Might as well

[Space-Dementia]

September 27, 2018
Zauberberg by Gas
It kinda seems like the connection between Pop and Rausch. Pop was the first album of his that I listened to in full and I thought it was amazing. It could put me to sleep but it could also take me away to a completely different place if I focused hard enough, which is exactly what I want from an album, especially an ambient one. And now I'm just mad that I took so long to check out the rest of his stuff. While Rausch is a little too dark to just throw it on whenever, Zauberberg is just like an edgier version of Pop. The first and last tracks are just ambient bliss, and the songs in between morph in extremely minimal ways while they pulsate through your ears. I don't really have much to say about this album I guess, because I don't listen to ambient music enough, but I just like what I'm hearing.

[Space-Dementia]

September 29, 2018
Long Season by Fishmans
The first 14 minutes are phenomenal. That guitar line is, of course, absolute perfection, but the build-up to it and everything else going on underneath it is wonderful as well. Those little chimy synths playing the chords in the background provide a perfect constant to your ears, and the bass gives everything a backbone. Then once the drums and singing come in everything seems to feel more like a regular song, until the singer goes apeshit and everything starts to collapse. After that first Post-Rock/Art-Pop section we're greeted by chaos as we enter unknown territory. This part reminds me of something Godspeed You! Black Emperor would do. It's like in "Storm", where the first 10 minutes or so are utterly beautiful and then the rest of the piece is weird ambient drone music. Not that that's necessarily a bad thing. But here, fortunately, the main melody and chord progression finally come back for the last 13 minutes or so, along with some new Stereolab-esque vocal harmonies, and a whole bunch of other instruments and counterparts. And boy is it a nice finish. I honestly don't really know what I would call this genre, and I'm not sure whether I'd call it an album or single or a mini-album or what, but this is terrific stuff from a Japanese band that I've been meaning to check out for the last year or so. All I can say is I've been sleeping.

[Space-Dementia]

October 1, 2018
Negro Swan by Blood Orange
So I think that, as an album, while it's far from perfect, it's extremely underrated. The spoken word bits aren't cheesy and actually make me think, which is nice cause most skits are skip-worthy. Meanwhile, the music is great. Sometimes he rambles on a bit too much and doesn't really take the songs anywhere, but other songs on here are perfectly developed, especially "Charcoal Baby", which is honestly competing for song of the year right now. The production is also spectacular here, so it sometimes makes up for the less than stellar songwriting on less active songs. This album sorta seems like Blood Orange's take on Blonde, and, although it doesn't really come very close to recreating that masterpiece, at least he's taking inspiration from good albums. After hearing a few of his other songs as well, I'm beginning to think that Blood Orange might just be a "songs artist" for me, because although I've listened to this whole album through a few times, it's more some of the individual songs that are sticking with me rather than the whole album.

[Space-Dementia]

October 5, 2018
velocity:design:comfort by Sweet Trip
Well this was unexpectedly very good. The cover threw me off cause it reminds me of all those vaporwave albums from like 2009, but this is a lot more inspired than that. It’s like a mix of Björk, Flying Lotus, and My Bloody Valentine. And the best part is none of it feels forced. The transition between the first two songs really shouldn’t work at all, but when it happens I don’t even bat an eye. They’re two completely different styles of music, but it all feels so natural. One thing that bothers me a bit is the vocals. Both singers have pretty weak, breathy voices, which can work sometimes (My Bloody Valentine faces the same issue but the vocals are so drowned out by all the noise that they actually become really beautiful), but it doesn’t work here. And it ruins some songs for me, like “Sept”. As long as you look past that, though, this is a really interesting record and I’m honestly surprised it didn’t get more attention when it was released, because, while not revolutionary, it’s risky, and it really is in its own world.

[Space-Dementia]

October 12, 2018
Tha Carter V by Lil Wayne
I never listened to Lil Wayne besides his features, which were always good, but I never thought I could take a full album of his voice. But then he put out this album, and after reading about its history, the five year wait, and his own personal experiences, I could tell it was gonna be good. So I listened to the first few songs with my friend when it came out and fortunately my prediction was right. Most of the songs were great. The length kept making me put off listening to the whole thing, but I finally got around to it, and I'm honestly surprised at how consistent it is. Sure, most of the really good songs are on the first half, but even the "filler" is pretty good. I really like the variety on this album. There's romantic R&B songs, straight up bangers, and intense songs with great storytelling. Wayne throws everything on this album, and while it could be a bit shorter, I've started getting used to the really long albums that a lot of rappers have been putting out lately, because basically you just have to run through the whole thing once or twice and then just make a playlist of your favorites. I don't know if this is Wayne's best album, because this is the only one I've listened to, and I hope it's not, but I wouldn't be surprised if it is, because this is really good.

[Space-Dementia]

October 13, 2018
Youth of America by The Wipers
I hear remnants of The Feelies, Joy Division, and Elvis Costello. But I also hear how these guys may have influenced bands like Sonic Youth, The Cure, and Minutemen. I guess their sound isn't very original, and there's bands that do it better than they do, but if I heard this when it came out in '81 I probably would have considered it at the same level as those other bands I mentioned. They're good at taking something normal and making a small change to just make it weirder. Like the main part of "When It's Over" just sounds like a typical punk track but then there's the weird chromatic buildup that just comes out of nowhere and gives the song a whole new feel. I also like how the vocals vary between angsty almost shouted vocals to a smooth kinda spooky voice softly speaking in your ear. This is definitely somewhat of a dark album, but it still has a fun energy to it. Also the chord progression for "Desire Lines" by Deerhunter is exactly the same as "Can This Be" from this album.

