Fit of Body – Black Box No Cops (Lo-Fi House, Bedroom Electronic)
Fit of Body brings a punk ethos to the the usually aloof field of lofi electronic. Black Box No Cops sounds like smooth easy listening hotel music, but with a certain grit. The aesthetic is something of a 2018 bandcamp/soundcloud version of LCD Soundsystem. The subtlety of attitude is what sets this album apart from scores of DIY producers. It gets deeper with each listen.
Snail Mail – Lush (Emo Pop)
The beauty of working within the confines of a genre is that both artist and listener are forced to zero in on the content rather than the presentation. Lush is a classic Emo record if there ever was one. Snail Mail is not trying to change the world. Lindsey Jordan is using the recognizable idiom of the genre as a home for her personal and incredibly catchy songwriting. The purity of an album that tries to be nothing but a good album within a schema is absolutely refreshing.