inuborg 4,135 Posted December 20, 2015 Share Posted December 20, 2015 Honorable Mentions: Summertime 06 - Vince Staples Top Tracks: Let Me Know, Summertime, Señorita Riot Boi - Le1f Top Tracks: Koi, Rage, Lisa Ibeyi - Ibeyi Top Tracks: Think Of You, Ghosts, River Crybaby - Melanie Martinze Top Tracks: Sippy Cup, Dollhouse, Pacify Her Hallucinogen - Kelela Top Track: Rewind Know It All - Alessia Cara A lot of teenage angst and inquisitiveness in this album. Although sometimes the writing can be cliche, like in the song, Seventeen, Alessia’s voice pulls through in a lot of the tracks. Here, her breakout single is the best song on the album, unfortunately. I wish she could have explored that darker, grittier sound. I don’t like the ballads that close the album as much. Top Tracks: Here, Wild Ones, Four Pink Walls. Por Vida - Kali Uchis Not much to say about this album. Musically its good, but I think its overall package that draws me to this album. I like her voice, its very interesting, especially in songs like Sycamore Tree. And sometimes her writing can be just as good, like in I Know What I Want and Riding Round. Top Tracks: I Know What I Want, Speed, Sycamore Tree. After That We Didn’t Talk - Gold Link This album is pretty perculiar. Its dancey in some parts, its soulful in others, and sometimes its pretty sad. Gold link isn’t the best singer, but he can carry a tune, but really he shines best when he’s rapping. His flow is great and he changes it pretty frequently to great effectiveness. Also the beats on this album are really good too. Top Tracks: Zipporah, Dance On Me, Late Night Back To The Woods - Angel Haze A great step up from her debut, Angel Haze proved to be a little bit more interesting on this album. But only a little bit. A lot of her music lacks a lot of personality. That being said, technically, a lot of the beats are amazing and sharp, her rapping is as piercing as ever and her singing decent. Top Tracks: The Woods, Babe Ruthless, D-Day A New Place 2 Down - Archy Marshall (aka King Krule) This is really and album to put on and get lost to. It almost put your thoughts in slow motion. Great mood music. Top Tracks: Swell, Sex With Nobody, Arise Dear Brother Me - Empress Of To put it simply, she reminds me of a more digestible Bjork. Top Tracks: To Get By, Make Up, Icon Get To Heaven - Everything Everything This was an unexpected find this year. This band is a great mix of rock and synth. And the writing is strange and out there, but it all comes together for a great album. Top Tracks: Spring/Sun/Winter/Dread, We Sleep Pairs, Blast Door Ratchet - Shamir With his debut album. Shamir ditched the lo-fi disco for some more synth pop appeal, and he couldn’t have made a better choice. The synth and vocal melodies come together for some catchy songs. The writing can sometimes be a little silly, but thats just his nature. I wish, On The Regular wasn’t the only rap song on the album though. Top Tracks: KC, On The Regular, Hot Mess. EP3 - FKA twigs Who knew the follow up to LP1 would be so visceral. The light and sweet and heartfelt nature is pretty much gone. Figure 8 is very noisy, and so are parts of Glass and Patron. There isn’t much raw emotion like in her other EPs and the voguing inspiration is clear. There is no subtly on this ep, and for the most part it works. But at the same time I can’t help but miss some of the more tender moments like Pendulum, Closer, or even Two Weeks would be step down in intensity. For me, Mothercreep is by far the best song of the album, and it happens to be the most emotion inept. Top Tracks: Mothercreep, Glass and Patron, In Time Cherry Bomb - Tyler, The Creator Tyler’s growth is really apparent here. Not but as a rapper, his rapping is about the same level as his previous album, Wolf, but growth as a composer and arrangement. A lot of moments on this album are down right beautiful. And even the noisey tracks have some good qualities to him. I do like the dichotomy of the noise and the smooth tracks. As much I like them I think an album full of the more smoother songs would be kind of dull. I think the noise at it’s best is Deathcamp. That being said, Tyler’s rap verses range from good to great, theres not a bad verse on this album. All in all, this isn’t the same guy who rapped, “Rape a pregnant bitch and tell everyone I had a threesome” Top Tracks: Buffalo, ****ing Young/ Perfect, Smuckers Honeymoon - Lana Del Rey This is Lana, literally at her best. Her writing can be awkward at time, but