Sean Sharp's Diary

Not sure why they landed on calling this "California Calling" as there isn't much of anything that sounds like California's ambiance. It does have some good rich synths throughout but I wouldn't call this too much of an upgrade of their last team up project, "Flashback Fm" back in 2021. While the production in good, this could have been made by Mome back in 2016 when he released "Panorama". I would also say that his more interesting work still remains on that record. This serves more as a synth-pop background for Ricky Ducati to lounge around on. Not sure I'm really a fan of that set up either. Ricky's voice isn't always bad but you can tell sometimes it's like he's a dog toy getting chewed on. The air is being forced out of his lungs at points and it's a bit rough around the edges. There are definitely highlights though. "Do You Know Me" is a softer song on here that is a bit more fleshed out and as a result makes it a more engaging and interesting listen. "In Your Arms" almost sticks the landing with a very catchy chorus but Ricky might have been trying to do a little to much on it. That's TBD on my end though. Then the best piece on here is "Don't Forget Yourself". The most California sounding, however still nothing close to justifying the name of the album, it blends in some guitar backing to make for a more upbeat experience where a lot of these feel like a drive at night on a highway in a city. The melody on the chorus is perfect and the production goes hand in hand with Ricky's voice. Definitely the best song these two have collaborated on. Mome's 5 year gaps between releases doesn't give me much hope for the future considering he doesn't really seem to improving or evolving that much as an artist but he does have his occasional highlights.

A very colorful album. The rapping & singing isn't really the forefront. These energetic beats are really the draw here. The opener "eva" is a prime example of this as the main melody is mixed so much higher than the vocals and I really hope it was intentional because this might be one of the only songs I've ever heard where this unorthodox mixing style works perfectly. The wacky ideas sometimes lose me here and there like on "that's right daddy" and "The Iron Giant" but generally speaking it's pretty fun overall. "Sabine" is also a nice closer given the more R&B choice over the pop rap scattered throughout the rest of the album.

First time ever listening to Beach Weather. Immediate comparison is a more upbeat Lord Huron, which I think has its place. This style of music sometimes doesn't grip me from one song to the next, which isn't any fault of Beach Weather's. However, I liked a few songs on here, such as "High or Low Places" & "Hottest Summer on Record." Not too much to say otherwise. I'm sure this band will be around for a while, just based on how bands in this genre have historically developed a slow-burning fan base. It'll be interesting to see what they do next.

Brent returns with a more minimalistic, synth heavy outing. "WASTELAND" has surely broken my expectations with him as some of my favorite modern R&B production is on there. This time around, the same level is there but that minimalistic difference leaves some of the space feeling a bit bare and empty. "have to." is the move full song in that sense while a lot of these other ones are just a tad too slow. "four seasons." is the only other that comes close to what I really love from him but it isn't at that same level. "butterflies." also has some some gorgeous synths at the end of the song that make me wish more of it had it. Overall, I don't have a lot to say about this. Minimalistic in it's style leaves me with not too much to talk about.

Listen 1: Equivalent of throwing paint on a wall. Cool but debatable on if it's good, lucky, or just bad. Wide range of features makes it feel very full, like the lo mein I had a few days ago. Listen 2: Wtf is NOLA. Sounds like absolute garbage until JPEG shows up and tears it up. Bizarre how someone's voice and flow can completely make or break a track. That beat should just be for JPEG and be on a solo project of his. No one else on it should make a peep. Credit where credit's due to the album cover as well. Sums up the how the music sounds quite sufficiently. 1 Week Later: It sounds colorful and sometimes the colors don't mix well. It's fun and wacky and quirky and that's all great but it just doesn't always land the punch. Some flows are just aimless while others grip you before you see it coming. I'm sure the length of the project has something to do with this as well. There's a fair amount of it, that's not filler, but just experimenting. That is always commendable. Experimenting is going to produce some lackluster results but also put out defining art styles. This landed somewhere in the middle. Nothing outright atrocious (other than some of NOLA) but nothing really pushed a boundary that I would consider new. It's diet experimentation.

Listen 1: Beautiful voice. Some parts become very repetitive. He was going for a certain style for sure and he nailed it. It may just not vary enough. TOO consistent one could say. Listen 2: This has the bones of a great album but still kinda ugly on the outside if you get what I mean. Not saying it's bad, don't get me wrong. Has redeeming qualities like TWENTIES and MUD but you could pick 1 or 2 songs and say you've pretty much heard the whole thing. 1 Week Later: TWENTIES is by far and away the best track. This overall works great as a project but for individual songs to listen to, doesn't have a ton or replay-ability. I hope this man finds some more ways to mix this classy, pinky lifted, type sound while making it a bit more addicting. Once he's done that, he will have struck gold.

Listen 1: I have never really gotten into this sound all together but I think this EP does weave together an almost watered down version of it. I don't mean this in a bad way either. It bridges the gap between standard R&B/Pop with some Afrobeats which for me is the kind of music that needs to exist if I will ever fully appreciate genres like Afrobeat or Reggae. I'm sure they are fantastic genres in their own rights, but just like how many of the people on this website or other critic oriented websites look at EDM, it will take more than just a simple run through of Afrobeat's' greatest hits for me to appreciate the genre as a whole. Listen 2: This does have some fun bounce to it but is held a bit short due to it's repetitiveness. Contrary to the first listen as well, I think the boiled down version of mixing this with more mainstream pop does take some of the flavor away. It's a bit of a double standard considering what I previously said, but it's a tough line to walk so sue me for feeling split. 1 Week Later: Truthfully, I will likely forget about this by the years end and will only be reminded when I'm scrolling through all the different things I listened to. The beat for Mr. Media is excellent but unfortunately the melodic element is quite lacking for it to have any sort of long term replayability.

