluesy acid-rock, dreamy meditation sounds, eerie string-crescendos, music for the afterlife

Lil Uzi Vert - Eternal Atake 

Drill-influenced rapping, melodic crooning, trends-aware hip-hop beats, untouchable pop sound production

Squarepusher - Be up a hello

Frantic breakbeats littered with echoes of classic jungle, hardcore, and drum’n’bass, ’90s drill’n’bass, glitchy 8-bit chaos

The Orielles - Disco Volador

Cosmic, playful, funky dreamy indie pop, shuffling organs, woozy guitar, shimmy-shimmy hand percussion

Portico Quartet - We welcome tomorrow

Perfect dreamy sequel of ‘Memory streams’

Charlie XCX - how i’m feeling now

Quarantine creation / 2020 romance manifesto of club-pop, trap, k-pop, video game sounds, fuzzy synths and crackling bass

Holy Fuck - Deleter

Trippy, psychedelic tapestry of euphoric escapism, ‘90s dance, glitchy beats, airy vocals, experimental electronics 

Luge - Luge

Energetic and playful avant-garde and quirky math rock, zolo? 

Good With Parents, Triple Stephens - Comments & Reflection

Playful indietronica synth pop + classical instruments 

Wishing - None of this was your fault 

Lo-fi indie, ambient, slowcore w/ fragile lyrics 

Bibio - Sleep on the wing 

Indie folk treated like ambient / a gorgeous soundscape of strings, guitars and flutes, feelings of loss, hope and escape. Perfect picture of tranquil countryside memories

Piotr Kurek - A Sacrifice Shall Be Made / All The Wicked Scenes

Electroacoustic experimental, meditative-ritualistic atmospheric music / conceived for theatrical performances 

Military Genius - Deep Web

Meditative ambient, retro-futurist soundscapes / hypnagogic pop, dark, abstract and mysterious / early ‘70s folk interjecting jazz-brass sections 

Jockstrap - Wicked City

Melancholy waltz and winsome ballads, fluttering strings, soft piano glissandi mixed with gnarly and distorted hip-hop beats, buzzing guitars and synths / cherubic vocals, pcmusic-style manipulated at times

Georgia - String Token 

Experimental ambient electronic, minimal, melodic, futuristic, hypnotic and grim

EVOL - Madball Manners

Lingering experimental rave electronic, hardcore, techno 

Upsammy - Zoom

Playful, sampling, abstract IDM, ambient techno, melodic and rhythmic, surreal, futuristic, sparkling synths and billowing pads

Tomasz Kunicki - Muzyka dla Świątyń

Playful and abstract IDM, glittering synths, obscure pads, glitchy and bleepy

Tomasz Kunicki - The sound is gone, where did it go, I have no idea

Very bassy and very dubby IDM, atmospheric ambient and loopy electronics

Kate NV - Room for the moon

80s new wave, progressive electronic, synth pop, cornucopia of melodies and genres. Wriggling synths, chirping flutes, warm baselines, jazzy sax, woodwinds, marimba. Russian girly vocals cartoon theme-song-like.

Khruangbin - Mordechai 

Psychedelic / funk rock with some soul, dub, lounge, poolside disco - exotic and atmospheric 

Dalai Lama - Inner world

Chanted mantras rhythmically woven into wafting new-age flutes, chimes, strings and free-form guitar picking. 

K-Lone - Cape Cira

Tropical ambient house, warm, lush, soft. Zen yet bouncy rhythms. Digital and analogue recordings, at times feels like you’re underwater. 

Arca - KiCk i

Experimental industrial club rhythms with reggaeton and folk influences

The Beths - Jump Rope Gazers

Sleek and personal indie rock, romantic ballads, more sentimental and slow than the previous album

J Lloyd - Kosmos

Tasteful soul and funk pop in 25 tiny tracks, charming low-key, rich textures, good vibes

Julek Polsk - Tesco

Dissonant, ominous, dense, post industrial ambient, noise, sound collage, deconstructed club music

Taylor Swift - folklore

Folk/chamber pop, indie folk, bittersweet, mellow, melancholic ballads

Bill Callahan - Gold Record 

Contemporary folk, warm and deep vocals, pastoral, peaceful and melancholic 

Mura Masa - R.Y.C. 

Indietronica, post-punk revival, catchy indie/synth pop, early 2000 EMO, lots of hip collabs

Fontaines D.C. - A Hero's Death 

Post-punk, indie rock, art punk, gothic rock, raw deadpan male vocals, darkish and melodic

RAMzi - cocon 

Tribal House, ambient dub, balearic beats, downtempo, hypnotic and tropical 

Auguste - Indust 

Experimental ambient electronic + field recordings, glistening and splintered sounds 

Paul Blackford - Betamax

Dreamy and hypnotic trip hop, downtempo, synth wave

A.G.Cook - 7G

49-track archival collection of sketches, cover versions, volatile lab experiments, divided into 7 discs. a glimpse at the whirring cogs beneath hyperpop’s pristine casing.

