Pots 2020 Q1
3.5's+ for 2020 Q1. Spotify sample playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5dKT99P3hQBu82GtIahwn4?si=_wERis9JTd2eOs5i_Sd82g |
1 | | Coubo Homewards
LP
Instrumental Hip-Hop
4/5 |
2 | | Rome Fortune FREEk
LP
Cloud Rap
3.5/5 |
3 | | Slugabed they exist!!!!
EP
Wonky
3.5/5 |
4 | | Jon Kennedy Mmxx
Some truly classic late '90s early '00s Downtempo/Trip-Hop sounds here. It's insanely cathartic to hear something in this vein sound so fresh.
LP
Trip-Hop/Downtempo/Drum & Bass
4/5 |
5 | | Craven Faults Erratics and Unconformities
Sounds like an intersection somewhere between Lorn and BoC
Ambient/Minimal Techno
3.5/5 |
6 | | Jamie Isaac, Nosaj Thing 3
Some of the best material from either party in a while.
EP
Contemporary R&B
3.5/5 |
7 | | Joe Corfield Old Salt (Inspired 'The Outlaw Ocean'...)
Those snare snaps are just OOMPH. Wish this was an LP.
EP
Instrumental Hip-Hop
3.5/5 |
8 | | Long Arm Silent Opera
LP
Downtempo/Nu Jazz
4/5 |
9 | | OTHERLiiNE OTHERLiiNE
LP
UK Funky/Garage
3.5/5 |
10 | | Nicola Cruz, Pigmaliao Nicola Cruz / Pigmaliao
This split borrows similarly from South American traditional music and Electronic as other work from Cruz or Jaar, but where the former often emphasizes the more downtempo/folktronic styling of Digital Cumbia and the latter more prominently electronic - Microhouse for instance - this split feels like it belongs in a similarly influenced sub-sphere of Electro and Acid House.
EP
Acid House
4/5 |
11 | | A.A.L. (Against All Logic) 2017-2019
LP
Tech House/IDM
4.5/5 |
12 | | Black Light Smoke Heat Flash
EP
Tech House
3.5/5 |
13 | | Denzel Curry and Kenny Beats Unlocked
EP
Hip-Hop
3.5/5 |
14 | | Otik Wetlands
EP
Techno/UK Bass
3.5/5 |
15 | | Rejoicer Spiritual Sleaze
LP
Downtempo/Glitch Hop
3.5/5 |
16 | | King Krule Man Alive!
LP
Post Punk/Ambient Pop
4/5 |
17 | | Agnes Obel Myopia
LP
Chamber Pop
3.5/5 |
18 | | Arms and Sleepers {int}erpret null: miniatures, vol. 1
Arms and Sleepers
{int}erpret null: miniatures, vol. 1
Never would have thought ~ambient~ would be the direction A&S would need to go to freshen up his sound... Great little piece.
EP
Ambient/Modern Classical
3.5/5 |
19 | | Dauwd Psssh 001
EP
Deep House
3.5/5 |
20 | | Caribou Suddenly
It's good, but Caribou is hardly the genre-chameleon he once was. If Our Love was SWIM 2.0, this is SWIM 2.5, and while it's not tired yet, it will be one day. Home is possibly the most derivative Caribou has ever felt, and alongside some other questionable choices like the abrupt "transition" near the end of Lime, Suddenly is a fun, but rather safe and predictable album from an artist who built his career around being neither safe, nor predictable.
LP
Indietron2000
3.5/5 |
21 | | Ivy Lab Cava
EP
Halftime
3.5/5 |
22 | | The Seshen CYAN
Solid little neo-soul/hip hop inflected electropop album.
LP
Electropop
3.5/5 |
23 | | sir Was Letter
Here and there sir Was sprinkles his discography with some cookie-cutter beach bum vibez, but when he makes the effort to stand out in the crowd, he's unmistakable. I really quite like this dude all things considered, and this EP is concise enough to forgo the forgettable tracks that plague his LPs.
EP
Alt R&B/Beach Pop Shit
3.5/5 |
24 | | Botany Fourteen 45 Tails
EP
Ambient
3.5/5 |
25 | | Earth Trax LP1
LP
Acid Techno/Breakbeat
3.5/5 |
26 | | Mike Slott Vignettes
LP
New Age/Ambient
3.5/5 |
27 | | Four Tet Sixteen Oceans
If this included the 2019 tracks Anna Painting, Lahaina Noon, Dreamer, and Only Human instead of some of the pointless filler or tracks from the bemusing veer into ambient territory of the second half, this could have been his best work to date.
LP
Microhouse/Ambient
3.5/5 |
28 | | Booka Shade Red Medina / Acid Brain
EP
Tech House
3.5/5 |
29 | | JFDR New Dreams
If her name or voice sounds familiar, it may be from her work on Lapalux albums Amnioverse and Ruinism. If you enjoy her work there, this is an absolute must. New Dreams is bewilderingly stunning and immersive, likely a top contender for pop AOTY.
LP
Ambient Pop/Glitch Pop/FolkTron2000
4.5/5 |
30 | | Porches. Ricky Music
LP
Synthpop/Alt R&B/IndieTron
3.5/5 |
31 | | Shabaka and the Ancestors We Are Sent Here By History
LP
Afro-Jazz
3.5/5 |
32 | | Asa Tone Temporary Music
This one's a real treat. I was recommended this by a friend and upon a little research I discovered that Melati Malay, of the incredible Young Magic duo, makes up a third of this new project. Temporary Music is the deconstructed and rearranged culmination of 10 days worth of recording sessions between her and the other two members in Malay's home of Indonesia. The recordings themselves - which are a mix of traditional Indonesian instrumentation/instruments and various analog electronics - were then post-produced to create the beautiful little record you'll hear here.
