JohnnyoftheWell
Hugh G. Puddles
Staff

Reviews 368
Soundoffs 76
News Articles 102
Band Edits + Tags 1,289
Album Edits 659

Album Ratings 4410
Objectivity 75%

Last Active 01-01-70 12:00 am
Joined 01-01-70

Review Comments 60,322

 Lists
04.25.24 REC me glitch/downtempo/IDM04.16.24 All Blonde Redhead songs RANKED ♦
03.28.24 OED Japanese imports RANKED (Q1 2024) ♦03.22.24 Sputnik's Sacred Cows
03.14.24 POP ALIGNMENT03.09.24 Discogs that peak on song #1
03.07.24 new staff + contribs RANKED ♦03.03.24 MARCH of JAZŽŻ ♦
02.16.24 G L I T C H genre tag02.01.24 FEBRUARY of ambi2ent (REC me) ♦
01.01.24 well_2023: "YES" albums (2/2) ♦12.31.23 well_2023: "NO" albums (1/2)
12.27.23 (be)rate my LP 'collection'12.03.23 2023 BNM: cringedex ♦
12.01.23 New users :: REVIEWED ♦11.28.23 Your 5s choices reviewed AGAIN ♦
11.15.23 learn from my WORST REVIEWS ♦11.13.23 Tory stooge music
More »

END OF THE ROAD (well #2222)

Hello I got bored and remembered how fun it was to do a listening log for ratings 1901 thru 2000. This time we are doing 2101 thru 2220. strap in let's do
1Oxbow
Serenade In Red

#2101
Evil bluesnoise fuckage

Yes yes awesome start. Probably in my top 3 Oxbow *so far* (!!), this feels like a more creative and frequently wow'ing refinement on their Let Me Be A Woman sound. Opening trio is a particular delight, but the whole thing is perf shit to play to the good babies you wanna see turned into turned into bad children, or whatever. m/

4.0
2Big Black
Atomizer

#2102
Albinicore groundzero noise mission

INDISPUTIBLE CLASSIC by which I mean that Steve Albini makes good guitar sounds and says dumb shit about pedophiles and initiates some awesome grooves and some overbearing drum machine poundage. It is good. SAF is better.

3.5
3Weezer
Pinkerton

#2103
Tier-7 dick fever pop garbage garage

I spent the last 11 years in the vague orbit of vague jokes about this band, but even on that basis I never imagined their heyday would be such an insufferable wankstain. Joke's on me for being so slow to find out. Can't Stop Partying is more enjoyable than anything here, if not for respectable reasons.

2.0
4Oxbow
An Evil Heat

#2104
Noise fuckin rawk

This is the best album I've heard since (uh...) probably the new Seiko Oomori last December, maybe this is better, I love this, I liked Oxbow from the word go but now I'm a little obsessed. Incredible atmosphere, gripping volatility, excellent songs across the board, epic pacing, personable as shit vocal performance as per always (ily Eugene), up with Goat and Cell-Scape in the big realms of epic noise rock. "Sawmill" can chew me the fuck out. Yes.

4.5
5Shiner
The Egg

#2105
Alt-rock/posthxc

I was very iffy about this at first because the altaltalt GRUNGE vox is very much not my spice these dayz, but this thing periodically bangs, the band are tight and the #angular tones and riffs hit it just right. Interested to hear more from them.

3.5
6Eleventh He Reaches London
The Good Fight For Harmony

#2106
CTTS-era certified Sputcore progmath skramz

If I heard this back in 2012ish, it probably would have been in my top 25ish favourite albums. But I didn't - and it still slaps! Postrock and many many many notes and rough prod and vox and over ambitious songwriting, but these guys were kinda a lil bit on fire here and their music is fierce and beautiful and I can vibe to this

3.9
7Shellac
1000 Hurts

#2107
Sardonic noise rock

This one is strange to attempt to write on [cursively]. I burned through it a few times 4ish years back as bigtime breakup music in between Pygmalion, In Utero, Songs About Leaving, Deathconsciousness...y'know, the usual shit. Those all stuck with me, but I haven't returned to 1000 Hurts since; it's a little uncomfortable how instantly familiar all of Albini's quips seemed, like this whole record had been one bad atmosphere hovering behind me that I'd pretended to forget. We don't talk about Prayer to God. As a record, it holds up. I like the spaciousness and moroseness here. Very expressive. Thank you Mr. Albino.

4.0
8Helmet
Meantime

#2108
Alt metal/posthxc

This record has many riffs and grooves it is very good it has one song I want to hear it again 10 times.

3.9
9Belvedere
Fast Forward Eats the Tape

#2109
Shreddy harmonised skatepunk

As someone who hit a late teen peak worshipping records like Kezia and The Illusion of Safety, this is a wet dream. It has more trad punk appeal than either of those records, most of their strengths and none of their janky weakness. Riffs for days, glorious glorious energy. Love!

4.3
10Shellac
At Action Park

#2110
Albini shrewd nerd bangers

Awesome debut. Doesn't resonate with me as much as 1000 Hurts for reasons probs obvious to whichever losers read that blurb, but this is pretty much everything I like about Alobin's style done just right. Yum.

4.0
11Down I Go
Gods

#2111
Classical mathcore sludge

This is a nerdy mythological concept EP and I enjoy it. Mort. swears by this, and I enjoy him. Live and let live.

3.5
12He Is Legend
I Am Hollywood

#2112
Avant-scene proto-Swan post-hardcore

Pahaha yeah okay, I can feel this. I'm snobby as hell about phxc with too many notes and I rolled my eyes at He Is Legend quite a bit at first, but these tracks are tight and good fun; nothing to overthink, a lot to enjoy. Good times.

3.5
13Cara Neir
Phase Out

#2113
fuck off

I don't think I'll ever settle on a firm take for this; I ...enjoy? the liberties these guys went for, and it's definitely impressive to hear how wide their palette stretches, but there's a very blurry line between fun goofballing and dumbass gamerjank here. Alright.

2.5
14Funeral Diner
The Underdark

#2114
Serious screamo

...I will give this another chance, but very little about it grabbed me and I'm surprised to see it hold so much acclaim among the skramz posse members who generally know their shit. Hmm.

