Jack White - Boarding House Reach

Score: 8.1 

On his third album since going solo, American singer and multi-instrumentalist Jack White defies everything we know about him, his art and persona and, going deeper, about what rock music should stand for. In thirteen cohesive songs, he manages to sound both out of his mind and completely insane as well as in full control of what's going on. Some tracks are tender and thought-provoking, but the vast majority of the record feels as challenging as jaw-dropping. Boarding House Reach, ultimately, is a divisive work that will raise standing ovations and total rejection in equal measures; and it's the most entertaining for that.

Tracks I like the most: Connected By Love, Corporation, Hypermisophoniac, Over And Over And Over, Respect Commander, Get In The Mind Shaft, What's Done Is Done

Tracks I like the least: Why Walk A Dog?, Abulia And Akrasia

Artist: Jack White

Country: United States

Album: Boarding House Reach

Released: 23/03/2018

Genres: Blues Rock, Experimental Rock, Funk, Electronic Rock

Length: 44:07

Dabrye - Three/Three

Score: 7.6 

The third album from Tadd Mullinix finishes a trilogy where he aims to mix his glitchy and sample-based electronic lines with lyrics played by MCs. Three/Three is 19-tracks, almost-an-hour long and is as varied and entertaining as one can imagine, with clever verses expressed by as many voices and song structures. It's a collective force that punches with gut and fear and enthralls with courage and self-sufficiency.

Tracks I like the most: Emancipated, Lil Mufukuz, Pretty, Culture Shuffle

Tracks I like the least: The Appetite, Vert-Horiz

Artist: Dabrye

Country: United States

Album: Three/Three

Released: 16/02/2018

Genres: Hip Hop, Rap, Electronic, Downtempo

Length: 57:28

SOB X RBE - Gangin

Score: 7.0 

The rap group consisting of Yhung T.O., Slimmy B, Lul G and DaBoii presents their newest album Gangin on Empire records. The quality and synchronicity that the quartet displays within each other and with guests is remarkable, and some songs contain truly heavy, catchy beats to bounce your head and body with. On the other hand, there are also moments where you feel the songs repeat themselves a bit too much. Though just 43-minutes long, the record sometimes falls largely dense. A solid package, to say the least; an excess, to say the most.

Tracks I like the most: Carpoolin', Anti Social, Always

Tracks I like the least: The Man Now, List

Artist: SOB X RBE

Country: United States

Album: Gangin

Released: 23/02/2018

Genres: Hip Hop, Rap

Length: 43:19

Lo Moon - Lo Moon

Score: 5.4 

The dream pop American band Lo Moon debuts with a thoroughly crafted record with songs that melt cinematically into one another. Except for the standout track (the already known Loveless) there's little here to appreciate as ground-breaking, or even special. This take on shoegaze-y pop has been made a thousand times in the past, and with much better results. I can't help but think Lo Moon will be as celebrated as archived in music libraries for the years to come, depending on people's current approach and mood.

Tracks I like the most: Loveless, Real Love

Tracks I like the least: The Right Thing

Artist: Lo Moon

Country: United States

Album: Lo Moon

Released: 23/02/2018

Genres: Indie Rock, Dream Pop

Length: 49:35

Starchild & The New Romantic - Language

Score: 7.1 

Bryndon Cook, under his name Starchild & The New Romantic, delivers his first full-length album and delights with his nuanced and complex take on retro-futurism and soul-funk melodies. The record is plagued with rhythm and mood, but the songs are nonetheless somewhat undercooked and lacking vigour or ambition to surpass the album's already established intentions on first place. It's a small victory for the artist, but one cannot help but imagine that bigger ones will come in the future.

Tracks I like the most: Language, Hands Off, Black Diamond

Tracks I like the least: Ophelia's Room, Doubts

Artist: Starchild & The New Romantic

Country: United States

Album: Language

Released: 23/02/2018

Genres: Indie Pop, Funk, Soul, R&B, Hip Hop, Electronic

Length: 48:42

Abhi The Nomad - Marbled

Score: 7.8 

The newest full-length album from Austin-based rapper and singer Abhi The Nomad sweetly fuses hip hop with indie rock and pop to create smooth, groovy tracks that usually feel like inner conversations and realizations about life, friends, society, religion and the inevitable cycles of life. Marbled itches with its alluringly kitschy tones and ambitious production, and it's a captivating manifesto from a self-proclaimed outcast that knows and enjoys his game.

