Lil Yachty - Let’s Start Here
Genre: Progressive rock; psychedelic rock
Review
I know what you’re thinking, but here me out. Yes, Lil Yachty from the 2016 and 2017 radio hits has released a progressive rock album in 2023. But trust me when I say this is easily the best thing he’s ever put out! Sure, the lyrics here are a bit nonsensical at points, but the production is psychedelic bliss! He enlisted many high profile names to help him with this project; such as Nick Hakim, Mac DeMarco, Alex G, Magdalena Bay, Diana Gordon, Daniel Caesar, Teezo Touchdown, and many more! These people come together to help create this atmospheric rock record that even when it doesn’t seem like it should work, it does. The atmosphere this album provides is very unique to music currently being released. To have this artistic evolution from Lil Yachty is easily the biggest curveball I’ve seen in the past few years. While there are some aspects of this record that haven’t connected with me yet, I’m finding it hard to criticize someone who took this big of a risk and pulled it off better than anyone could have expected. Congratulations to Lil Yachty!.
Favorite Tracks: “The BLACK seminole.”, “the ride-”, “The Alchemist.”
If You Like: Pink Floyd; Tame Impala; shrooms
Angel Electronics - Ultra Paradise
Genre: Brutal euphoria wave; pop-punk; metal
Review
This thing absolutely rules! Angel Electronics is a duo composed of Ada Rook from Black Dresses and LA producer Ash Nerve. They come together on these 9 songs to make a sound that they call “brutal euphoria wave”. It’s a mixture of pop-punk and metal, but with the feeling of an anime theme song. I know that description sounds wild, but the music on here is absolutely euphoric chaos! It feels like a toddler on a sugar rush, but he’s running around unsupervised. There’s clearly lots of pure joy, but there is also this sense of darkness below the surface. This is still the most accessible thing that I’ve ever heard from Ada Rook. She usually makes extremely harsh music, but the lightness and catchy hooks help me digest those heavy parts better than I have with Black Dresses. I’m not sure what their plan is for the future with this group, but I would love to hear more!
Favorite Tracks: “Party Girl”, “One Thousand And One Nights”, “Evil Behind You”
If You Like: Experimental; Black Dresses, Avril Lavigne
Isomonstrosity - isomonstrosity
Genre: Classical, hip-hop, experimental
Review
This is easily one of the most interesting albums I’ve heard in awhile. It brings together Pulitzer prize winner Ellen Reid, Julliard-trained composer Yuga Cohler, and Travis Scott producer Johan Lenox into one mind-melting experience! This project is full of classical sounding moments, but they are often looped and have metallic drums underscoring them that put it firmly in the experimental hip hop sound. They bring everyone from Danny Brown to 645AR onto this project, and even though their contributions are notable, it doesn’t overshadow the talent of these producers. It’s something that is truly unique and even though it didn't make my end of the year lists last year, this album is easily worthy of your time.
Favorite Tracks: “careful what you wish for”, “shining”, “i used to”
If You Like: Sound design; noise; experimental music
100 gecs - Snake Eyes
Genre: Hyperpop
Review
These are three songs that have appeared to not quite make it onto their upcoming album, 10000 Gecs. While their actual singles for the album over the past couple years have needed some listens to fully enjoy them, all three songs here hit instantly. “Hey Big Man” is an absolutely wild track filled with energy equivalent to three coffees. Legendary producer Skrillex shows up on “Torture Me” and makes it sound like it could’ve came out in the middle 2010s, but he does add a bit of the newer hyperpop-isms to the drops. “Runaway” ends the project on a ballad. Well, as close to a ballad as 100 gecs can get, but it still feels somewhat emotional like a good ballad should be. If these are the songs that didn’t make the album, I can only imagine what actually made the album!
Favorite Tracks: All of them
If You Like: Chipmunks on LSD making incredible music
BabyTron - Bin Reaper 3: New Testament
Genre: Hip-hop; trap
Review
BabyTron feels partly like a joke and partly like he could be the next big thing in hip hop. His lyrics are full of constantly hilarious one-liners, whether they’re about Zach Randolph, Big Lurch, or Call of Duty Zombies. The beats all sound fairly similar, especially with the hi-hats and off-beat drums. How many people could go from a line about Wes Welker to one about Albert Einstein in the same song? There are some easy flaws to point out in this project, whether it be the absurdly long length or the lack of diversity, but it’s got plenty of enjoyable songs that show BabyTron is more than just a meme. While I do hope that BabyTron will make a really great project, this isn’t a project to criticize, but one to take lightly.
Favorite Tracks: “Remote Control”, “RIP Hutch”, “Gimme Dat”
If You Like: Scamming; obscure NBA references
Mac DeMarco - Five Easy Hot Dogs
Genre: Indie rock; instrumental
Review
This is a fairly safe Mac DeMarco album. Sure, he’s become one of the most influential names in indie music, but if anyone had high expectations after hearing that this was going to be a purely instrumental project, that’s on them. He made this entire album on a roadtrip across the country, and every song is named after the city it was named in. Sure, it can be fairly boring if you’re going to do nothing but sit and listen to it, but it functions fairly well as background music. This is something to put on while studying or reading and just having the calm guitar chords and synth melodies keep you at peace while trying to get things done. There are some songs I like more than others. For example, I do enjoy the Portland songs more than the others, but everything just flows together so nicely that it makes for a nice and calm listening experience.
