Blame The Clown - Twisted Teens 8.8/10 I love when a lo-fi project comes together in a satisfying way like this. Despite being a two-person band with a drum machine and low production value, this record's punk rock attitude carries it and makes the rough sound work (1/2)

Fashion Nugget - Cake 9.5/10 The reason this album works is because it delivers strong pop hooks unrelentingly through its whole duration. Not a one of these songs doesn't have a hook that you can escape (1/?)

Here’s what the A-side of July looked like for me Any favorites here?? What have you been listening to?? #musicsky

Beauty and the Beat - The Go-Go’s 7.6/10 A really solid showing even if it isn't a record full of show-stoppers. The Go-Go's blend of pop rock, punk, and general 80s sound sensibilities come together in a way that helped them age gracefully over time more so than a lot of 80s music does (1/2)

Magazine - YHWH Nailgun 8.0/10 (Generous, given how mad this project makes me) My main compliment to the album, which carries it quite far, is how adventurous and cool the sound world is on this project. Much like the LP that proceeded it, it's violently dynamic and percussive (1/?)

Twin Fantasy (Mirror to Mirror) - Car Seat Headrest 9.4/10 An impressively wise and cohesive dive into universal topics like aging out of young love, struggles with identity, and putting a love interest on a pedestal, just to name a few (1/?)

Dancing On The Wall - MUNA 6.6/10 This album does sort of does one thing consistently, and if you aren't super compelled by that sound, it's sort of a grab bag of which songs really stand out. I just don't always vibe with this style of desire-ridden smoothed out pop sound (1/2)

An Eraser And A Maze - Modest Mouse 8.2/10 A bit of a fusion of modern era style Modest Mouse production and sensibilities with a classic era Modest Mouse songwriting formula (for the most part) (1/?)

Here’s what I’ve been rockin with for the June B-side! What have you been listening to?? Any favorites here?? #musicsky

Rock Steady - No Doubt 5.5/10 I don't mind that this record takes a half and half approach, marrying the ska history of the band and the pop elements from Gwen Stefani's solo career. I do think that it's in the songwriting's inconsistency that makes me hesitate about this project as a whole (1/?)

Look For Your Mind! - The Lemon Twigs 9.3/10 I've previously criticized The Lemon Twigs for being too much of a Paul McCartney ripoff project, and I'll still apply that comment on this project, but this time it's a positive quality (1/?)

M***********, I am Both “Amen” and “Hallelujah” - Shearling 7.7/10 In interviews, Shearling talk about how important the music is on this project and to this group… (1/?)

Second & Eighteen - Honest Bob and the Factory-to-Dealer Incentives 9.8/10 It's a funny record in the sense that it's got a lot of weirdo and comical lyrics, but also funny how unnoticeable genius the songwriting is (1/?)

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

Distracted - Thundercat 7.6/10 This one took a while and a lot of down time to really appreciate, because the subtleties are what makes this one good (1/?)

The Babe Rainbow - Babe Rainbow 8.5/10 This is music that sounds like it's made by people who love making this music. There's a joy in how it's all translated in all its happy hippie lo-fi glory (1/2)

No Doubt - No Doubt 7.9/10 It took a few listens to bypass the simple and passable production before I really honed in on how much fun this record is (1/?)

Tylenol - BODHI 7.5/10 Nice and moody, I tend to prefer the more lo-fi and subdued tracks over the more textured poppy cuts, but these songs are all pretty good! I'm curious to hear where BODHI goes from here, I always love a good lo-fi and introspective artist! (1/1)

Here’s May’s B-side! I listened to a lot this time around! Any favorites here?? What have you been listening to?? #musicsky

Road to Closure, Vol. 13 - Actually, I’m a Ghost 8.8/10 I have a soft spot for scrappy emo project like this one, where the recording quality is noticeably lower than the industry standard. The plingy guitars still sound good even if the tone is a little on the basic side (1/?)

The Mountain - Gorillaz 7.7/10 This album has been a little elusive to me. It’s hard to grasp aside from the poppy highs on this one, but repeated listens are rewarded with appreciation of more subtle beauty (1/?)

3 Feet High And Rising - De La Soul 9.1/10 There's so much life in these tracks, the loops are really interesting, the sampling choice is top notch, and while I still don't love the skits, this is definitely on the stronger side of rap album skits (1/?)

1 Trait High - 1 Trait Danger 3.6/10 It's a lot more common for me to think an artist takes themselves too seriously to the degree that it affects the music than when an artist doesn't take themselves seriously enough, but this record does fall into that odd category (1/2)

Dreamy - Beat Happening 6.8/10 There are noticeable pockets of this record where the singing and guitar intonation goes from "quirky" to "bad" and it's more prominent than I'd like because a lot of the songs would have been good/are good but are neighboring some rough vocal takes (1/2)

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/?)