Tracks I like the most: Dogs, Marbled, Sex N' Drugs, Letter For God, So Long

Tracks I like the least: Somebody To Love

Artist: Abhi The Nomad

Country: United States

Album: Marbled

Released: 09/02/2018

Genres: Hip Hop, Rap, Indie Rock, Indie Pop

Length: 46:58

Young Echo - Young Echo

Score: 7.4 

The newest release from Young Echo Records mixes hip hop with dub, ambient and pinches of jazz. Most of the tracks are soaked in reverb and effects, but it's curious to see through and within them and catch the introspectively emotional lyrics that the songs contain. The album cannot sustain its momentum throughout its 24 tracks, but it's at least a pretty interesting addition to prove what experimental rap can achieve.

Tracks I like the most: Rocksteady, Oh, Won't You, Baron, Home

Tracks I like the least: Transmission, Pt. 1

Artist: Young Echo

Country: United Kingdom

Album: Young Echo

Released: 16/02/2018

Genres: Experimental Hip Hop, Rap, Electronic, Dub, Noise, Jazz

Length: 58:43

Ohbliv - Southern Blend

Score: 5.5 

The newest release from Ohbliv is more a collection of random skits than a coherent set of songs. They may exist just because they add to the ever-present absurd, disparate atmosphere and ethos the group always delivers, but the tracks don't flow and they don't stand tall, neither as single moments nor as a solid package. Southern Blend is less funny than substantial and more nonsensical than important.

Tracks I like the most: Trappinhoard, God Peeple, WutzHapnin

Tracks I like the least: Weight, Skew It

Artist: Ohbliv

Country: United States

Album: Southern Blend

Released: 20/02/2018

Genres: Hip Hop, Rap, Dream Pop

Length: 38:23

Taylor Deupree - Fallen

Score: 6.8 

The latest release from minimalist composer Taylor Deupree is like a profound dream where synthesizers melt within natural ecosystems and the alive crushes up with the man-made. Even so, there's a constant eeriness and anxiety (thanks to the drones) that somehow elevates the record and gives it a more nuanced feeling. It's not the best ambient album you will find out there but, if you're in the mood for it, it can make you soar.

Tracks I like the most: Paper Dawn, Sill

Tracks I like the least: Unearth

Artist: Taylor Deupree

Country: United States

Album: Fallen

Released: 23/02/2018

Genres: Electronic, Ambient, Drone, Minimal

Length: 46:58

S U P E R F L A T スーパーフラット - Midnight Ads

Score: 8.5 

This release from internet music label Business Casual involves mysterious producer working under the name S U P E R F L A T スーパーフラット. The album flows perfectly between experimental electronics, heavily usage of vocals and samples, future funk and nu-disco to form an exquisite take on post-vaporwave for the dancefloor. The production decisions and tactics are fantastic, and the sense of joy and playfulness is never diminished, not even for a second. It's a pleasure to see artists this willing to create (in the deepest meaning of the word) that are this talented and passionate about their own craft.

Tracks I like the most: Over And Over (Dance!), The Sound Of The Beat, Night Play, Do The Right Thing, Ninja Overdrive

Tracks I like the least: Phonecall 1990

Artist: S U P E R F L A T スーパーフラット

Country: United States

Album: Midnight Ads

Released: 16/02/2018

Genres: Electronic, Nu Disco, Chillwave, Future Funk, Plunderphonics, Vaporwave

Length: 31:24

Dessa - Chime

Score: 7.2 

Doomtree member Dessa arrives with her fourth solo album and all over again mixes alternative hip hop stanzas and beats with pop melodies to create a one-of-a-kind record that manages to sound both sugary and gut-punching. Fulled with feminist realizations and a severe self-love, it's great to see a rapper who dares to dig this deep into her personal corners and expose herself in truly moving ways; it's a pity the production and mixing of the record doesn't do much justice to it. Anyway, Chime is another powerful statement for the artist, one that cements her as an evergrowing, propulsive voice in the industry.

Tracks I like the most: Fire Drills, Good Grief, Shrimp

Tracks I like the least: Boy Crazy

Artist: Dessa

Country: United States

Album: Chime

Released: 23/02/2018

Genres: Alternative Hip Hop, Electronic, Pop

Length: 34:12

Mint Field - Pasar De Las Luces

Score: 6.3 

The Mexican duo composed by youngsters Estrella Sanchez and Amor Amezcua throws a debut album that generally knows what it wants, but is usually too overshadowed and subdued in reverb and density to keep firm pace on. Mint Field surely has potential to break grounds on transcultural shoegaze and dream pop spheres but, as far as Pasar De Las Luces is concerned, the girls seem too lost in their own echo to transcend.

Tracks I like the most: Ojos En El Carro, Cambios Del Pasar

Tracks I like the least: Viceversa

Artist: Mint Field

Country: Mexico

Album: Pasar De Las Luces

Released: 23/02/2018

Genres: Dream Pop, Alternative Rock, Shoegaze, Ambient

Length: 64:20

Black Milk - Fever

Score: 6.7 

There's enough flow to keep the newest album from Detroit-based rapper Black Milk afloat, but there's also a vast amount of references, influences and unsolved twists to let aside and forgive. The mixture between contemporary hip hop and syncopated R&B is charming and worth-noting, but the lack of originality and clear purposes damage the potential Fever can aspire to have.

Tracks I like the most: Could It Be, True Lies

Tracks I like the least: Foe Friend

Artist: Black Milk

Country: United States

Album: Fever

Released: 16/02/2018

Genres: Hip Hop, Rap, Funk, Experimental

Length: 40:27

Naxatras - III

Score: 7.4 

The third full-length release from the Greek psych rock band Naxatras indulges in mood and lengthy tracks that usually contain mini-songs within them and that add feelings of movement and cinematism. An hour can sound like a quite long and exhausting journey for the ones who aren't into the genre itself, but for those willing to get lost in its soundscapes and juggling instrumental stories, III can be a pretty solid and entertaining storyteller.

Tracks I like the most: You Won't Be Left Alone, Machine

Tracks I like the least: Spring Song

Artist: Naxatras

Country: Greece

Album: III

Released: 16/02/2018

Genres: Psychedelic Rock, Space Rock, Stoner Rock

Length: 64:55

Old Tower - Stellary Wisdom

Score: 7.7 

It's common word to say that, in a genre as polarizing as dungeon synth, works function as much as they fail. Stellary Wisdom, the latest release from the mysterious Dutch producer Old Tower, luckily offers enough dark matter and aggressive electronic playfulness to fall on the former. Its two tracks feel completely different (one lousy and loud and cathartic, the other stilthy and dry and skeletal) but they flow with great coherence and sense. The album reaches heavy picks as it shows how moving and complex can this type of music be in the proper hands.

Tracks I like the most: Deep Within My Somber Castle Halls

Tracks I like the least: Stellary Wisdom

Artist: Old Tower

Country: Netherlands

Album: Stellary Wisdom

Released: 09/02/2018

Genres: Dark Ambient, Drone, Dungeon Synth

Length: 30:34

Mecha Maiko - Mad But Soft

Score: 7.3 

Hayley Stewart, under her pseudonym Mecha Maiko, presents her debut full-length album and dives into retro synth soundscapes to create deliciously compelling tracks that fit in both the dancefloor and the bedroom. Some tracks are better developed than others and one could wish for more explosions and courage in the performances, but overall the young producer has managed to craft a pretty solid package full of nostalgia, glitter, colour and emotion that's hard to resist.

Tracks I like the most: Electric Heat, Mad But Soft, Cold

Tracks I like the least: False Memories, Auto Fire

Artist: Mecha Maiko

Country: United States

Album: Soft But Mad

Released: 23/02/2018

Genres: Electronic, Chillwave, Dream Pop, Synth-Pop, Synthwave, Retrowave

Length: 40:03

Screaming Females - All At Once

Score: 7.1 

The newest release from the American punk rock band Screaming Females has several convincing, catchily heavy tunes, but one cannot help but feel there's a lack of inventiveness and passion throughout its fifteen songs and fifty minutes of existence. It's definitely going to be another good backlash for those veteran lovers of the band and the genre, but it won't do much for the ones willing to listen to music that experiments and dares to go forward with what's already been made a thousand times before.

Tracks I like the most: Glass House, Black Moon, I'll Make You Sorry

Tracks I like the least: Bird In Space, Fantasy Lens, Drop By Drop

Artist: Screaming Female

Country: United States

Album: All At Once

Released: 23/02/2018

Genres: Indie Rock, Punk Rock

Length: 50:44

A.L.L. (Against All Logic) - 2012 - 2017

Score: 8.4 

Chilean-born, American-raised producer and dj Nicolas Jaar returns to his A.L.L. nickname and delivers a mixtape we can assume is nothing more than a collection of heavily-sampled tracks he's been working on in the last five years. Though they may seem completely distinct and aimed at different places and moods, the eleven tracks still manage to sound coherent and effortless in their own compilation and curation. Not only that, but they also are a big living proof of the author's immense capacity to evoke longing emotions with milimetrical attention to detail, exposure, noise and storytelling. 2012 - 2017 is, in short, another example to justify why Nico might be the most exciting, forward-thinking artist in our generation.

Tracks I like the most: I Never Dream, Some Kind Of Game, Know You, Flash In The Pan

Tracks I like the least: Such A Bad Way

Artist: A.L.L. (Against All Logic)

Country: Chile/United States

Album: 2012 - 2017

Released: 17/02/2018

Genres: Electronic, Experimental, House, Ambient

Length: 66:42

Carpentet Brut - Leather Teeth

Score: 7.6 

After a bunch of EPs and some tours with a guitarist and drummer, Franck Hueso (the leader of the project known as Carpenter Teeth) is finally here with a debut album that transcends in telling a conceptual horror story where electronic meshes with rock, metal and synthesizers to open the gates of a patying hell fueled with blood and adrenaline. With Leather Teeth, the band proves to work well both as a purely instrumental and as a vocal-driven one.

Tracks I like the most: Leather Teeth, Monday Hunt, Inferno Galore, Beware The Beast

Tracks I like the least: Cheerleader Effect

Artist: Carpenter Brut

Country: France

Album: Leather Teeth

Released: 22/02/2018

Genres: Electronic, Electrorock, Synthwave, Horror

Length: 32:12 

Bat Fangs - Bat Fangs

Score: 5.4 

The new record from the American rock duo composed by Betsy Wright from Ex Hex and Laura King from Flesh Wounds should be a powerful blast, but it's instead a collection of nine underwhelming, undercooked and underprepared tracks that have all the potential to kill the speakers but never quite reach out moments of ecstasy and euphoria. I certainly hope the band can come up with great material in the near future, but taken their debut album into account, we should keep on waiting.

Tracks I like the most: Bad Astrology, Heartbeat

Tracks I like the least: Rock The Reaper

Artist: Bat Fangs

Country: United States

Album: Bat Fangs

Released: 02/02/2018

Genres: Indie Rock, Psychedelic Rock, Garage Rock

Length: 25:21

Camarão - The Imaginary Soundtrack To A Brazilian Western Movie

Score: 8.8 

German record label Analog Africa releases a compilation of tracks recorded by Brazilian forró sanfoneiro (accordionist) legend Maestro Camarão between 1964 and 1974 and, offhand, delivers the crunchiest, wildest piece of world music we can ever stumble upon to. The sixteen tracks that form it swirl on the edge of schizophrenia with their relentless percussion and rusty mixing, as they continually call for arms and revolution and party and sweat. There's an implacable force to this album, and a captivating sense of humanity that makes it the more otherworldly earthy.

Tracks I like the most: Retrato De Um Forro, A Casa De Anita, Rio Antigo, Forrozinho Moderno, Xaxando Com Garibaldi, A Cigana Lhe Enganou

Tracks I like the least: Xeêm, De Serra Em Serra

Artist: Camarão

Country: Brazil

Album: The Imaginary Soundtrack To A Brazilian Movie

Released: 20/02/2018

Genres: Forró, Afrobeat, Afrofunk, Accordion, Tropical, World Music

Length: 37:00

Visigoth - Conqueror's Oath

Score: 8.2 

The heavy metal band from Salt Like City reappears on their sophomore album with as much gut and creative story-telling as on their first one, and there's always the feeling that you go finding new shapes, angles and meanings to the songs every time you listen to it. These eight tracks feel completely medieval and harrowing like a cold dark night in a forest near a village, but the sharp instrumentals, the fantastic voice and the wonderful arrangements serve as the bonfire to keep you warm and ahead on icy times. It's difficult to think of a more uplifting, life-affirming and victorious metal record in recent time; a whole success.

Tracks I like the most: Steel And Silver, Warrior Queen, Outlive Them All, The Conqueror's Oath

Tracks I like the least: Salt City, Blades In The Night

Artist: Visigoth

Country: United States

Album: Conqueror's Oath

Released: 09/02/2018

Genres: Heavy Metal, Medieval Metal

Length: 42:25

Rejjie Snow - Dear Annie

Score: 8.3 

Irish rapper Rejjie Snow has been in the game for quite a time releasing singles and mixtapes, but he finds his own true inspiration and inner voice on his debut album, Dear Annie. Yes, it's clear he wears his influences on his sleeve, but he also manages to sound both refreshing and utterly creative as well as unfolding mood and detail like a master. Nearly all these twenty tracks have something purely emotional and intriguing to offer, both on production and lyrical sides. It's a surprisingly huge welcome to a voice that may cause a lot of talking in the (hopefully near) future. Let's celebrate that.

Tracks I like the most: Rainbows, 23, Oh No!, Spaceships, Egyptian Luvr, LMFAO, Bye Polar, Annie

Tracks I like the least: Skateboard P Intermission

Artist: Rejjie Snow

Country: Ireland

Album: Dear Annie

Released: 16/02/2018

Genres: Hip Hop, Rap, Psychedelic, Soul, Pop, R&B, Electronic

Length: 60:32