Clap clap - Liquid Portraits 

Experimental musical tapestry and collage / high-energy concoction of unpredictable and wavy rhythms, exotic vocals and heavy, relentless bass and drums / UK Bass, ambient dub, footwork + far-flung field recordings

E.M.M.A. - Indigo Dream 

Progressive electronic, ambient house / 80s melodic atmospheres, goosebump-inducing synths, whimsical melodies and classical leanings

Leif - Music for screen tests 

Performed live @ Barbican as a 54min session ambient / drone film soundtrack (Andy Warhol's Screen Tests)

Crack Cloud - Pain Olympics

Post/art/dance punk, experimental rock - energetic, anxious, apocalyptic, dark, male vocals

Document - A Camera Wanders All Night 

Post-punk, noise rock, past-hardcore, distorted and raw male vocals

Keisuke Matsuda - Clumsily Back Up

Experimental electronic with playful hummed vocals, lo-fi beats, melodic, youthful, dreamlike

Coi Leray - Now or Never

Gen-Z superstar, melodic flows, bouncy trap, energetic killer lyrics 

The Ophelias - For Luck

Artful, string-laden indie-pop EP, grungy dream-pop, a quarantine remake and a Joni Mitchell cover

Romare - Home

Deep house, UK Bass, groovy and detailed sonic palette + soul and funk influences - dancefloor highs and after party wind-downs

Mulatu Astatke, Black Jesus Experience - To Know Without Knowing 

Ethio-Jazz, Cuban, funk, reggae workout + rapid-fire rap or Afrobeat drums 

Good Doom - Spider Temple Valley

Experimental psych-wave, gentle and peaceful lo-fi, dreamy and oozy with flute, sax and field recordings

Ralph Kinsella - Abstraction

Dark ambient experimental / instrumental electronic

IDLES - Ultra Mono

Post-punk, garage punk, hardcore, noise rock, raw male vocals, dense, energetic, angry, political

Mild Orange - Mild Orange 

Alternative, Indie rock, dream pop, 

Skinshape - Umoja

Experimental psychedelic rock - afro beats - afroswinig - funky - world music

Vulfpeck - The Joy of Music, The Job of Real Estate

Mixed bag of funk, jazz, soul, self-indulgent? classical reworks, progressive electronic, melodic and uplifting, groovy drums and bass lines 

OPN - Magic OPN 

Manipulated and sequenced archive radio and sounds collages as interludes, uncanny processed voices, poppish trope ballads, art pop, sentimental and surreal, dense, progressive hypnagogic electronic and more

Pa Salieu - Send them to coventry

Combined dancehall, Afrobeats, hip-hop and grime. Scattered drums, stop-start energy, handpicked words and rhymes. skips from trap trills to baile breakdowns.

Mama Ode - Tales & Patterns of the Maroons

Classic hip-hop album with jazz, funk, blues and reggae influences. Creole Sega Rap Roots music, afro-drum patterns and grooves

Tony Allen, Hugh Masekela - Rejoice

Live sessions of unique fusion of afrobeat and swing-jazz with lyrics in English, Yoruba and Zulu 

Miley Cyrus - Plastic Hearts

Pop rock, 80s synth-rock, grit and freewheeling sense of fun, rough-hewn panache of vocal performance, bittersweet eclectic and sentimental / collabs with rock idols

2019 

LCD Soundsystem - Electric lady sessions 

Live recording with some new wavy covers 

Harry Styles - Fine line 

Not catchy / mediocre pop 

Boothe - 8 or 9 Walled Room

10 minutes of playful electronic and soft vocals

Good with parents - Good with parents 

Clever indietronica synth pop, fun + ironic + millennial + sax 

Taylor Skye - Kode fine & sons 

Synth, beats and pop vocals 

Famous - England 

Wonky pop punk mixed to electronic sounds and raw spoken vocals

Orville Peck - Pony 

Simple pop rock Johnny Cash style ballads and 80s

Sassy 009 - Kill Sassy 009

Distorted electro pop with strong vocals + post-punk notes

J-Walk - Mediterranean Winds 

Jazzy electronica with glassy synth pads cheesy and chilled out

Mattiel - Satis Factory 

Punky garage rock strong female vocals

Ross Backenkeller - Come Around

Country dreamy and melancholy guitar and vocals 

Legss - Writing Comedy 

Art rock and a dark underbelly of post-punk + topnotch spoken track and electronic sounds

