Reviews by mikey_nc

An enjoyable, if not especially memorable, rock album. I liked the shifting tempos and bouncy instruments.

Melodies are a little thin and the spoken word stuff was a little weird, but this is a perfectly pleasant album.

I just can’t say I find Ice Cube all that interesting on his own. I also wasn’t much for the “comedy” song where he contemplated murdering a pregnant woman.

Masters of the 80s synthpop sound. They use the massive echo-gated production style to emphasize loneliness and space, instead of just trying to be big and loud. They can also write some real hooks. A little too weird in places, but genuine artistic merit here.

How does this sound so good despite seeming like it could so easily sound boring? Why did I listen to this three times in a row? Where has this been all my life?

What a strange little fella Tom Waits is. The atmosphere on this album is pretty much exactly what they were going for, and the band is smooth and loose. It’s hard to evaluate a “fake” live album with few traditionally structured songs like you would a normal album, but I’m not sure Waits has ever made a normal album, so what’s the difference?

Spectral country music that floats towards you like the winds in the Blue Ridge Mountains. A bit repetitive, but highly evocative.

I dig the psychedelic sound here. Not huge on the singer, but the melodies and production deliver.

Genuinely inventive and sharp. Not always intelligible or interesting, but made with care and brains.

This at least has some energy to it but I don’t really wanna listen to hyped out British electro rap. Paper Planes had better production.

Man it was OK I guess. The urge not to be xenophobic cannot negate how whatever this was to me.

Possibly 80s slop. It is, at least, some of the most well-made 80s slop I’ve ever heard.

A modest and highly lyrical country album from an artist I’d never heard anything by. A worthy entry in country’s singer-songwriter canon.

Sure, you know. They’re doing their thing. It’s like if Clapton’s weird shuffly soft-blues music was actually kind of good.

A good example of how critics are sometimes bad at understanding what will leave a lasting impact. The beats and production are not bad, but she’s not that strong of an rapper and she’s an unbelievably preachy and on-the-nose lyricist.

Possibly one of the quaintest albums I’ve ever heard. It could probably stand to be a little less quaint honestly, but there’s little doubting that it’s a pleasant listen.

A doom-y spectral album driven by some interesting instrumental choices. Not the most memorable and a little too mopey, but valuable enough.

One of my dad’s favorite albums. A certifiable classic, though it is a little too 80s for me to really fall in love with it. Still, Prince’s talent for big hooks, quirky psychedelic twists, and expansive production make this great.

Swinging, casual, yet clinical in its craft. A very good album from a master jazz mind.

I’ll always appreciate the Beastie Boys. They’re a little too monotonous for me to really love them, but they at least are trying stuff here and having fun.