3.0
15Lorem Ipsum
Vivre encore

#2115
Classical emo

Incredibly innovative package that inverts emo norms, subverts the typical arrangement and hijacks the Moonlight Sonata almost as awfully as Seiko Oomori did on that atrocious song we don't talk about. This is somewhere between bad and terrible. My rating is a little too close to Funeral Diner for comfort, may adjust.

2.5
16Cult of Luna
The Raging River

#2116
Cult of Luna

This is a Cult of Luna minialbum by the band Cult of Luna and it sounds like Cult of Luna. This is mainly good, but the first two tracks sound too much like Cult of Luna. The final two tracks are two of the best tracks by the band Cult of Luna. I like the band Cult of Luna.

3.9
17Black Country, New Road
For the first time

#2117
Pre-post-irony post-punk UK

Yeah, I *get* it. I get it almost as much as I get the vibe and the demographic and the acts they're openly borrowing from (good for them!!). It is quite good. The opener's a little faffy, but the quality is pretty even. I am sure that these songs are incredible live. It is a good thing that the band recorded them. Maybe they will make a great record one day. Very smart.

3.5
18Hayley Williams
FLOWERS for VASES / descansos

#2118
Indie folk

Okay I am a simp sue me, but I can kinda feel it with this one? This is stripped back in a *potentially* boring way, but I think it feels genuinely intimate and signals a different songwriting approach for Hayley (as opposed to the good ol' LOL i'll recruit an indie nerdster, subtract random layers from my mix, write the same songs and hope no-one notices lol thank u taytay). The middle third is mostly a snooze and "Trigger" is a tragedy of lyrical QC, but this is kinda decent yes.

3.4
19Loathe (UK)
The Things They Believe

#2119
Dead air 'ambient'

One of the most unremarkable records I can [barely] remember. Fantastically inexpressive. Open to all manner of listener projections. Very lame. Shit band.

2.0
20Lexie Liu
Gone Gold

#2120
Electro Mandopop

Obsession of the first half of the week yes yes, everyone jam this. Joint best release of 2021 so far with CoL, probably. I don't trust anyone on this site. Gone Gold has fantastic bangers and fun delivery and good production, it should be in your head why isn't it in your head.

3.9
21Lexie Liu
2030

#2121
Hip-RnB-pop

Occasionally annoying and mostly forgettable. Lexie Liu started somewhere. Good for her!

3.0
22Lexie Liu
Meta Ego

#2122
RnB hip-pop

Okay, this one also has a few *eh*s but a lot of smooth mid-/late-cuts I can vibe with. Very much a cherrypick album, but 3 or so solid takeaways were worth the forage.

3.3
23Jolin Tsai
Play

#2123
Electropop big pop

Jolin Tsai is apparently a Taiwanese legend radio lady, and this is perhaps apparently her best album. I can vibe her. A lot of this is pure sugar and very forthright and too catchy for my jaded butt, but it's probably a good palette cleanser as such? Many bops, good joy.

3.5
24Shlimp Warc
Thgie Drsow

#2124
Noisepsychprogskronkspork

oh my goodness i refuse to write on this. it is probably really good. will listen again. read milo's awesome review. holy hell.

3.0
25Faye Wong
Restless

#2125
Dream pop Mandopop

So I realised that there's a huge hole in my knowledge of C-pop!! I looked up rym's favourite album by China's former favourite superstar and found this. It is good! I expected as much. What I did not expect was for it to be a *very* close sister record to Cocteau Twins' Blue Bell Knoll. That record is awesome. This record is awesome. Check it out!!

4.0
26Animal Collective
Feels

#2126
Psych pop uh okay yeschpsych

Gonna sit on this a little longer, but it's easily my fave AnCo so far. A few slow patches, but a lot of brilliant bits. Big vibes quite warm mmm

3.7
27Piana
Muse

#2127
GLITCH ambient POP electronicdreamgaze

I'm familiar with Piana's first two albums (both ok post-Mum indietronica pop whatever) and passed on this one because I thought it would be boring piano music. Top 10 stupidest decisions ever. This is easily her best and something most people should check asap. Absolutely gorgeous atmospheres, beautiful melodies, smooth arrangement, lovely use of textures, selectively electronic, sometimes delicate sometimes glitchy sometimes lightly banging. Props for Kashiwa Daisuke mastering and arrangement on one song. This is better than his latest. Obsession of the day.

4.2
28Piana
Raula

#2128
boring piano music

In a brutal twist of fate, this NEW ALBUM (wow) is everything I was worried Muse would be: ambient room noise minimal fridgepop that feels twice as long as it is and goes nowhere. Some pretty bits, a lotta snooze. Maybe I'm being overly harsh, maybe I'm being overly generous with my rating, idk. This bores the pants off me.

3.0
29Hedgehog
Blue Day Dreaming

#2129
Alt rock jangle China post-gaze

Looked these guys up on a whim as part of my g r o w i n g insecurity over having accidentally ignored Chinese groups my whole life, and this is pretty great! It's a little long and midtempo-happy and doesn't have quite the spread of ideas required to justify its pacing issues, but there's lots of solid indie playlist fodder to be had here.

3.6
30Yukika 3 sleepyneko ??neko
無題 Yukika

#2130
Bedroom techno faux-russian japanese breakcore

lost a bet with neek and had to positively review an obscure album of his choosing. this was the album. it was an experience.

4.1
[real rating = something low]
31Amenra
Mass IIII

#2131
[post]METAL

Amenra are template post-metal done just about right, and this album probably does more things right overall than Mass III. Props for that; some big lurch, some large crushing, some heavy chills. It has a few pacing hiccups though, plus the first half is stronger than the second although the opener is awesome and the closer is weak. Meh. It slaps

3.7
32Park
Building a Better ________.

