the first thing i ever reviewed for this site was Autoditacker, the third album by electronic duo Mouse on Mars. for some reason, i put it in the reviews section, instead of the dedicated part of the site for, you know, reviewing music. so, i'm finally giving it its own entry here! Autoditacker is one of my favorite albums of all time, so i think its warranted. i love how messy Mouse on Mars songs get while still retaining some semblance of structure. you have these soft, ambient pulses mixed together with abrasive, glitched-out chirps and flutters, and it makes for such a unique sounding combo. easily my favorite track on the album is Tamagnocchi, the pulsing sound that permeates the whole track is so damn good, and i love the use of non-drum machine drums as well. it's such an ethereal track, it's probably my favorite electronic song ever. Twift Shoeblade is up there too though, i LOVE the processed guitars at the beginning, you can barely even tell they're guitars, and then on top of that the crunchy synth that plays the main melody is immaculate. these two songs alone could probably make the album one of my favorites of all time, theyre just that good. luckily, the rest of the album also kicks ass! i love the playful sound of Scat, Sui Shop is one of their most well known songs for a reason, and the droning synths of Tux & Damask hit so good when im in the right mood. Autoditacker is an essential electronic album that i cannot recommend enough if you love the genre.

Trainer's a long ass album, but it's packed wall to wall with insanely good loops and beats that you'll get addicted to. Plaid sort of occupies the same space in my head as Mouse on Mars, but with more of a chirpy, almost hip-hop sound to their beats. Uneasy Listening, while also having a great title, is an excellent opening track that sets the stage for an album that'll make you wanna move, and things only get better when you get to the next track, Anything. i love the... i dunno what you'd call it, squishy(?) sound the leading synth to the song has, and the choppy, tinny drum machine is a great match. the leading synth almost sounds like an organ? almost? dude, i wish i had more elite ball knowledge on electronic samples so i could call these things by their proper names, but just know this shit rocks. Trainer also delves into more chill, loungy sounds, like with Slice of Cheese or Chirpy. the wah-wah effect on the synth in Yak is fucking killer too, i love that one. oh, and some songs like Bouncing Checks almost have a forboding sound to them? the album even dips into more jazzy sounds, like with Scoobs in Columbia. Trainer has so many different sounds and so much variety, this is easily one of my picks for a "desert island album," if i could only listen to a handful of albums for the rest of time.

Mouse on Mars' second album, Ioara Tahiti, was an absolute joy to listen to for the first time. i'd been a huge fan of their album Autoditacker (thanks to a recommendation from someone in the comments of a Mario Artist: Polygon Studio OST upload) and i finally took the time to listen to some of their other work. for some reason when i really like one album by an artist, i'm almost reluctant to listen to their other stuff, because i'm nervous i won't end up liking it as much. i did this for Cibo Matto, Stereolab, XTC, Self, Gaze, and Mouse on Mars, and every time i finally took the time to listen to their other stuff, i loved it! Ioara Tahiti is a little more in-your-face than Autoditacker, digging into a slightly more energetic sound than its more ambient relative, and i love this. Stereomission was one of my favorite tracks, it has voice clips of a woman speaking Japanese sprinkled in throughout, and you can even hear her say the band's name if you listen close enough. Gocard was my favorite track overall though, i love the pulsing, electronic organ/keyboard sound it uses for its main melody(?), it's such a good sound. oh, and Kanu basically sounds like a demo for my favorite track on Autoditacker, that being Tamagnocchi! i can't really put into words what it is about it, but it just sounds SO similar in spirit.

