Arca - Arca 9.3/10 In her own biography, Arca states that her music is meant to illicit feelings of beauty among suffering, much like divas in opera (1/?)

SEYCHELLES - Masayoshi Takanaka 9.3/10 The joy resonates off of this album and all of its beach rock glory. The guitar work and orchestration is all top notch, really settling into a vibe and a feeling that you can't help but like more and more with each listen (1/2)

The first half of May is gone in a flash! Here’s what the A-side was looking like for me! Any favorites here?? What have you been listening to?? #musicsky

Cabin In The Sky - De La Soul 7.2/10 The album starts off pretty strong (despite the extended roll call bit that lasts over 3 minutes that I still can't decide if I like it or not). Unfortunately, track order and pacing are not in this record's favor (1/?)

WDYTWH - Tophouse 7.1/10 A little more catered to "larger appeal" than I tend to prefer, but I really dig a couple of these songs on this EP! (1/?)

Snowbug - The High Llamas 8.3/10 This album is darling. It's cozy and artsy like Stereolab and Yo La Tengo had a child together wrapped in a warm winter's blanket (1/?)

April’s B-side! What have you been listening to?? Any favorites here?? #musicsky

Buhloone Mindstate - De La Soul 8.8/10 "It might blow up, but it won't go pop" is the lyric on this project that encapsulates the record's thesis: music that becomes big commercial success often loses a prominent truth to it (1/?)

A little bit belated, but here is my April A-Side! What have you been listening to?? Any favorites here?? #musicsky

Green Mind - Dinosaur Jr. 7.8/10 It took me a few listens to really get there, but I dig a lot of these unconventional hooks and pieces that they've put together to make these songs (1/?)

For those of us who were traumatized (and continue to be so) by all that has been happening in the US recently..... Look for the helpers. Look for beauty. Look for glimmers. Charlie Mackesy's art is a glimmer for me today.

March B-side! I like the color scheme of this 5x5 What have you been listening to?? Any favorites here?? #musicsky

A I A: Alien Observer - Grouper 7.7/10 I feel like an alien observer myself listening to this album (1/?)

EPIC: The Troy Saga - Jorge Rivera-Herrans 6.7/10 I like the concept a lot, and I think the execution will be more enjoyable when it's properly partnered with the animation/game/stageplay/whatever it ends up being associated with (1/?)

Ruins - Grouper 8.4/10 It takes a special kind of subdued beauty to be this engaging and this meditative across an entire album with just piano and occasional vocals, so that's some instant kudos for Grouper on this one (1/?)

Nothing’s About to Happen to Me - Mitski 7.7/10 There's a lot of through lines in the lyrics across this album, mainly the idea of a premature death, what follows it, and how it affects/is affected by cats (1/?)

Somehow we’re already halfway done with March, so here’s the A-side! What have you been listening to?? Any favorites here?? #musicsky

Transmissions From the Satellite Heart - The Flaming Lips 10/10 While not all of them are posted on here, this is my 500th album review! For the occasion, I chose a personal, un-scored favorite! (1/?)

Abbey Road - The Beatles 9.7/10 It's no secret that that Abbey Road as an album is one of the most famous examples of the total being greater than the sum of its parts (1/?)

Centipede Hz - Animal Collective 9.3/10 Expectation really did a number on critical reception of this record. It came off of the heels of 4 astonishing albums by Animal Collective and this one was often brushed off for being less technical (1/?)

Eureka - Jim O’Rourke (Cropped for social media) 8.5/10 I like the meditative nature of these songs, and the context of the listen really helps too. For me, cars driving through the wet rain of an early spring day elevated this from being okay to being pretty good (1/?)

Americana - The Offspring 8.7/10 In an attempt to display what they defined as "Americana" in the late 1990s, the Offspring don't paint a picture of sweet apple pie and baseball, but rather a cesspool of broken futures, ill fated relationships, and corporate greed that rivals the power of gods 1/2

Here is what I listened to in the B-side of February! Any favorites here?? What have you been listening to?? #musicsky

Sorry Ma, Forgot to Take out the Trash - The Replacements 7.4/10 The Replacements are very obviously still finding their footing as a group on this project, but there is never a point where I'm bored, which can't be said for a lot of early releases, even from favorite artists of mine (1/?)

Big Bad World - Plain White T’s 5.8/10 The beginning of this record feels very of its time in a "wow he's so dreamy playing the keyboard with M&M's on it," if you know you know (1/?)

Dragging a Dead Deer Up a Hill - Grouper 8.2/10 This one is ethereal in ways that both unsettle and saddens me as well as comfort me, depending on the context of the listen (1/?)

