The musical year is now in full swing, and we are being inundated with quality content from mainstays of the pop world, to blog rap throwbacks. Here are some albums which stood out for me. (PS – The original post got deleted, so the original and more thorough reviews were lost. These are a quickly rewritten copy, please forgive the short-form due to hastiness)

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Wiz Khalifa & Currensy – 2009

People talk of the heyday of blog rap, where rappers like Wiz & Spitta made their name. Unfortunately I didn’t get to experience this era, but thankfully this project does it justice.

Both Wiz and Currensy sound relaxed, comfortable, and cocky as they trade verses with each other, reminiscing on how far they’ve come in the past ten years. The booming horns and thumping drums of Garage Talk make for a triumphant introduction. On 10 Piece, Currensy’s delivers his bars like he did on his collaborative project from last year, Fetti, with Freddie Gibbs. His slow drawl sit gently on the shimmering beat, it’s like he’s trying to make you feel as high as he is. Hook-man extraordinaire Ty Dolla $ign joins the duo on Benz Boys, while Compton rapper Problem jumps on Getting Loose, to add a Californian flair to the proceedings.

A enjoyable joint tape, Wiz and Spitta’s chemistry is still present, and is definitely a gateway to go through their back catalog.

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Ariana Grande – thank u, next

Ariana Grande is a woman of incredible strength, and one of massive talent. On this album, she channels loss, guilt, bravado, and confidence into a pure Pop masterclass.

imagine serves as the perfect opening to the album, Grande is dreaming of a world where her and her partner don’t have to worry about the pressures of fame. While not confirmed, the references to Mac Miller seem obvious. The same goes for the ghostin’, the references to Miller being more blatant on this one, with the track sampling Mac Miller’s heart-wrenching 2009. As the album progresses, Grande’s confidence builds, 7 rings see her braggadocious side come to the forefront. Materialism may not be the answer to life’s problems, but for the run time of this tracks, you may double-think that. On thank u, next, Grande can finally drop the weight of her past relationships, being thankful for them, but no longer being hung up on them.

Ariana Grande is woman who seems like she will only go from strength to strength, and with everything she has been through, she has proved she is not one to shy away when faced with unimaginable hardships.

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Deli Girls – I Don’t Know How to Be Happy

Guttural vocals, manic drums, disorientating synths and guitars. Deli Girls really know how to make an impression.

This duo seem to be able to make more noise that a group 10 times their size. Danny Orlowski vocals are a force to be reckoned with, obvious from the very moment she opens her mouth on the intro track, Officer. With Tommi Kelly on the production creating beats that sound as visceral as the vocals, this duo work together to create a sense of doom and dread. That sense of doom and dread permeates every track, with songs like I’d Rather Die and Abortion pulling absolutely no punches.

With groups like Death Grips and rappers like JPEGMAFIA bringing industrial sounds to the forefront of acclaimed music, Deli Girls have the potential to catapult themselves to bigger things in the next few years

Here are some short reviews of albums I enjoyed from January. What started as an expectedly barren month turned into a solid month of releases; from big names like James Blake, to internet stars like Yung Lean, under his “jonatan leandoer127” moniker. This month has been varied and exciting, spelling great things for the year ahead. Editing of this piece was graciously provided by my friend Rachel Hawker.

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Future – The Wizrd

There’s a joke about people dying their hair blonde when they are going through something as some attempt to solve their problems. It’s usually a feigned effort but nevertheless, when Future was spotted with blonde hair before this album was released, my excitement grew.

Coming off the back of his solo mixtape Beast Mode 2, and his joint effort Wrld on Drugs with JuiceWRLD, it was refreshing to hear Future back in album mode. While Beast Mode was decent, Wrld on Drugs was mostly forgettable, so I was hoping for a return to form shown on 2017 albums FUTURE and HNDRXX. With The Wizrd, we not only see a return to form, but also to a return to the brash, in-your-face attitude of 2015’s Dirty Sprite 2.

