^ I try, love. I put the ff in Effort.
27. Darkwater - Human
Genre: European Prawg-Powah Metal
Put On A Playlist With: Kamelot, early 2000's Stratovarius, Blind Guardian, Symphony X
Never really cared for these guys in the past, but Human was a welcome discovery for me earlier this year in my bid to scratch the keyboard/guitar heavy progressive metal itch I get sometimes. Everything sounds super crisp (including the bass) and there's lot of Gothic flair without being too cheesy. Hooks aplenty too. It helps that Henrik Båth is also a really gifted singer who reminds me so much of the great Roy Khan that it's a little eerie (but welcome).
26. she - Aspire
Genre: Chiptune, Glitch pop, Synthwave, Vaporwave
Put On A Playlist With: Every Sega Saturn game you wish you could revisit.
Producer and keyboardist Lain Volta Trzaska (AKA she) has been doing video game oriented pop music since before it was cool, but from the early 2000's onward, he began blending chiptune with early synthwave idioms, coupled with a hefty dose of glitch thrown in - a style that's come to define the "she" project's various releases. His 2015 release Chiptune Memories is one of the best pop albums of the last twenty years, but Aspire has a lot of fun moments and was really welcome in 2019 at at time when others in this arena seem to have moved away from any form of fun or accessibility.
Long story short: if you like electronic pop music, the synthier side of 80's, or video game music from the mid 90's, this album is heaven in a ramen cup.
25. Freddie Gibbs & Madlib - Bandana
Genre: Hip-Hop
Put On A Playlist With: Freddayyy, Madlibbbb, Kno
Was there anyone who wasn't looking forward to this particular 2nd go around? Two legends, one at the mic and one at the board. It's a little smoother, a little more confident than Pinata (which was also great), but there are little things here that make me feel they took a bit more time on this set to get the flow just right, especially with the sample choices. Crime Pays in particular takes what sounds like a George Duke-esque Rhodes line from the late 70's and builds a smooth sailing banger over it, and even Anderson .Paak works on Giannis when he'd normally be a distraction.
Last edited by Anteater; 11-26-2019 at 10:01 PM.
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