Alt-Reviews: September

I’m Jack, and I’ve been reviewing music for almost a decade - starting with a college radio show, then online radio as Bort on A2B2 Radio, and now short album reviews on TikTok as @mymusic80808. If there can be said to be a throughline across the sounds, it's that they're (mostly) alternative...welcome to Alt-Reviews.

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Hot Since 82- Obsessions
[4]

The pashmina wearing frat flicking tech house bros gonna love this one. I found it completely hollow and one note.

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Pretty Sick - Anarchy
[3.25]

The opening track tricked me into thinking this would be something with anything new to say, but it quickly revealed it was just another uninspired hyperpop album. Even when it tries to take more risks in tracks like “UrNewImTrue” it just comes off completely sterile.

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Cyst - ᲘᲘ
[7]

Iglooghost production = 🦾🔥🦠🔮‼️

Iglooghost vocals = 🇬🇧💂💷👸🏻

“Pest” is a banger and storytelling lyricism at its finest. The rest is worth a listen but not as mind blowing as some of igloo’s solo work.

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Andrew W.K. - Temptation to Exist
[7.75]

Sometimes, looney tune party gods need to flex a lil noir inspired jazz for the culture. Add this to the pile of lore around the enigmatic mystery of who/what/why Andrew WK is. If you want a rabbit hole to fall down, watch any YouTube video essay on how bizarre AWK is as an artistic entity. If you want him in true form, pop open a four loko and listen to ‘I Get Wet’ in full, as Dave Grohl intended.

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corto.alto - SOME SMALL FORTUNE
[7]

The drumming and string arrangements on this go absolutely nuts. I think the vocals are a bit hit and miss for me but if you’re an enjoyer of new school jazz fusion à la Thundercat or Jorja Smith, you’ll probably enjoy this.

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Eden Samara - Odyssey
[5.5]

This is a really great dance album that is unfortunately held back by a vocalist who is just not developed enough for my taste. If you like breathy, unpolished vocals, you might love this because the beats are genuinely really strong and funky.

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Chrome Sparks - Ball of Light
[8]

Chrome Sparks, I was unfamiliar with your game. As any high school stoner who grew up in the 2010s will tell you, his early EPs are seminal for the gen who grew up on SoundCloud beat tapes, and this carries a similar vibe throughout. But, it’s also a surprisingly fresh take that blends the emotional core of future bass with the new gen obsession with trance synths, acid basslines, and sample based vocal chop IDM.

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Mykki Blanco - CAFE PARADISO
[4.5]

There is nothing charming to me about a 40 year old man singing about how h*rny he is and the s*x and dr*g laden escapades of his super epic rockstar lifestyle. I think without the mind numbing lyrics, the instrumentals are mostly salvageable 80s throwbacks, but whatever persona Mykki adopted for this installment was too obnoxious for my taste.

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Two Shell - Infinite Now+
[???]

I don’t think this pseudo-compilation is meant to be engaged with earnestly. While speculative, it’s pretty obvious this is mostly produced using AI. As with most of their public output, the artistic intent of why they’re seemingly trolling is vague and incoherent. I’ll hold off on a numbered rating until the “actual”(?) album comes out in October, but it’s honestly exhausting trying to be a fan of these guys.

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Romare - Oblivion
[5.25]

Romare’s discography is extremely hit and miss for me. As a producer, I appreciate the no-frills 4x4 funky dance beats being as true as you can be to the form. However, the majority of this landed clunky for me. I bobbed my head at times, but it just felt like background noise for most of it.

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After - Fell Asleep in the Sun
[5.25]

Yassified James K. My wife asked me why I was listening to Taylor Swift without knowing what this was. Seems like the trip hop revival gold rush ended in 2025 unfortunately.

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Starchild & The New Romantic - Professional Wrestling
[7.5]

DIY Prince. Easily his best work since his 2020 album ‘Forever’, which features his most well known track, ‘Tape’ with Toro y Moi. The difference is that this album feels more like a complete thought, rather than a series of collabs, which is a vast improvement.

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Jam City - My World
[6.25]

‘2AM’ is one of the best singles of the year, but I was super let down by how boring the rest of this was. It was objectively really well made, but I can’t recollect a single other track that stuck out to me on this. 80s pop for Silverlake residents.

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Dusky - Signals
[7.75]

This was electric. Vintage dance vibes done with the utmost authenticity.

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Daily Bread - Vanishing Point
[8]

The most exciting Zeds Dead album in years isn’t even from Zeds Dead.

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Bonobo - Distance in Static
[6.75]

Good.