Futures delivery and beat choices make for a focused album, accentuated by the scarce appearances of features. Future has created the spatial freedom to be himself across the tracks, a welcomed change from the plethora of joint mixtapes he has released across the years. A mix of producers, from Southside to Tay Keith, provide a varied canvas for Future to work on, while keeping the album moving to a familiar rhythm. A solid project all round.

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James Blake – Assume Form

Blake’s early 2018 single If The Car Beside You Moves Ahead, and his work on the Black Panther soundtrack, gave me the impression that he would be releasing an album sometime last year. This proved not to be the case; instead we receive Assume Form over a year later.

His first full project since 2016’s The Colour in Anything, Blake keeps his trademark sound, splicing his beautiful instrumentals and touching vocals with amazing sampling and eclectic features. On Mile High, Blake tries his hand at a form of rap-singing; while it may not be a full-fledged onslaught of bars, his relaxed and slow delivery works so well with Travis Scott’s verse. The melodies on this album are lush and beautiful; Can’t Believe The Way We Flow is so vibrant and wholesome that it feels like an audible embrace. Barefoot In The Park features amazing vocals from ROSALÍA, and a particularly rare sample of an Irish folk song performed by Valerie Armstrong.

This feels like Blake’s best work and is a project that will stick with me, and I’m sure you will be seeing Assume Form on countless end of year album lists.

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jonatan leandoer127 – Nectar

jonatan leandoer127, better known by his original stage name Yung Lean, shot to internet stardom in 2013 with his bizarre, drug-laced Cloud Rap. His music was thought by many to be joke, and those who knew it wasn’t either loved it or hated it. Nevertheless, Lean became a mainstay within dedicated internet Hip Hop circles, working with big names like Travis Scott and A$AP Ferg, becoming a figurehead of the Soundcloud Rap scene that was bubbling up in the mid 2010s.

As time passed, his status as a meme faded; Lean had a stint in a rehab facility and returned with music that remained true to his internet roots, yet showed his growing maturity. Under this new moniker we see this maturity, while being treated to something completely different and wholly unexpected. On Nectar, Lean draws influence from Alternative Rock, sometimes even Heartland Rock, to create what will inevitably be considered one of the most interesting projects of 2019. The delivery on the track Porcelain is reminiscent of Bob Dylan’s Subterranean Homesick Blues, while Off with their Heads could easily be a track on an early Beck album. Lean truly took some leaps on this record; the instrumental from the track Tangerine Warrior could easily be mistaken for an early Arcade Fire track.

While the vocal performances wont be winning any awards, Lean deserves praise for the change in style he delivers on this project.

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Diva Sweetly – In the Living Room

When craving 90s nostalgia, we have to look beyond bands like Weezer’s covers of tracks such as No Scrubs if we want to find hits of primetime Pop Punk. The debut album from North Carolina’s Diva Sweetly offers exactly that.

What makes Diva Sweetly stand out, and what will hopefully get them the attention they deserve, is their effortless blend of Alternative Rock, Pop Punk, and splashes of wall-shaking Nu Metal. Across the album, the duty of singing switches between Karly Hartzman and Daniel Gorham, each lending their voice to craft exciting shifts in genres across the short run time of the album. They flip Auld Lang Syne into The Floor Caved In (New Lang Syne), draw the vibe back with the acoustic, guitar-led Beneath The Floorboards, then smack you over the head with the heavily distorted guitar and thumping drums of Dark Horse Lane. This run of 3 tracks alone demonstrates the groups versatility, which goes hand-in-hand with their potent chemistry to create something utterly charming.

This album is instantly likeable, and will be one that consistently makes its way into your regular playlists.

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Toro y Moi – Outer Peace

Chaz Bear is a staple of the Chillwave scene, being one of the most consistent artists within the broad genre over the past decade. Bear is never away from the studio for long, and quick return has been warmly welcomed by music publications and fans alike.

