The cover art for Miley Cyrus's Something Beautiful, which depicts her modelling in a stylistic outfit that I wish I could describe in words that make sense.
I finally committed my words to metaphorical ink.
#DeclanLikes Miley Cyrus – Something Beautiful
#DeclanReviews
rateyourmusic.com/music-review...
The cover art for 夜明けが訪れる by telepath テレパシー能力者, which depicts a dark staircase shone by a roof light window above with a decorative plate on the wall and a ghostly figure faintly seen on its stair rails.
#DeclanLikes telepath テレパシー能力者 – 夜明けが訪れる
But naturally, a return to vaporwave this sudden after this long warrants a strong and conflicting response from someone like me. So if you wanna hear my full thoughts, please enjoy my excessively long review: rateyourmusic.com/music-review...
#DeclanReviews
The cover art for Doechii's single Anxiety, which depicts her sitting back to back against herself with intertwined braids.
#DeclanReviews Doechii – Anxiety
Do you know what this comes off as? A top-tier mashup that Neil Cicierega could come up with. As a standalone song though? It's alright.
There are much worse egregiously lazy samples in pop music over the past few years. At least this tries to sing about something.
The cover art of Mac Miller's Faces, which is an abstract painting redone to have a more 3D texture and a faint shadow behind the subjects on the yellow background. I can't even begin to describe all of the colours & shapes (pun intended) in the simplistic-style abstract painting besides a hand with distorted fingers, a wave at the top, and two figures, one of a boy holding a bear mask, and one of a bear holding a man mask.
My review of the album with four out of five stars. You know the drill. Not even two paragraphs can fit this time: I'm gonna be real: Faces might just be the sort of mixtape that stumps me as a subpar music reviewer. I've tried practising writing notes for the Music Writer Exercise reviews this month of this year, but my god, I couldn't pen much of anything down for this one. It's not for a lack of trying, mostly, but more so a lack of things I could personally add to the discussion of this mixtape, this artist, and this legacy. The main sticking point that disintegrates a hole into my skill set is just that I'm not a lyrics person. I don't dislike lyrics, I don't not care for them, but… when I listen to an album, I don't listen to it for the lyricism unless I feel that passionately for or against the sound of the music itself. Thankfully, I've loved this record plenty enough for me to pick up that this is potentially & unabashedly Mac Miller in his most honest, unfiltered, unbridled and humble state as a lyricist, and I'm saying that as someone with a very limited experience of his discography, that I intend to keep that way. I mean, I don't exactly know how you can convince me to listen to the Divine Feminine. In any case, yes, his lyrics did manage to crack through the surface of my attention span, in many ways! He's blunt about a lot of his thoughts and he had so many of them that he can reach short of 90 minutes worth of material for it! It's actually stunningly impressive, not only how much ink he had in his pen, but also how much he's not afraid to say shit like "Uncle Sam could never teach me how to Dougie" in the same tape with the lines "I've experienced every feeling except fine," and the unfortunately aged "Suppose I'll die alone from an overdose of some sort." That's nothing to say about his own rapping style either, which I've always loved.
Day 10: #MWE #DeclanReviews
Mac Miller – Faces
recommended by: @captainpuffin.bsky.social
Full Review: rateyourmusic.com/music-review...
The cover art of Moby's Destroyed, which depicts a white, winding hallway with fluorescent light panels, an LED text display with the album title in lowercase with a full stop, an exit sign on one side, and then the artist name in bold font at the bottom.