BEA1991 - The Lost Demo EP

Trip-hop with Bjork-style vocals

BEA1991 - Brand New Adult 

Chamber folk and yacht rock meld with R&B and trip-hop

Matt Maltese - Krystal

Lo-fi flowy bedroom pop breakup album

Faye Webster - Atlanta Millionaires Club

Folk-pop, mellow and melancholy soul with an r&b tinge

Infinite Bisous- Period 

Soothing and warm bedroom night album 

Achille Lauro - 1969

Trap changed into rock with romanticised lyrics 

Jerkcurb - Air Con Eden 

Indie-psych and retro Americana, atmospheric, sensitive, wobbly

Octo Octa - Resonant Body

Breakbeats and house bangers

ALASKALASKA - The Dots 

Jazz fusion, disco rhythms and high-gloss art rock

Orphan - Yijoda

Glitchy and sharp electronics + ambient-atmospheric sounds

Honeymoan - Body

Avant-garde pop tapestry of beats and synths with playful vocal

U-Bahn - U-Bahn

Traditional new wave DEVO-moulded, Hypnagogic pop, art-punk, some vaporwave synth sounds

Hail Conjurer - Erotic Hell

Obscure and raw Finnish black metal 

Ride for revenge - Chapter of alchemy 

Quality black metal with long and short tracks pretty smooth 

Boys Age - Neverchanging, Neverending 

Lo-fi, slow-tempo, soul, r&b, mellow tracks with sad very low vocals

MorMor - Some place else 

Indie-pop with sweet synths and delicate vocals 

Felicita - hej!

Overproduced pop dance hits broken down into harsh and jarring staccato melodies, hissing ambient and screams

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Ghosteen

Endlessly giving and complex meditation on mortality and our collective grief, scored by synths, pianos, and electronics

Portico Quartet - Memory Streams

Ethereal keyboards, hypnotic grooves, layered post-rock textures mixed with electronic, ambient and magnetic jazz build-ups

Charles Rumback + Ryley Walker - Little common twist 

Mellow and pastoral folksy guitar melodies and soft drums + ambient tones, drone electronic

Shadowax - Nikolai Reptile

Effervescent techno and mutant bass jams

The Rhythm Method - How do you know I was lonely?

Ostensibly witty and warm pop songs from hip hop to indie and electronic about romance and millennial youth

Martin Dupont - Accident of Stars

80s kinda goth new wave full of electronics, guitars synths and clarinets

Raime - Planted

Latin American and Chicago footwork influences merged with alien sounds, half-heard voices, dark and rhythmic bass and percussions

Sunn 0))) - Pyroclasts

Sunn 0))) - Life Metal

Slow-motion drone feels like a religious ritual / pipe organ and cello, guitars webbing together the space between notes

Special Request - Vortex 

Breakbeat barnstormers and house epics, with room for bleep, electro and gabber

Caterina Barbieri - Ecstatic Computation

Oscillating sequencers, rhythmic pulsations, cascades of synthesiser melodies echoing dance music/new age

Battles - Juice B Crypts 

Playful electronic wizardry, dense array of beats, bleeps and squelches, loopy keyboards and guitars, ecstatic vocals

Haruomi Hosono - HOCHONO HOUSE

Home-recorded aesthetic, funk shaped into minimalist space-age lounge music 

Florist - Emily Alone 

Thoughtful, calming and melancholic, full of hushed, enveloping guitar sounds and gentle vocals

Spencer Radcliffe - Hot Spring 

Alt-country, indie falk americana, very relaxed,pastoral and wry poetics

Ciamkam - Play-doh Dog 

Noise ambient / screeching, dissonant, surreal, ominous 

Equiknoxx - Eternal Children 

UK soundsystem style, reggae groundings, earthy dancehall with a vast range of puzzling vocalists

Eh hahah - Fissure

Experimental deconstructed electronic, sound collage, glitches and post-club music

Upsammy - Wild Chamber 

Lucid shades of IDM, bleep techno, perky synths and frazzling hi-hats, polyrhythmic drum patterns

Otik - Blasphemy

Fresh, vibrant, dark experimental club music, techno + dance + electronic 

Shanti Celeste - Tangerine

Tech / ambient / deep house, breakbeat, rhythmic and mechanical yet dreamy 

Bez - Banki Mydlane

Dream pop, shoegaze, noise pop, space rock, reverberated female vocals + spoken word

Yu Su - Roll with the punches 

Ambient dub, downtempo, tribal ambient, sampling, mellow, atmospheric with female vocals

