W/e 14/11/25 - Portugal, The Man, Danny Brown, White Lies, Rosalia, The White Stripes

Congrats to Portugal. The Man. Our winner this week and inside the 2025 top 20. This album is 100+ places better off than the 2023 offering (which only Mark and Simon preferred).

White Lies underwhelmed a tad but have the TOTW. But it’s some gap to their debut which is impressively at #13 on the classics no less, and there’s few so ‘recent’ that fly so high. Daft Punk RAM the only thing close.

Danny Brown languishes in the bottom 10 for the year alongside Hot Milk and Gumshoes (who and who?).

Matt steams in at the end to snatch the 😀 from Justin, his 2nd in 3 weeks.

Adam has the ☹️ , his 5th of the year (with not a single 😀 in reply).

And congrats also to The White Stripes with Elephant at joint #9 alongside such behemoths as Doolittle and Back in Black. It’s the highest entry into the classics since Prince Purple Rain came in at #5 almost 2 years ago.

Interestingly* 3 of us increased our WS scores from 2020, only Justin was consistent. Has the 1000+ reviews since tweaked our tastebuds? 🤔.

Andy

Danny Brown - I don’t know what I had against the last one, maybe I don’t like JPEGMafia? Anyway, I thought this was OK. Danny has a pretty good almost Kendrick like style and it mainly works. The hyperpop bits are a lot mind 5.5

Portugal, the Man - A bit of everything on this one and I pretty much liked it all. Some MGMT (or Empire of the Sun if you’re being uncharitable) sounds throughout but track 2 sounded like Venom, what a mixture. Cracking stuff 8

Rosalia - Lovely dramatic Spanish tunes. I really might have to investigate if there was a theme. To paraphrase Red in Shawshank I have no idea what that Spanish lady was singing about and truth be told I don’t want to know 8

White Lies - I liked this, just not as much as their previous albums. Even with the addition of PSB style sonic cathedrals 7.5

TotW - Tanana by Portugal, the Man

White Stripes - I really like this album despite being bookended by one track that is far too overplayed these days and another that is kind of a joke isn’t it? Luckily for Jack and Meg everything in between is pretty peerless 9

Sam

Danny Brown : it’s his similarity to Kendrick that I don’t like . Parts were ok but some of this was utter shite :5

Portugal the Man : were they like this before ? . What an album , full of life , with a death metal ditty thrown in ! 8.5

Rosalia : some of this was fantastically irritating but some was powerful and majestic . What an odd one . 6

White Lies : Harry has a great voice but they’ve gone all mainstream and a bit dull . And they go all Bruce Springsteen at one point . 7

TOTW Denali by Portugal the man .

White Stripes : their 3rd album . Absolutely sublime . 🖤🖤🖤 9.5

Guy

Danny Brown – Really poor. Most of it sounded like he’d inhaled a helium balloon. A few edged towards more traditional hip hop but it was rare. The pop songs were cannon fodder – 4.5

Portugal, the Man – The MGMT sounding stuff = great. The metal = not great. Overall there was a decent melange of sounds when it worked to drags itself up to a respectable… – 7.5

Rosalia – I’m partial to a bit of Spanish music but this was a bit too much for me. Pleasant traditional flamenco / Moorish sounds but started to drag after a while and particularly with no San Miguel and Tapas – 5.5

White Lies – Agree this is a bit more produced but I really enjoyed it. There are a few crackers on there such as Nothing on Me and the funnky Keep Up. And I even enjoyed Everything is OK (the Springsteen number) – 7.9

TOTW – Nothing on Me by White Lies

White Stripes – Cracking album. Loads of lovely bluesy rock as you’d expect and sufficient variety to keep interest throughout. So good, Spurs chose (the obvious) song as their run-out tune. Extra points for that - 9

Simon

Danny Brown: quite enjoyed a couple of the poppier numbers (Copycat, Lift You Up) but the hyperactive rapping is hard going for a whole album and some of it (1999, Whatever the Case) is borderline unlistenable. 4.5

Portugal, the Man: I gave their last album an 8 and said it had hints of Gorillaz - there's a fleeting glance of them here but didn't enjoy the album as much overall, it's a bit patchy in places and the death metal track is certainly unwelcome. 6

ROSALIA: an impressive, occasionally extraordinary, piece of work, although not sure I can say it massively floated my boat - would have helped if I'd understood what she was singing about, something to do with female saints apparently. 7

White Lies: gets off to a great punchy start with Nothing On Me and then immediately undoes all the good work with the dreadful All The Best, which sounds like something dredged up from the '80s - it's a real mixed bag after that, Everything Is OK is another shocker although they redeem themselves slightly with In The Middle which a decent closer. 6.3

White Stripes: this is the album that first introduced me to the all-round genius that is Jack White, and it's still my favourite of his releases - Seven Nation Army may be far too ubiquitous these days but there's plenty of other highlights, the visceral thrill of Black Math and dirty blues of Ball and Biscuit my faves. Top stuff. 9

TotW: White Lies - Nothing On Me

Phil

Danny Brown 5.5

Staccato delivery and an annoying voice. A lot of the settings are interesting but they don’t save the album.

Portugal the Man 7

Couldn’t initially work this out at all. Then on the second play, everything clicked. The final track sums it all up. PTM play mostly straightforward indie guitar tunes but can’t resist regular bursts of discordant mayhem, sometimes halfway through a track but often taking over a whole track. Thank heavens for those moments because without them this would be pretty dull.