LP
Tribal Ambient/Minimal Synth
4/5 |
33 | | Priscilla Ermel Origens Da Luz
Compilation of material originally recorded between '86 and '94. Ermel can basically play every instrument on the entire planet so you're in for a bit of a globe-trotting experience.
COMP
Avant-Folk/Tribal Ambient
3.5/5 |
34 | | Sign Libra Sea to Sea
Uncharacteristically lively, less sound-scapey new age stuff that sounds more like a frantic, attention deficit 80's Mark Isham than a product of the modern slow, relaxed spa-music sound. If you have any interest in goofy ass old New Age then you may glean some joy from this. If not, you might want to steer clear.
LP
New Age/Ambient Pop
3.5/5 |
35 | | Coals Docusoap
LP
Indietron2020/Dream Pop
3.5/5 |
36 | | Lapsley Through Water
LP
Ambient Pop/Synth Pop
3.5/5 |
37 | | Skalpel Highlight
LP
Nu Jazz/Downtempo
3.5/5 |
38 | | SKYGAZE BLOOM
LP
UK Bass/Instrumental hip Hop/Nu Jazz
4/5 |
39 | | Steve Spacek Houses
LP
Neo-Soul/Broken Beat/House
3.5/5 |
40 | | Tony Allen, Hugh Masekela Rejoice
LP
Afrobeat/Afro-Jazz
4/5 |
41 | | Nicolas Jaar Cenizas
Continuing the tradition of ~making shit real slow~, Jaar's newest release is approximately -400 BPM. At this point the facade of house that Sirens just barely still clung to is entirely decomposed, leaving behind a mostly skeletal ambient/electroacoustic album with few - albeit immensely gratifying - instances of a pulse. Since his seminal album Space Is Only Noise, Jaar's work has gotten substantially more intimidating to digest. Fortunately, the chore of sitting through this glacial decay has remarkable payoff, and the relative decongestion makes this a much more immediate experience than Sirens.
LP
Ambient/Electroacoustic
4.5/5 |
42 | | Activity Unmask Whoever
LP
Indie Rock
3.5/5 |
43 | | Babii iii
More tracks that sound perfectly in line with the rest of her 2019 debut 'Hiide'. She has so much potential. I think age will round off most of her flaws in the form of sometimes immature/underdeveloped vocals/lyrics.
EP
Dream Pop/Downtempo/Electropop
3.5/5 |
44 | | Hidden Spheres 1985
EP
Deep House
3.5/5 |
45 | | Jacaszek Music For Film
LP
Ambient/Modern Classical
3.5/5 |
46 | | Leisure Suite Overture
LP
Alt R&B/Indie Pop/Downtempo
3.5/5 |
47 | | Little Dragon New Me, Same Us
LP
Neo-Soul/Synthpop
3.5/5 |
48 | | Mamaleek Come and See
LP
Guitar Music
3.5/5 |
49 | | The Necks Three
LP
Avant-Garde Jazz/Ambient/Drone
3.5/5 |
50 | | Somni Home
LP
Downtempo
3.5/5 |
51 | | The Heliocentrics Infinity of Now
LP
Jazz Fusion/Nu Jazz/Trip Hop/Psych Rock/Astro Swag
3.5/5 |
52 | | Empress Of I'm Your Empress Of
'Me' fucked me tender but 'Us' felt all wrong. The lyrics "Give me another chance" resonate nicely. Definitely giving Empress Of another chance.
LP
Synthpop/Electropop
4/5 |
53 | | Bela Fleck, Toumani Diabate The Ripple Effect
LP/Live Album
West African Folk/Desert Blues
3.5/5 |
54 | | DJ Python Mas amable
Thanks to seamless transitions you can essentially look at this as one hyper-focused 48 minute track. A certain je ne sais quoi about this one, not stylistically similar to boards of canada, but similarly mystifying atmospherically. Big slow-burner energy.
LP
Ambient House
3.5/5 |
55 | | The Flashbulb Our Simulacra
We don't need to be singing the names of the month in autotune but nice work overall.
LP
IDM
3.5/5 |
56 | | Elusive (USA) Ambient Void
LP
Instrumental Hip-Hop/Nu Jazz
3.5/5 |
57 | | GLXY Research & Development
LP
Liquid D&B
3.5/5 |
58 | | Gnome Beats Las Formas en Flujo
Flamenco player produces Latin American inspired beats. Unique flavours.
LP
Instrumental Hip Hop/Bass
3.5/5 |
59 | | Jinje Closer to the Sun
EP
Progressive/Deep House
3.5/5 |
60 | | Nils Frahm Empty
LP
Modern Classical/Ambient (piano-core)
3.5/5 |
61 | | NOON Nobody Nothing Nowhere
LP
Downtempo/Progressive Electronic
3.5/5 |
62 | | Sotomayor Origenes
LP
Electronic/Digital Cumbia/World Folk
3.5/5 |
63 | | Stimming, Marcus Worgull Eiger Nordwand
EP
Deep House/Tech House/Minimal Techno
3.5/5 |
64 | | Bambara Stray
LP
Post-Punk
3.5/5 |
65 | | D.N. Hurter Kawasaki Jack
LP
Instrumental Hip-Hop/Weird Janky Shit
3.5/5 |
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