Drive45 - Dried up 

Bitpop, Artpop, indietronica, quirky and playful, androgynous vocals 

Lala &ce - Le son d’apres 

French hip hop, trap, cloud rap, alternative b&b, dancehall / sparse dark and ominous, warm female vocals

Leif - Loom Dream

Tribal ambient / ambient techno + field recordings / pastoral, ethereal, atmospheric 

deathcrash - Sundown (a collection of home recordings)

Slowcore, drone ambient, post-punk, fragile male vocals

FEET - What’s inside is more than just ham

Post-punk, indie-rock, dance-punk, sarcastic, playful, technical, male vocals

Coi Leray - EC2

Trap, hyphy, pop rap

Ariwo- Quasi 

Dub techno, afro-cuban jazz, ambient techno, chants, programmed beats, pulsating relentless rhythms and percussions, loud sax

Floating Points - Crush

Strikingly melodic and elegant, cinematic, frantic and distorted rhythms, shuddered synths, vibrant breakbeats, sampling, UK garage nodding

Jacques Greene - Dawn Chorus

Bittersweet, sad but triumphant, mix of experimental electronic and lightweight techno + field recordings, hazy sampled textures, distorted drones + disco house + percussions + spoken word

Men I Trust - Oncle Jazz

Indie electronic, minimal, chillout downtempo, dreamy female vocals, jazzy

Raveena - Lucid 

R&B, soul, experimental, pop, groovy, jazzy and dreamy, with some field and spoken words recordings

2018

Shit and Shine - Very high 

Lazy hippie funk with slowed rnb vocals 

Saloli - The deep end

New Age-inspired delicate only-synth music 

Adrianne Lenker - abysskis 

Guitar and sweet and warm vocals 

Ever ending kicks - Ideas relayed 

Sweet lo-fi similar to the previous two 

Negative Gemini - Bad Baby 

Solid synth pop with dreamy intimate vocals

Okay Kaya - Both

melancholy bedroom-pop sarcastic and harsh lyrics

Trust Fund - Bringing the Backline

Witty yet melancholy self-aware pop-rock

Jockstrap - Love is the key to the city 

A fusion of Bossa Nova, 1930s Disney-esque orchestra, and coarse electronica

Noah Cyrus - Good Cry

Pop and rnb debut album with a bit of gospel and melancholy

Carla dal Forno - Top of the pops

Alternative indie electronic, subtle instrumental backdrops with plaintive vocals

Lala Lala - The lamb 

Alternative/Indie rock with grunge tones and personal and warm vocals

Diamond Thug - Apastron

Progressive but dreamy pop, graceful vocals

Denh Izen - Storage Solutions 

Dark and charming sounds with warm and distorted vocals, desperate but calm

Imperial Triumphant - Vile Luxury 

New York Jazz mixed with top-notch black metal great for a sci-fi dystopian movie - especially Cosmopolis

Oliver Coates - Shelley’s on Zenn-La

Beat-oriented electronic music, sublime cello and synths

Dylan Carlson - Conquistador

drone-metal imaginary Western mostly solo electric guitar

Project Pablo - Come to Canada you will like it 

Dozy laid back deep house with  jazzy chords and subtly swinging drums

Ryley Walker - The Lillywhite Sessions 

Dave Matthews Band tribute with proggy folk, primitive guitar, free improv, Chicago jazz-rock on darker tones 

Grouper - Grid of Points

Empty room, piano and voice slip through your fingers like water

Kali malone - Cast of Mind

Glacial synth tones mapped to acoustic woodwind and brass 

Likes - New Pedal

Short tracks of fun glitch / hypnagogic pop

Jake Tobin - Fifth Thought

Fun and whimsical take on classical sax sounds and guitars

Jake Tobin - 135

Avant-prog / jazz fusion / romanticism / off-kilter melodies / psychedelic chords with the emotion and aesthetic of bedroom pop

Twig Twig - Darkworld Gleaming

Experimental pop, whimsical instrumentation, lo-fi uplift, beats and loops

George Clanton - Slide

Cult 2020s electronic born from vaporware influences mixed with whispery chillwave and downtempo R&B, feels like a 90s rave in an open field, no irony

Good Doom - Mood Life

Unique, very chill, dreamy sound, incorporates world music, trip hop beats, lo fi bedroom pop, krautrock and noise

Ex:Re - Ex:Re

Husky and mellow ambient pop, dream pop? Lethargic and melancholic 

Zaumne - Emo Dub

Minimalistic ominous and repetitive ambient house with ASMR-like spoken words

Ehh hahah - And the weather so breezy, man, why can’t life always be this easy?

