Best of the Month: April 2019

Best of the Month is decided by a number of different variables; voter counts from preceding posts, reader reaction ratings, gut feelings, and lots and lots of heated discussions.

Album of the Month

There’s no two ways about it, Aldous Harding makes some truly gorgeous music, and her 3rd album, Designer, might just be her best work yet. She builds off of everything she’s already established in her previous efforts and though she still has that clear folk background, her music is not so easily definable as it weaves in and out of styles and tones. It’s an album that’s all about the details, particularly when it comes to the production, which, on a surface level can seem overtly simplistic but is the result of a lot of well thought out little details that bring so much depth and texture to her sound while still leaving plenty of room for her warm vocals to break through. Harding is an enigmatic artist and Designer remains as elusive as anything she’s put out before but she continues to show that there can be a lot of beauty in the unknown.

Runner-ups

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Video of the Month

At this point in his career, Lil Dicky is known as much for (or even more) his elaborate music videos as the actual songs themselves. Each new video drop is an event in itself and “Earth” is as elaborate as anything he’s put out thus far. Normally his songs are built around strong, comedic storytelling, and while there’s still plenty of humor to be found here, “Earth” is far more message driven. Though less subversive and more straightforward than some of his earlier releases, whoever has been doing his animation/CGI work deserves a ton of praise as it’s big studio quality. And the fact that he was able to get as many celebrities as he did to hop on his version of “We Are the World” is impressive.

Runner-ups

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Trailer of the Month

To put it mildly, the DC Extended Universe has had a real rough go of it, and for many people one of the biggest travesties of it all was in their handling of the Joker in Suicide Squad. He’s such an iconic character that whoever steps in to fill that role has some massive shoes to fill. So while we have been more than skeptical of yet another re-imagining of the character or even if we want him to have an “origin” story, seeing Joaquin Phoenix paint that smile on and don the classic green hair, has put any doubts we may have had to rest. Joker has all the makings to be yet another legendary performance from him and the trailer has us hyped af! October can’t get here soon enough.

Runner-ups

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