On this project, Bear delivers his rhythmic funk grooves that have made him a darling of synth-pop scene. They create an immersive experience with no pauses between tracks, one flowing effortlessly into the next. Features dotted across the album from the likes of ABRA and Instupendo add to the already fantastic vocals and beats laid down by Bear. House influences are present on tracks like Who Am I, while downtempo vibes are interjected amongst the funk rhythms, bringing a steady balance to the album.

A brilliant and fun record, this is yet another album you will see popping up on a lot of lists at the end of the year.

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A short list of my favourite albums of the year. No particular order, just 15 albums that stood above the rest for me, in a year where amazing albums were coming thick and fast. Special thanks to my friend Rachel Hawker who assisted with the editing on this piece.

Pusha T – DAYTONA

Pusha T teased “King Push” for quite some time, saying he wanted to achieve “Hip Hop album of the year” with it. After a name change, and controversy surrounding the album artwork (Kanye spent $85,000 just to get a picture of Whitney Houston’s drug-laden bathroom), we finally received DAYTONA, and it was absolutely worth the wait. With production from Kanye across the album, Pusha delivers some of the coldest and most visceral rapping about drugs and good living you’re likely to hear not only this year, but in the genre itself.

Pusha makes an emphatic statement, emphasising that he is on top of the game right now, so much so that he can take shots at Drake on Infrared, and handle the backlash that comes with that. Rick Ross’ feature on Hard Piano blends perfectly; the two rappers make luxurious Coke Rap seem effortless, whether they’re talking designer brand or pots and pans. The short 21 minute run time is perfect, with no second wasted, especially in the age where Hip Hop albums are now clocking in over 105 minutes. Pusha gives us quality and quantity, and it’s amazing.

Standout track – The Games We Play

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Kojaque – Deli Daydreams

Kojaque stepped confidently onto the Irish Hip Hop scene in 2015 with his track Midnight Flower. Self-produced, the beat was reminiscent of the laid back piano-led beats of Nujabes with a stunning video to go with it, it spelled promising things for the young Dublin rapper. After an EP , dozens of appearances at festivals, and solo shows, Kojaque released what it is not only one of the best Irish Hip Hop records the scene has heard, but easily one of the best Irish albums of the last few years.

With his Soft Boy Records collective behind him, Kojaque has crafted fantastic jazzy Hip Hop, with an undercurrent of lo-fi, touching on subjects from unrequited love, run-ins with the police, the state of Irish politics and society, and getting far too fucked up. Features come from the other Soft Boy Records members, Luka Palm providing a raspy, biting verse on Politiksis, while Kean Kavanagh lays down buttery smooth vocals on Eviction Notice. This is arguably Irish album of the year.

Standout Track – Bubby’s Cream

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Half Waif – Lavender

Nandi Rose Plunkett, a.k.a. – Half Waif, is the former keyboardist of Pinegrove. Now solo, she demonstrates her classical piano training and song writing prowess on this beautiful album.

An album full of memories, longing for time and place, the touching lyrics are emphasised by Plunkett’s ranged voiced. With this album she strikes a balance between the past and present, reminiscing and wishing. This balance translates to the instruments and her vocals, the beautiful synths on par with the sincerity of her delivery. Plunkett melds all of these factors to create a booming atmosphere, this concept presented prevalently on tracks like Keep It Out and Silt.

Seeing this album live solidified my belief that Half Waif will only go from strength to strength, and I’m very excited to hear more from her.

Standout Track – Back in Brooklyn

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Beach House – 7

Beach House were always a group whose music I’ve always heard and always enjoyed, a notable instance would be their track Silver Soul being sampled on Kendrick Lamar’s Money Trees. Along with this, I’ve always loved Shoegaze and other Dream Pop groups, so I always kick myself for not getting on their wave sooner. With the release of this album, it came as a perfect opportunity to finally delve into their work, and I am so glad I did.