Progressive experimental electronic, deconstructed club music, EDM, bubblegum bass, playful yet dark

Kate NV - для FOR

Progressive electronic, ambient, new age, minimalist, surreal, otherworldly and playful. wet, fleshy bleeps; bubbly, liquid noise

Leon Chang - re:treat

Mellow lo-fi hip hop, downtempo, electronic, future bass, sampling 

Coi Leray - Everythingcoz

Pop rap, trap, hyphy tunes, powerful + well produced 

Domenique Dumont - Miniatures de auto rhythm 

Sophist-pop, balearic beat, chillwave, dreampopish, soft female vocals, lush, summery and rhythmic

Big Joanie - Sistahs 

Pretty standard textbook indie-rock, post-punk with female vocals 

Darto - Fundamental Slime 

Haunting and spacious, deep male vocals, intriguing eerie melodies, dream state lullabies + sax and spoken word bit

Old Maybe - Piggity Pink 

Chaotic post-punk, unusual time signatures, strong shouted female vocals

Brad Mehldau Trio - Seymour Reads the Constitution! 

Elegant and melodic modal jazz - post-bop album, fragmented but coherent, ever changing time signature and tempo

2017

Ross Backenkeller - Bardo

Folk indie guitar melodies with honest and gentle vocals

Maruego - Tra Zenith e Nadir

Italian trap with disillusioned and ironic lyrics + cool collabs

Nervous Condition - Untitled 

Forceful drums, wails of sax and commanding vocals - mix of experimental rock, post-punk, no wave, jazz

Powerplant - Dogs Sees Ghosts

Synth punk, garage punk fast and fun

Wool & The Pants - Wool & The Pants

Experimental r&b / soul / hiphop vibez pretty smooth and lo-fi

TOPS - Sugar at the gate 

Soft rock tunes, vintage atmosphere, fuzzy, honey-dipped songs 

Slothrust - Show me how you want it to be 

Covers album with grungy sounds and good arrangements 

Rone - Mirapolis

Misty synths and heavy bass lines, dreary and melancholic industrial electronics, packed with doomed vocals of all sorts of guests. 

Ada Babar & Kasra Kurt - Nino Tomorrow

Weird pop and experimental DIY with MIDI keyboards and guitar, playful lyrics, video game menu music

Good Doom - New Shapes for you

Evocative, dreamy and atmospheric melodies, warm at times, chilly, spooky, grungy, dark at others, synth buzzes, glitchy drums

Phoebe Bridgers - Stranger in the alps

Atmospheric ballads for sad times, deeply personal stories of heartbreak and loss 

Florist - If Blue Could Be Happiness

Indie folk, soft and atmospheric, pure gentle quiet and soft female vocals about understanding light and darkness. Swooping guitar, dots of piano notes, gentle beats that recall Simon and Garfunkel

Wishing - Heat Death 

Ambient pop, lo-fi indie beats w/ soft vocals that make you feel things you haven’t felt in a while

Martyn Heyne - Electric Intervals

Ambient in the broadest sense, calm instrumental downtempo guitar-centric with electronic flourishes

Equiknoxx - Colón Man

Vivid and tactile masterful sound design, syncopated loops, wonky and scintillating rhythms 

American Pleasure Club - I blew a dandelion and the whole world disappeared 

Lo-fi acoustic guitar with raw male vocals

Andrea Laszlo De Simone - Uomo Donna 

Progressive pop, baroque/psychedelic pop + field recordings / bittersweet and pastoral 

Drive45 - Have you seen me? 

Bitpop indietronic, glitch pop, sequencer, dance pop

Drive45 - System Format

Bitpop indietronic, playful video game sounds

Leon Chang - bird world 

Bitpop electronic, sequencer, videogame music, future bass / uplifting mellow and playful 

dynastic - SPACE/SUMMER 

Glitch hop, electronic bubblegum, kawaii future bass, mellow and uptempo, cheesy sax, chaotic sounds + dance floor dnb

Darto - Human Giving 

Spacey experimental electronic mixed with post-punk, warm tones, 80s synths, soft melodic vocals + spoken bits

Pregnant - Duct Tape

Indie/art/soft rock, electronic, brilliant pop tunes, dreamy yet rhythmic

2016

Ever Ending Kicks - Music World

DIY colourful dreamy hazy songs 

Mild Eye Club - Skiptracing 

Low-key folk dreamy with 60s 70s vintage links

Loving - Loving 

Easy and dreamy pop melodies, wavy, warm and mellow

Lala Lala- Sleepyhead 

Alternative/Indie rock with grunge tones and personal and warm vocals

Gruff Rhys - Set fire to the stars

Soundtrack to the homonym 2014 film set in the 50s - soft romance rock, jazz-inspired, elegant and familiar