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Carmen Villain - Memoria
[5.25]

The two tracks that present as fully fledged experimental Dub are really cool and sound like I’m listening to music with new ears, but it’s surrounded by my least favorite kind of frequency clipping ambient that I get no enjoyment from.

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FKJ - Tyber
[7.5]

Kenny G-en Z.

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Boy Harsher - GET MEAN
[8.75]

Easily my favorite album from this duo thus far. Sleek gothic dance vibes for any mood you could be in. Nostalgic and timeless. I want to be in a dark room dancing like no one is watching.

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KUNZITE - SECRETS
[6.75]

Interesting to get a solo album from both halves of Ratatat in one year. Where E. Vax clearly brought the more experimental hip hop and boom bap beats to Ratatat, Kunzite was bringing the world music / rock driven sound to the equation. I loved how this flowed from song to song, but some of it was just way too frantic and plucky for what I’m into. E. Vax takes the cake for the better of the two this year, in my opinion.

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Actress - Radical Frame
[6]

Although it’s not bad, It left a lot to be desired. The gentle piano house and long stretches of tense ambience makes for a very on brand Actress album, but it feels completely held back by its length of only 8 tracks. As soon as you’ve settled into the mood, it’s over. The vocal features also felt extremely out of place, but I can chalk that up to artistic intent that just didn’t land with me.

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Emancipator - Chrysalis
[5]

The hippie string quartet sound is easily my least favorite sonic vocabulary of Emancipator’s, and this leans extremely far in that direction. It’s giving Nat Geo documentary. ‘Koda’ and ‘Chrysalis’ are cool tracks, but I tapped out of most of the songs on this album like halfway through. Listen to his album with Lapa from 2025 for something less granola.

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Axel Boman, Superpitcher - Tell It To The Mountain
[8]

Music for an easy psychedelic come-up. Long form techno with no where to be, which is sometimes a detriment, but at other times translates to a meditative experience. Like if ‘Plantasia’ had B-side remixes by Air. “Trouble at the Top” had me completely captivated.

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Orville Peck - Mule
[5]

There are a couple tracks here that are nice like ‘Rehab Blues’ and ‘The Fall’ but the rest of this is so over produced. He shines most on simple throwback country. ‘Pony’ remains undefeated.

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300SkullsAndCounting, Jenny Sparks - THIS IS SPA TOWN!
[7.75]

The return of MySpace core absurdist screamo is the strongest recession indicator yet. Two separate interludes where it’s just them ordering a spice box from the Doner shop shows how seriously they’re taking this. After Four Tet rinsed Jenny Sparks at recent festival sets, his stock stays rising.

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Hermanos Gutiérrez - Los Ojos Del Cóndor
[6.25]

Traditional Ecuadorian guitar-scapes with hints of a psychedelic jam band. A little one note for my taste but solid throughout.

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Villager - NOWHERE FM: VIVA LA VILLAGER
[6.5]

Basically a 2 hour beat tape with not much else to say beyond “I can make good beats”. Last year’s installment of this series was much stronger in my opinion.

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TOWA TEI - ZAMBIENT
[6.25]

Video game menu music. Incredibly campy both in its favor, and to a fault. At least in his 30+ year career, he’s consistently himself.

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Bullion - Nearly
[3.75]

It’s not as experimental or yacht-rock leaning as the instrumentals on his past albums, which puts the pop rock vocal style that I can’t stand in a way harsher spotlight. If you like radio Pop Rock you might love this.

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Oren Ambarchi - Serpentine
[4.25]

The kinda experimental jazz that sounds like it’s satirizing itself.

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Dome of Doom Records - 15 Year Anniversary Compilation
[7.75]

One of the best indie left field dance labels taking a 15 year victory lap with a lineup of the artists who helped define its ever evolving sound. Shoutout Wylie Cable for always giving up and coming beat-smiths a chance amidst the modern hellscape of commercialized dance music.

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Naked Flames - Moonwalking Fingers Trilogy
[8.25]

Songs that start as goofy lo-fi house beats slowly evolve into hypnotic reverb soaked atmospheric jams. Like if The Field was tapped to score the next Banjo Kazooie game.

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Tinashe - Popstar
[6]

Ignoring the absolute glazing Pitchfork gave this I think it’s FINE. Feels like she half committed to making an experimental pop album and fell back on previously unreleased material to round it out. The Machinedrum produced tracks and melodic vocal heavy tracks are my personal highlights. The rest is meh, but probably just my personal taste seeping into the review.

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Thee Sinseers - Love Story
[8.5]

Might f around and start a family just so I can listen to this as a proud grandfather watching his family from a porch one day.

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