Dream Pop as a genre can encapsulate of a lot of different styles, but I think Beach House stand as the modern benchmark of the genre as whole. There is an enveloping buzz around this album that wraps around you from the first listen, and it genuinely does feel like you’re being guided into a dream-like state; with tracks like Woo almost hypnotic in their composition, with thick synths and snappy drum patterns. With every listen a new song becomes a standout, this really is an album that will be one of constant discovery if you invest yourself in it.

Just like the cover art, it balances light and dark, and is heavily layered in concise manner.

Standout Track – Pay No Mind

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Jon Hopkins – Singularity

In the creative process of this album, Jon Hopkins ate magic mushrooms and tripped in Joshua Tree National Park. He talked about how the visuals he experienced fed directly into how he crafted this album. When you listen to this album, you will quickly realise that he is attempting to take you on that trip with him, and make an album experience unlike the rest.

Hopkins’ meticulous instrumentation is laser-like in its precision. Everything is in its perfect place, every note from the bass to the synths, every snare and kick drum, all combining seamlessly, with each song laying part of journey out in front of you. From thumping Techno to ambient brakes, this album will take you up to dizzying heights, swoop you back down, and keep you floating in a haze. I’ve seen this album live twice, and it truly is a trip.

Standout Track – Luminous Beings

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Jeff Rosenstock – Post-

I came across this album is an unassuming way. A friend of mine suggested going to his Dublin gig, and having heard good things about him I bought a ticket on whim. This was the album I started with, and from the opening track I was hooked.

The howling, unflinching vocals, the ripping guitar, the pounding drums, this album is a wild ride. Opening with the 7 minute USA!, Rosenstock lets you know right off the bat what you’re in for. While this album rips along, hitting you with more tracks you can scream along with, Yr Throat being a particular favourite of mine. Throughout the record, Rosenstock also shows his softer side, taking the edge off with tracks like 9/10. This is another album I was lucky enough to see live, and the gig mimicked the album, the purest frantic fun you can imagine.

Standout Track – USA!

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IDLES – Joy as an Act of Resistance

Keeping with the punk trend, IDLES deliver what is easily one of most accessible, yet still true to its roots, Punk albums you’ll have the joy of listening to.

The topics this album deals with, and how it presents them truly blows me away. Danny Nedelko is a straight up “FUCK YOU” to racists and xenophobes (which in the wake of Brexit is well needed), and praises the positives that immigration brings. Never Fight a Man with a Perm and Samaritans hit on the perils of toxic masculinity, how it is a threat from both the outside and the inside. June is a devastating song, discussing the tragic story of the lead singer Joe Talbot’s daughter Agatha being stillborn. This album takes you to defiant heights, and brings you down to sombre lows. I’m lucky that I will get to see them perform it live next year, and I truly can’t wait. They will be playing Dublin twice so don’t miss out!

Standout Track – Danny Nedelko

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Travis Scott – ASTROWORLD

Travis Scott divided opinion for most of his career. There was talk of him being an industry plant when he first came onto the scene, then went on to receive massive praise for his 2014 mixtape Days before Rodeo. He caught flak for what some called a jacking of Swae Lee’s ad-lib style in the lead up to Rodeo in 2015. These voices soon faded as the album was very well received. He followed up with the equally well-received Birds in the Trap sing McKnight. What followed was nearly 2 years of singles and hype-building for ASTROWORLD. Could it match the hype, could Travis keep building his status and brand? The answer is a conclusive and poignant “yes”.

This could easily stand as Travis’ best work. Opening with the thumping Stargazing, which was released with an accompanying video that set the tone for the whole album. Currents of psychedelica run through throughout the album, laced in amongst the trap beats, creating an experience not usually present on a mainstream Hip Hop album. As is typical with Travis, intense beat switches keep you hooked; Sicko Mode throwing two beat switches into the mix, with Drake adding a stellar feature. Travis pays homage to the Southern legends who influenced him with songs like R.I.P. Screw & 5% Tint, and features modern Southern heavyweights like Gunna & Swae Lee. This album lived up to the hype, and I believe that is down to Travis managing to incorporate everything people wanted, more than they expected, and avoiding the hyper-extended run time many modern Hip Hop albums are clocking in at (looking at you, Culture 2 and Scorpion).

