Solid track, but I feel like experiencing maximum enjoyment with new Pusha music requires you to think he's really cool, and once I lost that his whole shtick started to feel pretty surface-level to me. "Diet Coke" indeed.
Enjoyed the new Polo G album, though for me Die a Legend remains his finest achievement - I think I preferred his more down-to-earth perspective on that album than his navigation of rap stardom, though no doubt he's doing that quite well. Also preferred last year's albums from Armand Hammer and Ka, though it's nice to see people catching up with both artists and giving them some long overdue shine.
For me it's these (Carti ineligible b/c it's a 2020 release):
1) Donda // Kanye West
2) LP! (offline) // JPEGMAFIA
3) I Lie Here Buried With My Rings and Dresses // Backxwash
4) Call Me If You Get Lost // Tyler, the Creator
5) By The Time I Get to Phoenix // Injury Reserve
6) "Disco!" // MIKE
7) Haram // Armand Hammer & The Alchemist
8) Punk // Young Thug
9) Bo Jackson // Boldy James & The Alchemist
10) Navy's Reprise // Navy Blue
Love to see another Iglooghost booster around these parts! Definitely the most slept-on 2021 album in my opinion - such a cool blend of his earlier/punchier sound with neoclassical and nature-ambient elements, and likely the most successful attempt at "world-building" I heard on an album this year. Clearly need to check out the Team Rockit album, though...
Top 10 albums 2021:
1) Nurture // Porter Robinson
2) Donda // Kanye West
3) Lei Line Eon // Iglooghost
4) A Beginner's Mind // Sufjan Stevens & Angelo de Augustine
5) LP! (offline) // JPEGMAFIA
6) Promises // Floating Points / Pharoahe Sanders / London Symphony Orchestra
7) Frailty // dltzk
8) I Lie Here Buried With My Rings and Dresses // Backxwash
9) Ultrapop // The Armed
10) Call Me If You Get Lost // Tyler, the Creator
The next 10:
11) Volcanic Bird Enemy and the Voiced Concern // Lil Ugly Mane
12) Hey What // Low
13) KiCK iii // Arca
14) Pool // Skee Mask
15) To See the Next Part of the Dream // Parannoul
16) Mother // Cleo Sol
17) By The Time I Get to Phoenix // Injury Reserve
18) Mercurial World // Magdalena Bay
19) Agor // Koreless
20) "Disco!" // MIKE
Bonus 5:
21) Rare, Forever // Leon Vynehall
22) G_d's Pee at STATE'S END! // Godspeed You! Black Emperor
23) Haram // Armand Hammer & The Alchemist
24) Punk // Young Thug
25) Calvacade // black midi
If/when this band comes back with another album detailing emotionally caustic scenarios and feelings (as on Melee) should I assume that they're the product of "reflecting" and "active work" to address personal misdeeds, or the failure to do so? Just not sure how a listener is supposed to incorporate this statement into their relationship with the band's music, and - unless the situation is much worse than is being described - I don't know why they needed to.
Not a Snail Mail comment, but would highly recommend visiting the Armour-Stiner House where their performance video was filmed - incredibly cool house layout and knick-knacks within it, interesting history, and it's located in a beautiful part of the Hudson Valley area in NY to boot. Promise this isn't a sponsored tourism post, it's just a really cool place!
One of RDJ's best records, as Aphex or any other alias. IMO the "critical thud" that characterized this record's initial reception is less a blemish on Aphex than critics who, for some reason, insist on applying outdated notions of formalism to experimental music; the idea that an artist is being experimental in the "wrong" way is just an incredibly laughable notion.
Nervously excited for this one - haven't really loved any of the singles to date, but I think Parquet Courts/Parkay Quartz have improved with pretty much every album, and Wide Awake! (WIDE AWAAAAAKE?) is among the best indie rock albums of the last few years IMO. So even if they don't somehow top themselves yet again, I guess I can't really hold it against them.
Didn't MIKE release an album of the same literally last year? Looking forward to hearing this still, and I know Maxo and MIKE aren't in overlapping scenes per say, but this overlap shouldn't be that hard to avoid.
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