#2132
Emo pop-punk post-hardcore 2006album

This is pretty great for what it is, and I wish I liked it more. There's a lot of strong choruses and dynamic songwriting, plus a tight band performance, but these vocals do very little for me and I don't love the production. The whole things feels a lil ~yesterday~, but maybe you should check it

3.2
33Cursive
The Ugly Organ

#2133
Post-artcore

My vibe on this feels like a WIP. Post-hardcore with a cello and keyboards, what a revolution. Sometimes it is creative and smart and gritty and catchy (Art is Hard, Harold Weathervein), sometimes it's kinda beautiful (the Recluse, closer), sometimes it's kinda floundery whateverness (Driftwood (lol)), sometimes it's the worst thing ever (Butcher the Song, A Gentleman Caller). intrigued but not sold.

3.0
34Go!Go!7188
Tategami

#2134
J-garage power3 rock

Ghandhi sent me a thing that made me realise this band existed and that I probably should have heard them by now. They are good! Classic '00s j-rock jams that definitely rock and have big loud pop choruses wow I am a simple man. As opposed to similarish acts from around the same time like Noodles (who I sometimes love), who basically play US power pop japanese-style, this one is steeped in melodies and musicstuff that could never have come from anywhere else. Reminds me a bit of good ol' Shouso Strip in that sense. Sometimes it is massive, but every song is at practically the same tempo and dynamic wavelength and it gets old p quick on a full listen. This is a shame, because I almost love it, but hey, it'll be ideal playlist fodder. Nice!

3.9
35Black Midi
Schlagenheim

#2135
post math punk jazz rock indie wankcore

Gave this a full shot to see if I was wrong considering it posery whateverness that couldn't even surpass Black Country, No Road, and I was NOT! these guys are talented, but most of these songs are composite jank cobbled together from better bands. i vibe the percussion in Speedway and p much all of the bmbmbmbm song, but otherwise this is stale workshopcore from people who love Mogwai and Steve Albini more than you. good for them!

3.0
36Go!Go!7188
Gyotaku

#2136
J-rock powergarage trio

Tried another one from these girls n guy assuming it'd have some bangers and a healthy amount of filler, and I was right! Second track is huge and the fourth one's bassline is p much the same as my favourite part of the Love Exposure score. I am satisfied.

3.5
37Charli XCX
Focus/No angel

#2137
protoHyperpop

I felt bad about using this artwork for evil avatar purposes, so finally listened to it. All two songs of it. No fucking around. Focus is a perfect example of the side of Charli's sound that I don't really care for, slick as it is, but No Angel is a mild banger and much more up my street. nice! more synths! more hype! hehe.

3.2
38The Blood Brothers
Crimes

#2138
Scene-era posthardcore x Mars Volta wankpoetrycore

Here is a story are you ready: last night I came home from work after doing overtime recording audio for a speaking test (my satnav voice is sexy and at the same time horrifyingly unsexy) and was wired and big time burnt out and somehow the solution to all this was to jam the fuck outta the Blood Brothers, a band I mildly respect and sometimes really enjoy but am overall enthusiastic about. I had not thought about them in around 4 months, and I never cleared up their last two.

This one is excellent and very comfortably their best; more varied songwriting as Burn, Piano Island, just as killer an instinct for hard slammers, this is probs their only record where every song seemed to really stand out on its own terms. it makes me happy and bratty and a bit shit, and the opening 4 are big fire. i enjoy that the most violent song on the album is called "Beautiful Horses." fking preach.

It's not all perfect; "Rats and Rats and Rats for Candy" can fuck right off and I'm not really sure what's up with the closing run, but if there's ever gonna be a Blood Brothers album I reach for in the right wrong mood from now, it'll be this.

4.0
39The Blood Brothers
Young Machetes

#2139
Scene-era post-posthardcore X Mars Volta wankpoetrycore

Exactly the same thing as last night apart today is Tuesday and this album is Young Machetes. My feelings are mixed. This feels overcooked. There are too many ideas and most of the are too clean or too concerted and everything is developed to the point of yes ok we get how your sound works now. I am being mean, and there are some solid highlights, but I feel like this band lost themselves in melodic territory and timbrewank too easily at this point. It's also overlong. osmark made a loose comparison between this and Poison the Well's final album, and I back this because I also don't love that record for almost exactly the same reason.

3.0
40Buke and Gase and So Percussion
A Record Of...

#2140
Ambient indie jank

Hmm. Buke and Gase team up with some rhythm people and make floaty experimental music. Interesting! It's a big improvement over the last Buke and Gase album, and they do a decent job of reinventing their usually v kinetic sound as something sparser and more delicate. As Dewi pointed out, B&G lady's vocals are probably the best here that they've ever been, and these tracks are definitely harmonically interesting. Besides the very cool "Hold It In", most of the alb doesn't speak to me, but it's definitely worth a check.

3.5
41Mogwai
As the Love Continues

#2141
You know exactly what this is.

I posted a big comment on this in the review thread, but the basic sum of it is:

Tracks #1 thru #7 = 2.4/5
Tracks #8 thru #11 = 3.6/5

A lot of this is insipid soundtrack reflexes packaged as boringass rock music; Midnight Flit is a strong album highlight and a great integration of the OST skillset into classic Mogwai postrawk; the other songs in the end stretch are good enough to make this worthwhile. Delete the first half of this album immediately.

3.0
42Limited Express (has gone?)
Just Image

#2142
Noise-rock / punk

This album's song "Spotify" > actual Spotify. strong Otori vibes. awesome.

Limited Express (has gone?) are one of those bands who I don't think have ever made an end-to-end solid album, but always have enough energy and fun highlights to be mostly worthwhile. Just Image is very much one of their albums. This is probably the most straight-up punk thing I've heard from them so far, but there's still a cute bouncy bouncy volatility that takes tracks in random directions with limited notice. I like this album a bit.

3.5
43Limited Express (has gone?)
The Sound of Silence

#2143
Noise-rock / punk

Okay I lied, this is the most punk I've heard these girls/guy go. It is p fun but somehow outstays its welcome despite being 15 minutes long. Cool.

3.0
44Buke and Gase
General Dome

#2144
Indie skronk experirock

Remembered that I never cleared up this band's discog; this is a really great album! I don't think it has quite the same highlights as their debut, and it suffers from the same issue of flopping off on the closing stretch, but the band's Deerhoof-ish angular janglebangers are largely on point here. "Hard Times" is a total monster. Good band.

