Reviews by mikey_nc

Really drives home how thoroughly many of the punks could not sing. Pretty creative, at least.

Best song: Two Steps Back

Very atmospheric and textual and all that fancy stuff. An interesting listen if not the most memorable one.

Solid electronic album with smooth vibes and a consistent mood. Not really into all the spoken-word samples.

Best song: In My Arms

Peak “listening to music about murder and drugs on the way to my 9-5”-coded music

Well it has Good Vibrations, I guess. Otherwise it sounds like the disheveled ramblings of a very troubled guy with a lot of talent and studio time. RIP Brian

Best song: Good Vibrations

Thank you Miles, very cool!

Quite soft yet quite intense. She’s pretty good at mining darkness and negative emotions without overwhelming you or coming off as whiny. I’m impressed.

Best song: Winter

I do kinda go for the weirdness of this but there’s only so much I can hear about the miners from Asturias and their shiny moneyboxes

Sledgehammer-blunt yet mysterious, clearly classic yet sharply modern (at least by 2001's standards), the White Stripes are hard to pin down. This is probably their most quintessential recording, so as someone who loves the band, I love the album.

Best song: Fell in Love with a Girl

A bright and loud album that makes some fun noise but doesn’t leave a significant impression. A step down from their debut.

A big and atmospheric album with a psychedelic sound. Meanders a little too much, but really strong in spite of that.

Best song: Under the Pressure

A low-key but full-sounding singer-songwriter album. Very pleasant but verges on monotonous, particularly in the last song.

Best song: Babylon

Pretty classic, though there’s too much blues and not enough rocking out.

Best song: Beck’s Bolero

A very lush album with some big melodies. Too long, but I appreciate the exposure to something I’d never have heard otherwise.

A solid album with the signature Talking Heads funk-punk-pop(???) sound, though none of the songs really grabbed me.

Best song: Take Me to the River

Don’t think I’ve ever heard the word “rectum” used that much in an album. I like Automator’s production, but the porno “skits” (we are stretching the definition there) and obsession with being weird got to be too much for me.

Best song: Earth People

The opener is a classic but it gets way too 80s for me after that.

Best song: Karma Chameleon

Even and lowkey “lounge” music with diverse influences, including jazz, blues, country, and traditional pop. A really solid album that invites repeat listens.

Best song: The Nearness of You

Punk sound and attitude at a slower, more introspective pace, which I guess is typical post-punk. This is pretty strong with some good guitar.

Best song: Burst

Bruce is sad about what just happened but hopeful for the future. That’s great but not sure he needed to communicate that exact emotion over and over for 15 songs.

Best song: Into the Fire