XTC is maybe the fastest i've ever gone from "i've never heard of this band" to "i love everything ive ever listened to by them" with a band before. i specifically love their earlier stuff, White Music is quite good, but Drums and Wires has had me completely captured. each song has this manic energy to it, and that's definitely due in part to vocalist Andy Partridge's performance. Danny Elfman has stated that he basically jacked XTC's style when doing Oingo Boingo, and it totally shows in Drums and Wires. Helicopter is easily my favorite track, the way they use the actual sound of a helicopter blade spinning as a leading percussion rhythm is genius, and it's so insanely catchy that i had several days of work where i was just humming it to myself the whole time. my only issue with Drums and Wires is that, every song after Scissor Man is kind of a miss for me? i dunno, none of them really clicked for me, but that could also just be because i haven't listened to them enough. that tends to happen to me with music!

i got my first taste of Emergency & I through a random Spotify recommendation about a year ago, and only at the beginning of this year did i finally put in the time to listen to the rest of the album. and like, MAN am i glad that i did. im not usually into emo rock or anything adjacent, but this sort of hit me exactly where it needed to at the exact time i needed it. the metaphors in Gyroscope are super unique and apt, saying that if someone spins fast enough they can keep themselves together (ie, distracting themselves from the root problem by doing other things) but even the fastest gyroscope can't spin forever, and they'll need to confront it someday. honestly though, the lyrical content isn't what draws me in most with this album. instead, it's got to be the instrumentation. The City has this synth that permeates most of the song, and something about it just brings me an immense comfort. the song that sat with me the most by far, however, was Spider in the Snow. i can't pinpoint what it is about it exactly that draws me in, but all i know is that on days where it felt hard to do anything, it kept me going. Emergency & I is a fantastic listen and i've heard people call it their favorite album for a good reason. it's absolutely worth a listen.

a recommendation from a friend, Organized Konfusion is one of those groups that makes a handful of absolutely banger albums, and then leaves the face of the earth forever. what Prince Po and the Pharoahe left for us, however, is one of the finest old-school hip-hop albums i've ever had the pleasure of hearing. the way they weave their rhymes is seriously unlike anything else i've ever heard, and they execute them with previously unheard of speed and efficiency. they also sample tons of great stuff, Walk Into The Sun is one of the funkiest rap tracks i've ever heard, and Open Your Eyes gets huge bonus points for sampling Herbie Hancock's Chameleon, another song i've talked about on this site. Releasing Hypnotical Gases is the standout tracks for me though, some of the best lyrical work and an insanely addictive beat that shifts into this aggressive, overdriven guitar loop about halfway through that i just can't get enough of.

Dots & Loops is a very recent love of mine, but it grew on me super fast. as to not go into too much detail, 2025 started out extremely difficult for me, and if there were anytime i needed a pick-me-up, it'd have been then. my friend Ava had sent me a list of albums she thought i would enjoy based on my tastes, and i decided to pick a random album from this list one particularly difficult morning. that album was Dots & Loops, and it instantly sucked me in. of everything on display, the vocals were what stuck out to me at first. they're light, airy, and seem to drift between being sung in English and French. the instrumentation comprises of short drum loops, scattered trumpet and trombone flourishes, and tons of keyboard. my favorite track on the album has to be Refractions in the Plastic Pulse, a 17 minute stageplay of a song that contains several different interpretations of the same musical melody. when i first listened to the album i listened to it all in a row, and at first i didn't even realize it was all one song. which brings me to one big topic with this album: there isn't much variety. a lot of the songs sound the same and have the same flavor, and it can get a little repetitive. that being said, that isn't always strictly a negative, sometimes that's just what you need in life.

a lot of people overlook What Could Go Wrong in favor of Red Vox's newer albums, and i get that. WCGW is definitely different from what Red Vox is going for now, which is more of a psych rock sorta thing, while WCGW is moreso pure, distilled rock. but that's kinda what i like about it. don't get me wrong, i think RV's newer stuff is incredible, Visions and Afterthoughts isn't on this page yet simply because i don't know if im ready to talk about it yet. but i think the simplicity of WCGW is what makes it one of my favorites of all time. VAA might be objectively better, but i think i like WCGW more, if that makes sense. it has so many tracks that feel... homey, i guess? they feel like they were just made between a couple of friends, which is pretty much what they were. and even if it is mostly just pure rock, you can still sorta feel that psych rock starting to bloom in tracks like Hazy. also, In A Dream is probably my favorite song of all time. so take that as you will.

