Look, if nobody cared the first time I was a day late, nobody will care one week from the end.

December 16th: Phrenology by The Roots

Returning to the well of the Roots, this album is just as good as Things Fall Apart, maybe even better (I'll decide at a later date.) Black Thought is as visceral on the microphone as ever, Questlove's drums and production are wicked, and this album also features high-profile guests such as Talib Kweli, Musiq Soulchild, and Nelly freakin Furtado, who I never would have guessed was on a Roots album but fits perfectly. The music blends classic hip-hop with neo-soul and even rock sometimes, with the pinnacle of all three being my favorite track, "The Seed (2.0)," which has Black Thought bringing his a-game on the mic while Cody ChestnuTT does his classic soul thing. Everyone should listen to this album.

December 17th: Operation: Mindcrime by Queensrÿche

This is an album that I've heard discussed in the history of concept albums, so I finally got around to this one, which tells the story of a drug addict named Nikki being mind-controlled into a political assassin in a dystopian future. (Something something topical.) This album definitely feels fueled by the fear and paranoia of the late-period Cold War, and it also feels like they listened to a lot of Iron Maiden and those first three Metallica records many times. Shredding solos, really high vocals, and lyrics that stick to the concept far more than I expected them to. (I'm used to concept albums dropping the concept after three songs.) My favorite track was "Speak."

December 18th: Sound Affects by The Jam

I've made no secret of my love of British punk and post-punk, and this album feels like a happy medium between both. There's heavy riffs like on "Set the House Ablaze," jangly songs like "That's Entertainment," and groovy tracks like "Start!," which make it feel like this band was one "pickitup" away from being two-tone ska, and also it has a bass line almost exactly like "Taxman." They take clear influence from the Beatles and the Who, and have those classic lyrics about the banality of Thatcher-era England, which is a topic that makes for great songs whether it's from this band, Gang of Four, the Clash, The Specials, XTC, Billy Bragg, Blur, Oasis, Pulp, or even King Krule. "That's Entertainment" was my favorite track.

December 19th: Hellboy by Lil Peep

Lil Peep's untimely death is lamented often by rap fans, and he's often regarded as influential to the emo-trap scene, so I decided to listen to this mixtape of his to see if he was good by literally-any-other-music-in-the-world standards. I don't mean to speak ill of the dead, but... I didn't much care for this one. I mean, I see the appeal of angsty auto-tuned sing-rapping, 808s, guitars sampled from Bright Eyes, and trap beats, but like. Peep can hardly sing on key half the time. The lyrics are high school poetry. The features are regularly terrible (Seriously, KirbLaGoop, WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK WAS HAPPENING THERE?!?). I chose "the last thing i wanna do" as my favorite because it had the least of all of that.

December 20th: Lese Majesty by Shabazz Palaces

I get the feeling I'm missing something with this one. On the one hand, it's structured like a concept album, with every three songs being grouped into a suite, but when listening, I didn't really hear any kind of connecting thread. The music is glitchy, electronic hip-hop that feels influenced by Aphex Twin, and Ishmael Butler's far from bad but he doesn't blow my mind either. There's also a lot of less-than-a-minute instrumental interludes which feel kind of unnecessary. This almost feels like they had an EP worth of songs and tried to pad it out to album length by dicking around with a groovebox between raps. So I have to assume that there is something I do not understand, because this album has some very positive reviews. Maybe I just need to sit with it more. "Ishmael" was my favorite track.

December 21st: Ágætis byrjun by Sigur Rós

I knew two of these songs before listening, specifically "Olsen Olsen" and "Svefn-g-englar," which I liked both of. Those two are a good representation of this album's sound: dreamy, floaty, and at times noisy. Lead singer Jonsi coos in Icelandic, and occasionally in nonsense syllables, as he plays guitar with a bow, and the music crescendos and decrescendos gradually in a way that makes me think of Godspeed You! Black Emperor, but less dissonant and existential. I also think of Spiritualized given the density of instruments and the spaced-out atmosphere. This album is a great listen, and "Ný batterí" was my favorite song that I hadn't heard before.

December 22nd: 3+3 by The Isley Brothers

Yes, the first song on this album has the riff from which "I" by Kendrick Lamar is sampled. Yes, that song, "That Lady," also rips. Yes, this whole album rips. All six brothers are masters of their respective instruments, and these songs are loose, breezy, and effortlessly fun. Sometimes they're longing like "Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight," sometimes they're upbeat like "The Highways of my Life," and sometimes they're covers of then-contemporary soft-rock hits "Listen to the Music" by the Doobie Brothers and "Summer Breeze" by Seals and Crofts (Both covers are great). These classic funk/soul/R&B tunes will surely make their way into many of my playlists. "If You Were There" was my favorite.

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