Oliver Coates - Upstepping

Deep house, techno, footwork blended with sharp and experimental classical strings 

Garden Center - Garden Center

Erratic pop music, fun and playful electronic sounds, silly vocals

Raime - Tooth

Ominus and gloomy sound of dub, electronic and post-rock / stripped down to the flesh 

Amiina - Fantomas 

Violin, cello, drums, percussion, metallophone, harp, ukulele and electronics fused in a contemporary classical post-rock gentle melody-focused experimentation

Jake Tobin - Sorta Upset

Short tracks of experimental rock, avant-prog - eclectic and dissonant, technical and manic

Jake Tobin - Accidentally on Purpose

Post-modern experimental pop, jazz influenced sounds, off-kilter saxophone, silly humour 

Vanishing Twin - Choose your own adventure

Swathes of percussion, exotic drum beats and funky guitars merge into a cosmic blend of reverberating bleeps with jazz skits / heady voyage across sound influences

Good Doom - Hug

Good Doom - Naps

Both off-beat lo-fi with a rock twists, spacey, fuzzy, grainy sounds

Zeal & Ardor - Devil is fine

Top notch black metal merges African-American spiritual slave music and some electronic beats and sounds

Shield Patterns - Mirror Breathing

Haunting vocals and sensual cello, clarinet and piano, all wrapped up in ethereal synths

Ashley Henry - Ashley Henry’s 5ive

Complex and uplifting post-bop jazz, imaginative flare, delicate and soothing piano

Florist - The Birds Outside Sang 

Lo-fi indie, ambient-dream pop,sparse, minimalist keyboard leads bordering on chilly drones + intimate and personal songwriting

CBMC - OOR

Acustic lo-fi bedroom pop with an airy tone and somber feel but still feels fresh and lighthearted 

Told Slant - Going By

Slowcore indie pop/folksy emo, ‘intimate spaces in which small town kids write memories of touch, togetherness, loss, love, depersonalisation’

Kate NV - Binasu

Art pop, progressive electronic, sequencer, joyful grooves but also atmospheric and ethereal sounds, eclectic and dense, melodic female vocals

Zaumne - Przezycia

Minimal ambient techno with a couple of spoken word bits 

Mauno - Rough Master

Enticingly and eclectic indie rock, smooth vocals, strings and moody guitars, delicate piano, powerful drums

Susso - Keira

Tribal house, tribal ambient, folktronica, Mande music, rhythmic and powerful chants

Phern - Cool Coma  

Psychedelic pop, lo-fi, mellow and playful 

Hellier Ulysses - Ulysses Hellier 

Experimental rock, math rock, jangle pop mixed with post-punk, technical, lo-fi, uncommon time signatures

Brad Mehldau Trio - Blues and Ballads 

Deceptively sweet-sounding jazz album, songs are played with variations and every phrase is a cliffhanger - gracefully executed + bonus of my fav song <3

2015

Adeodat Warfield - Pacific, Missouri 

Synth pop with electronic beats, vaporware notes

Ross Backenkeller - Rare Please

Folk indie guitar melodies with honest and gentle vocals

Grimes - Art Angels

Immaculate and authentic, synthetic and unreal but also super pop, folk, and dance / POST-art pop?

Jake Tobin - Third and Fourth Thoughts

Short tracks of weird avant-prog where the vocals follow the melodies all the time

Florist - Holdly

Vocals move slowly and sweetly through gentle meditation sound and soft guitars

Starry Cat - Starry Cat

Indie pop, lo-fi indie, wavy and shaky, bitter-sweet and personal male vocals 

CBMC - FOOTWEAR

Acustic lo-fi bedroom pop with a somber feel but still feels fresh and lighthearted nearly asmr-like vocals 

Wishing - To Forget

Lo-fi indie slowcore, fuzzy synths + acoustic sounds mixed with short electronic tracks / lyrics are whispered and very intimate 

Oren Ambarchi - Live Knots 

Two very long live recorded tracks of propulsive drumming full of tensions and releases + droning notes, plucked strings and mournful guitar 

Juxta Phona - we will not be silence 

Ambient, electronic, minimal melodies over crisp, tactile beats

Khruangbin - The Universe Smiles Upon You

Psychedelic / Funk rock, rhythmic and jazzy, tropical warm and peaceful

Red Sea - In The Salon 

Indie experimental rock, psychedelic pop, math rock, melodic yet uncommon time signatures 

Eyeliner - Buy Now 

Synth-pop/funk - vaporwave / instrumental, melodic, uplifting, lush, futuristic / great bass lines! 

