Phantasmagoria I, The Sleepwalk
I can’t be sure whether I actually dreamed up this entire album like some sort of outer realm god or maybe I was just so sleep deprived when I first listened to it that it all feels like a dream . It doesn’t help that this entire album sounds like one long fever dream too. All the lyrics are pretty much only in Japanese and with the shoegaze pedals working their magic it’s even more confusing on what’s even going on. If you genuinely sit down and listen to this album it will grab a hold of you and only let go once it's done blending you through its hazy sounds. What a fun and cozy(?) time this album was. I recommend only listening to it past midnight with your best headphones on and sitting/laying in a dark room. Only then do I think this album's message(?) will get across to you clearly…? I don’t know man, it’s cool ass japanese shoegaze music from the 90s. It sort of kicks ass and sort of makes me want to spiral into an existential crisis.
Favorite Song: Return to Within, to Out...
*the ambience of feet switching pedals*
Mr. Morale and The big steppers, Kendrick Lamar
A whole album that by the end should make you want to go to therapy. An honest depiction of how messy healing can be and dealing with old wounds that have existed since childhood. I've listened to this one a lot and cried a lot listening to this album. An experience that made me realize that i'm not so alone in how scary/complicated the world can feel. The use of such ghostly sopranos to start most songs on this album mixed in with Kendricks lyrics sounding like premonitions made me really feel the gravity of the struggles he is rapping about. Not the type of album that you can just turn on and bop too but one that will have you thinking about its messages for days.
Favorite Song: Count Me Out
"Even my strong points wouldn't survive, if I didn't learn to love myself, forgive myself a hundred times."
Alligator Bites Never Heal, Doechii
Oh yea...This that fly type jawn that will have you head bopping forreal. Doechii does not hold back on really coming at it on this album with just straight bars. With this cool mix of boom bap beats and a classic florida flow I couldn't help but just bounce around when listening to this one. The type of album that makes me wish I had an old school chevy impala on some chrome all terrain 22s to cruise through the swamp with.
Favorite Song: SKIPP
"Doechii the Don, Doechii the Dean, Doechii Supreme, the swamp ruler"
KOD, J.Cole
This album feels like a limited episodic series that you find on hbomax or netflix. A bunch of different tracks that are narrated by or talking about different characters who are struggling with life and run to drugs to cope. Genuinely love every song on this album for one reason or another and have no complaints. A dope record that reminded me of how we all struggle on the daily and what we do to deal with the pain.
Favorite Song: Kevin's Heart
"All I wanna do is see my granny on the other side. All I wanna do is kill the man that made my momma cry."
MG Ultra, Machine Girls
Have you ever watched any cyberpunk media? Have you ever wished you could have a whole soundtrack that really amps up both the cyber and the punk of cyberpunk? You ever watched akira? Remember all the crazy sounding music in it and how strange it all sounded? Imagine that but with hardcore punk aesthetics and mix in groovy techno beats. Thats what this album is and let me tell you...It's awesome. A rollercoaster of noise that made me feel like I had a cyber virus that was trying to infect my brain by going through my ear drums.
Favorite Song: Cicadas
"Just bеcause you can doesn't mean you should But everything is fucked up, now it's everywhere you look."