Rosalia 8

It might be guessed from the fact that I chose Popol Vuh’s Hosianna mantra as my second classic, and that the new album by These New Puritans is currently my favourite from 2025, that I’m partial to music on the cusp of rock and classical. All the same, this is a challenging listen. It’s frequently gorgeous – Mio cristo piange diamenti and Sauvignon blanc are good examples – and there’s plenty of variety. Hardly a surprise to hear Bjork pop up in the middle of it all but the maverick that I’m frequently reminded of is Kate Bush, particularly on the glorious closing track, Magnolias. An extraordinary record.

White Lies 6

Listenable but dull, for the most part. I gather that they’ve been compared to Joy Division and Editors but have rejected both, claiming “we’re much more uplifting”. I guess that depends on what you want from music!

TOTW – Rosalia – Magnolias

Classic

White Stripes 7.5

I only own one White Stripes album – White blood cells. I thought it was OK. Maybe I gave up on them too early because this, the record that followed, is much better.

Justin

Danny Brown - I like this style of rap. Plenty of varied tunes and lots of experimentation. 7.5

Portugal the Man - a couple of weird songs that are out of kilter with the rest of the album, but the rest are really good. Almost Sgt Pepperesque Beatles. 7.6

Rosalia - I listen to a lot of classical and I thought this was great. Big, bold and dramatic. 8

White Lies - it pains me to say it but this seemed a bit MOR. I prefer their dark stadium like rock. 6

TOTW Rosalia - Berghain

White Stripes - not my favourite White Stripes album but still choc full of stripped back blues rock and roll. 9

Mark

Danny Brown - I quite liked his last one, and this one starts out promisingly but it does then go all a bit loony, and the rapping style grates after a while - 5

Portugal The Man - stylistically all over the spectrum, when it's good it's really good but the metal interludes are a bit nutty. An interesting act, but destined to forever be defined by their one big hit from a few years back - 6

Rosalia - beautiful voice and some really interesting compositions all makes for a quite lovely album I thought, pretty much unlike anything I can recall us listening to - 7

White Lies - a definite evolution in their sound, a bit more variety in the instrumentation but still unmistakably them. Vocals seem to have gone a bit throaty - 6.5

TOTW - Nothing On Me, by White Lies

Paul

Danny Brown (5.5)

Didn’t mind the first couple of tracks (the tunes at least) but found it pretty tedious overall.

Portugal, The Man (8)

Weird but strangely enjoyable. A few different styles but Big Drums, Big Guitars and a lot of noise. Good to hear something a bit different

Rosalia (7.5)

Went into this with low expectations. Slightly mad at times but enjoyable non the less. Like others, having better than my basic Spanish might have increased my understanding/enjoyment!

White Lies (7)

Decent enjoyable indie album, a couple of tracks left me a bit cold but overall I liked it

TOTW - White Lies - Nothing on Me

White Stripes (9)

Absolute banger of an album from start to finish. Not listen to it few years but great to become reacquainted with it. Highlights for me were The hardest button to button and Black Math.

Erol

Danny Brown - irritating squeaky rapping. Lift You Up is half decent but the rest was not for me. 5

Portugal, The Man - a patchwork quilt of an album. The death metal moments were utterly out of place but the melange of other alt rock tracks somehow flicked my switch. 7.5

Rosalia - a beautiful voice and some delightful classical Spanish tracks. Sauvignon Blanc was captivating. Unlike anything we’ve listened to before but I’d be happy to journey further down this musical path. 8

White Lies - they’ve gone all mainstream. It was certainly worth a few spins but I was a tad disappointed to be honest. Juice was the standout track with its cracking guitar ending. 7

TOTW - Angoon, Portugal, The Man

White Stripes - Jack White is a genius. An almost perfect exposition of raw blues rock. Ball and Biscuit is a 10 on its own. He so deserves his recent admission (as part of White Stripes) to the rock n roll hall of fame. 9

Jim

Danny Brown 4

A few tracks started off OK, but then mostly descended into pretty dreadful (new genre alert #1…) hyper-hop

Portugal. The Man 8

Controlled chaos. A handful of gems, a couple that don’t quite hit the mark but always very interesting.

Rosalia 7

Off my piste for sure, but I could appreciate the skills and originality of this (new genre alert #2..) pop-ssical

White Lies 7

Decent driving indie from these boys. Not newsworthy but enjoyable, nonetheless.

TOTW PtM: Denali

White Stripes 10

I went 9.5 when we did this at the start, but you know, perhaps absence does make the heart grow fonder. It’s simply brilliant throughout. Black Math, Little Acorns, Hardest Button and I Want To Be The Boy… in particular take my breath away. Maybe it’s listening to so many influenced acts in the last 5 years that has amplified their genius. Meg doesn’t get the credit she deserves imho and this album shows how unbelievably in synch they were , also how her style influences their sound as much as his. Even the last track is charming

Annette

Danny Brown: 6

Portugal. The Man: 7.5

Rosalia: 7

White Lies: 7.5

TOTW: Nothing On Me by White Lies

Classic: White Strips - 9.5

Adam

Danny Brown

Chaotic but not in a good way. One for the bin. 3

Portugal the Man

Enjoyable mix of some heavier guitar with indie flairs. 7

Rosalia

Slight novelty in Spanish tunes but not one I’ll be back to. 5

White Lies

Solid offering but doesn’t quite hold the candle to their moodier back catalogue. 7

TOTW - White Lies - Nothing on me

Classic

Cracker of an album. Starting track recognisable around the world that gets the masses moving. 8

Matt

Danny Brown - 7.7

Portugal the Man - 7.8

Rosalia - 7

White Lies - 7.2

TOTW - Tanana, Portugal the Man