the soundscapes are amazing. Every single song has amazing instrumentals driving this record. Now while I’d say the muddy trap songs are the best, but an album full of them would get kind of bland so I appreciate the variety. I also quite like the more somber songs on the first half of the album as well. Top Tracks: Honeymoon, Terrence Loves You, Freak Pregnant With Success - Junglepussy I never expected Junglepussy to be this good. Ever. Her debut had some really good songs, but this album is a true body of work. Whereas Angel Haze has little to no real personality, Junglepussy has all the personality you could ask for. A lot of her bars are very tongue and cheek but you believe it, you believe that this is her truth. Rapping about greasing her scalp, duty whining down the yellow brick road, and eating fruits and veggies is both humorous and inspiring (as a person of color). And the beats, by god the beats are amazing. Shy Guy shines like he never did before. The samples are great, the sounds are bombastic, and they compliment JP’s style really well. Top Tracks: Nothing For Me, Get To Stepping, Dear Diary, Country Boy How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful - Florence + The Machine Where is Ceremonials was a giant wall of ice, this album is literally an open sky full of fresh air. Even on the more heavy moments like What Kind Of Man, there is a kind of space and airiness that flows through the album. The writing is perhaps the most relatable on any Florence album yet, a lot of it is simple, yet very effective. And the horns is a nice theme running through the album. Especially the beautiful outro on the title track. And her voice, its been refined since Ceremonials but at the same time has that same sheer power and emotion. Even moments like St. Jude where in comparison to older songs, she’s basically as a whisper. Top Tracks: How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful, Which Witch, Queen of Peace, Various Storms and Saints, Ship To Wreck Art Angels - Grimes I did not expect to love this album as much as I did. The vocal and instrumental melodies are impeccable and infectious ear worms. Literally some of the sounds have the best melodies I’ve heard in a long time. Especially songs like Flesh Without Blood, Life in a Vivid Dream, Realiti, and Belly Of The Beat. The latter especially, as one of the few real somber moments of the album, the melody is what drives the emotion for me, along with what few lyrics I can point out. Speaking of which, I believe why this album appeals to me more than other Grimes albums is because the vocals are more pronounced then they ever been. This album is the best “pop” release this year. Really, what stops this from being my number one album this year, is the track Scream. It just isn’t for me. Top Tracks: California, Flesh Without Blood, Kill V Maim, Butterfly, Life In A Vivid Dream I Don’t Like ****, I Don’t Go Outside - Earl Sweatshirt This album is literally depression in m4a format. Some of the songs on this album literally are soul suckers, draining you of your life energy as you listen, especially songs like Grief. But let me add, I mean that in a good way. I mean if you’re going to go for that depressed sound might as well go all the way, and that Earl does. Beyond the depressing theme, Earl’s verses are as tight, sharp, and thought provoking as they ever been. I think he’s even getting better. He’s also spitting harder than he ever was. The songs are often quite short, many of them don’t even have choruses, just bar after bar, and it works for his style and presentation. The beats are moody, but there are some sweet elements and also a lot of detail in the smaller patterns running along the tracks. Top Tracks: Huey, Mantra, Grief, Faucet, Inside, Wool I root for you. I love you. You, you, you, you. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Didymus 34,379 Posted December 20, 2015 Share Posted December 20, 2015 I applaud you for posting this since 90% of this forum won't have heard of 90% up there I see some interesting albums that I haven't listened to, so thanks Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
