Architects- Daybreaker: What starts as a weird mix of progressive dreaminess and indie lackadaisicality turns disappointingly into post-hardcore. And after the first track, everything but the post-hardcore screaminess goes to the wayside and there's just no way I'll like this. 4/10

Blue Foundation
Blue Foundation: I have no idea who this group is and I downloaded six albums from them because I do things like that sometimes. The first one was a single or something, so let's start with this instead. This is a very chillout sound, so much so that I'm sort of blanking on any details. I'm not feeling this at all, I hope they aren't all like this. 4/10
Sweep of Days: They seem to have picked up a bit more of an Engima sound here, involving actual percussion to carry the admittedly slow melodies but still keep things interesting. This is actually surprisingly good, new agey and soothing with some very subtle power to it. 6.5/10
Life of a Ghost: Changing again, this time a bit more indiepop than anything. That said, it's got more of a penchant for being listless than the previous record. Some of the tracks are downright dreary; it's back to their debut again. There are some good tracks here, but they're few and far between. It does end on a high note, at least. 5.5/10
In My Mind I Am Free: This is more like the last album. If you like that one, you'll like it, but I'm finding myself stuck on #2, so this is somewhat disappointing. It doesn't have any standouts. 5/10

Blood on the Dance Floor- Evolution: I keep hearing about this group, usually in the context of "bands everyone hates", but I can't say I've ever actually heard any of their music, so I decided to see what all the fuss was about. And it takes me about a minute to find the answer: these guys are crunkcore. They're hiding it behind some decent pre-dub beats, but after one minute, the guy starts gargling into the microphone. And this is on top of really simplistic lyrics, simple enough that it feels like they either weren't trying or have no talent. And let's not even talk about the horrendous choice in "inspirational" quoted dialogue. Oh my god I can't believe I'm listening to this, this is awful. The only thing I can say for them is they're better than Brokencyde by virtue of having better backing tracks, but that is the faintest praise that I think has ever been mustered. 3/10

Periphery
Periphery: I love how madcap some of these song titles are. "Jetpacks Was Yes!"? "Buttersnips"? "Totala Mad"? "Zyglrox"??? Sadly, it turns out they're mathy prog metal with lots of harsh vocals. The clean vocals are pretty decent, so this isn't the worst thing I've ever heard, but I'm having a hard time enjoying it. I'm pleased to say I do actually like "Jetpacks Was Yes!" And I have to stand in awe of the outro of "Icarus Lives!", another tune I like, in which someone hawks the album in an old-timey sideshow voice. I've never heard the like, not in this context anyway. 4.5/10
Periphery II: At least they make it easy to know which order the albums go in, and at least I know what to expect this time. Sadly, the track names aren't quite as goofy, "Froggin' Bullfish" notwithstanding. I'm actually liking this album less, somehow, though it seems slightly more polished than the first one. When you're dealing with this kind of music, it can be hard to tell. There's less of a balance between harsh and clean vocals, at any rate. It gets somewhat better as it goes, featuring what is their best song (in my opinion), "Erised", not to mention the only instrumental track on either album. 5.5/10

The Contortionist- Intrinsic: More harsh-vocal djent. It's like I haven't changed artists at all, except that I liked Periphery more, and that's not saying much. 4/10

10 Years- Minus the Machine: These guys remind me of nothing so much as Earshot, maybe a Breaking Benjamin or Saosin without the amazing singers. I'm pretty sure I've listened to them before, but apparently nothing stuck. And, well, it's not doing much for me now. The songs are very cookie-cutter hard rock with unmemorable hooks. 4.5/10

Yeasayer- Fragrant World: The first song in this album features a sound that I can only characterize as a punctured bagpipe. I knew these guys were indie, but c'mon, that's a little out there. Aside from being weird, this doesn't have much to offer, which is unfortunate, as I like Yeasayer. Or, well, at least one song of theirs. So maybe I should've kept my hopes low; time and time again, I find that one good song does not translate into good albums. 4.5/10

Conor Maynard- Contrast: Who the hell is this guy? I must've half-liked a single on the radio or something and grabbed the album. This is so base pop it hurts. Trying to figure out what song I might've liked; maybe I just pulled this out of the "new albums" list. It's pretty bad, all things considered. Also, his name is stupid. 4/10

Peter White- Here We Go: Oh, speaking of things I found on the radio, here's a new thing for me: smooth jazz. See, we've got this station at the top of the dial that's all smooth jazz and some other really easy-listening stuff, and it turns out it makes a nice escape from the top 40 bullshit. So I've started hunting down the occasional artist, and this is the first result of that effort. I may in fact not have the words to properly review this, because I've generally avoided this style of music my whole life. I believe the first track, "Night After Night" was what brought me here. It's got a really great classical guitar, which is something I've a severe sucker for. It's a big reason why I've been enjoying this stuff lately. I think the trick here too is to be soothing while still having a good beat. There's a lot going on in these songs, so they don't get boring. Admittedly, I'm starting to flash back to the elevator music of my childhood; it's amazing how much this genre hasn't changed. I think it's the saxophone. But yes, this really slows down when it gets slow. While I don't think I'll pick this up, I am very impressed, and it bodes well for future jazz excursions. Because believe me, they are out there. 7/10