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Where the arguments happen. Rate along, write reviews, and drop a hot take.
Hot Takes
View all →Lo-fi isn't music, it's a scented candle
I said what I said. Beautiful, useful, everywhere — and I could not hum you a single melody from it at gunpoint. Fight me in the reviews.
A string quartet made my favorite record of the year
I came for the pop and the rap and somehow the thing I can't stop playing is eight nocturnes for strings. Let this be your sign to branch out.
The best guitar band going, and it's not close
Everyone's chasing bedroom-pop and here are four guys writing actual anthems. In ten years we'll realize Ironwood was the album of the decade.
Kodiak is a better producer than rapper (and he's a great rapper)
The beats on Goldsmith would carry a lesser artist to a classic on their own. Imagine what he does when he gives one to someone else.
Latest Reviews
The most-played thing in my library
Is it profound? No. Do I have it on eight hours a day? Yes. Lo-Fi Society understand exactly what this music is for and never overreach.
The pop record to beat this decade
Aurelia Vance has made a genuinely widescreen album — the songwriting is airtight and the production never once shows off at the song's expense. 'Curtain Call' alone is worth the price.
Every bar is set like a stone
Kodiak is operating on another level here. The pen is immaculate and the beats are frostbitten in the best way. 'Vault' is the year's best closer.
Lush to the last cent
Velvet Ledger balance the books of the heart. Every arrangement is dripping. 'Slow Dividends' should be studied.
A masterclass in restraint
As a producer I keep coming back to how much space is in this mix. Most pop this big is a wall of sound; this one breathes. Docked a little for a saggy middle third.
Every drop hides a confession
Sleek electro-pop for the last hour of the club that secretly wants to cry. 'Lonely at 130 BPM' — what a title, what a song.
A debut that actually burns
Emberlyn turns her worst nights into her best choruses. Bedroom-honest and fireworks-loud at once. 'Afterglow' wrecked me.
Weather you can put on headphones
Marévy doesn't write songs so much as fronts. Put this on, close your eyes, and watch the sky move. Best ambient record since her own last one.
The ocean, bottled
Nakoa threads the music he grew up with through modern electronics without ever losing the salt. 'Homewaters' is a hymn.
Choruses for the back row
The Brass Meridian finally sound as big on record as they do live. 'Keep the Engine Running' is going to be a festival closer for years.
Sounds like it always existed
Juno Fields writes with a diarist's honesty. Just a voice and a guitar and the nerve to tell the truth. 'Leave the Light On' undid me.
Heavy with the patience of geology
Basalt build tension like tectonic plates. When 'Fault Line' finally breaks, it's cathartic. Not for everyone, but perfect for who it's for.