JohnnyoftheWell
step aside Charli XCX there is a new phrase and its Magdalena Bay Fall. ?Imaginal Disk? is the sophomore record from duo Magdalena Bay
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 Lists
09.14.24 SPUT ROYALE: Round 1 Group C ♦09.12.24 SPUT ROYALE: Round 1 Group B
09.10.24 SPUT ROYALE: Round 1 Group A09.04.24 S e p t e m b e r of POP ♦
08.31.24 Sputnik User Pokedex (V2??) ♦08.27.24 every Melt-Banana album best song
08.09.24 new State Faults r a n k e d07.21.24 math rock that isn't garbage
07.11.24 good 2024 music haha??? (HELP)07.09.24 ECM jazz **in THIS economy**????
06.29.24 good artwork list ♦06.17.24 101 electronic :: no Aut*chre ♦
05.26.24 SPUT RETAKE: Apple Top 100 ♦05.17.24 GHOST folk ♦
05.11.24 what's good sputnik05.10.24 Aquemini ranked
04.25.24 REC me glitch/downtempo/IDM04.16.24 All Blonde Redhead songs RANKED ♦
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S e p t e m b e r of POP

Not a genre I remotely trust 95% of this site on vs. one of the easiest to consume and analyse. What could possibly go wrong?
1TWICE
With YOU-th

Give me the latest Good Thing
2Pet Shop Boys
Introspective

or vintage gems
3Kate Bush
Never for Ever

or art pop flatulence.

i will pop them all
4KILLING JOKE
KILLING JOKE
5STAYC
Metamorphic

September 5th
insomniac rec
2024
K-Pop

Mmmhmm this was fun but I felt it lacked wow factor in a lot of areas: it had versatility in spades, in a way that struck me as slapdash and carefree, but very few individual tracks did much to run with this. The choruses were often perfunctory, the vocals lacked personality at points, the subject matter (from the obligatory 20% English quotient anyway) bordered on kitsch zany party girl antics but the vibe never quite connected with the inherent fun of that premise. Still a good time though - I enjoyed the Latin songs in particular, as well as the ones that flirted with UK garage - but this isn't exactly flying to the top of my K-dar.

3.3
6Nadia Oh
Hot Like Wow

September 6th
sona rec
2008
Electropop

loud brash dumb bullishly simplistic unstoppably cunty probably the kim petras of her time, or whatever - i would either have understood absolutely none of this back in 2008 or made it a core formative obsession (move over RHCP etc). peaks hard and early in the first 5ish tracks (couple of late highlights though - slow middle third). love how firmly it commits to that smutty phrygian phrasing, and how it offers a hysterical kind of meta-commentary on the second track only to diffuse any potential Smart Moment-ness with the almighty brain-erasing perfect amazing best lyric

MY EGÿyYY$##yYYpPphTiæA$n LUVAAAAA
there is no other

based

3.5
7Janelle Monae
The ArchAndroid

September 7th
fowl rec
2010
R&B / art-pop

The breadth and continuity of this thing is definitely top-tier, but I'm mixed on its moment-to-moment impact -- is it good because it's so slick and ambitious, or is it good because I like the songs or even her voice? I, uh, do not know! Am sure it's the latter at least a little bit, but it's not hitting my on a blow-by-blow level yet! We'll see. Not a good fit for a cursory project like this -- though I'm still v glad to have heard it through this -- more time needed, preliminary uhhh

3.7
8Juniper Moon
El resto de mi vida

September 8th
Havey rec
2002
P-p-p-pop... punk?!?!

Bangs, catchy as hell, wholesome cute un-snotty antidote to all the usual pop punk boydemons, nails all the fundamentals and spits out a couple of extra lovely takeaways (opener, El Resto De Mi Vida and Enfermedad for now), lovely girlvox, solid harmonies and backing vox, would recommend this to anyone tbh. Little bit too homogenous and maybe a little *too* consistent to hit a higher rating on first impression, but could see this changing. Special album!!!

4.0
9Jonsi
Go

September 9th
Icebloom rec
2010
Drippy Sigur Ros pop

So fwiw I'll still stick up for Sigur Ros and occasionally tune into them when they sound like a baby whale curled up in a depression ball 2k below the the surface of the ocean, but their kitsch springtime faerie wavelength has never been my favourite, and this whole album is essentially one long unapologetic MORE PLEASE to exactly that. Respect where it's due to the glitch/folktronica palette (and "Kolnidur" has a particularly solid take on cinematic soppydrama strings) and the amount of heart that clearly went into it, but yep hard pass on most of this. There are a couple of yoOOUUuUuUUoOOOs sweet enough to get under my skin -- "Sinking Friendships" is a pretty easy highlight -- so let's just chalk this up as Takk's sweet-toothed lil cousin and slap a vaguely respectful 3 on it

3.0
10The The
Soul Mining

September 10th
Ryus rec
1983
New Wave

Although I've *technically* heard all this before, the second track is a classic and I've *definitely* heard it (or a cover version) sometime recently? Struggling to form a strong opinion either way about the rest of this though - defs has spirit and personality etc, but I don't love the vocals and found little to latch on over repeated listens. I prefer my new wave bright n kitsch to whatever brand of sardonic this is ig :/

3.2
11The Seekers
Come the Day

September 11th
Sloth rec
1966
Pop oldworld aussie pop bible pop pop

This is revoltingly wholesome and full of great harmonies and good old sentimental fluff lol, I vibed all my spins and picked up a handful of stellar favourites -- that Ecclesiastes track is almost uncomfortably affirming/stirring, love it. Definitely not an album I'd throw on every day and I could see some people finding it mawkish (they would be soulless), but very glad to have it in the ol wheelhouse

3.7
12Lady Gaga
The Fame Monster

September 12th
ava rec
2009
GAGA

Okay, I thought I knew every song that mattered from this and I was WRONG! Monster and Teeth are immediate standouts, but this thing cooks throughout the 90 fucking 3 -minute long version I sourced (though it did drop off near the end and jfc that is longer than this needed to be). Gaga's brand of deliciously tasteless sex-kitsch was huge for me on release and has aged WELL because she had the perfect personality for it and subsequent pop gens have highlighted how rare this is! Those '00s electropop trappings have aged less well and are at points frustratingly lowest common denominator, but there's no holding back a classic song amirite uh ha.

No rating for now - this album is HUGE and I haven't organised my vibes yet - but it certainly won't be lower than 3.5
13Shiina Ringo
Hōjōya (Carnival)

September 13th
DaveyMonsoon rec
2024
J-pop/jazz pop/pop rock

Thanks for reminding me to get on this -- had it in my library for months but had procrastinated it hard for whatever reason (despite falling back in love with her classic work for a few days last week). Will need some more time with it, but my first impression is that it's a partial return to form and *far* stronger than her trainwreck of a last album. Compares overall favourably with Sanmon Gossip and Hi Izuru Tokoro (both of which have admittedly fallen by the wayside for me), but I'm still holding out for strong highlights.

[more tbc)
14Julia-Sophie
Forgive Too Slow

September 14th
someone
2024
Half-lit bedroom A24 pop
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