3.9
45God Is an Astronaut
All Is Violent, All Is Bright

#2145
Crescendocore

This band has a new album! I was gonna check it, but then I remembered I never checked any of their old shit. So I did. This is middle-of-the-pack post-rock with a few great melodies, trash metronome drumming, zero structural diversity, and big waves of distortion in place of exciting dynamic shifts. Snooze.

2.9999 (0.0001 worse than the new Mogwai)
46Dolphin
Glubina rezkosti

#2146
Trip-hop / Russian hip-hop / alt rock

Phero made me listen to it, and I'm glad he did because it's cool and I want to hear more from this dude. It's basically a trip-hop album with a few exciting surprises; starts off with a Michita-esque downtempo number, drops into a vaguely industrial noisey hip-hop banger, and keeps going back and forth until it hits a really nice groove with tracks 6-8. big mood jams, nice nice. there is also a v prominent "Bull In The Heather" sample. I guess that's cool.

3.6
47For Tracy Hyde
Ethernity

#2147
Dream pop / shoegaze / indie pop

Hahahaha okay I'm probably going to review this, but I have so many questions and reservations and questions. Most of this is gorgeous, but why does it kick off with a cover of the Twin Peaks theme and brand it an album theme? why does this j-indie band play a Fourth of July speech over an instrumental track named "Interdependence Day" and then follow it with cutesy fluff called "Welcome to Cookieville"? is this a concept album? what the hell is the journey here? who is the american guy who sings on like two tracks? my main gripe with this band previously has been that they're p consistent but can't write an individually memorable set of tracks to save their life. now they have, and i don't know how to feel about it. the good bits are very very pretty. good gaze, sometimes!

3.2
48God Is an Astronaut
Ghost Tapes #10

#2148
Post-riffs

a man on the phone tried to sell riffs, and I couldn't even houseplants because NO LIFE CAN EXIST IN THE PRESENCE OF MUSIC THIS STERILE fuck post rock

2.4/5
49Psychedelic Porn Crumpets
Shyga! The Sunlight Mound

#2149
Psychedelic bouncy castle tumblebangers

2021 psych-ballers with lots of fuzz and energy. yay, partyrockers for kaleidoscope children. I enjoyed this a lot on the first couple of spins and hope it sticks with me; more people should jam it! Mundungus into Mango Terrarium is a terrific combo, good jam!

3.9
50Suis La Lune
Heir

#2150
scree moe

cute time capsule of skramz thangz that were popular in 2008, but it hasn't aged that well (or i don't like skramz that much). i can't even explain why. say, the second track is upbeat and volatile, but it feels about as kinetic as my [BLOCKED] sink filter to me. there are many sentimental melodies that don't sentimate (that's right). maybe emo is lame. maybe i just fucking suck. oh no.

3.0
51The Weakerthans
Fallow

#2151
Indie words

acceptable warmup act for Left and Leaving, but easily their worst album. still probably better than pinegrove.

3.0
52Spangle call Lilli line
Dreams Never End

#2152
Dream sophisti white studio clean pop

This is the worst SCLL album so far, but I don't care because "Mio" is god-tier dream pop and it made me start the DIGBOX (check it: https://www.sputnikmusic.com/blog/2021/02/22/digbox-1/)

the rest of this is meh to crap. great band.

3.0 (low 2.5 with one 4.7ish song, idk it evens out)
53Ad Nauseam
Imperative Imperceptible Impulse

#2153
post-xenakis dissdeath

I can't think of anything in the world I'd less rather do than write about this album (eternal love to Jac and bmelt, dunno how you guys do it). Let's talk about my day. I went to a cafe and ate chicken and read some contrib applications, then I collected my bike from the bike man and accidentally met one of my students en route which was awkward because I didn't recognise her and still have no idea who she is, and then the bike man showed my old axel, which was wonky, and showed my bike, which looked brand new, so I paid him and went home, then left home and ate a curry. What a day!

3.6
54Fawning
Illusions of Control

#2154
fake og drmpop

lovely 4ADcore dreamgoth soundfloats, boring as hell vocal performance and a dearth of good melodies. thick porridge.

2.8
55Junior Varsity KM
Taking Care of You (Bliss Out, Vol. 10)

#2155
ambient / drum&bass

Decided to listen to some turn-of-the-century Darlacore. This is v good and I look forward to studying long stretches of boring grammar textbooks with it for days to come! Those final three hmmmm yes. Hooray for Darla!

4.0
56Dolphin
Plavniki

#2156
Trip-Russian alt indietronica

Basically Glubina rezkosti (46) pt. 2. That album has better highlights. This is probably more consistent. Pick your poison.

3.5
57Beach House
Depression Cherry

#2157
Sleeping-pill pop

This one's a little overdue; been meaning to prove one of my two Beach House theories for a while. Here they are/were:

THEORY 1: everything this band has done before "7" is severely flawed and treatable as t r a s h

THEORY 2: Teen Dream = 1.5 // Bloom = 2.5 // Depression Cherry = ??? // 7 = 4.5 (aka 4.2)
the answer could only be 3.5

THEORY 2 was correct! The first time I heard this album, I fell asleep by the end of the opener. This is because Depression Cherry is a little pared back compared to everything else I've heard and occasionally very lovely as an ambient pop alb. I'm glad I've accepted that BH can do this q well in a lighter palette because I heavily vibe with Levitating, Space Song, that guitar lick in Wildflower, and I guess the closer. The rest is average through okay, but there's nothing as clubfooted as on Bloom or as insufferably turgid as on Teen Dream. Good redemption arc.

3.5
58Roselit Bone
Crisis Actor

#2158
Country / psych

I spent the whole of 2020 being told by the Sputnikmusic features tab that *this new country album will change everything you think about the genre [and maybe make you like it]!!!* Nothing I bothered with came anywhere close, and some actively backfired (smdh Ruston Kelly).

Joke's on 2020 countryfeatures because one stray 2019 rec from newly-dubbed Contrib DreamTree (yikes) has done the impossible. It has changed my expectations, and it is awesome! This record is fucking great; it's tense, it's INtense, it's almost threatening at times but has a real clarity and space to its melodies and delivery (that's the psych!). The tone here is the kinda thing *someone* should write a good review unpicking, but the album is very succinct and mucho refreshing. Check this out! only half an hr, but it's the good stuff.

