album listens #39 - on land and in the sea - cardiacs

 

cool and fun album. love the guitar work and the vocals. just never stops going at 100mph. it feels like every song switches up every 30 seconds, its all over the place! just so many creative ideas crammed into this album, its soooooooooooo cool listen to this rn.

FAVOURITE SONG: Fast Robert, The Stench of Honey, Two Bites of Cherry, Buds and Spawn, The Everso Closely Guarded Line

RATING: 9/10

album listens #38 - where's my utopia? - yard act

 

a real improvement on their first album, so much character and wit, yard act are actually super unique. so glad i came round to them i really don't know why i used to hate them so much but they're super cool, not arsed that they can be corny sometimes and their lyrics are just so creative. catchy hooks and poetic, yet also silly verses, doesn't take itself seriously and just feels like they really enjoy making music. not sure where they'll go after this though, as this sort of feels like they've stretched this sound to its end point, but a solid work from the band still. 

FAVOURITE SONGS: Blackpool Illuminations, Dream Job, A Vineyard For The North, When The Laughter Stops, The Undertow

RATING: 8/10

album (re?)listens #37 - pop 2 - charli xcx

 

i can't remember when i listened to this for the first time but i feel like it was this year? i don't know. either way it don't matter this mixtape is fucking incredible. so many ideas just crammed into it, so creative, so unique. wow. i don't think i can give it a perfect 10 cuz it is very all over the place but wow. i really just can't get over how creative it is. amazing production, features everything is really just perfect. amazing AMAZING! i'm going to listen to the other charli records i've definitely listened to before but i can't remember them properly and want to log them here. i'm pretty sure this one was early this year but i just cant remember and it was before i started writing this. cannot wait for the new album...

RATING: 9 SO CLOSE TO 10/10

FAVOURITE SONG: Delicious, Femmebot, Backseat, Track 10, Tears

album listens #36 - spiceworld - spice girls

 

i can't decide whether i like this more than the debut or not. i think spiceworld is so much more consistent all the way through, there were no songs that i'd skip, but i did like the high points on spice more. another amazingly crafted pop record with some really cool influences. it's more polished and more to the point than spice and i honestly can't see a bad moment on it. a really good improvement. SO FUN !

RATING: 8, maybe 9/10

FAVOURITE SONG: Denying, Never Give Up On The Good Times,

album listens #35 - 2020 - richard dawson

 

weird and kinda wonderful. songs are sprawling, rambling, in such a weird cadence and with a thick northern accent (it's a very british album (in a good way)). the riffs and the guitar work are really cool and there's so much creativity in it, it's most definitely unique. it feels very personal and anecdotal, there are lots of very strange and specific lyrics from his life. feels a little tedious by the end as there's not all that much variation, but i guess it's cohesive? enjoyed quite a lot !

RATING: 7/10

FAVOURITE SONG: Two Halves, Black Triangle, Civil Servant, Dead Dog in an Alleyway

album listens #34 - laurel hell - mitski

 

the pop-iest i've heard from mitski ! really fun and great, but also heart-wrenching at times with her delivery and lyrics, she really cannot go wrong. not my favourite of her albums but definitely still very great ! short, sweet and to the point.

FAVOURITE SONG: Should've Been Me

RATING: 7 or 8/10

album listens #33 - oil of every pearl's un-insides - sophie

 

after the first few songs i started to get worried that maybe i didn't get this album. it's talked about so much and hailed as one of the greatest works of pop music, so it was a little daunting to give this one a listen. after a few songs it really did make an impression on me. it's a great mix of experimental electronic and pop music and it's just such a creative album. i definitely need to give it another listen, because there's just so much to take in so maybe i don't fully understand it yet? but either way i enjoyed it a lot. the obvious standout is sophie's production it just sounds amazing and so cutting edge, with a great mix of harsh noise and more pretty electronics. there are some parts of this tho i don't feel like work together. some mixtures of sounds just sound a little thrown in at random as a song progresses when they don't feel like they have a place, which i noticed on the song Ponyboy. either way i feel like this is definitely a landmark album for experimental pop music and i have a lot of respect for it, such a shame that she never got to make another album because i would love to listen to more.

FAVOURITE SONG: Faceshopping

RATING: 7 or 8/10 (may change, going to listen again)