inuborg 4,135 Posted December 20, 2015 Author Share Posted December 20, 2015 7 minutes ago, Didymus said: I applaud you for posting this since 90% of this forum won't have heard of 90% up there I see some interesting albums that I haven't listened to, so thanks Thanks. While it was a terrible year for pop music, a lot of great albums came out in other genres. It could not have been better. (well if a certain female rapper released the follow up to her mixtape she said she would it could have been better *eye roll*) I root for you. I love you. You, you, you, you. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephen 30,266 Posted December 20, 2015 Share Posted December 20, 2015 slay me inu Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desperado 2,439 Posted December 20, 2015 Share Posted December 20, 2015 Slay a bit, thanks to me that empress of (my queen) is there. I think i will post mine here too (on this forum) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desperado 2,439 Posted December 20, 2015 Share Posted December 20, 2015 1 hour ago, inuborg said: Thanks. While it was a terrible year for pop music, a lot of great albums came out in other genres. It could not have been better. (well if a certain female rapper released the follow up to her mixtape she said she would it could have been better *eye roll*) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
inuborg 4,135 Posted December 20, 2015 Author Share Posted December 20, 2015 1 minute ago, Desperado said: slay a bit, thanks to me that empress of (my queen) is there. yes, she's a queen :legend: I root for you. I love you. You, you, you, you. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
squeala 875 Posted December 20, 2015 Share Posted December 20, 2015 definitely giving the earl sweatshirt album a listen tonight if you think it beats art angels! in fact i'll probably work my way through most of the list Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desperado 2,439 Posted December 20, 2015 Share Posted December 20, 2015 7 minutes ago, inuborg said: yes, she's a queen :legend: and she's recording her new album rn... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
GloZell Green 11,723 Posted December 20, 2015 Share Posted December 20, 2015 1 hour ago, inuborg said: Thanks. While it was a terrible year for pop music, a lot of great albums came out in other genres. It could not have been better. (well if a certain female rapper released the follow up to her mixtape she said she would it could have been better *eye roll*) Literally one of the only things I've been waiting for besides the obvious Cnt wait for queen Lady Gaga | Shakira Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
inuborg 4,135 Posted December 20, 2015 Author Share Posted December 20, 2015 17 minutes ago, squeala said: definitely giving the earl sweatshirt album a listen tonight if you think it beats art angels! in fact i'll probably work my way through most of the list Yeah Earl's album is really good, but intense album, and its really short too, slightly under 30 minutes. Pregnant With Success is sooooooooo good I root for you. I love you. You, you, you, you. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desperado 2,439 Posted December 20, 2015 Share Posted December 20, 2015 Just now, inuborg said: Yeah Earl's album is really good, but intense album, and its really short too, slightly under 30 minutes. Pregnant With Success is sooooooooo good gimme a dl link for pws Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdAstra 2,649 Posted December 20, 2015 Share Posted December 20, 2015 The fact that you included Which Witch in your review of HBHBHB makes me so happy. One of the best songs on the album, in my opinion. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riot Poof 2,236 Posted December 20, 2015 Share Posted December 20, 2015 I should check out Empress Of if you compared her to Björk! I still haven't checked out Junglepussy. Forgive me, Inu. I just need to wait for the right time to try to get into her. For example, I had to wait to get into Fiona Apple. Now, she's one of my faves. I'm not a woman. I'm not a man. I am something that you'll never understand. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
inuborg 4,135 Posted December 20, 2015 Author Share Posted December 20, 2015 2 minutes ago, Riot Poof said: I should check out Empress Of if you compared her to Björk! I still haven't checked out Junglepussy. Forgive me, Inu. I just need to wait for the right time to try to get into her. For example, I had to wait to get into Fiona Apple. Now, she's one of my faves. Yeah it took me a bit to get into JP, but now I'm in love. I root for you. I love you. You, you, you, you. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Featured Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.