My review of the album with four out of five stars. Here's every sentence I can fit in the alt-text limit: At least 9 people in my life will tell me that this shouldn't have been the first Moby album I ever listened to in full, and I'll agree with that. Anyway, this was a fascinating deep cut to have thrown myself into. Moby is an electronic producer that I've always been at least a little bit curious about, but have always been hesitant of as well because of the hate I've seen levied at him; to the extent that I thought he was the homophobic downtempo musician, but no, that's just Pogo. If anything, what I have actually heard is that he just has a bit of an ego, which hey, in an age of HKE and Bully-era Kanye West, I can be fine with so long as it doesn't run your own music to the ground and six feet below it. That said, his boldness to express himself does show a fair bit on this album, and in a way that I find very conflicting. I'm all for nostalgic, heartstrings-pulling music; I'm all for atmospheric, sometimes cinematic music; and I'm all for music that's not afraid to progress and build itself up in density, right? You can be preachy and get louder, so long as you've got the songwriting and tension to pull it all off, but sometimes he doesn't manage to do that, and other times he just barely does it well enough for me to love it. My love for this album as a result ended up feeling very thin, and while it took me a long time to figure out why, I think that can be pinned down to how thin-veiled the album sounds as a whole. There's something about the way that the percussion, synths & pads on this album are produced that just doesn't rub the strongest impression on me.
Day 9: #MWE #DeclanReviews
Moby – Destroyed
recommended by: @agnar.bsky.social
Full Review: rateyourmusic.com/music-review...
The cover art of Late Night TV by EtheReal Media, which is a blurry overshot of city lights in the pitch-black night. I need to stress that this is a very distant overshot photo.
My review of the album with three out of five stars. Here's how much of the review can fit the alt-text character limit: The first two paragraphs. These days have been a blur for you, but they've been more than just a blur. They've been rough. They've been tiresome. They've been lonesome. And these days especially have been quiet for you. You arrive at your apartment, following a day that can only be described as the most nothing you've felt in your entire life. You drop your case down on the floor by the front door, which you then close behind you, and you walk over to turn on the television; not even bothering to turn on the lights first. There are no TV programs broadcasted on this channel anymore, but you've been tuning into it every night for the past few years or so, just to feel something you can relate to. But this time? You can hear music. Faint, sombre, yet comfortable TV interlude music… and you're just ready to lay down on the floor and soak the light & sound in for the rest of the evening. Maybe there is something to all of this. You don't know. But you have no reason to care. Yeah, this might come off as a bit of a backhanded compliment, but if you put this album on, that's the type of music you're gonna be hearing. The music does indeed sound like it's fresh from the interludes and broadcast ends of television channels very late into the evening. They're muffled in frequency, quiet in volume, cute & old-fashioned in their sound palette, and oftentimes feel less than interlude background music… but not more like anything else. It's strange for me to criticise a Vaporwave album like this, especially when it does aim to achieve that sound for the Signalwave (Broken Transmission) subgenre and mind you, it perfectly achieves that. But there are many other artists in this scene who also achieve that just fine with their music while keeping it attention-grabbing and memorable, even in signalwave.
Day 8: #MWE #DeclanReviews
EtheReal Media™ – Ｌａｔｅ Ｎｉｇｈｔ ＴＶ
recommended by: @ranadelray.bsky.social
Full Review: rateyourmusic.com/music-review...
The cover art of Duster's Together, which is a very slightly blurry photo of a person in bed with their head partly under a pillow and the sheet draped over their face. In front of the all-white bed is the bedside table, holding up an old phone, a white plastic cup, what I assume is an open wrapper of crackers and a plastic red cigarette ash tray.
