Reviews by ultraclear

MF DOOM having a hell of a year in 2004. It was fun to listen to him on something where the production was less gonzo than "Mm..Food," but I also think I liked the gonzo stuff more.

Trying to figure out how to express "this is good, but insanely overrated" without getting pelted by tomatoes. Deserves to be on the main list, but the reason I think that has more to do with its status as Cultural Phenomenon than actually connecting with the music any kind of way

This one didn’t have their famous song, but all the other songs sound exactly like the famous song. 2010s Coming of Age Movie sound. Of a very specific time, and I wasn’t really into them when the time was right, either.

Just the most boring, twinkly over-produced type of late 80s pop music. Complete snoozefest.

"Ska Punk" but really it comes off sounding like a less-funky RHCP. More interesting than I thought it'd be, but still not really a fan

I usually like Waters & Pink Floyd, but this is off-the-charts Boomer Midlife Crisis art

There's some flashes of fun & creativity, but mostly it's like if the weather channel didn't have commercials

Apparently I had no idea what The Decemberists' deal is. I was bracing myself for Flaming Lips style soft boy indie music, and instead I got a rock opera! Very good submission, I feel like Meat Loaf was the closest the original list came to allowing Theatre-adjacent stuff into it

Falls somewhere between evanescence and let the bodies hit the floor. Thinks it's rougher & tougher than those, but it's wrong about that. I like the album art, though.

Solid example of some 90s punk, but also most 90s punk doesn't really do much for me

Mid-10s rap. Didn't really make me feel any kind of way, but seems like it was fun to make.

Some of the original list’s Costello budget should have gone to this, but it is also in the same family as Costello

Having a tough time figuring myself out on this one. The music’s Good and the vocal style’s not bad, but the two really really clash in a way that doesn’t feel like it’s on purpose

Never listened to these guys before, and this wasn't at all what I was expecting (Thought it was going to be, like, black metal or something). Instead, it's a masterwork of ambient, atmospheric soundscaping. Super cool!

Oh man, this is an easy band to make fun of, but I actually really liked this.

Obligatory: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dave_Matthews_Band_bus_incident

Bratty in a way that charli xcx could only dream of achieving. It's a masterfully-executed vision, but it is so goddamn stupid

This was just lovely. A+.

I think this is not actually shoegaze but it's what I feel like shoegaze *should* be trying to sound like

I remember nothing about this one day later

Pretty fun, but also sitting in an unfortunate time period where it's *way* late to the party on this style of funk, while also not far enough forward from it to be at the right time for the callback

Super cool pick! Between showcasing an aborigial artist, and the orchestral arrangements of the thing, it's hitting a huge density of music that the original list gave short shrift to