Sep 13, 2025

405. Miles Davis - 'Round About Midnight (1956) [September 13th, 2025]

A short one because I always s--- a--- at talking about Jazz. I liked this a lot! Similar to what I said about Birth of the Cool, 'Round About Midnight is a good example of why I love Miles' early stuff. It's energetic, but it's also pretty soothing. "All of You" is dope!!!

 

Sep 13, 2025

406. IDK - Is He Real? (2019) [September 13th, 2025]

Review dropping in AOTW Club

 

Sep 13, 2025

407. Westside Gunn - AND THEN YOU PRAY FOR ME (2023) [September 13th, 2025]

I was a bit worried when going into this one. I mean "Westside Gunn does trap" doesn't exactly sound like something that would work. Plus, having a direct sequel to Pray 4 Paris is setting up a LOT of expectations. Thankfully, it's still pretty d--- good.

I have to get my biggest problem with this album out of the way: it's too long. This shouldn't be anywhere near 21 tracks in my opinion. 14-16 should be ideal. But still, there are some pretty dope tracks on here. "Mama's PrimeTime" the INCREDIBLE "Kostas", "1989"....and so on. The first 11 tracks are incredible, and I think Gunn does pretty well on the trap beats for the most part. But after track 11???

.....

"Disgusting" is pretty cool, but "Chloe" and "LL BOOL GUN" suckkkkkkk. "Jalen Rose" is cool too. I legitimately love the first 11 songs, but I can't deny that it just meanders a lot after that. Still, I had a pretty d--- good time for the first half of AND THEN YOU PRAY FOR ME and I'll probably be revisiting those songs in the near future

 

Sep 14, 2025

408. Miles Davis - Milestones (1958) [September 14th, 2025]

I'm not too knowledgeable on Jazz terms, but a lot of people say that Milestones is Mile's definitive bop album. I don't know what that means, but I still had a great time with this.

"Dr. Jekyll" is an incredibly fun opener and the following tracks "Sid's Ahead" and "Two Bass Hit" are great as well. I'm not sure what the definitive name for track 4 is, as some websites call it "Miles", while my download is called "Milestones" but regardless, it's pretty cool too.

Milestones is just fun man. With a lot of jazz albums, I can recognize why they're so appreciate, but it always feels like I'm missing something. Milestones is just a good time from front to back, and it's one of my favorite Miles projects thanks to that.

 

Sep 14, 2025

409. John michel & Anthony James (2025) [September 14th, 2025]

Review dropping in AOTW Club

 

Sep 15, 2025

410. Stove God Cooks - Reasonable Drought (2020) [September 15th, 2025]

Stove God was all over AND THEN YOU PRAY FOR ME, so it was about time that I checked out a record from him. I found out about this record through a meme about the Rizzler ranking this as one of the best coke rap albums ever. As a big coke rap guy, I was very intrigued.

Reasonable Drought is pretty cool. It's decently grimy, and Stove always sounds slick as h---. This might be sacrilegious in rap circles, but I've never really checked out much of Roc Marciano's stuff, which is a shame, since this record is very well produced. "John Stark$" and "Cocaine Cologne" are my favorites. I was a bit surprised to see that this is Stove's only official album so far, so I hope his next is as good, or even better.

 

Sep 15, 2025

411. Bernard Hermmann - Taxi Driver (1976) [September 15th, 2025]

I usually don't write about how things go in my personal life (mainly because it doesn't contribute anything to my posts), but today was a pretty s-----y day. And as a result, the soundtrack to Taxi Driver fit REALLY well.

I credit this film's score for getting me interested in jazz. It's so grand and even beautiful in some places. It really fits the scenery of a crowded city at night. Some highlights include "Main Title" and "I Still Can't Sleep / They Cannot Touch Her (Betsy's Theme)". I do think that some of the songs are a tad repetitive, but it fits a very specific atmosphere, and it does a great job in that regard

 

Sep 17, 2025

412. Conway the Machine - Reject 2 (2015) [September 17th, 2025]

It seems like I'm largely behind on Conway's discog compared to Gunn's, as this is barely my 2nd project from him. But this is a d--- good project

Reject 2 is dark, in case the cover showcasing Conway's wounded back didn't convey that. The whole record feels grimy, and honestly kinda uncomfortable at some points. There are some great tracks on here like "Rex Ryan", "Beloved" (which is my personal favorite)", "Sky Joint" and "Air Holez". It's a very raw album, and it's dope!!!!

 

Sep 18, 2025 at 12:58 PM

413. Boldy James & The Alchemist - The Price of Tea in China (2020) [September 18th, 2025]

Another short one. This is my first Boldy project and...it's fine. He's very competent, and Alc's beats are as good as ever, but the record didn't do much for me sadly. "Scrape the Bowl" and "S.N.O.R.T." are pretty cool tho

 

Sep 20, 2025 at 9:30 PM

414. Westside Gunn - Hitler Wears Hermes 8 (2021) [September 20th, 2025]

This is a bit of a strange one, as it's essentially both sides of Hitler Wears Hermes 8 put together as a double album. I vividly remember the rollout for this, although I decided to hold off on it until I was more familiar with some of the other HWH albums. Granted, I've only checked out 7, but I figured it was worth giving it a shot.