i first found Ken Ishii through his album Jelly Tones, which leans heavily into a more droning, atmospheric vibe, and i liked it quite a bit. so picture me a couple months later going through his discography, picking out Metal Blue America, and being blasted with a bombastic opening track that's just full on Big Beat. certainly a tone change, but definitely not for the worse. MBA is full of tracks that are gonna get you pumped up and make you wanna move. Actio Surrealismo sounds straight out of the N64 era and would be perfectly at home in a game like 1080 Snowboarding or Beetle Adventure Racing, which is the highest compliment i can give a song, trust me. MBA rocks, and is a wicked underrated album. if you need more action-packed electronic in your life, there's nowhere better to look.

im sad i dont really have any other place to talk about nelward on this page since im doing it by albums, but even so, nelward is actually one of my favorite music artists ever. found him through the mother 4 soundtrack, and his music has always spoke to me in its uniqueness and signature style. do yourself a favor and go listen to not only this whole album, but also listen to all of his singles. my personal recommendations are Raspberry Pie, Ghost, Run-Around, realife, and the 20XX EP. all of his music rocks though, and you really can't go wrong with any of it.

despite being a four track EP, Loops of Fury has weaseled its way into my regular rotation of music, and i don't see it leaving anytime soon. i mean, come on, it has an extended and expanded version of my favorite track from my favorite Chem Bros album (Get Up On It Like This) of COURSE i'm gonna love it. what's interesting is that, despite only being an EP, the eponymous track made its way onto the Wipeout 2097 soundtrack, and is where most people heard the song first. Loops of Fury is a great track, i love its use of distorted guitars as a lead. i put (The Best Part Of) Breaking Up as my favorite track here, for its intense record scratches, electronic cuts, and breakbeat battle near the end. track three is an earlier, extended version of Get Up On It Like This, and it's killer. i always felt the DYOH version of the song was a little short, so it's nice to see it get to stretch its legs here, as it works extremely well in this format. the final track is a remix of Chemical Beats by David Clarke, a song off of Exit Planet Dust, the brothers' first album. definitely one of the most standout tracks from said album, and i think the remix absolutely does it justice. if you ever skimmed over Loops of Fury due to its EP status, you're doing yourself a huge disservice, it's excellent.

Tiger Trap is a recent love of mine, and despite their EXTREMELY shortlived presence (only making one album, doing one live show and then leaving the scene) their singular album is easily one of my favorites ever. they were started by indie pop legend Rose Melberg and are one of many small bands she was a part of. ive mentioned my love of plumtree before, and Tiger Trap feels like if Plumtree leaned a little more into the indie pop sound. Tiger Trap knows how to have fun, but also has a softer, sentimental side that really speaks to me. their sound gives me real "im out driving on a summer day without a care in the world" vibes, so if that sounds like your thing, i can't recommend them enough.

Self is a band i still have yet to really delve into, but the one album i have heard by them is certainly a good first impression. Gizmodgery is what happens when you give a late 90's/early 2000's rock band a kid's toybox and tell them to go ham. there's a lot of just completely out-there ideas and sounds that you ain't gonna hear anywhere else, while still having that insanely catchy 2000's rock sound. if you want something new you've never heard before, absolutely check out Gizmodgery, it's one of a kind.

being one of several bands started by girly-pop legend Rose Melberg, of course Gaze would resonate with me. i love the soft, sweet vocals and their light, playful guitars they employ. every song has this fun factor to it that always makes me smile when i'm feeling down. i'm actually rewriting this description, because i've gained a much bigger appreciation for Gaze and their specific sound since i initially wrote it. i kind of just wrote it off as a more soft sounding Tiger Trap, but i really do think it's more than that. Gaze is so, for lack of a better word, sweet. that's the best way i can put it. originally i said my favorite track on the album was The Snake Song, but in recent times i think that title has to go to I Wonder. it's the perfect mix of somber and sweet that makes me love Gaze so much. it's all about reminiscing on a lost relationship, and if it was really as good as you thought it was, and i can relate to that feeling hard with a previous breakup. Static is another one i've come to appreciate, there's a part where the song speeds up midway through, and this feels like the musical equivalent to when you're feeling sad and all your emotions finally come to a head and you just cry everything out. Gaze is just... so fucking good man, ugh. please listen to Shake the Pounce and Mitsumeru, they're so worth your time.

