Foreword This is the fifth year of Hoff.Music.Blog which is amazing and incredible. My favorite album of 2020, Mutable Set by Blake Mills, is turning five years old next month, marking a half-decade of fantastic releases that have come out since then. The trend that stood out this year was a preponderance of jazz recordsContinue reading “Hoff’s Favorite Albums of 2024”
Author Archives: hoffislav
Mk.gee – Two Star and the Dream Police
This December, I wanted to do some more thorough reviews of some of my favorite albums of the year before I complete my annual list of my favorites. The first in this series is about an album that I keep coming back to again and again, even though it was released on February 9th ofContinue reading “Mk.gee – Two Star and the Dream Police”
Hoff’s Favorite Albums of 2023. Nice!
Foreword I find it hard and meaningless to summarize a year of music in which a variety of artists from across the country or globe with a variety of motivations for making music record songs in a variety of different ways to a variety of different outcomes. The coronavirus pandemic which affected every living personContinue reading “Hoff’s Favorite Albums of 2023. Nice!”
3 Disappointing Releases in 2023 (and 3 Times They Did It Better)
My Top Albums list for 2023 is coming soon, but first I want to highlight a few albums that missed the mark for me. These misses are significant because the artists listed below set a high bar for themselves on previous releases, a bar which was sadly missed this year. No need to dwell onContinue reading “3 Disappointing Releases in 2023 (and 3 Times They Did It Better)”
Hoff’s Favorite Albums of 2022
Foreword This year, I went big. I listened to over 500 projects in hopes of leaving no stone unturned. In addition to my usual sources, I added Bandcamp to my rotation, whose weekly radio show was a trove of oddities and shiny bits. Did my experiment of casting the widest net possible improve the haul?Continue reading “Hoff’s Favorite Albums of 2022”
Hoff Highlights: Mid Year 2022
This year, I’m on track to listen to over 500 projects this year, but not all of them are long or substantial enough to end up on my albums-of-the-year list. That doesn’t mean the quality is substandard, quite the opposite. I couldn’t resist plucking the best EPs and mixtapes that came out in the firstContinue reading “Hoff Highlights: Mid Year 2022”
Hoff’s Favorite Albums of 2021
Notes and Honorable Mentions: This year in music was an interesting one in that my favorites seemed to follow a polarizing trend. I spent most of my time in my house, quieting working, cooking, watching TV and spending time with my local family unit. With that extreme comfort also came a standard helping of monotony,Continue reading “Hoff’s Favorite Albums of 2021”
For Your Consumption: Albums from 2020
Quick Note: I listened to about 300 different albums this year in the quest to study popular music a little deeper than I used to. The more publications I read, the more I realized that the scope of my regular music rotation was limited. With that in mind, I set off to listen to justContinue reading “For Your Consumption: Albums from 2020”
My favorite albums of 2020 (so far)
These albums stood out from the rest of this year’s releases as genuine, unique, and refreshing experiences “What Kinda Music” by Tom Misch and Yussef Dayes Following 2018’s “Geography”, guitarist Tom Misch teams up with up-and-coming drummer Yussef Dayes to create a gratifying collection of jazzy grooves. This record feels effortless and inviting, unforced andContinue reading “My favorite albums of 2020 (so far)”
Hoffblogs Music Blog About Music 