| 4.5 superb |
| Acid Mothers Temple Mantra of Love |
| Alice Coltrane Journey in Satchidinanda |
| Arghoslent Hornets of the Pogrom |
| Art Blakey Moanin' |
| Assuck Misery Index |
| Assuck's Misery Index is an album of extremes, packed with gutterals, crushing low end, and enough speed to make Trixie squirt. Despite the lack of real variation, this record never gets old. Then again, Assuck don't give you a chance to tire of their death metal-fueled grind assault; it's only fifteen minutes. |
| Beach Boys Pet Sounds |
| Boards of Canada Music Has the Right to Children |
| Brian Eno Ambient 1: Music For Airports |
| Burial Burial |
| Burial Untrue |
| Can Future Days |
| Cat Power Moon Pix |
| Ciccone Youth The Whitey Album |
| Converge Jane Doe |
| Cryptopsy None So Vile |
| Darkspace Dark Space II |
| Death Human |
| Discordance Axis Jouhou |
| It's very rare to come across a grindcore band such as Discordance Axis. With Jouhou, they perfectly balanced technicality and songwriting, resulting in a 53 minute sonic barrage of abstract riffing, hyperactive drumming, and every screech and grunt imaginable. There's also a notable Philip K. Dick influence in the lyrics, which only adds to the sci-horror feel of the music. If you're in the mood for some Dick-inspired chaos, look no further than this monumental, yet underappreciated, opus. |
| Frank Sinatra In The Wee Small Hours |
| From First to Last From First To Last |
| Godspeed You! Black Emperor Slow Riot For New Zero Kanada |
| Gospel The Moon is A Dead World |
| Guided By Voices Bee Thousand |
| Harvey Milk Special Wishes |
| Husker Du New Day Rising |
| Jack Rose Two Originals Of... |
| Joanna Newsom Joanna Newsom and the Ys Street Band |
| John Coltrane A Love Supreme |
| John Coltrane Ascension |
| John Coltrane Meditations |
| John Fahey America |
| John Fahey Fare Forward Voyagers (Soldier's Choice) |
| John Fahey Live in Tasmania |
| Joshua Fit For Battle To Bring Our Own End |
| Lightning Bolt Hypermagic Mountain |
| Lightning Bolt Wonderful Rainbow |
| maudlin of the Well Bath |
| Melvins Bullhead |
| Miles Davis Kind Of Blue |
| Minor Threat Complete Discography |
| Municipal Waste Hazardous Mutation |
| m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ m/ |
| Off Minor The Heat Death of the Universe |
| Om Pilgrimage |
| Opeth Blackwater Park |
| Ornette Coleman The Shape of Jazz to Come |
| Paysage d'Hiver Nacht |
| Pixies Surfer Rosa |
| Pixies Doolittle |
| Reverend Bizarre In The Rectory Of The Bizarre Reverend |
| Ride Nowhere |
| Saint Vitus Saint Vitus |
| Sir Richard Bishop While My Guitar Violently Bleeds |
| Six Organs Of Admittance Dark Noontide |
| Six Organs Of Admittance School of the Flower |
| Sonic Youth Bad Moon Rising |
| Sonic Youth Washing Machine |
| Sonic Youth Confusion is Sex/Kill Yr Idols |
| Sun City Girls Torch of the Mystics |
| Sun City Girls Horse Cock Phepner |
| Terrorizer World Downfall |
| The Beatles The Beatles |
| The Flaming Lips The Soft Bulletin |
| The Pogues Rum, Sodomy, and the Lash |
| The Sonics Here Are the Sonics |
| Tom Waits Orphans |
| Various Production The World is Gone |
| Venom Black Metal |
LAY DOWN YOUR SOUL TO THE GODS OF ROCK 'N' ROLL
|
| Wilco Summerteeth |
| Wilco Yankee Hotel Foxtrot |
| 4 excellent |
| Acid Mothers Temple Electric Heavyland |
| Acid Mothers Temple Univers Zen ou de zero a zero |
| Acid Mothers Temple Minstrel in the Galaxy |
| Animal Collective Prospect Hummer (feat. Vashti Bunyan) |
| Animal Collective Feels |
| Aphex Twin Richard D. James Album |
| Arcade Fire Funeral |
| Autechre Amber |
| Bad Brains Bad Brains |
| Beastie Boys Check Your Head |
| Beastie Boys Ill Communication |
| Beastie Boys The Sounds of Science (Anthology |
| Billy Bragg and Wilco Mermaid Avenue |
| Bjork Homogenic |
| Black Dice Beaches and Canyons |
| Black Pus Black Pus I |
| Black Sabbath Black Sabbath |
| Black Sabbath Heaven and Hell |
| Blackalicious Blazing Arrow |
| Blacklisted Peace On Earth, War On Stage |
| Blonde Redhead Melody of Certain Damaged Lemons |
| Bob Dylan The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan |
| Boredoms Vision Creation Newsun |
| Boris Rainbow |
| Boris Akuma no uta |
| Botch We Are The Romans |
| Bread Anthology |
| Burial South London Boroughs |
| Burial Ghost Hardware EP |
| Burzum Filosofem |
| Can Tago Mago |