4.0
59Julien Baker
Little Oblivions

#2159
Indie polka

lyrically, Julien Baker bares her soul and devastates recluses-in-waiting across suburbs in a dizzying range of countries not limited to America and the US. instrumentally, it's the new Hayley Williams but much better. as someone has pointed out, it has dynamics. nice stuff.

3.5
60Tetora
Me Me

#2160
Japanese girlgroup rock fucking power-pop

I forgot to touch base with power pop for a silly, long time; VERY important to get that posivibes fix every once in a while. These gals' debut was a ton of fun back in 2019 - didn't realise they dropped this last year, but it's every bit as upbeat and passionate, if a little short of memorable highlights.

3.5
61yonige
Kenzen na Shakai

#2161
Japanese girlgroup indie fucking pop

Went trawling for more power pop bands that weren't on my radar for whatever reason, and I landed in the indie park by mistake. No harm done; from what I've skimmed, yonige are a good highlight band with a great vocalist and a lot of filler. The highlights on this are the first 2-3 songs. The song on their debut that dissects a failed relationship via a smashed avocado is still my fave.

3.0
62Nick Cave and Warren Ellis
Carnage

#2162
Love and death ambient doomsongs

Literally the main reason I'm updating this list rn is to procrastinate my review for this. NO HOT TAKES. The only users with trash takes on this are the ones who routinely fuck it up elsewhere wow what does that tell you

4.2
63Anneke van Giersbergen
The Darkest Skies Are The Brightest

#2163
Folk-pop

I love Anneke van Giersbergen. She is a gem. She has a great voice. I'm not convinced she's best over acoustic tracks, and she has made the worst song of the year so far in "I Saw A Car" (sorry, Ashnikko, way to get dethroned ten times over). I will rate her new album a three.

2.9
64Neon Bunny
Kosmos

#2164
K-synthpop/R&B

Some of this is a good spaceout, some of it almost bangs, some is a vacuous slurry. Most of it blurs more than a little. Nice face.

3.0
65Bisk
Vacation Package

#2165
IDM

This was a surprise drop, hadn't been following Bisk at all. I've only heard one other from him, his 1997 alb Strange Or Funny-Haha?, which is a pretty great appendix to the Amon Tobinverse. 24 yrs on and he's released a generally good appendix to the FlyLoverse. Fuck knows what happened in between.

3.4
66Neon Bunny
Stay Gold

#2166
K-synthpop/R&B

Did some mkt research on Ms. Neon Bunny on the basis that this would be pretty great. It was alright! Smooth.

3.05
67Kaneyori Masaru
かけがえなくなりたい

#2167
j-power-pop

Forgot to add this one to the database earlier, but good good stuff, power pop binge live on. Might be the best of my new checks.

3.5
68Belvedere
The Revenge of the Fifth

#2168
Shreddy harmonised skatepunk

Not quite as awesome as Fast Forward Eats the Tape, but this band are great and I'm excited for their new one. Solid comeback record.

3.5
69The Gathering
Black Light District

#2169
Post-alternative

Never heard this EP for some reason; the Gathering make a pretty solid extended post-rock track and drop some advance b-side material for Souvenirs. It's p good but I don't feel awful about having slept on it.

3.5
70Nadja
Touched

#2170
Drone metal

Ooo err okay, I am not comfortable writing on this at this hour of the morning (11:41 am). Strong atmosphere for sure, but very contingent on a m o o d that I don't feel able to chart in fair detail rn. Too bad.

Anyway, this is technically a dual writeup for the og and rerecorded versions; the later version has a much fuller sound, but I found the original more distinctive at points. Both are pretty great and I hope to come back to this/deepdive this group sometime.

3.8
71King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard
L. W.

#2171
Extended psychedelic impersonation of succinct Mighty Boosh skits. Tangentially microtonal.

Okay okay, I get the hype here. I see the appeal. I definitely respect the talent. It's the real deal, it's not a gimmick because their sound is grounded in (usually quite dull?) songwriting patterns, microtonality is used as a suspiciously seamless fit for familiar psych melodies etcetc.. It is fine, but if I hear one more lame vocal/guitar unison line I stg imma steal the masters, sell em to Fisher Price and watch the Fantano gang desert this band in droves. Or maybe redouble, who knows. Anyway, the opener has a great groove and the closer is a fun doomy riffboi. Meh.

2.8
72Gidge
New Light

#2172
Shimmery studybeat progressive house

Heard this last month and forgot to rate it - great album, good group. Some of the melodic progressions are a little naff, but most of the ham is good ham and I'm a BIG fan of the freaky ambient turtleflip that "Rotate Into Form" hits halfway. Great stuff - more people should listen to this; it's the kinda electronic anyone on sput could vibe to.

4.0
73Otay:onii
Ming Ming

#2173
post-industrial art pop

very cool very good very smart read my rev

4.0
74King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard
I'm In Your Mind Fuzz

#2174
Psych scuzz booty

First King Gizz I've heard that hasn't underwhelmed me; this sounds like everything I'd associate with them tone wise, but with a real freshness and vivacity like they're playing as an actual rock band and not a group of bigbrain musos concertedly exchanging the same schtick across a #kooky range of styles because lol unpredictable. Wild ride, really great backend in particular.

3.8
75Belong
October Language

#2175
Ambient/glitch

Wanted to like this more than I did; some parts draw me in *if* I pay close attention, some land in a similar way to Fennesz, who by and large does nothing for me. Decent album, I'll probs come back to it periodically to see if it clicks harder.

3.4
76Lost Horizons
In Quiet Moments

#2176
Indie pop / dream pop

I feel I'll need more time with this; it's a long, long album (technically a double) with a wide range of collaborators. It feels like a compilation in this sense, and I agree with Dewi's assessment that it most definitely has something for everyone Some of is very good, some of it is hammy or kitsch, and a lot of it will need some time to grow on me. Spent much more time with the first half; should change this.

