Nicholas Cicale

Room on Fire – The Strokes ★★★★

Year Album Artist Star Score Genre 2003 Room on Fire The Strokes ★★★★ 85 Rock Alternative Rock Indie Rock It’s hard to follow up a debut album that reinvigorated an entire genre of music with anything but disappointment, but the Strokes really did the best anyone possibly could have on Room on Fire. The StrokesContinue reading “Room on Fire – The Strokes ★★★★”

El Camino – The Black Keys ★★★

Year Album Artist Stars Score Genre 2011 El Camino The Black Keys ★★★ 66 Rock Alternative Rock Blues Rock El Camino represents The Black Keys at their peak popularity. “Lonely Boy” was an absolute banger of a single that had a lot more energy than what they had offered the album prior, an energy that’sContinue reading “El Camino – The Black Keys ★★★”

Brothers – The Black Keys ★★★½

Year Album Artist Stars Score Genre 2010 Brothers The Black Keys ★★★½ 71 Rock Indie Rock Blues Rock I look back fondly on the days when The Black Keys were considered hip and cool, when they seemed like one of the last holdouts of the garage rock movement that started in the early 2000s withContinue reading “Brothers – The Black Keys ★★★½”

Lahai – Sampha ★★★★

Year Album Artist Stars Score Genre 2023 Lahai Sampha ★★★★ 85 Hip-Hop R&B Neo-Soul Sampha has been making notable music for a long time. From being the primary vocalist on SBTRKT tracks in 2010 and 11, to all his features with artists like Drake in 2013, Kanye West in 2016, Kendrick Lamar in 2022 andContinue reading “Lahai – Sampha ★★★★”

VOIR DIRE – Earl Sweatshirt, The Alchemist ★★★

Year Album Artists Stars Score Genre 2023 VOIR DIRE Earl Sweatshirt, The Alchemist ★★★ 63 Hip-Hop Earl Sweatshirt will always be a little low energy for me, and his recent efforts have been too choppy to really hold my interest even if I know the things he’s doing and saying are interesting and creative. TeamingContinue reading “VOIR DIRE – Earl Sweatshirt, The Alchemist ★★★”

And Then You Pray for Me – Westside Gunn ★★

Year Album Artist Stars Score Genre 2023 And Then You Pray for Me Westside Gunn ★★ 49 Hip-Hop With an artist as prolific at Westside Gunn and the rest of Griselda, you should expect some variance in quality from release to release. It’s a slight miracle that the 12 records and mixtapes Westside’s released formContinue reading “And Then You Pray for Me – Westside Gunn ★★”

Everything is Alive – Slowdive

Year Album Artist Stars Score Genre 2023 Everything is Alive Slowdive ★★★ 67 Rock Alternative Rock Shoegaze Shoegaze stalwarts Slowdive return for the first time in six years with Everything is Alive, an album with a slightly different flavor than anything they’ve done in the past. The band seems to have pulled on the reins,Continue reading “Everything is Alive – Slowdive”

Mid Air – Romy ★★★

Year Album Artist Stars Score Genre 2023 Mid Air Romy ★★★ 61 Pop Dance-Pop Electronic Romy’s solo debut Mid Air ignores many of the cutting edge trends and tropes of modern indie electronic music. Instead, she draws from the trance and Eurohouse sounds that peaked her interest growing up in the 1990s and early 2000sContinue reading “Mid Air – Romy ★★★ “

Girl with Fish – feeble little horse ★★★½

Year Album Artist Stars Score Genre 2023 Girl With Fish feeble little horse ★★★½ 78 Rock Indie Rock Shoegaze feeble little horse’s Girl with Fish is a quick, delightful indie rock record that, when necessary, utilizes a perfect amount of reverb, distortion, bendy dissonance and electronic sound effects to bring its seemingly intimate presentation toContinue reading “Girl with Fish – feeble little horse ★★★½”

For All The Dogs – Drake ★½

Year Album Artist Stars Score Genre 2023 For All The Dogs Drake ★½ 32 Hip-Hop I don’t think I’ve actually liked a Drake album since about 2014, but it’s hard to deny that he’s consistently been able to produce a handful of quality songs and singles every year since his commercial debut in 2009. Yeah,Continue reading “For All The Dogs – Drake ★½”