My review of the album with three and a half out of five stars. You know the drill: The character limit will cut off my review, so here's a majority of it: The more I think about Duster as a band with a history, the more I'm bewildered at how they're still a thing. The band formed in the mid-90s and came out with two albums – the second being the closest I'll ever have to a special album sharing a birthday with me – before they just… stopped making anything for the better part of two decades. Then they started their 2019 with a compilation and then ended it with a brand new studio album, a comeback! And now they're still around, making music frequently despite the shocking amount of radio silence from before that. How the hell does that happen? I have a minimal history with the band myself; I got to their debut album a couple of years ago and without refreshing myself for this review, I can say that was a good time. I handily expected that same good time with this album recommended to me on a whim, and it nearly seemed that way on the first track! They kicked it off like they never left, but there's that much more evidently modern polish to it that makes the ruggedness of their music really punch through. I have never felt so downtrodden by a slow-tempo song before than I have with their opener New Directions, with drums that aren't afraid to step on my feet and not apologise, an emotionally defeated vocal performance, and bass & electric guitars so bold & thick in texture that they feel like they have angry frowns on their faces. And then that's where my glowing praises end! Soon after the album finds its footing, it keeps to it while allowing for slight detours in experimental touches & changes, and while that sounds amazing on paper, in practice, the sound wears off oh so fast and the different flourishes they add to each track only seem to make them weaker.
Day 7: #MWE #DeclanReviews
Duster – Together
recommended by: @soopertartory.bsky.social
Full Review: rateyourmusic.com/music-review...
The cover art of AIR's Moon Safari, with the right side of the space taken over by a watercolour painting of the two members in orange & yellow jumpsuits respectively, with the band's logo in the top left corner with the text "french band" vertical next to it and the album title below the both of them.
My review of the album with four out of five stars. The whole thing can't fit in the alt-text character limit, so here's the first two-thirds of it or so: I'm not gonna lie: I've had to listen to this album twice over to really process my feelings. Not because this album is anything mind-bending, experimental or shocking – far from it, actually! This French duo's debut album was meant to be one of the most soothing, relaxing, atmospheric pop & electronic albums of the 90s and to a certain extent, yeah, it most certainly does achieve that… for the first half of it. What's supposed to be a beautiful Downtempo record with influences both from the lounge music of decades past and from the trip-hop genre blossoming around this time seems to have stubbed its toe on the proverbial staircase at the midpoint and failed to recover in time to make it to the top, resulting in it kinda half-assing what makes it so gorgeous to begin with. Look, I gotta sing its praises before I can show you what I mean. I adore the first half of this album. It represents the sort of Y2K-era sound that downtempo music from that period of time achieved so well, and I'm mighty nostalgic for that kind of music! Sexy Boy, for example, taking away from the fact that it's a song called Sexy Boy, feels absolutely spacious and enveloping with its sound! It's sweeping and swooshing all around me the dense, smoggy atmosphere of a modern city sunrise and it really takes me back to the days of playing Stuart Little 3: Big Photo Adventure, it's so sick! Other tracks compliment this sound graciously too, with the bass guitar especially on tracks like La femme d'argent and All I Need, as well as the swelling strings of the dark, misty bar tavern vibes on Talisman! It's half of a masterclass on how to recreate the perfect late 90s or early 00s stratosphere through this corner of electronic music! And also half a generic Lounge pastiche. Ugh.
Day 6: #MWE #DeclanReviews
AIR – Moon Safari
recommended by: @danseamanita.bsky.social
Full Review: rateyourmusic.com/music-review...
The cover art of Gotye's Like Drawing Blood, which I believe depicts red paint or blood stains on a stained pale yellow cardboard canvas, with Gotye's name drawn out on the bottom corner of the cover.
