Music journalism is going to the wall, and places for sensible, well-informed, nuanced takes on the latest releases are dwindling. So we thought we might as well put the final nail in the coffinRead last week’s album reviews here. Cameron WinterLive at Carnegie HallPartisan Records / Play It Again SamThis stark live album captures Cameron Winter at the height of a hype cycle so rabid even sensible music publications ripped up their calendars to name his 2024 solo record one of the best things to come out in 2025. This affront to sequential time was typical of the collective hysteria, which reached a crescendo when, at 23, the Geese frontman became one of the youngest solo artists to headline Carnegie Hall’s main auditorium. This set was recorded about a year after the release of Heavy Metal, yet when I first stuck it on, I was convinced it consisted entirely of non-album deep cuts, as Cameron reimagines the record throughout (also playing three unreleased compositions). No matter how far music technology has come, there are still few things more affronting than one man really going for it at the piano—just ask John Cale. At times, these songs are oldhead unlistenable, which you don’t hear too often anymore. During the “extremely sold-out” performance, Cameron stayed hunched over with his back to the crowd—basically mooning members of Phish, R.E.M., and Sonic Youth—who responded to the discordant hammering of keys with whoops of glee. The live album and accompanying concert film, made by Paul Thomas Anderson and Benny Safdie, captures a high point in the Season of Geese, or, as I prefer to call it, 500 Days of Winter; a time when everyone started pretending to have heard of Cameron and his band before Getting Killed came out (“I love 3D Country!”). Then they were branded a “psyop” and the same people were gravely offended by the band’s alleged use of bot marketing, which they definitely understood (rather than just feeling stupid for getting swept up in their enthusiasm).This probably marks the start of a fresh wave of delirium; Cameron’s new music’s so confounding he’s yet to play it to his bandmates, so no doubt his second solo record will be the indisputable album of next year. And the one after.7/10CUM-SHOT JOHNSONTroye SivanShe’s the BestInterscope RecordsAustralian pop star Troye Sivan is a smooth operator, with one graceful gesture giving way seamlessly to the next—like moves on the dance floor—throughout this vibrant fourth studio record, which pays tribute to many of the people who’ve shaped his life. But even he took a moment to find his footing during a recent interview when he was asked for his list of 15 to 20 of “the best” women. I hope his mom wasn’t too offended when she missed out on the top spot. To be fair, Sade has some real bops.7/10ERNAUX COUNTRY FOR OLD MENPitbullPITCOINMr. 305 RecordsThe entire global economic order is going down, I’m yellin’ timber! After Pitbull made it big with a small handful of post-recession pop hits, I bet on him striking gold with this one and sold all my worldly possessions so I could buy unofficial tokens with the same name as this stonking new 24-track record. I figured that when it comes to decentralized international trade on the blockchain, I could learn something from Mr. Worldwide, who signed a timely deal with an NFT platform in 2021 (how are everyone’s Bored Apes doing right now?). But judging by this tacky, oversaturated album, the value of his creative output is in complete free fall. PITCOIN is pretty much worthless, and so are my life savings.2/10CHINESE XL BULLYHAAiDIGITiSEMuteThe main thing you need to know about being human in a digital world (the subject of this blissfully kinetic dance record) is that you shouldn’t believe in anything. Except for birth order, which is 100 percent real and legitimate, regardless of whether or not it’s scientifically verifiable. So when HAAi says that this record is the “bigger, ravey sibling” to her previous one, HUMANiSE, what she means is that it’s cooler, more attractive, and just generally better, but on the downside, it’ll never live down that time it got caught dick-in-hand waiting for 30-second Bang Bros video previews to buffer on the family computer room’s 56 kbps dial-up connection. Ffs, it was just a pop-up!7/10AGENT DALL-E COOPERThe FallPost ScriptCog Sinister/GonzoIf the logic here is that so long as there’s some digital remnant of Mark E. Smith, it’s The Fall, then surely it’s not long before we bring back the great man in hologram form for a residency in the bar of the Radisson hotel, which now occupies Manchester’s Lesser Free Trade Hall. I’d pay good money to watch his cantankerous avatar bellowing and pissing himself through the hits from his sprawling, singular discography, rather than the ghoulish imitations conjured up on this lifeless posthumous record. I must confess I’m also motivated by selfish intent—I’m hoping the technology might also be used on his backing band so I’d get the chance to once again see my granny (playing the bongos).4/10FURRY JACKFollow Adam on Instagram @yungtolstoiThe post VICE Album Reviews, October 9: Cameron Winter, Troye Sivan, Pitbull, and More appeared first on VICE.