3.5
77A Day to Remember
You're Welcome

#2177
post-crunkpop

lol

0.7
78Touche Amore/La Dispute
Searching for a Pulse/The Worth of the World

#2178
Tumblr-era post-hardcore

Oh my. I expected this to be decent but was pleasantly surprise. Touche Amore bring their absolute best here, while La Dispute avoid the shit that makes them irritating until the final 30 seconds or so. A real shot in the arm.

4.0
79Boris
Mabuta no Ura

#2179
Rainy day psychedelic kitchen sink

Boris made an OST for a fake film. It is pretty great. This is mostly downbeat and succinct; not too droney, often on the verge of ambient, and with a decent portion of meat on its chops as per the early highlight "A Bao A Qu." This style makes it easier to see where future highlight tracks like Red/Loose and Pardon? came from. Nice.

3.7
80Low
Double Negative

#2180
Ambient indietroinica slowglitch

On paper, this is a well_core classic: sparse arrangements, strong but evasive atmosphere, good indie songwriting, and generous glit/c. Maybe I got a little too excited, because this isn't much more or less than a solid album - Low's take on this style is interesting and mature and cogent to a fault, but, as is their way, it's a mood piece not a mindblower. Fingers crossed that mood is one that sticks - I can see this having mileage.

3.9
81Fushitsusha
Hisou (Pathétique)

#2181
Noise rock / psychedelic

1 Untitled 5:00
2 Untitled 9:35
3 Untitled 15:59
4 Untitled 44:21

this is a long album in which Keiji Haino dismembers the shit out of his guitar over a punishing set of clanging noise jams. some of it is riveting, some of it is long. Live I is much better. I tried to sleep to this earlier out of curiosity. Don't ever do that.

3.5 (probably)
82Parannoul
To See the Next Part of the Dream

#2182
Bedroom shoegaze angsty nostalgia pie

NAME YOUR PRICE BANDCAMPCORE ALERT fuck me, this album makes me feel like I'm experiencing the entirety of Twin Fantasy, Kocrono and Welcome to the NHK at the same time. Huge mopey dissatisfied loner bedroom hours. It's exhausting; it's very one LOUD note, and the production is a ~choice (those drums), but I'd be lying if I said it didn't hit the feels. The fourth track is a huge piece and will likely be one of my SOTYs. Good album.

3.5
83The Notwist
Neon Golden

#2183
Indietronica

Heyday indietronica, good stuff. True to the genre, some of this is lethargic, overly deadpan, or melodically bland in a way that turns me off, and some of it is all of these things in a delicious way that scratches every itch at once. "This Room" and "Solitaire" back to back is the kinda pairing you wanna marry. Need to check the new one.

3.5
84Swervedriver
Mezcal Head

#2184
Shoegaze / grunge / alternative

This is a ROCK fking rock album that is also a shoegaze album. Sometimes it is awesome - the long cuts in particular are rippin gazey texturefests that feel distinctly more high octane than anything else I've heard from heyday '90s gaze. About half the album is middle-of-the-road serviceable alt grunge whateverness, but when it comes through it comes: through!

3.5
85Sons of Kemet
Your Queen Is a Reptile

#2185
Afro-jazz

Great pre-BoJo Brexit-era anticolonial throwing of hands from the London jazz scene that I should really pay a lot more attention to. The tuba is real here. Ace musicianship, some solid jams, and some incisive vocal features that sometimes also mesh well with the rest of the album! Cheers dedex!

3.7
86Arab Strap
As Days Get Dark

#2186
INDIE post-slowcore smut sardonipop scotland

Read anat's very excellent review on this. Really fucking stellar album, easily one of my favourites of this year so far. Check as a priority.

4.1
87Trophy Scars
Never Born, Never Dead

#2187
Sputcore bluesrawk

Never checked this one for some reason; been spinning Darkness for a couple of months, and that's a good great time right there. This is as overblown as anything this frankly adorably silly band have done, and it comes with huge helpings of extra cheesy and superlative romance. I do feel it, but it doesn't pack the same punch - the Stagger Lee track and "Never Dead" are very good, and this is potentially because Trophy Scars are better at singing about death than girls. Or death and girls; that is okay too. But their girl songs? Hmm.

3.6
88Leon III
Antlers in Velvet

#2188
country floyd

Floaty floaty floaty nu-sputcore nu-classic. Not half bad tbh, would rather jam real Pink Floyd sans country overtones but I can feel the hype. "Rumors of Water" is literally "Pigs" but I love "Pigs" so we good

3.5
89Krallice
Demonic Wealth

#2189
lo-fi swampjank

if Leon III is the sputcountry gang finally getting it right for a change, this album is the metal brigade dropping the ball magnificently into a big smell morass of mangled songwriting and dysfunctional progressions. it has keyboards, so is atmospheric, but those atmospheres evoke dungeon synth, so it's mainly embarrassing. very lame

2.0
90Lana Del Rey
Chemtrails Over The Country Club

#2190
Enlightened Americana

You are quite unprofessional and keep in mind that we’re doing all in our reaches to make your ratings not count towards Metacritic. You were very biased and that did upset a lot of people, I mean, A LOT OF PEOPLE, so deal with the consequences.

1.0
91Lil Mariko
Lil Mariko

#2191
memecore trap screamo

Delightful surprise. "Hi, I'm A Whore" and "Catboys" will be the best opener/closer pairing of 2021. Very fun and not at all cringe. Peak meme.

4.9
92Kayoko Yoshizawa
Akahoshi Aoboshi

#2192
Art pop(?)

I've always enjoyed Kayoko Yoshizawa albums and expected this to be at least decent based on the singles, but it's the first time I haven't been able to stop spinning one of her records from start to finish. Excellent album, really well crafted, great production, cute lyrics, lovely whimsical delivery and creative stylistic nudges, probably the best pop album I've heard this year. Will rev shortly.

4.0
93Slant (KOR)
1집

#2193
Hardcore

Bandcampcore Koreancore hardcore. It rips. Lots of energy, very straightforward writing and performances, a little one-note but just about short enough not to overstay its welcome. Nice addition to the year.

3.5
94Swervedriver
Raise

#2194
Grunge / shoegaze

Swervedriver are a v cool and, and this is a p cool debut. I didn't vibe it quite as hard as Mezcal Head (84), which has since grown on me a lot and is currently sitting at a 3.9, but their interplay was on point from an early stage and there are definitely a few scorchers here. "Son of Mustang Ford", phwoar...