[Space-Dementia]

October 14, 2018
iridescence by Brockhampton
Well, I'm disappointed but I'm not really surprised. After a fantastic 2017 and then losing one of their best members (which was honestly a good decision but it's still sad), Brockhampton either could have kept pushing the boundaries of pop rap, or they could have just sunk into a weird obscure sound that only their biggest fans will enjoy. And unfortunately they chose the second option. It's not that this album is bad, it's just disappointing, especially some of the individual songs that could have been much better if more thought was put into them. For example, "Honey" starts off really well with a nice grimy beat, but then the major-key piano chords that come on over the beat just ruin the song for me honestly. and that happens for some of the other songs too. Another thing that isn't great about this album is it's basically just Joba and Merlyn. Kevin's hooks aren't as catchy, Dom is solid as always but it's like he refuses the spotlight, and Matt really dropped the ball on this one. Meanwhile Merlyn shows that he's more than just the dude who yells and with that he really makes himself heard on here, and Joba comes out of nowhere and really makes himself the center of attention on this album. Which, like, good for him honestly and it's interesting to see him as the 'star' of the boyband, at least for this album, but it ruins some of the songs for me. He obviously has a lot to say, but he sounds so much like the dude from twenty one pilots and all those other wack white rappers, and I'm not a fan of that style at all. He really delivers on "J'ouvert", though, which kinda sounds like a weirder version of "Heat". What really makes this worse than their previous three albums, though, is the lack of memorable songs. Saturation I had "Heat", "Gold", and "Star", II had "Gummy", "Queer", "Swamp", and "Sweet", and III had "Boogie", "Zipper", "Bleach", and "Sister/Nation". I can't really think of one standout song on here, though, which really works to their disadvantage. I've listened to the album three or four times and I barely remember a hook. I can dig Brockhampton going in a less pop direction, but if this is the result, I don't want it. I honestly could see them just being remembered as that group that ruled 2017 and then kinda fell off the map. It would be unfortunate, but that's where I see them going at this point.

[Space-Dementia]

October 19, 2018
Joy as an Act of Resistance by Idles
Idles sounds like if Royal Blood, Protomartyr, the Arctic Monkeys, Gang of Four, At the Drive In, Fugazi, Shame, Made Violent, Interpol, the Strokes, and Pile all somehow had a child together and every night it was put to bed and kissed goodnight by Nine Inch Nails on one cheek and Swans on the other while The Armed read it a bedtime story. They're just so good at mixing together straightforward modern punk sounds that remind me of the post-punk-revival movement of the early to mid 2000s with weird experimental post-punk and post-hardcore sounds that push the music towards a more challenging domain. In that way, I think this is an album that I would recommend to my friends who like bands like the Arctic Monkeys, the White Stripes, and the Strokes but want more experimentation and anger. Also, what sets this album apart from other punk albums I've heard is the lyrics. It's like the punk album for millennials, with lyrics like "This snowflake's an avalanche", "I put homophobes in coffins", "I've got a penchant for smokes and kicking douches in the mouth. Sadly for you my last cigarette's out", "My blood brother is an immigrant... He's made of you, he's made of me. Unity!", "I'm a real boy, boy, and I cry. I love myself and I want to try. This is why you never see your father cry", "The mask of masculinity is a mask that's wearing me", etc. They're not afraid of singing and shouting their leftist social views, and in my opinion they never do it in a cheesy way. Idles have talent, they have energy, and they're hungry for fairness and equality. Joy... is one of the best albums I've heard this year, and I wouldn't be surprised if it becomes a blueprint for punk music in the next decade.
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These are my favorite albums right now.

[Space-Dementia]

October 24, 2018
Crumbling by Mid-Air Thief
It's a healthy mix of Nick Drake-style folk, Radiohead-style electronic rock, and everything in between, including Grizzly Bear, pre-MPP Animal Collective, and a little Sufjan Stevens and Tame Impala, with dreamy Japanese (EDIT: my bad, they're Korean, not Japanese) vocals. Basically it's like dream pop but without being overproduced and with a folksy side. If there was a name for this style of music I'd call it Neo-folkyo . And the best part is I really like it. It's minimalistic and subtle enough to keep you coming back, but it's also modern and poppy enough to be initially rewarding. And even though the vocals are kinda drowned out by everything else a lot of the time, it never sounds bad. The vocals just sound like another instrument. The only not-so-positive thing I'd say about this album is that a lot of the songs blend together, so I don't remember what each individual song sounds like, it's more of just a whole album experience for me. Which I guess isn't that bad, but it hurts it in terms of replayability because I probably won't just throw on one of these songs. Good stuff though, I wasn't really expecting to like this as much as I did.
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These are my favorite albums right now.

[Space-Dementia]

October 27, 2018
Before Today by Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti
This is terrific, it's like Steely Dan for this generation. It's like if Mac DeMarco was even weirder. Some of the songs are just synthy goodness, and others are fleshed out, quasi-progressive pop. And all of it is produced in this lo-fi bedroom pop way that makes it sound timeless. Could have come out in the late 70s, could have come out last month. I haven't really listened to Ariel Pink besides this album, and I've been checking this album out for only about a month. So I'm clearly behind on this dude, but he seems so cool. His story is insane, and it's awesome that he's become as big as he is now, and this seems like a great record to start it all off. I can definitely see the influence that he's had on other bands (Mac, MGMT, Mild High Club). In fact, a lot of modern bands like Mild High Club, Unknown Mortal Orchestra, and a bunch of one hit wonder bands like Boy Pablo are said to have a "Mac DeMarco sound", but I feel like this is the protoDeMarco sound. Anyway, enough about Mac, this is a solid record that doesn't take itself too seriously but establishes Ariel Pink as a serious artist who's more than a couple good demos.
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These are my favorite albums right now.