Standout Track – Yosemite

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Janelle Monáe – Dirty Computer

I was well aware of how much of an amazing artist Janelle Monáe was, from her earlier albums and her ventures into film (go watch Moonlight if you haven’t already), but I truly was not ready for how good this album was going to be.

Janelle delivers amazing pop songs filled with infectious melodies, flexing her confidence and sexuality throughout the record. She packs the tracks with lyrics calling for freedom, empowerment, and equality. From Brian Wilson’s vocal harmonising with Janelle on the opening track to Grimes’ synths on Pynk, each feature compliments the album perfectly to the point I can’t even pick a single standout; each is as good as the next. This album makes me hope that Janelle is already working on new material because I am dying to hear more from her.

Standout Track – Pynk

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JPEGMAFIA – Veteran

This is a special one.

If I was to describe this project in one word it would be “manic”. While I’ve used that word before to describe albums, it almost doesn’t seem fitting in comparison to this

I Cannot Fucking wait til Morrissey Dies. That’s a track name. One of the best tracks on the album in fact. You would think that would give you an indication as to what the album is like but I’m really not sure it would. It has a rather peppy beat; it’s fun. Compare that to Baby, I’m Bleeding, or Real Nega and you’ll quickly feel the shift in the album. Compare these tracks to the intense, almost anxiety-inducing beat of Panic Emoji. JPEG screams about beating the shit out of members of the Alt-Right, samples video games and films, and places the bizarre snippets randomly throughout the songs. There will be points on this record where you might think you’re hearing radio interference from another device.

Factor all these things in together and you get the absolute whirlwind that is this album. Maybe this description makes it seem inaccessible, but I promise you it is absolutely worth your time. I was also lucky enough to see this album live and I can safely say it is even craazier in person.

Standout Track – Baby, I’m Bleeding

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SOPHIE – OIL OF EVERY PEARL’S UN-INSIDES

Debut albums can be tricky for someone like SOPHIE. She has already released the compilation album Product, which contained the singles that had already garnered her critical praise, so it’s not unheard of that acts in her situation can falter when it comes to releasing their first standalone project. SOPHIE not only dodged this trap, but hurdled over it and cleared it with plenty of room to spare.

Opening with what may well be one of the best opening tracks of the year, It’s Okay to Cry is a beautiful introduction to this wonderful album. The lyrics are gentle and her delivery is soothing and welcoming. However as soon as it ends, we are slapped in the face with the sexually charged Ponyboy, and then the thumping Faceshopping, before being brought back down to another gentle place with Is it Cold in the Water?. The pacing and structure of this album is truly something, keeping you hooked, taking you on a rollercoaster of emotions. Truly looking forward to whatever SOPHIE has in-store for us next.

Standout Track – It’s Okay to Cry

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Vince Staples – FM!

Vince is a rapper who is easily one of the most gifted in the game. He manages to be sharp as a blade when it comes to lyricism. His wordplay, metaphors, and double-entendres can be ranked among the best in the game. He has an extremely funny personality, his wit unmatched by most rappers. His guest verse on Earl Sweatshirt’s Hive is one of my favourite verses ever. However one thing that always bugged me about his solo music is that his beat choice on his albums never fully clicked with me. FM! makes this list because in recruiting Kenny Beats to over see the whole album, Vince has managed to craft a record that retains remnants of the sound he has been honing over the years, but put an interesting and twisted spin on it.

This album is as the lead single suggests, FUN!. A celebration of California Hip Hop, features come thick and fast from Cali legends like E-40, and the modern big figures of the state like Jay Rock, Ty Dolla $ign, and Kamaiyah. The album is played out through the medium of a radio station, the skits never seeming forced in as they each lead you seamlessly from one track to the next. Through all of this, Vince keeps it all grounded with his street-hardened view on life. Another amazing project under his belt, Kenny Beats deserves huge praise, and should easily be considered producer of the year.

