THRILLER - MICHEAL JACKSON What the hell do you even say about the best selling album of all time besides it absolutely deserves that title. The blend of pop, rock, and funk on this album is absolutely undeniable with performances that all back it up excellently. There are some songs on this album that don’t quite do it for me, the song with Paul McCartney on it feels completely unnecessary to me but I digress. Between the opener, title track, beat it, and Billie Jean there is just some of the best and most iconic music ever on this. Pure bliss
OFF THE WALL - MICHEAL JACKSON Okay so despite me loving thriller this is by far my favorite Micheal Jackson album I’ve listened to. Despite only a three year gap between this and thriller, he leans way more into his funk roots on this album while still making it very accessible to a mainstream audience (unlike acclaimed funk albums like head hunters or maggot brain) and I think it’s that accessibility that makes me wanna say he absolutely mastered the funk and disco sounds on this album. Just one of the most fun listening experiences I’ve had in quite a long time.
BLACK AND BROWN! - BLACK MILK & DANNY BROWN This album was really good despite me ignoring for so long. It scratches the same itch for me as the hybrid where Danny brown is just rapping his ass off as if his life depends on it. That being said it probably did at this point as Danny brown was very underground at this time in his career and struggling against poverty. But it’s that desperation to overcome and succeed that makes that early Danny brown stuff really appealing to me. On the beats side of this album black milk knocks it out of the park with the production here. A very overlooked piece of browns career and I wish it wasn’t.
HOT SOUP - DANNY BROWN This was Danny browns first mixtape and as much as I hate to admit it, it shows. The rapping is only slightly above amateur and the beats are generic. If I have one good thing to say about this mixtape it’s that it shows how far Danny has come over the course of his career. It’s fine I listened to it once and I don’t really plan to again it’s not especially unique.
SOUTHERNPLAYALISTICADILLACMUZIK - OUTKAST This is another case of a rapper’s(two in this case) first album that ultimately comes across as forgettable to me though unlike hot soup there is one moment on this album that really sticks out to me and that’s when they’re talking about what it means to be an outcast. That might be the best little interlude on any rap album for me it’s just so damn good. That being said when the best part of an album is an interlude…. I wouldn’t consider it a super great album. I’d honestly say it’s only for the most diehard of OutKast fans.
LIVE FROM SPACE - MAC MILLER Right off the bat I gotta say this album is so damn cool it makes me wish this was actually how watching movies with the sound off actually sounded. It’s so much more jazzy and bright than the original album the difference is honestly night and day for me. Covers of songs like SDS or watching movies just sound so cool in this context that it honestly lessened my opinion of the album it comes from for me. These crunchy chords on the keys and guitar matched with energetic drums and vocals just make this absolutely perfect for me. I wouldn’t consider definitely put this among daft punks alive 2007 and nirvanas live and unplugged in nyc as one of my favorite live albums ever recorded.
NEVER ENOUGH - TURNSTILE This album was…. Good! I don’t think I liked it as much as glow on but tbh I love turnstiles sound. I know they’re clowned on in the hardcore scene for being too light but for me accessibility in music is rarely gonna be something I dislike. It’s more of what I like from them and that’s more than enough for me. Special shoutouts to birds for probably being my fav turnstile song.
LIFE AFTER DEATH - THE NOTORIOUS B.I.G. I have no idea how to start this but this albums good. I don’t think making a double LP was the right move for biggie I prefer the how tight and concise ready to die is but I digress. He died sixteen days before this album came out so I’m not gonna complain about more music being recorded while he was around. I also like the way this album picks up RIGHT where ready to die leaves off. It’s a really cool album but despite it not being a sad album it does make me sad because I can’t help of thinking of an absolutely generational talent being taken too soon. I also do think it was genius this album has equal parts iconic radio hits while also having absolutely classic gangster rap on it such as the ten crack commandments.
SCARING THE HOES : DIRECTORS CUT - DANNY BROWN & JPEGMAFIA God I love that jpeg has been releasing these directors cuts versions of his albums because it gives me an excuse to talk about music I’ve had a very longtime love for. Ultimately there’s not a lot that’s new here it’s the base album + the ep with a few new tracks at the end and a reordered tracklist that flows better imo. I wanna talk about the new tracks first because they’re obviously what’s the most recent to me. I suspect there’s some drama going on behind the scenes of this album because two out of the three new tracks don’t feature them collaborating. Despite that the song where they do collaborate (roaches) might be my fav song they’ve put out next to hermanos. Overall like what can I say it’s one of my fav albums of the past decade just More of it so I absolutely love it. No surprises here.
I HEARD ITS A MESS THERE TOO - AESOP ROCK I could not be more fucking delighted this album came out. I love when Aesop gets all conceptual like most of his albums of the past decade but I also love when he drops all that shit and just gives straight raps of the highest quality it’s great. That’s exactly what this album is he had his big conceptual moment earlier this year with black hole superette and now it’s time for some straight fuckin bars. I loved this album it could be recency bias but I honestly think this can go toe to toe with some of my fav albums ever by him. Just a legendary veteran of the game that still plays for nothing but the love of the very game that raised him it truly is phenomenal.
PERSONA 4 GOLDEN I don’t know why but I honestly loathed this game upon replaying it. I dreaded almost every single cutscene. The worst dungeon design (if you can even call it that), combat, writing, and visuals in a persona game. Oh my god I hated this experience. And I can’t emphasize how much this confuses me enough. I used to absolutely love this game but now I can’t stand playing it. At least it has rise.
SHOVEL KNIGHT TREASURE TROVE God one of the absolute finest platformers I’ve ever played and it’s also four games in one so we’re gonna do a little lightning round SHOVEL OF HOPE The classic shovel knight experience which is very nostalgic for me as this used to be one of my favorite games I had on my 3DS. Tight and fun platforming thanks to the bounce mechanic I couldn’t ask for anything more from a platformer PLAUGE OF SHADOWS this is the weakest installment for me as it does very little different from shovel knights campaign besides the final boss, its more about going through it in a different way. This isn’t inherently bad but it’s not inherently fun either. Also pulling up the menu all the time to select the most optimal bombs gets really annoying SPECTER OF TORMENT It’s fucking peak. From the story to the gameplay to the musical and visual presentation this is the peak of shovel knight. It’s like if ninja gaiden wasn’t brutal and that’s perfect for me KING OF CARDS NGL I thought this was a miss when I first started but what kept me going was joustus which is probably the most fun I’ve had in this game. But once you get used to how king knight moves this is in general the most fun installment to play it’s an absolute ball Overall for a twenty dollar package shovel knight is one of the best bang for your buck games I think I’ve ever played in my life I loved it
HOLLOW KNIGHT This is maybe the best metroidvania I’ve ever played and well. I’ve played a lot of em. It’s right up there next to am2r for me it’s absolutely phenomenal. I don’t even know what to say besides if you haven’t played hollow knight you should fix that asap.
CUPHEAD No game has as high of highs and low of lows as cuphead does for me. And it’s crazy because they’re all on the same levels like. All the levels that make me wanna tear my hair out are the levels that had my cheering for myself when I overcame them. The hand drawn animation and jazz just keeps you going throughout all this turmoil and it truly makes for a one of a kind experience