my friend Cate showed this one to me, and it's absolutely one of the best discoveries i've found all year. Milkman is filled top to bottom with weird, bizarre, and different sounds you're not gonna get anywhere else. it really pushes the boundaries of traditional "music," and steps into the territory of abstract soundscapes, while still having some really catchy tunes peek through every so often. if you want to hear something completely new, give Milkman a shot, it's gonna be a totally unique experience.

Long Tall Weekend feels like a strange sidequest in the lineup of TMBG's albums, but it's that exact attribute that makes me love it so much. its range in sounds, genres, moods, atmospheres, and subject matter, and all of it absolutely rocks. the giants always have something cool and unique cooking, and LTW is no exception.

Kitty Craft is a recent discovery for me, and her work really does sound ahead of its time. this is where that whole trend of "Lo-fi" started, and while more modern artists just sort of slap a record crackle filter over their music and call it a day, Kitty Craft knows how to do it right. BnBftFP has that sort of homemade sound to it that i cant get enough of, and really sounds like it was made in someone's bedroom just using what they have, and ends up bleeding more into Hip-Hop and Electronic than just using warbly pianos for every song. it has a lot more of its own identity than most of the "Lo-fi" music produced now. though maybe that's just me being a bitter old lady. please, check out Kitty Craft, her work is really good.

Cibo Matto is truly somethin' else. i first found them through the Jet Set Radio Future soundtrack, and they have a style like no other. Trip-Hop is the only way i can describe Viva! La Woman, it's so trippy and full of weird and wild sounds, mixing in organs, bongos, deep, droning synths, full on big-band style samples, and the vocals are the cherry on top. i think heavily accented english singing is so much more interesting than just fluent american singing, and Cibo Matto is the perfect example of that. check out VLW if you havent already, its an unforgettable listening experience.

i know, it sounds really weird saying this is a mix of Punk Rock and Lounge of all things, but when you listen to Butter you'll understand. formed by members of a couple of other bands to record exactly one album and then dip, Butter 08 was a lot of things. they had both members of Cibo Matto, percussionist Rick Lee (who was with Enon for the first couple of years of the band) and were produced by Beastie Boys record label Grand Royal, and it all mashes together into one weird album that picks up new ideas just as quickly as it drops them. you'll be listening to a song that sounds fit for an elevator, only for it to fade out and immediately pick up into a punk rock track with fast, yelly vocals and heavy use of an organ, which then leads into a slow burn rock song with a guitar riff sample being used as the driving rhythm track. Butter 08 is insane, and thats exactly why i love it so much.

Plumtree's music is light, bubbly, but still heavily rock focused and has a big emphasis on fun. their first album, Mass Teen Fainting, is full of fast paced, upbeat tracks, with a softer side showing near the end with tracks like Only in the Movies, Aquarius and Good Time to Tell Me. MTF is an album i find myself always returning to no matter what, and i hope it becomes a similar deal for you too.

Talking Heads is a band i really really love, and Speaking in Tongues is almost certainly my favorite album of theirs. a landmark in New Wave with hints of Funk and Soul, speaking in tongues is packed top to bottom with groovy beats and rhythms, with David Byrne's haphazard and unconventional vocals being the cherry on top. if you want something very indicative of the 80s new wave movement, there's no better example than SIT.

between all of Plumtree's albums, i think the title of my favorite has to go to Predicts the Future, though it's a CLOSE race. for a long time my favorite was Mass Teen Fainting, but PTF has taken over in recent times. i think each track stands out just a liiiiittle more here, and it's got all the same qualities that MTF had that i really loved. a super fun and upbeat atmosphere, tons of bangers (Hang Up Baby, The Game's Over, Why Won't You Stop, Scott Pilgrim) and also a softer side when it needs to. if you liked Mass Teen Fainting and want more, Predicts the Future is the perfect followup and has even more to offer.