Side A has lots of great songs."Mariota", "Margiela Split Toes", "Claires Back". It's a pretty d--- good time, and I'd rank it around the level of FLYGOD.

Side B is absolutely masterful though. "h--- On Earth Pt. 2" is an INCREDIBLE track from the trio. This is "Allah Sent Me" level man. "Free Kutter" gives us one of the strangest nicknames in rap history in the form of "Jaydolf Spitler". "Why I Do 'Em Like That", "99 Avirex", "The Fly Who Couldn't Fly Straight".. all INCREDIBLE. Seriously, Side B is Supreme Blientele level in my opinion.

Hitler Wears Hermes 8: Sincerely Adolf is ultimately made up of a good first half and an amazing second, and it's a great time. Might check out some of the other HWH albums soon

 

Sep 22, 2025 at 9:28 AM

415. Tim Hecker - Harmony in Ultraviolet (2006) [September 22nd, 2025]

Albums like Harmony In Ultraviolet are pretty hard for me to evaluate. I've mentioned this before, but I primarily love to listen to ambient/electronic albums while reading. In this case, My first Tim Hecker album accompanied Don DeLillo's Libra. I mention this for a very specific reason. Harmony In Ultraviolet enhanced my reading of Libra pretty d--- well, But I do acknowledge that this decision might impact my evaluation of the record. I thought it was pretty haunting, and it fit the atmosphere of an early morning college campus pretty well. Especially a fan of both parts of "Whitecaps of White Noise" and the closer "Blood Rainbow"

 

Sep 22, 2025 at 11:07 AM

416. Viktor Vaughn - Vaudeville Villain (2003) [September 22nd, 2025]

Just like SCARING THE HOES, I could've sworn that I had covered this one before. Apparently I haven't, so I get to talk about this absolute masterpiece on this glorious Monday morning.

Vaudeville Villain is my personal favorite DOOM album, which is funny, since it isn't under the DOOM moniker. VV is probably the darkest sounding record in his discog (or at least, it's tied with BORN LIKE THIS), and I'm astonished at how DOOM is able to make Viktor Vaughn his own character. "Vaudeville Villain" is an incredible powerful intro, "Lactose and Lecithin" is wonderfully eerie, and I LOVEEE the beat to "Raedawn". I have a deep love for "Open Mic Nite Pt.1", the smooth "Let Me Watch" and the incredible RJD2 produced "Saliva". I personally think that "Never Dead", "G.M.C.", and "Change the Beat" are among the most underrated songs in DOOM's oeuvre.

Vaudeville Villain remains singular in DOOM's work, and there's really nothing like it. I've heard mixed thoughts about it's follow up Venomous Villain, so whether that gets covered is up in the air. Still, this is an absolute gem.

 

Sep 23, 2025 at 10:08 AM

417. Radiohead - Amnesiac (2001) [September 23rd, 2025]

A lot of people (including myself on occasion), regard Amnesiac as a "decent" album in Radiohead's discography. Created in the same sessions as the groundbreaking Kid A, it was inevitable that this album was going to be compared to that project all the time. But on the flipside...these are the same sessions as Kid A...that sounds awesome.

Songs like 'Packt Like Sardines In A Crushd Tin Box" and "Pulk/Pull Revolving Doors" are pretty d--- good. "I Might Be Wrong" might be one of the most underrated songs in the band's discography. I do think that the Kid A version of "Morning Bell" is better, but this one isn't too shabby. "Hunting Bears" is a nice little instrumental, and I dig it.

Then there's "Life In A Glasshouse", which is undoubtedly, one of the band's best songs. Mixing Electronic Alt Rock with Jazz Trumpet??? COUNT ME IN. Thom sounds great on this one as well. It's beautiful, but it also feels very eerie. As a sort of capstone for the Kid A - Amnesiac, era, it really closes things off on a pretty sad note. This might sound stupid, but it gives me the same vibes that the ending to Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty does.

Amnesiac isn't as good as Kid A. We all know that. But, it's still pretty d--- good. There are some all time classics on this one, and I always enjoy checking it out.

 

Sep 23, 2025 at 10:31 PM

418. YG - My Krazy Life (2014) [September 23rd, 2025]

I was a dumb youngin' when this album came out, but d--- I would've loved to experience this when it was fresh. YG's My Krazy Life is one of the best party records, ever.

"BPT", "I Just Wanna Party", and my personal favorite "Bicken Back Being Bool" are so d--- hard. "Meet the Flockers" has a very weird, but cool beat (s/o MUSTARD), "My n-----" is dope, even if IG Reels has brainrotted it for me a bit, the 2 R&B tracks are decent, and then you have the all time classic "Who Do You Love"... fire. "Really Be (Smokin n Drankin)" is cool, with a nice Kendrick feature, and "1 AM" is so dark, it's awesome.

My Krazy Life has bangers after bangers, after bangers, and it's great. Still Brazy was cool, but it's a shame that no other YG album has matched this quality wise