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The Interdimensional Vortex of Conspiratorial Tastemaking is the ultimate resource for staying abreast of musical developments and refining your critical taste.

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The Vortex 2025 Lists Maelstrom

The Vortex 2025 Lists Maelstrom

by everyone on Sat, Jan 31, 2026

This wraps 2025 with everyone favorite albums saved here

Snyde’s list Honorable Mentions Tropical Fuck Storm - Fairyland Codex Changeling - s/t Clipse - Let God Sort Em Out Völur & Cares - Breathless Spirit Kexelür - Epigrama de un pasado perdido (10) Billy Woods - Golliwog Yeah, of all the rap I could have picked I went with Woods' sinister solo selection. I do think it’s the most cohesive and best ride all the way through.

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Garbage - Garbage

Garbage - Garbage

by Tarbeaux on Mon, Sep 22, 2025

A garbage album to end this project

And there it is, the end of the Birthstospter™, the traditional yearly project that ebbed and flowed with varying degrees of regularity. First, I want to thank everyone who took the time to participate and write reviews all year long. It’s always nice to see people responding positively when you harass them. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it, and that I wasn’t too annoying (or at least not more than usual).
birthstopster
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Combatwoundedveteran - I Know A Girl Who Develops Crime Scene Photos

Combatwoundedveteran - I Know A Girl Who Develops Crime Scene Photos

by Gadunka on Mon, Sep 15, 2025

We are almost there

What’s a girl to do? I have 14 minutes until the next laundromat hardcore set is done (they just started) and am being harrassed by a portly Canadian to shit out a review. So here it is. I’ve always loved how production values during recording can really emphasize the moods and atmospheres portrayed through music. The initial choices in gear, the number and range of microphones, even the way a room is shaped and furnished has a direct impact on how a finished record will sound.
birthstopster
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Milemarker - Anaesthetic

Milemarker - Anaesthetic

by Anal Nunchuks on Wed, Aug 27, 2025

Anal's birth is the worst thing happening in 2001

The year is 2001. America is reeling from 9/11, and the world would be irrevocably changed geopolitically. More importantly, I was born. Unrelated to all that, post-hardcore was undergoing a metamorphosis. Once straddling the line between noise rock and hardcore punk, “post-hardcore” bands started tilting in every direction. At the Drive-In embraced progressive rock and technical wizardry, the emo movement was burgeoning, and on the horizon loomed a shadow named MySpace.
birthstopster
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