3.5
95The Notwist
Vertigo Days

#2195
Indietronica

I think this probably does work quite well as a collected album, but so far I've neither had the patience to sink into its vibe nor been able to get over how huge a banger "Ship" is - what a song, pity the rest don't get me fired up to the same level. More listens needed, I like the way this one's put together.

3.2
96Maria Arnal i Marcel Bages
Clamor

#2196
Glitch pop

Rym's latest masshyped Spanish glitchpop thang sounded like it'd be 100% up my street, but I've dipped into it more times than I can recall (literally) and can't remember a damn thing about it. Whatever, this is not the one.

3.0
97Spangle call Lilli line
Remember

#2197
Indie pop

I love SCLL and definitely think this is better on average than Dreams Never End, but there are no particularly strong highlights this time around and it's probably the least remarkable (and shortest!) album they've ever put out. Oh well, it's quaint enough...

3.0
98Dai Dai Dai
The absurd is the essential concept and the first truth

#2198
Noise pop / J-idol

Dai Dai Dai's 2020 album was an absolute godsend of megacatchy selectively abrasive sugar pop, and I still revisit the highlights very regularly. This is... not that. It leans further out into noisy and glitchy territory, which is exciting to begin with, but it doesn't have anything like the same hooks or songwriting substance. Definitely fun, but more of a throwaway jam than anything else. Fewer shitty midiguitars and better pop songs next time, plz - I need those rainbowpuke synths and idol glitter. "Shinigami" comes close and the opener is gloriously fucked. Cool project.

3.0
99Moondog
Moondog

#2199
Modern Classical

I didn't really click with this for a while, but then I was incredibly stressed about something this morning and threw it on spontaneously and now ...yes. Moondog has a beautiful energy. I hope I stick with him.

4.0
100Deerhoof
Milk Man

#2200
Noizpop / artrawk

After Apple O', I parked the bus on discog running Deerhoof and randomly told myself that it wouldn't get any better than Reveille. Damn boi. Milk Man is up with their best for sure - their songwriting is frenetic as ever here, but they're definitely zeroing in on something tighter and more dynamic (maybe) and I LOVE the varied palette. This misses the same bait and switch between expansive and flash-in-a-pan moments that Reveille owned so well, but hey you can't have that eat cake always? Lucky 2200!

3.95
101BUCK-TICK
Sexy Stream Liner

#2201
Cyberpunk futuresex rock

Speaking of bands I took a lengthy timeout on, hiya Buck-Tick. Excluding their latest, moderately disappointing album ABRACADABRA last yr, this has to be the first of theirs I've checked in over a year. Damn. On the one hand, this is slick as anything and makes a good deal of sense dropping between Cosmos (gritty) and One Life One Death (bombastic) within their cyberpunk era - it's a little more understated and mainly devoted to smooth smooth spacesleze. There is a song called LIZARD SKIN NO SHOUJO and it is a highlight. For the most part, this lacks highlights tbh and is one of my less favourite Buck-Tick albums, but hey, it feels good to tick off!

3.5
102Mariya Takeuchi
Variety

#2202
CITY fking POP

This is the album with Plastic Love. JeffreyBig used to have a pretty good review for it up. He said that Plastic Love wasn't the best song. He was wrong :[ Some of this bops, some of it is way off the cheesy showtune deep end.

3.3
103Arab Strap
Philophobia

#2203
Post-pop manwhore slowcore Scotland

I adore the new Arab Strap album. This one has some incredible tracks but ain't it overall. Aidan Moffat's voice is at whinge-pitch and there are too many tales of schoolyard handjobs for my liking. This band aged into themselves ig. Slurp.

3.5
104Albert Ayler
Spiritual Unity

#2204
Free jazz

I am going to listen to this more times. It is excellent. Mind expanded etcetc.. I can almost feel it.

4.0
105Beach House
Thank Your Lucky Stars

#2205
Coma pop

Scroll back to 57 for my take on Depression Cherry. I was curious about this one because Beach House got incrementally better from alb to alb since Teen Dream, and since I now really like a fair chunk of Dep.Cher. (Levitating nggg) I wondered if this was another step up. It wasn't. It is plain and dull and I like the Elegy Song but will otherwise ignore it forever maybe.

2.5
106Dante Mars Ajeto!
Celebrating Digital Artefacts

#2206
Vaporwave glitch funcore

This is a jerky janky fun ride, and I enjoyed it q a bit! This dude never lets things get remotely stagnant and has a knack for lean bangers. Massive minus points for lameass UNDRWATER slowmotion low freq vocal samples, but that's vaporwave for you ig. Cool album.

3.5
107Dvne
Etemen Ænka

#2207
Post-prog sludge metal humongous

First it was a fun 3.7
Then I realised these guys are from my hometown and it was a 3.9
Then I listened a 3rd time and actually paid attention and realised that the (extremely awesome) best songs make everything else slightly redundant and that the tone is a lil bland and the interludes are a waste of time.
Good sputcore tbh. Will spin at least some of this a fair bit more.

3.5
108Defeater
Travels

#2208
Overwrought concept hardcore

Extraordinarily late to the party here AS PER, but this is good. Maybe it's great, I don't know - the band's approach is hella one dimensional, first track or two blew me away first time around but I'm really struggling to care at this point. Lazy take and lazy blurb, but whatever. It's probably overproduced. Let's blame it on that. Touche Amore are better.

3.5
109BUCK-TICK
Kyokutou I Love You

#2209
Alternative rock/glam/post-punk/fauxgaze?

Buck-Tick catchup continues and phwoar boy this is an overlooked gem. Best album I've heard since *scrolls back* 92, and good enough that it put my overall music exploration on hold. Absolutely fantastic pacing, beautiful range of glammed up rockers and crushingly earnest slownumbers (turning your last conversation with your mother into an album centrepiece ain't for the faint of heart, but they nail it here). The title track is a bloody scorcher and the bookends have some of my favourite Buck-Tick vocal melodies full stop. Excellent stuff

4.1
110BUCK-TICK
Mona Lisa Overdrive

#2210
Cyberpunk slutrock

...and from the sublime to the mundane, this one is a steamy sweaty sexed up mess with a couple of major highlights (Mona Lisa/GIRL mmm) but a lot of copious hornyguitar whitenight overglam. It was almost released as a double album with Kyokutou - thank goodness that didn't happen.