My review of the album, with a score of four out of five stars. As always, the full review cannot fit in the alt text, so while you can read the whole thing on RateYourMusic, here's what I can fit in here: Gotye is a name that has been anchored onto one and only one song for well over a decade, and it's understandable to see why, because on its own, Somebody That I Used to Know, despite how catchy & well-written it is, is still an insanely weird Art Pop song to have exploded with as much popularity as it has. What comes off to the average listener as a cute & quirky breakup song is made purely with the backbone of a bossa nova sample with a xylophone melody that many have linked to a classic nursery rhyme, and yet it all takes itself very seriously and ends up working flawlessly as a result! The kicker, though? This was the result of a self-produced creative indie talent that knew what he was doing, and in my very 2025 IMHO opinion, should have gotten the same treatment as Chappell Roan where the monumental hit should've sent his back catalogue skyrocketing in popularity! Making Mirrors is not an exceptional album, I don't think it would've gotten nearly as much attention as it did without the big boy hit song, but Like Drawing Blood? Oh my god! From the moment the faint metallic intro of the title track kicks into The Only Way, I was shellshocked by how much witty talent was on display for especially the front half of the record! Gotye's vocal performances know how to be soft & gentle yet remain prominent in the mix most of the time, and when the music's gravitas call for it, the passion of his highs shines through! He's an excellent singer, but more than that, he's an incredible songwriter! The Only Way's bass riff is on another level, bolstered by the clean, modern production that wouldn't feel a lick out of place if it waited ten more years to come out! And then there's a Breakbeat breakdown at the final minute of it?! Go to jail, Walter!
Day 5: #MWE #DeclanReviews
Gotye – Like Drawing Blood
recommended by: @thedragonpolybius.bsky.social
Full Review: rateyourmusic.com/music-review...
The cover art for Dan Swanö's Moontower, which is a very intense, yet very beautiful close-up shot of an eye that's blue & swirling.
My review of the album, with a score of four and a half out of five stars. The whole review is readable on the provided RYM link, but for now, let's see how much of the review I can fit into alt-text: I think it's official now: Progressive Metal is definitively my favourite subgenre of metal. It took me way too long of a time to get Metal, really, but I can say the same for most genres I'm definitely not an expert in. The difference here is that metal by comparison is simply not as accessible as most other genres, and I'm not saying this is equivalent to Harsh Noise Wall or Broken Transmission, but I think I finally recognised last year that you really need to sit down with general metal within your arm's reach for longer than most others in order to get a real feel for its performance intensities, production densities, melodic complexities and vocal fatalities. And that's true for most subgenres, but progressive metal is perhaps one of the best for newcomers to get into because the approach to make them into sprawling epics with multiple unique segments, more captivating melodies and richer instrumentation gives their songwriters real opportunities to just spread themselves out in public without eliciting a grossed-out reaction. Speaking of gross, not this album! Like with most albums in this sound, as one of the qualities that I love most about this subgenre, the production on this one is utterly clean! You are given not only full clarity where it needs to be, allowing you to fully digest how densely layered the music is – but also a polished sound that is still sharp enough to pack a punch, allowing you to take in the full depth of its sonic scale. But it's one thing to be able to pick apart the instruments. It's another to be able to recognise that the interplay between just goes off as well! You need only to experience the instrumental track Encounterparts to recognise this! All this to say good lord, the individual parts of this record sound wonderful!
Day 4: #MWE #DeclanReviews
Dan Swanö – Moontower
recommended by: @hedgewolfhoncho.bsky.social
Full Review: rateyourmusic.com/music-review...
The cover art for LUCKI's Freewave 3, which depicts the man himself standing in front of his name and behind his mixtape's name, looking down with horns or furry ears painted atop his head, and red paint obscuring his torso, while his hands are seen down to his legs.
My review of the mixtape, with a score of three and a half out of five stars. Like before, the whole three-paragraph review cannot fit the alt-text character limit, so you are subjected to only the first two paragraphs. View the whole review on RateYourMusic. This is going to be the type of review that is particularly weird for me to do, in part because if I try to describe this album to you in words that I only really sort of know how to use, I'm going to come across like this mixtape is way more mediocre than I really think it is. Because truth be told, I do like it; I do like the fact that I've put half an hour of my life into hearing this music the way the artist envisioned it from front to back, only for it to have run its course and start to wear thin on me just by the penultimate track, meaning that I've only just slightly barely gotten the tiniest bit sick of it and that's only for like a few of its final tracks; it was a perfectly fine experience! But the other thing is… there's nothing I can really strongly say about it. This is a simple Trap mixtape, and thus by default, you already know what's happening: 808 bass drums and claps, synths or samples made up into backing melodies, and unless you're a producer trying to make a beat portfolio, there's rapping too. I've heard the lyrics on this project are where the record most especially shines, so as an entity only capable of embracing the sonics of a record if I don't feel that passionately towards it, I suggest you hear from the words of others how the lyrics to this thing go. Because in terms of instrumentation & performance, there's no complexity to be found here, which can certainly be comforting! …but also very tricky to talk about without having to nitpick the details.
Day 3: #MWE #DeclanReviews
LUCKI – Freewave 3
recommended by: @adripupp.bsky.social
Full Review: rateyourmusic.com/music-review...
The cover art for Brian Eno's Apollo: Atmospheres & Soundtracks with Daniel Lanois & Roger Eno (Extended Edition), showing an orbital photograph of the Moon's surface with the text formatted around it.
My review of the album, with a score of three and a half out of five stars. I can fit even less of this entire review into the alt text than the last album, so you're only getting one and a half paragraphs. The whole review is readable on the provided RateYourMusic link. I enjoy Ambient music… but I also used to really fucking despise it. Back when I was a minor and therefore stupid, my exposure to ambient music came through in the form of adjacent works in the then-booming Vapor community I was just exploring. While I am much more hypnagogic-pilled than ever before, I used to just look for Vaportrap and Future Funk from within the scene back then. Therefore, when I came across certain tracks from 2814 and Nmesh, I was hardly able to stomach their sparseness for the sake of atmosphere. Now I can happily use the word sparse to describe good ambient music, but that doesn't mean you can't fuck it up. Take the most recent example I know, Blueberries on Mars, a Vaporwave legend's take on Space Ambient that was so monotonous that I could hardly tell a single track apart from each other, leading to the whole experience dragging itself down with every poorly-composed atmosphere piece. If it weren't for me getting into this album just half a month later, I feel like I would've really written off this subgenre of ambient entirely, which wouldn't be fair… or at least the most fair. I'll be frank, this album is marginally way better than Strawberries in Venus, but it's also not really holding that much more weight for the majority of the record.
Day 2: #MWE #DeclanReviews
Brian Eno – Apollo: Atmospheres & Soundtracks
recommended by: @autumnbreezybear.bsky.social
Full Review: rateyourmusic.com/music-review...
The cover art for Yo La Tengo's I Can Hear the Heart Beating as One, formatted with the artist & album titles in the red slate on the top half, with the image below depicting a yellow-saturated top-down view of a city intersection.
My review of the album, with a score of four out of five stars. I cannot fit the entire thing in this alt text, so here is the first two-thirds of it while you can read the rest on the RateYourMusic page linked. You know, one thing that's always struck me about late 90s indie bands such as Yo La Tengo is how difficult it is for me to pinpoint a recognisable identity to each and almost every one of them. It's not a loud difficulty either, it's something much more passive and under-the-radar, but still strenuous. It's one thing that it shares the same title length, colour palette and album cover format as another that wouldn't come out for another five years, but it's another to pull influences, sounds & genres left, right and centre, to the point where it ends up derailing an otherwise great album. What also struck me about this record was both how it sounds and how I love how it sounds. What normally makes or breaks a 20th-century album for me is how modern, clean & clear it sounds or doesn't sound. For every Parklife that sounds like it could've been made just as easily today, there are at least five other albums that fail to capture me with their weak, unpolished sounds, and it gets worse the older an album is paired with how much it's trying to strike me with awe. However, with this album, while it sounds as if it could've easily been made with decade-old equipment, what it's instead trying to achieve with this sort of soundscape is an old, homely, drifting and warm atmosphere consistently, and with that, I ended up loving the vast majority of this tracklist.
Day 1: #MWE #DeclanReviews
Yo La Tengo – I Can Hear the Heart Beating as One
recommended by: @quiettheroom.bsky.social
Full Review: rateyourmusic.com/music-review...
