Year Album Artist Stars Score Genre 2021 Blue Weekend Wolf Alice ★★★★ 82 Rock Shoegaze Dream Pop I was a big Wolf Alice fan back when their debut album came out in 2015, but their 2017 follow up lacked a lot of the emotion and raw energy that drew me to the band to beginContinue reading “Blue Weekend – Wolf Alice ★★★★”
Author Archives: Nicholas Cicale
Lucifer On The Sofa – Spoon ★★★½
Year Album Artist Stars Score Genre 2022 Lucifer On The Sofa Spoon ★★★½ 72 Rock Alternative Rock Indie Rock As expected, Spoon’s 10th album and first since 2017’s Hot Thoughts feels almost exactly like their nine previous records. Spoon is likely the most consistent active band. None of their albums are great, but they’re allContinue reading “Lucifer On The Sofa – Spoon ★★★½”
The Lemon of Pink – The Books ★★★
Year Album Artist Stars Score Genre 2003 The Lemon of Pink The Books ★★★ 63 Electronic Folk Indietronic The Book’s The Lemon of Pink is an odd, experimental record that mixes a lot of samples and electronic bleeps with some folk sounding acoustic guitars, live instruments and occasional vocals. There’s a lot going on withinContinue reading “The Lemon of Pink – The Books ★★★”
LP3 – Hippo Campus ★★
Year Album Artist Stars Score Genre 2022 LP3 Hippo Campus ★★ 41 Pop Indie Pop Hippo Campus is a band that’s never quite known what they wanted to be, while at the same time always being the same thing. Their debut EPs and singles all featured cutesy, upbeat (and often offbeat) indie rock tracks, withContinue reading “LP3 – Hippo Campus ★★”
Homogenic – Björk ★★★★
Year Album Artist Stars Score Genre 1997 Homogenic Bjork ★★★★ 81 Electronic Art Pop Trip-Hop Released two-years after Post, Björk’s most commercial and somewhat scattered record, Homogenic really dug into some of the darker, colder and trip-hop based sounds she had used from time to time in the past. The best part of Homogenic isContinue reading “Homogenic – Björk ★★★★”
Souvlaki – Slowdive ★★★½
Year Album Artist Stars Score Genre 1994 Souvlaki Slowdive ★★★½ 71 Rock Shoegaze Dream Pop When I think about what shoegaze music is and sounds like, Slowdive is usually the first band that comes to mind. Out of any band, they create the cleanest, purest version of that quintessential shoegaze sound – loud choruses thatContinue reading “Souvlaki – Slowdive ★★★½”
Run the Jewels 2 – Run the Jewels ★★★½
Year Album Artist Stars Score Genre 2014 Run The Jewels 2 Run The Jewels ★★★½ 74 Hip-Hop Run the Jewels is such a consistent group that it’s hard trying to judge any of their albums against one another. They each have their big highlights. They each show Killer Mike and El-P’s growth as songwriters andContinue reading “Run the Jewels 2 – Run the Jewels ★★★½”
Play – Moby ★★★
Year Album Artist Stars Score Genre 1999 Play Moby ★★★ 60 Electronic Art Pop Trip-Hop The thing that makes Play a fun listen is its lack of focus. Moby uses a smorgasbord of 90s electronic and pop elements on this record, and instead of trying to meld them together to make something new or fullyContinue reading “Play – Moby ★★★”
Bleach – Nirvana ★★★
Year Album Artist Stars Score Genre 1989 Bleach Nirvana ★★★ 60 Rock Alternative Rock Grunge Not exactly the best representation of what Nirvana will become in the years that follow, but Bleach is an album that built the groundwork for an entire decade of music. Wailing, screeching guitars over a havey, distorted grunge fuzz. AContinue reading “Bleach – Nirvana ★★★”
Ohms – Deftones ★★★½
Year Album Artist Stars Scoore Genre 2020 Ohms Deftones ★★★½ 75 Rock Shoegaze Alternative Metal Through the three stages of the band’s life—an early rise at the height of the mid-90s nu-metal and hard rock craze, a slow fall into somewhat obscurity as the genre faded, and their resurgence as almost a 90s nostalgia act—DeftonesContinue reading “Ohms – Deftones ★★★½”
Fresh Out The Deli 