| Charizma and Peanut Butter Wolf Big Shots |
| Charles Mingus Pithecanthropus Erectus |
| Circle Takes The Square As The Roots Undo |
| Comets on Fire Field Recordings from the Sun |
| Comets on Fire Blue Cathedral |
| Crossed Out 1990-1993 |
| Cursed III: Architects of Troubled Sleep |
| Cursed One |
| Cynic Focus |
| Daniel Johnston Songs of Pain |
| Daniel Johnston Yip/Jump Music |
| Darkspace Dark Space I |
| Death Individual Thought Patterns |
| Derek Bailey Ballads |
| Devendra Banhart Cripple Crow |
| Discordance Axis The Inalienable Dreamless |
| Dismember Like an Ever Flowing Stream |
| Dr. Octagon Dr. Octagonecologyst |
| Dropdead 1st LP |
| Duke Ellington Ellington Uptown |
| Earthless Sonic Prayer |
| Edge Of Sanity Crimson |
| Electric Wizard Witchcult Today |
| Empyrium Where at Night the Wood Grouse Plays |
| Envy A Dead Sinking Story |
| Eric Dolphy Out To Lunch |
| Espers Espers |
| Fiona Apple When the Pawn Hits the Conflicts He Thin |
| Flower Travellin Band Satori |
| Frode Haltli Passing Images |
| Fugazi The Argument |
| Fugazi 13 Songs |
| Ghost Lama Rabi Rabi |
| Ghost Snuffbox Immanence |
| Ghost Hypnotic Underworld |
| Ghostface Killah Supreme Clientele |
| Ghostface Killah Fishscale |
| Glenn Branca Symphony No. 1 (Tonal Plexus) |
| Glenn Branca Symphony No. 9 (L'eve Future) |
| Hala Strana Hala Strana |
| Harvey Milk My Love Is Higher Than Your Assessment... |
| Harvey Milk Courtesy and Good Will Toward Men |
| Hellnation Cheerleaders for Imperialism |
| His Hero is Gone Fifteen Counts of Arson |
| Husker Du Zen Arcade |
| Immolation Unholy Cult |
| Isis Panopticon |
| Jack Rose Kensington Blues |
| James Blackshaw O True Believer |
| James Blackshaw The Cloud of Unknowing |
| James Blackshaw Sunshrine |
| Jeff Mangum Live at Jittery Joe's |
| Jethro Tull Aqualung |
| John Coltrane Blue Train |
| John Fahey The Transfiguration of Blind Joe Death |
| John Zorn The Big Gundown |
| John Zorn Duras: Duchamp |
| John Zorn Astronome |
| Kayo Dot Choirs of the Eye |
| Kayo Dot Dowsing Anemone With Copper Tongue |
| King Diamond Abigail |
| Kousokuya 1st |
| Led Zeppelin Houses of the Holy |
| Led Zeppelin Physical Graffiti |
| Madvillain Madvillainy |
| Mammatus The Coast Explodes |
| Massive Attack Mezzanine |
| maudlin of the Well Leaving Your Body Map |
| Medeski, Martin and Wood The Dropper |
| Medeski, Martin and Wood Uninvisible |
| Meg Baird Dear Companion |
| Miles Davis In A Silent Way |
| Miles Davis Bitches Brew |
| Miles Davis Sketches of Spain |
| Mission of Burma Vs. |
| Modest Mouse The Lonesome Crowded West |
| Mogwai Young Team |
| Municipal Waste The Art of Partying |
| Nadja Trembled |
| Naked City Radio |
| Neil Perry Lineage Situation |
| Neurosis Enemy of the Sun |
| Nick Drake Pink Moon |
| Om Conference of the Birds |
| Pavement Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain |
| Paysage d'Hiver Die Festung |
| Paysage d'Hiver Einsamkeit |
| Pharoah Sanders Karma |
| Pharoahe Monch Desire |
| Possessed Seven Churches |
| Rahsaan Roland Kirk Bright Moments |
| Reverend Bizarre II: Crush The Insects |
| Reverend Bizarre are one of the most solid doom metal bands to ever exist. It speaks volumes when their weakest effort, II: Crush the Insects, is as strong as it is. "Doom Over the World," rocks about as hard as any mid-tempo heavy metal song can, with a beer mug in hand. The rest of the songs don't come anywhere close, but "Cromwell" and "Council of Ten" keep with Rev.'s brand of megalithic doom by which they will always rule. |
| Reverend Bizarre Harbinger of Metal |
It's impossible not to rule when a band can release a seventy minute album, call it an EP, and get away with it scott-free.
Harbinger of Metal is a suitable name here, as the Finnish kings of doom summon monolithic slabs of metal; songs such as "Strange Horizon" and "The Wandering Jew" are oppressive in their heaviness, rarely ever letting up the intensity. Reverend Bizarre also mix it up with drum solos ("From the Void") and even muted ambience. Want to feel like you're in a capsized Titanic? Listen to the band's excellent rendition of Burzum's "Dunkelheit," an exercise in depressive metal that would make Varg Vikernes piss his pants. |
| Richard Youngs Making Paper |
| Saint Vitus Hallow's Victims |
| Saint Vitus Born Too Late |
| Saint Vitus Mournful Cries |
| