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Neon Golden by The Notwist – Essentiality Review
20 year anniversary review of one of the most important albums of my 21st century.
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Bonus round: 2021’s Honorable Mentions
A collection of 15 albums that may not have been my favorites, but definitely deserve a recommendation.
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Art in the midst of uncertainty: My favorite albums of 2021.
In 2021 I listened more music than ever. This time I’m sure. Meeting new people, seeing new places, venturing into different genres, and exploring music from the past inevitably makes my interest to keep listening all the more urgent. This is all for good.
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Hunky Dory by David Bowie – Essentiality Review
Fun fact: I just discovered a few weeks ago what ‘hunky-dory’ actually means. An expression to denote something that is going ‘fine’ or ‘well’, I find curious that I never assumed that there was a deeper meaning behind it, for me it was always the title of one of David Bowie’s most highly regarded albums,…
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30 by Adele – Review
It has to be said. To be one of the most recognized pop artists of the century, having the best-selling album of that same period of time and being revered by tons of fans all over the world has to have some weight on an artist. Those are also reasons that may explain why it…
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An Evening with Silk Sonic by Silk Sonic – Review
In today’s mainstream pop landscape there’s hard to find something fully original and yet, simultaneously there’s people at the vanguard of the genre defying its well established standard. However, once in a while you encounter a piece of music that’s neither future-leaning, or experimental but also neither boring or monotonous, which is the case for…
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Is This It by The Strokes – Essentiality Review
I was on the verge of not writing this Essentiality Review. 2021 has been a very weird year in the sense that I thought I would write more, especially reviews of new albums, but it hasn’t been like that. Writer’s block? Laziness? Stress? Whatever it is, I hope 2022 comes with more, I guess, inspiration,…
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Bon Iver, Bon Iver by Bon Iver – Essentiality Review
This year, a particular reminder appeared in my Facebook memories. A random March 7th in 2016 I wrote a few paragraphs about Bon Iver’s second album, Bon Iver, Bon Iver, which turns 10 today (curiously, that same year Bon Iver would announce its follow up after five years). Not only that is the one first…
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What’s Going On by Marvin Gaye – Essentiality Review
Born in 1939 in Washington DC to a domestic worker mother and a church minister father, Marvin Gaye started singing gospel music at a young age, before becoming an essential part of the influential recording label Motown in the 60’s, as a drummer. On 1971 Gaye, who had already a substantial and celebrated career in…
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Helplessness Blues by Fleet Foxes – Essentiality Review
“I was raised up believing, I was somehow unique/Like a snowflake distinct among snowflakes/Unique in each way you can see”. There’s no folk band like Fleet Foxes, I dare to say. They’ve been around for almost 15 years now, adding with each release, layer after layer to their textured and pristine musical world. I can…
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Carnage by Nick Cave & Warren Ellis – Review
The stylistic, narrative and emotionally arresting nature of Nick Cave’s late-career output is something to behold. In a career that many consider being among the most intriguing and engaging in post-punk evolution, the trio of albums in the 2010s form a particular awe-inspiring stage in The Bad Seeds rich catalog, with two of them being…
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Discovery by Daft Punk – Essentiality Review
The context for this review has changed dramatically. I first drafted it just one day before Daft Punk announced their separation after a 28 year career, 4 studio albums, 2 live albums and a film score. The news of course was widley covered by the music press and commented by fans all over the world.…
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Ignorance by The Weather Station – Review
‘Robber’ was an inflection point for my 2020. There was a before and an after. Only a few songs have the ability to shapeshift an entire flow of events with one listen. ‘Robber’ is one of them. Released as a standalone single and later revealed as the first track of the fifth record by The…
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Vertigo Days by The Notwist – Review
There was a period of time around 2009 that was very formative for me when it came to discovering and establishing my music interests and leanings. Severely dominated by alternative rock, every discovery I added to my iPod came by way of friendly recommendations, alternative music blogs and movies. However, additional to the Bon Ivers,…
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12 great unheard albums from the past.
We all had plans, we all expected something, we all thought everything was going to turn out very differently. One of my discarded plans of 2020, that was more influenced by the psychological unbalance created by the lockdown than the actual restrictions, was a plan of reviewing albums that had significant anniversaries. Yes, I did…