Prestige Format Picks 🧣 4 November 2025

Aesop Rock - I Heard It’s A Mess There Too

This is Aesop Rock’s second new album this year! The legendary underground rapper self-produced this one with some pretty minimal beats, all of which share a piano-based sonic palette. The enjoyably wordy verses are chock full of his trademark internal rhymes and vocal stims. A good listen for the heads and for new listeners.

Peel Dream Magazine - Taurus

Also releasing the second album in about a year, Peel Dream Magazine has another collection of jangly erudite dreampop. There are plenty of the good: motorik beats, synthesizers, even some vibraphone. It doesn’t coast on pure vibes because there’s some great songs here, but it’s certainly perfect for those unseasonably warm days that might pop up during fall.

Earthly - Days

Spotted this pick, originally posted 9 years ago and threw it on recently. It still rules! Here’s what I said then: “This one really takes things a step beyond what The Avalanches or even Animal Collective have done with its sampledelica: the songs are constructed using the in between sounds of samples. Like, we’re not hearing the actual samples, but the bits you trim off each side of the sample to tighten it up. Earthly have taken audio trimmings, the chaff of samples, and constructed incredible tunes out of it. I’m mesmerized.”

Across the Horizon volume 1

I linked to Across the Horizon 24/7 a few posts ago, and I’ve been listening to this streaming station from the “ambient country” label on a pretty regular basis. This compilation (a steal at $7!) is all original tracks from friends of the label. It’s got some ambient heavy hitters (to me) like Yuka Honda (of Cibo Matto), Julianna Barwick, and Luke Schneider. It’s super spacy but pretty varied. (Mostly instrumental but watch out for the spoken word story about Elvis in an adult situation on track 9.)