3.4
111Gaza
I Don't Care Where I Go When I Die

#2211
Evil heavy shit

Jfc thank you Aaron? No idea how much of a role this is gonna play in my life from now, but it will most definitely be out there for I want the shit pounded out of me and my ears bleeding. I love how there are *almost* discernible riffs and melodies and shit here, but they just splinter into shrapnel the moment they're about to take shape. Beautiful horrible mess.

3.7
112The Antlers
Green to Gold

#2212
Indie.

I cannot remember a single thing about this record. The opener is instrumental? The title lyric gets repeated a shitton in that song? 3rd jam here we come. Ok.

3.3
113Tomahawk
Oddfellows

#2213
Alternative experirock

Boring mildly janking underbaked Pattoncore.

2.8
114Ben Howard
Collections from the Whiteout

#2214
POST-FOLK

Mixed feelings on this. Half of me is bored, the other half is very much intrigued. Far Out and Sage are good Ben tracks, I kinda love Buzzard as a closer (fun song and v reflective of this one's somewhat cold morning air meets dysfunctional domestic ennui meets dark daydreaming vibe as a closing statement). More listens needed. Fuck Aaron Dessner.

3.1
115Tomahawk
Tomahawk

#2215
Alternative noise rock

I've been jamming Mit Gas for years, so this felt heavily deja vu but hey, it's a reliable set of thrills. Incredible roster, decent production, somewhat lackluster songwriting in places - lil bit tame. Laredo is a bloody scorcher. Okay band.

3.5
116Lana Del Rey
Ultraviolence

#2216
Heroin zoomer pop

I've been curious for a while to see if this would be any good as a whole - when did Lana get stagnant, how much of BTD's dysfunctional flash of inspo would carry forward and so on. The highs are very high - West Coast and Shades of Cool mmmm - but the zzz and cringe ratios are sky high through the rest of it. Most of the lyrics are bloody unforgivable, and while she's grown into a solid vocalist, I do not rate her tone here. Lacks body. Enjoyable bad album, probably better than NFR.

2.5
117Tomahawk
Tonic Immobility

#2217
alter nois experi roc

somewhat cool somewhat overwhelming band trots out their early '00s sound with blander production and it's extra underwhelming because it's 2021, who knew

3.35
118Utada Hikaru
Hatsukoi

#2218
J-pop/RnB

I gutted my apartment and got ready to move out today and for some reason, white walls and empty space put me in the mood for Utada for the first time in a hot minute. Jammed this one on a whim; it's a nice return to more mellow/blissed out/(dare i say)*very cheesy* fare after 2016's sombre Fantome, and while it doesn't have that album's emotional scope, Utada has always been a natural at turning those qualities into smooth comfort jams. Will probs grow on me.

3.6
119Genghis Tron
Dream Weapon

#2219
post-grind progressive post-rock

I have never enjoyed this band's VERY BUSY approach to melody or guitar in general tbh, but I can kinda respect how Board Up the House packed enough intensity to channel that into a wider sense of total overload. This fares less well. The dynamics and musicianship hold up, but this ultimately cleans up, spaces out, and primarily focuses on the least appealing part of these guys' sound. The now-live drumming is pretty cool tbh, but I'm not a big fan of their vocalist either. Would 2.5 this, but Pyrocene and the first half of Ritual Circle are on point idk. Nerds rejoice.

2.8
120Xiu Xiu
Forget

#2220
ART fucking art-pop

Wasn't sure what three records to wrap up this ODYSSEY with, but I guess we'll power through with the un-trilogy of nu-Xiu and see what the ratio of triggered crusties : placated hipsters ends up as.

Forget was probably the first Xiu Xiu album I heard, but that would have been one toe-dipping listen a couple of years ago. It's good to come back to it; it's a pretty user-friendly blend of experimental and *catchy* sounds, and I'm a big fan of the way it trades off bitcrush synths against post-punk and darkwave inflections. Idk; the unsettling parts are mostly cogent and the pop end is suitably infectious? Yes, that opener is wildly distasteful and out of place, but it's entertaining as hell and midkey bangs? Clap on, bitches

3.9
121Xiu Xiu
Girl with Basket of Fruit

#2221
Post-industrial hellscape anxiety serrated jank mess

I definitely checked this several months after it dropped and probably reacted along the lines of "huh interesting I am not ready to form an opinion here brb" before ghosting it forever. Until now! Feelings = mixed. I read through the band's album breakdown and I'm still not convinced by what the overall vision is or how it's realised outside of the first 3 or so tracks (which all scan, at least lyrically/thematically).

When it comes down to it, I'm still not sure how best to assess this, so I'm gonna give it points for shock-value or other points at which it gets through to me intuitively: Pumpkin Attack on Mommy and Daddy, Normal Love, The Wrong Thing and (a couple of fking silly lyrics notwithstanding) the title-track all hold up; the rest has yet to emerge beyond the aesthetic. I imagine my view will shift one way or the other quite strongly over time.

Bonus points for the first pages of the album thread being founded on more awfully founded takes than I knew this site had a capacity for.

3.4
122Xiu Xiu
OH NO

#2222
Chamber-pop / post-punk / darkwave

I'm not sure what it means for my current fav Xiu Xiu to be the one I have the least to say about; this feels somehow contrary to whatever this band stands for. Oh No is morose and melancholic and still *slightly* performatively tormented, but there's something substantial and inviting about this songwriting across the board. The features are mostly so smoothly integrated into the band's tone and palette that they barely stand out as such. It's a solid album and definitely one of this year's strongest. Great stuff, looking forward to going back to the beginning and clearing up this band properly.

Bonus points for having a significantly improved version of the Ohms artwork.

4.0
Show/Add Comments (411)

STAFF & CONTRIBUTORS // CONTACT US

Bands: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Site Copyright 2005-2023 Sputnikmusic.com
All Album Reviews Displayed With Permission of Authors | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy