BØRNS - Blue Madonna

Score: 7.4

The second album from the ascendant American singer is overflowed of excellent ideas, some seriously catchy tunes and a falsetto that's in its way to glory, but it's a shame they're paired down with lyrics that (for the most part) are equally as generic and unoriginal. It's easy to foretell a prolific career for Garrett Borns with albums that achieve greatness; it just hasn't happened yet on Blue Madonna.

Tracks I like the most: Sweet Dreams, We Don't Care, Second Night Of Summer, Tension, I Don't Want U Back, Bye-Bye Darling
Tracks I like the least: God Save Our Young Blood, Supernatural

Artist: BØRNS

Country: United States

Album: Blue Madonna

Released: 12/01/2018

Genres: Synth Pop, Indie Pop, Electropop

Length: 41:40

JPEGMafia - Veteran

Score: 7.9

Veteran, the second full-length album from Baltimore underground rapper, might be one of the most experimental, in-your-face, riskiest, glitchiest and sassiest records of the year. Full of dark humor, clever references, savage self-production and a relentlessly provocative attitude, its nineteen unpredictable songs unfold many surprises and twists to keep us as satisfied as jaw-dropped, and its thought-provoking themes make us question our place in the 21st-century illegible world.

Tracks I like the most: Real Nega, Thug Tears, Baby I'm Bleeding, Germs, Whole Foods, Curb Stomp
Tracks I like the least: My Thoughts On Neogaf Dying, Williamsburg, Rainbow Six

Artist: JPEGMafia

Country: United States

Album: Veteran

Released: 19/01/2018

Genres: Experimental Hip Hop, Glitch Hop, Trap, Psychedelic, Cloud Rap, Ambient

Length: 47:12

Django Django - Marble Skies

Score: 7.5

Django Django's approaches to and conceptions of music forms, aesthetics and art as a general rule are always something to admire and recognize. On their third album, it's fair to say we find a collection of tracks that defies the boundaries of what rock/pop should be about; some of them are remarkable, most of them are inoffensive, and even a bunch of them are just uninspiring. It's a mess, but a truly entertaining one.

Tracks I like the most: Marble Skies, Beam Me Up, In Your Beat
Tracks I like the least: Champagne, Sundials

Artist: Django Django

Country: United Kingdom

Album: Marble Skies

Released: 26/01/2018

Genres: Art Rock, Art Pop, Neo-Psychedelia, Electronic

Length: 40:40

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - Wrong Creatures

Score: 7.8

As it's traditional from the California veterans, releasing an hour-long record leaves space for us to realize their work might sometimes feel a little bit bloated and overloaded. However, twenty years and eight albums in, they still know how to craft somber, lingering rock songs that aim for epic proportions and more often than not reach their objectives.

Tracks I like the most: King Of Bones, Echo, Ninth Configuration, Question Of Faith
Tracks I like the least: Calling Them All Away, Carried From The Start

Artist: Black Rebel Motorcycle Club

Country: United States

Album: Wrong Creatures

Released: 12/01/2018

Genres: Alternative Rock, Garage Rock, Shoegazing

Length: 59:11

Matthewdavid - Time Flying Beats

Score: 7.6

The latest album from the American sound collage artist is better defined as a mere collection of little tracks that see the light just because they stand well next to each other but don't have strong meanings as stand-alone compositions. That being said, for all its heavy distortion and creatively conjunction of genres and flavours, Time Flying Beats is still a shiny, pretty amusing experience.

Tracks I like the most: Yearns Out, Flow With The Go, Slipppin', Secret Rooms Of Tokyo
Tracks I like the least: Into The Night Instrumental, Desert Moon

Artist: Matthewdavid

Country: United States

Album: Time Flying Beats

Released: 19/01/2018

Genres: Electronic, Instrumental Hip Hop, Trap, Dub, Jungle, Bass

Length: 33:48

Phew - Voice Hardcore

Score: 7.6

Japanese legend of harsh noise, experimental electronics and avant-garde returns with an album that tests out up to what extent the human voice can be modified, stretched and twisted. With its multiple layers and deformations, Voice Hardcore teaches us that the concepts we all have about melody, rhythm, mood, harmony and music are far too limited, and that there's a freaking lot out there to keep on discovering and experimenting with.