2014

Ricky Eat Acid - Three love songs

First half found sounds, experimental electronics, fuzzy piano loops. Second half IDM beats and keys, choir-like vocals / “might be the sound of music having a dream within a dream about music”

Jake Tobin - Torment 

Jake Tobin - Life as a Clerical Error

Weird dissonant mix of avant-prog, art punk and jazz fusion but in an amazing way

Richard Dawson - Nothing Important 

Brittle, crudely amplified nylon-string acoustic guitar, experimental drones, folk sketches, imitation field cries, and free jazz diversions

2013

Ever Ending Kicks - Weird priorities

Sentimental chill instrumental and colourful with gentle vocals

Gruff Rhys - American Interior

John Evans-themes concept album - witty folk oriented retro-futurist music 

Michael Andrews - Spilling a rainbow

Well-crafted pop tunes, nostalgic and lighthearted memories of folk rock with a dash of avant-garde electronic haze

Pill Friends - Blessed Suffering

Lo-fi indie/emo noisy and raw with existential and stark male vocals 

2012

Told Slant - Still Water

Lo-fi/bedroom-punk with folksy guitars and delicate vocals as if they could break down in tears at any moment

2010

Hype Williams - Find out what happens when people stop being polite and start gettin reel

Ypnagogic vortex of incredibly canny hard to pinpoint music with distorted spoken vocals

Zach Hill - FACE TAT

Constant restless drumming, squiggly melodic instrumental hooks, mosaics of disconnected noises, fuzzy sounds and vocals

2008

Amplifier Machine - her mouth is an outlaw

Half-improvised ambient - drone - experimental - electronic - post-rock

E. Bandel, Victory & Good Hunting - s/t

Classical, piano, folk, melancholic, haunting

2007

Seabear - The ghost that carried us away

Indie/folk multi-instrumental dynamic floating sound, warm melodies, calm and gentle vocals

HEALTH - HEALTH 

A masterful noise/experimental rock with elements of post-punk, drone and electronic - disorienting rhythms, tempo-shifting, noisy outbursts

2005

The Darkness - One way ticket to hell

Hard / glam rock ballads and pop tunes 

2004

The Emperor Machine - Aimee Tallulah is hypnotised 

Mix of electro euro disco, post-punk, krautrock, sci-fi scores, jazz-funk. Thick dance rhythms and mind-altering synths

2002

ESG - Step Off 

Sweet soul with a punk attitude, jazzy sassy vocals

Hella - Hold your horse is 

Non-stop, indie-audio assault / Nintendo music / midi and electronic beats / head-spinning leading drums, very fast guitars

1998

Eels - Electro-Shock Blues

elegantly sad grief and death themed album, deeply personal, yet brilliant pop tunes, post-grunge, jazzy arrangement, archive sounds, electronics

Duster - Stratosphere

Bashful slowcore lo-fi experimental space/indie rock

1975

Bobbi Humphrey- Fancy Dancer 

Funky jazz with forms of world music, soul, club music and pop

1973

Kevin Ayers - Bananamour

Progressive pop, art rock with mix of soul, r&b, reggae - choirs and country type ballads

1972

Kevin Ayers - Whatevershebringswesing

Experimental new age prog rock, semisweet tunes, lighthearted, skewed sounds

1970

Kevin Ayers - Shooting at the moon

Experimental, progressive, avant-garde, rock with jazz influences, sound recordings, excellent songwriting

[lunapaper]

Album Review: 'Justice' - Justin Bieber

So did Justin Bieber change direction? Will he do his latest album... justice?

Uh...

Released a mere 13 months after the bland and tiresome Changes, the Canadian singer delivers yet another set of mawkish love ballads and Top 40-baiting pop to remind us all once again that he really, really, truly, madly, deeply loves his wife Hailey Baldwin and of his commitment to God.

On ‘Deserve You,’ he admits: ‘When I'm in my thoughts sometimes/It's hard to believe I'm the person you think I am/The person that you tell me you love.’ He’s even ‘off my face in love with you,’ replacing one vice for another as he finds himself stoned after one touch of Mrs Bieber. On the skittering, soaring ‘Ghost,’ he vows: ‘If I can't be close to you/I'll settle for the ghost of you.’

Bieber also pledges to die for her, to walk through fire ‘even if your kiss would kill me,’ on ‘Somebody,’ be the shoulder for her to cry on, and even calls he ‘the only good thing I’ve ever done’ on ‘Anyone’ as they dance under a sky full of diamonds.

‘Love You Different,’ however, leaves nothing to the imagination: ‘Under covers ain’t no rubbers/ On this planet I’ll treat you like a mother/ Let’s make babies.’

If it was just a couple of love songs dedicated to his wife, it’d be fine, but one after the other, at this level of co-dependency and self-loathing from a now 27-year-old Bieber, is just suffocating and kind of frightening. Then again, Homer did say complete and utter dependence is a ‘wonderous, marvellous thing’...