Favorite Tracks: “Portland 2”, "Vancouver”, “Victoria”
If You Like: Coffee shop music
Oddisee - To What End
Genre: Hip-hop; soul; indie
Review
It’s been six years since the last full length album from the underground icon Oddisee. He was running underground hip hop in the 2010s with his soulful instrumentals and potent subject matter, but he took a substantial break from making music after 2017. This new album is full of what made him great, but his break unintentionally made the need for this music really small in my opinion. The instrumentals are played by a live band and his rapping is really slick, but there are also plenty of other artists that have now filled this void and have progressed it even further. People like 9th Wonder, Rapsody, Phonte, Noname, and even Mac Miller (before he passed), were already doing this sound. So while there are plenty of awesome songs on here, as a project, it won’t get many listens in the future from me.
Favorite Tracks: “Already Knew”, “Choices”, “Work To Do”
If You Like: Live band hip hop performances; clean music
Ice Spice - Like…?
Genre: Hip-hop; drill
Review
Ice Spice has captivated the Internet over the past few months with her song “Munch”. At first, it seemed like it was going to be a one off viral song, but she has turned it into something more than I thought possible. Even if most people consider her a joke, I know there are plenty of people out there that absolutely love her music. This debut EP from her shows that she has talent, but she’s still clearly a one trick pony. A song like “Princess Diana” is full of catchy flows while a slightly weird NY-drill beat provides the backing. But even at only 6 songs, this project can feel samey by the end of it if you’re paying attention at all. Still, I can’t help but feel like she’ll be around for quite a while. While this project won’t stay in rotation, it was a fun listen for the time it was on.
Favorite Tracks: “In Ha Mood” & “Princess Diana”
If You Like: NY-drill; party music
Boldy James & RichGains - Indiana Jones
Genre: Hip-hop
Review
Boldy James is currently in the hospital recovering from a serious car accident. After being in surgery for an extended period of time and a stay in intensive care, he still gave the go ahead for yet another project to release from his hospital bed. This time, it’s a 17-song project with the producer RichGains. It’s the third straight month Boldy has released a project! It’s honestly wild that he can release this much music and still have all of it be quality. Sure, there are a couple misses on this project, but a song like “Tell It All” is an incredible hip hop track with a cinematic, western-styled beat that fits the album title well. “Never Had a Friend” has the same emotionless feeling that a Future or 21 Savage track gets across, which is something I never would’ve thought Boldy would rhyme over. It’s nice to hear him rap over something trap-ish, especially since he releases so much material. I do hope he can give us one masterpiece this year, because he clearly has the talent to. But for now, I just hope he can get healthy.
Favorite Tracks: “Tell It All”, “Never Had a Friend”, “Still Slappin”
If You Like: Boldy’s previous albums
Zelooperz - Might Not Make It
Genre: Experimental hip-hop
Review
I know we’re only in January, but this is by far the weirdest thing I’ve heard all year. The production here is completely chaotic. There are plenty of samples spliced seemingly at random that would make sure this project is never on streaming. I’m pretty sure I heard a Bootsy Collins sample on “Harickjuku Barbie”. It feels like a bunch of random loops being put together and given to a teenager who just started making beats that planned when to use them, but for some reason, it works. Just the fact that Zelooperz manages to stay on beat for these tracks is a feat in itself, and that’s before the memorable one-liners and hooks come in. I hope Zelooperz does end up dropping a full length project this year, because as good as this project is, it still just feels like a teaser.
Favorite Tracks: “Whitney Houston”, “BacktoBacktobacktoback”, “Okay lil Walter”
If You Like: Experimental hip-hop; random metal noise
The Arcs - Electrophonic Chronic
Genre: Garage rock; soul
Review
The Arcs are a side project from Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys. The other three members of the project were all a part of soul groups like Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings and El Michels Affair. This makes The Arcs sound a lot more soulful than The Black Keys, but that’s not the only difference. This project is a lot more relaxed and synth-heavy than any of The Black Keys material I’ve heard before. It’s also the most memorable project I’ve heard from him in a while too! I’m not sure if that’s because of the short length or the fact that his songwriting here is legitimately great, but this project has been in rotation for me ever since it came out. This is just a quality rock/soul album from some very talented artists!
Favorite Tracks: “Heaven is a Place”, “River”, “Behind the Eyes”
If You Like: The Black Keys; Sharon & The Dap Kings
Evita Manji - Spandrel?
Genre: Electronic; Experimental
Review
Just to give some quick background information, Evita was the partner of electronic icon SOPHIE when she passed away. This is their debut album and it was released on the two year anniversary of SOPHIE’s passing. While the entire thing is not about that, the emotion behind it is clearly present. There is also a heavy theme on climate change on looking at our relationship with technology. Evita produced this entire thing themselves, which is extremely impressive! I haven’t listened to it on a speaker, but there’s no way it will translate as well. There are so many intricate sound design details that would not come through on a normal speaker. Evita’s vocals are almost always heavily processed and robotic, but that does play into the themes of the album. I’ve only had a couple listens so far, but I’m excited to see if it grows on me, because I think it might! For now though, I’ll let it be the emotional semi-SOPHIE tribute it is.
Favorite Tracks: “Pitch Black”, “Closer to Midnight”, “Body/Prison”
If You Like: SOPHIE; weird electronic club music; Arca
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