Today - Galaxie 500 6.2/10 Do I like the vibe of this album? Yeah I'd say so, but it's so redundant and sometimes really pushing the boundaries of what is experimental jamming and what is a bad note (1/2)

Blue Moves - Elton John 4.6/10 Elton John bet it all on black and it came up red with this one unfortunately. Putting out over an hour of music together is a bold move and can be the source of some of the most theme-heavy records or star-studded track lists (1/?)

The Dark Side of the Moon - Pink Floyd 9.4/10 I have heard these songs since my childhood, and I still find myself getting so thrilled by the highlights on this record. It's so mysterious and moody while also being larger than life and lush (1/2)

LUX - ROSELÍA 6.8/10 For all the moments in this album that I thought were really interesting and engaging or for every performance I thought was stunning (particularly the vocals), there were production, form, and composition choices that I thought were questionable at best (1/?)

Rose Mountain - Screaming Females 8.2/10 I admire that they went for something more conceptual than anything else they did up to this point in their career. Many of these songs are about Marissa's health issues that persisted the conception, recording, and touring of this record (1/?)

The Boojums - The Boojums 9.6/10 This project is so consistent and fun, it's like finding a lost VHS tape of concert footage that was someone's best night of their life, and just living vicariously through what you're experiencing (1/2)

January’s B side topster in no particular order Any favorites here?? What have you been listening to?? #musicsky #topster

Just an updated topster from the last half year or so. Would love to know what everyone thinks or what people like on here! #musicsky #top100albums #topster

Quite a bit belated, but here’s my first mid-month-ster of the year! What are your favorites here?? What have you been listening to?? #musicsky

Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can’t We? - The Cranberries 9.5/10 Maybe it's because this album is a contender for one of the first works of music I remember in my subconscious from the womb, but it's just such cozy and beautiful music (1/2)

IX - Papir 7.2/10 I really dig a lot of these jams in a vacuum, but in an album, it reaches diminishing returns by the end of the hour and 15 run time. It can get emotionally driven, atmosphere driven, and really rockin' (1/2)

Second wildest needle drop I’ve ever heard in public just happened with Johnny Cash’s cover of “Hurt” playing at a Vitality Bowl

45 Pounds - YHWH Nailgun 8.7/10 A 20 minute blast of noise, punk, some 80s and 90s electronic elements, some more modern electronic elements, and a whole lot of force to smash all of the components together (1/?)

Forgive Me For My Synths - Blake Rules 9.3/10 If you're a fan of Adult Swim style content that doesn't take itself seriously at all while still having oddly emotional moments, this project is for you (1/?)

Blurrr - Joanne Robertson 6.7/10 When picking individual songs from this project, I can think of three distinct tracks that are "to die for" levels of gorgeous, and the rest, if played in a queue or playlist for trying to relax, might suffice and sound pretty good (1/?)

Happy New Year! Here’s what the B-side of December looked like for me in no particular order What have you been listening to?? Any favorite here?? #musicsky

WHAT HAPPENED TO THE STREET? - 21 Savage 4.7/10 Honestly this project starts out strong even if it isn't my vibe, but the beats get less and less interesting as the album goes on, as if they hope you start tuning out what's actually going on while you're listening to other music (1/2)

Bleeds - Wednesday 8.5/10 An interesting blend of the sort of casual rock sound, punk, country, and even some heavier influences as well, I feel like this project has a lot of good on it but is a little unfocused which took me out of the album as a unit (1/2)

HORIZONTAL FALL - LudoWic 9.2/10 Definitely the best album I've heard so far featuring the trautonium, an obscure and old synthesizer from the 1920s. It's got a rustic, soft, and haunting timbre and is the primary instrument for this instrumental project (1/2)

LOS THUTHANAKA - LOS THUTHANAKA 9.3/10 A melting pot of house, dance, electronic, hyperpop, festival, and some other smatterings of influences (1/?)

Pirouette - Model/Actriz 8.7/10 Angular, danceable, and pointedly less electronic than you think, this album really cooks in the first half (1/?)

You Always Wanted to Be a Part of What Went on in Places Like This - Abbie from Mars 9.3/10 Quirky pop music that playfully makes light of things as mundane as being a hard match for suitors to where tax money goes (1/2)

Antigone - Eiko Ishibashi 8.2/10 This project feels simple yet incredibly mysterious. A lot of the tones set on here have a dark but approachable feel (1/?)

Luminescent Creatures - Ichiko Aoba 9.1/10 As expected, this was a gentle and gorgeous record. I wouldn't proclaim the orchestration on this project to be "lush," but I'd say that it fills the exact amount of space it needs to to elevate the singer-songwriter bones of the songs (1/2)