The breezy ‘Peaches,’ meanwhile (ft. Daniel Caesar and Giveon) is carefully tailored to be a potential Song of the Summer, this time praising Georgia-grown produce and California weed alongside his wife. It’s like a more grown-up version of that ‘you gotta keep your head up, oh-woah’ song, with just a dash of Maroon 5’s ‘Sunday Morning.’

Then there’s previous single ‘Holy’ (ft. fellow wife-lover, Chance the Rapper), a sweeping gospel pop ode sampling, of all things, Elvis’ ‘Can’t Help Falling in Love with You,’ that sees Bieber ‘runnin' to the altar like a track star.’ But this goofy eagerness for The Lord is outmatched by some even goofier lines from Chance, like this one: ‘Life is short with a temper like Joe Pesci.’ As both an Italian and a music lover, I just can’t abide. Then again, Chance really doesn’t like criticism, so that probably explains its first draft-like quality....

Look, I have no problem with religion or spirituality of any kind (Except for Hillsong, ‘cos fuck Hillsong, fuck Morrison and fuck prosperity gospel). I don’t even consider myself an atheist. It can help provide guidance and comfort in troubling times, as it’s done for Bieber. It’s also quite ironic that I post this review on Good Friday... But like a lot of born-again types, he must espouse his religious beliefs at every single turn, in the most preachy and insufferable way possible; there's just no in between.

Justice also sees Bieber attempt to restyle himself as some sort of humanitarian – by sampling the powerful words of Dr Martin Luther King Jr.

But rather than use them to speak out against racial injustice or police brutality, they’re merely used to prop up Bieber’s overwrought declarations of love on piano ballad ‘2 Much’ and on an interlude halfway through the album... which is immediately followed by ‘Die For You’ (ft. Dominic Fike), dedicated yet again to Hailey.

Although he admits that ‘I know that I cannot simply solve injustice by making music, but I do know that if we all do our part by using our gifts to serve this planet, and each other, that we are that much closer to being united,’ Bieber’s social conscience rings hollow, nothing but a gross, vapid, self-indulgent attempt to capture the cultural zeitgeist. It's corporate brand wokeness; the bare minimum when it typically comes to celebrity activism. Or maybe this is some weird way of atoning for the awfulness of ‘Yummy’ and trying to game the Spotify algorithm. That he didn’t anticipate such backlash in the first place is also pretty galling.

Even the album’s title is perplexing: What justice is Bieber fighting for, exactly? The right to bone Hailey Baldwin? The right to dedicate soppy ballads to her?

But, like Changes, there are a few diamonds in the rough.

The hazy, drum-powered atmospherics of ‘Deserve You’ could’ve easily sat alongside Purpose’s biggest hits, like a softer, slower take on Jason Derulo’s ‘Cheyenne.’ ‘Unstable’ (ft. The Kid LAROI) is sparse and ghostly with those ‘Another Day in Paradise’-like vibes.

‘Die For You’s intensity is matched by punchy 80s synths. ‘Somebody’ (produced by Skrillex) is also urgent and feverish, given some extra grit with some power pop riffs and murky percussion, while the glitchy ‘Love You Different’ (ft. BEAM) is as bold and vibrant as ‘Sorry,’ combining garage-inspired beats with dancehall swagger.

If Bieber had just stripped away all the cheesy ballads and stuck with the 80s synthpop, he probably could’ve turned Justice into his very own After Hours (not nearly as good, mind you, but still better than... this).

Justice is not nearly as profound as Justin Bieber thinks it is, his latest album once again let down by cheesy, uninspired lyrics and a lack of focus as he relies on a grab bag of styles: early MTV-style New Wave, tropical pop, RnB, pop rock. Although the acoustic ballads are, thankfully, kept to a minimum and the production is just as slick, with much stronger collaborators for the singer to bounce off (Then again, just about anyone is an improvement on fuckin’ Lil Dicky...)

Like Changes, it’s also about five or six tracks too long. Hell, there’s no less than four deluxe editions of Justice: The Target Exclusive, The Walmart Exclusive, The Alternate Version (featuring one extra track), and The Triple Chucks Deluxe. It’s so fuckin’ shameless, but what do you expect from the guy who released ‘Yummy’?

His quest for TikTok notoriety blew up in his face. His attempt to ‘continue the conversation of what justice looks like’ is hollow and plain tone-deaf. His syrupy, obsessive odes to his wife have more than grown thin at this point. If he doesn’t gain some self-awareness soon, then It’s hard to know just where Bieber goes from here...

- Bianca B.