Listen 1: Very soft and soothing album. I think everything on here is a real recorded instrument which he has slowly been shifting towards over the last several years. I like to refer to music like this as sunflower pop. It feels like a beam of light is shining down on you. The danger of sunflower pop, which is relevant to this album, is becoming too stagnant or boring. It's about doing a lot with a little. In the same way Yeezus is a minimalist album for electronic music, "LOOK! I'm Alive" is a minimalist album for pop heads. The quality comparatively is up to debate, don't get me wrong but the simple movement through instruments makes this easy to listen to. Especially as background music, which has it's place. The only slight to this record is "Kissed The Sun". Only song on here that made me want to skip. Listen 2: My second listen just solidified my already existing thoughts. This album is all face value and there's nothing wrong with that. The simple melodies and chill production are just that but they fit what's needed. 1 Week Later: I will almost always listen to his new music but I know deep down I will never like his newest stuff more than his earlier work. He's simply a nostalgia artist for me. I'm sure he will have a song here and there that I really like but overall, unless something changes drastically, I don't see his music style being something that I'm head over heels for. This album is decent listen front to back and definitely delivers on what it's trying to get across but I'm not ready for that message.

Initial: Love me some new JID. I've been noticing a lot of rappers, especially new age acclaimed ones, fading away from a typical radio song structure of 2 or 3 choruses with a few verses and maybe a bridge. This is a dangerous game to play and really shows who is a step above the rest. I believe that if you are able to make not only an interesting listen that doesn't have a lot of repeating melodies or choruses, for it to really stand out, it needs to be replayable. Unfortunately, I think JID isn't quite there yet. I love his choruses on prior albums and his memorable verses. He does have a good few of them on here like on Gz. Overall though, this is still just missing that extra umpf that pushes this into that next stratosphere of artistic rap. 1 Week Later: I would call this a bit overly ambitious. I heard those preluxe songs and assumed they were preluxe because they sound cool but they don't really have any gripping moments. The album as a whole follows some of that same trend. There are some cool spots specifically but there is just so much going on here that it all gets jumbled together at times. Nearly every song has a "Well X was cool but Y was a bit weird".

Yeah, a wait that was worth it. On "The Sailor" he was going down an a more introspective route but it didn't feel fully fleshed out. Considering it was only a year after his debut Amen, there didn't seem to be much time to look back on. Now that it's been 6 years, that introspection has some life to it.

This has been a fun spin Medasin has taken over the last few years and this just goes further down that path. Never would have seen this coming if you told me he would be making electronic jazz back in 2018 but I'm still as happy to listen as ever.

A part of what has always made Flume so appealing is the wide range of sound he achieves with such a sprawling cast of artists. Flume doing this with Emma and the recent JPEG EP are essentially Flume in a box. Not that Emma Louise (or JPEG) don't work with Flume, but it doesn't leave much room for different styles with a lot of these follow a lot of the same structure and sound with screaming synths. Still evolved from previous work, it is all in the vein of Flume's more pop centered songs and lacks that diversity which is dearly missed.

You're listening to an Ed Sheeran album. Simple as that. Got some good range of tracks with some being catchy, some being ballads, and some that are just kinda forgettable. If you are listening to Ed Sheeran waiting for his "big breakthrough" I don't quite know what to tell you. This dude knows his sound and is pretty good at it so I wouldn't ever expect some big brain culmination album where he is going to do ???. Listening to this and expecting something other than what he has put out over the last decade and some is only tricking yourself. You're either on the boat or off it with him.

An album of ranging quality, not in one song to another, but certain aspects as a whole. Starting with the good/great. The lyrical songwriting is S-Tier. If not for the other more negative parts that I'll get into in a minute, this album could go down in history as a great for it's song writing. The down turn of this is coincides with a lot of these pop/folk/acoustic artists that are looking to essentially follow in the footsteps of Noah Kahan. Matt Maeson has made some great pop crossovers and would love if he continued to do so but instead this album feels very stripped and sticks very plainly to some gritty folk/acoustic rock. It all comes together rather generically. I'm all for artists evolving, but it feels like this wasn't a great step for Matt outside of his ability as a lyricist

A standard artist of his time, he delivers quite consistently but doesn't do much to really evolve. When he first broke out, it seemed like his style was going to be much more chill than it was. His hit, 'Sunset Lover', filled a gap that wasn't Petit Biscuit's main genre. That's okay, though, because he typically delivers time and time again. This is no different. A short and sweet EP with the highlight on 'Close Your Eyes'. While it's nothing inventive, he does still find a way to keep a sound that's so 2010s feel exciting.

Sticking to their guns, Mansionair delivers more of their signature atmospheric electronic pop ballads. To me, they have also struck me as a slightly more pop-driven RUFUS DU SOL. The unfortunate part of it is that I think RUFUS can typically create that big tension that is best fitted for longer form EDM tracks without some massive drop, but more of a world of textures where you get lost in it. Mansionair seems to often aim for that same feeling, but run into either having songs that are too boring when they try to extend the build and momentum of the song, or they feel stunted by not having enough time to accumulate. So the answer to each issue I have with their songs they can't seem to do right when they do what I want them to. Bit of a head scratcher. That said, it's not like it's all bad news. I am a bit of a nitpicking maniac, and this is good overall. The percussion on Orbit, stellar. The production of the synths on Lose Yourself Again is silky. Overall, they are reliable and at the very least, that is a sign of a good artist that does not seem to fall off in terms of quality, even if they're not bringing much that's new to the table anymore.