These Wretched Games We Play

                             Pony - Orville Peck (2019) Country  8/10 This boi got a voice that could lullaby a bison come noon-up(?) The instrumentation is... nice , but sometimes it feels like the softer production is betraying Orville's vocal range. The Masked Ranger can hit booming power notes (going full Whitney Houston on "Hope to Die") as easily as sweeping melodies ("Dead of Night", "Roses Are Falling"). There's a lot of classic country hits infused with modern sensibilities: "Buffalo Run", "Kansas (Remembers Me Now)" and "Take You Back (The Iron Hoof Cattle Call)". It's enough to make a young man... Another flaw is a small stretch of weaker songs in the middle, but the beginning of this album yanks you into the starlit prairie night and ends with some legitimate tearjerkers, especially the bittersweet "Nothing Fades Like the Light". Hopefully Mr...

New terminology: Platinum Saga Banger . I feel like some albums are best as holistic projects, particularly concept albums (Lingua Ignota's Caligula  for example). Thus, it's unwieldy to take view the songs as singles of their own strengths instead of part of a unified whole. When Platinum Saga Banger!  is in the "Fave Tracks" section, it means that I enjoy the songs not as individual pieces but part of one larger performance.  Charli - Charli XCX (2019) Hyperpop  8.5/10 Charli's songs don't always land on this album, but when they do, holy shit . I don't quite hail this project as a masterpiece like some do, but I still thinks it's an incredible showcasing of Charli XCX's skill, range and creativity. The last time I heard of Charli XCX, she was still boom-clapping hearts and being featured on Iggy Azalea songs. Now she has ascended the world of commercial pop, sacrificing her Top 40 Hits potential for Hyperpop's experiment...