Standout Track – Don’t Get Chipped

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Deafheaven – Ordinary Corrupt Human Love

I’ll admit it, I’m have some fanboy tendencies for Deafheaven that stem directly from me becoming mildly obsessed with their stellar 2013 album, Sunbather. It took a while for me to get into them originally, but once I did, my love for them quickly grew. Needless to say, I was extremely excited for the release of this new album. I made a point of not listening to the three singles that were released in the lead up to the album, and this led to me taking this whole project on as single entity, which made for an amazing listen.

For this album, the group maintain their trademark sound, infusing elements of Black Metal, Shoegaze, Post-Rock, and Hardcore. Building on this, they factor in elements which might not seem like they work on paper, but one listen and you’ll appreciate them immediately. A perfect example of this would be the almost Glam Metal-like riffs in the later half of the track Glint. The vocal samples on the opening track You Without End pull you into the album, before you get hit with the sheer wall of sound the band are known for. The shake up of their sound has served the band immensely, and this album lays out an interesting path for the band in the future.

Standout Track – Glint

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Blood Orange – Negro Swan

With how much I adored Dev Hynes’ 2016 album, Freetown Sound, I had no doubt in my mind we were in for something special with this one. Hynes’ has carved his name as one of most important and talented people in the music industry since he started playing under the Blood Orange moniker in 2009. This album continues to build on his already highly praised sound and image.

Hynes effortless blending of element of R&B, funk, soul, and electronica is what has made him standout in modern music. With this record, we see less funk grooves than we did on Cupid Deluxe and Freetown Sound, but we see Hynes incorporate shades of jazz in with the moody and touching soul and R&B. Interjected between the songs are snippets from Janet Mock talking with Hynes, discussing topics such as family, work, and a person’s place in others lives. They work their way perfectly into the flow of the album, and the pacing is perfect. As well as Mock, there are multiple big name features on here too. A$AP Rocky appears on Chewing Gum, and while I wasn’t a fan of his verse upon release, I have come around on it. Diddy’s appearance on Hope certainly was unexpected, but it is great, and I would be interested in seeing him feature on more tracks like this.

I didn’t expect this album to be anything else than great, and seeing it live made me appreciate it even more.

Standout Track – Charcoal Baby

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Mitski – Be the Cowboy

Like a lot of other albums on this list, listening to this album involved me adoring it, and immediately kicking myself for not listening to more of Mitski’s work before. Never the less, starting my delve into her work with this album was a welcomed one.

This album is an ethereal experience from start to finish, interjected with infectious pop, always to be followed by a song that takes you to the outer reaches of your emotional bounds. The opening track Geyser stands as one of the best opening tracks of the year, well up there with SOPHIE’s It’s Okay to Cry. A monumental ballad, the huge vocals and drums are the primer for what is going to be an album of dizzying heights. The run time checks-in at a snappy 32 minutes, meaning the 14 tracks come thick and fast. This means the album can take you from those dizzy heights you were first taken to and swoop you right down to a somber place so quickly, it makes you wish you had someone waiting there to cradle you when it’s all over. As the album bounces along with songs like Washing Machine Heart, its thumping rhythm and Queens of the Stone Age-like organs had me wholly unprepared for the closing track.

At the end of this incredible record comes a track that is so emotionally raw, it cuts like a knife. Two Slow Dancers stands as one of my favourite tracks of the year, a song that opens with gentle piano, and vocals to match. From an unassuming start, the song is one of the most heart-wrenching I’ve heard in some time. Mitski’s repeated cries of “To think that we could stay the same” drive home the emotional turmoil, the hopelessness, and the eventual acceptance of someone who is longing for what they had, what they wish was still there, but what they know is slipping away. Mitski, what have you done to me.

Standout Track – Two Slow Dancers

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