Tracks I like the most: In The Doghouse, Cloudy Day, Sonic Morning
Tracks I like the least: White Lounge, So Bright

Artist: Phew

Country: Japan

Album: Voice Hardcore

Released: 19/01/2018

Genres: Experimental, Noise, Drone, Avant-Garde, Vocal

Length: 38:48

The Go! Team - Semicircle

Score: 3.2

It's very difficult to analyze and depict meanings, details and high points in these tracks when the foundations are so painstakingly wrong. The songs are cohesively and continually obnoxious in their own boisterousness and unnecessary kitschy characteristics, while the approaches to get to them are shamingly and excessively forced and unnatural. Summing it up, Semicircle is nothing less than a failure.

Tracks I like the most: Chico's Radical Decade, She's Got Guns

Tracks I like the least: Semicircle Song, All The Way Live, If There's One Thing You Should Know

Artist: The Go! Team

Country: United Kingdom

Album: Semicircle

Released: 19/01/2018

Genres: Indie Pop, Funk, Electropop

Length: 40:42

Hollie Cook - Vessel Of Love

Score: 8.2

Neo-reggae gem Hollie Cook returns with another wonderfully crafted, often sensitive, always fascinating collection of songs about love, praise, lost and lust. Relying on mood and tropical healing, most of the tracks shine on their own and are even more enjoyable while listened as a whole.

Tracks I like the most: Survive, Ghostly Fading, Freefalling, Vessel Of Love
Tracks I like the least: Lunar Addiction

Artist: Hollie Cook

Country: United Kingdom

Album: Vessel Of Love

Released: 26/01/2018

Genres: Reggae, Soul

Length: 39:59

Scallops Hotel - Sovereign Nose Of (Y)Our Arrogant Face

Score: 5.0

Alternative rapper Rory Ferreira, this time under the pseudonym Scallops Hotel, delivers a mixtape that sedates, not necessarily because it traps you and numbs you in its qualities. On the contrary, even though it's less than half an hour long, it's difficult to keep track to the verses that constantly feel way much self-indulgent and lackluster to wake some interest.

Tracks I like the most: Temple In The Green, Private Temple Hours
Tracks I like the least: Ryu Drums (Fat Tummy Riff Suite), A Method (JAW GEMS Book A Bender At The Scallops Hotel), Whereareewe

Artist: Scallops Hotel

Country: United States

Album: Sovereign Nose Of (Y)Our Arrogant Face

Released: 01/01/2018

Genres: Hip Hop, Art Rap, Glitch Hop, Indie Rap

Length: 23:26

Khruangbin - Con Todo El Mundo

Score: 8.3

Few times are we able to witness such sense of communion in a band as we do every time we have the pleasure of listening to the sophomore record from the Houston-based psychedelic funk/soul band Khruangbin. There's the feeling of melancholy, melodrama and nostalgia paired down with pinches of optimism and hope; as if oneself is indulged in sunny days and in cozy candled rooms fulled with incense. Every single note is precisely where it should be and, despite the lack of words, every single thought and emotion is clearly expressed through notes, spaces, silences and winks. Con Todo El Mundo, basically, might be the most complete instrumental record we can come across lately.

Tracks I like the most: Lady And Man, August 10, Cómo Te Quiero, Evan Finds The Third Room
Tracks I like the least: A Hymn, Rules

Artist: Khruangbin

Country: United States

Album: Con Todo El Mundo

Released: 26/01/2018

Genres: Funk, Soul, Psychedelic, Folk, Ambient, World Music

Length: 42:01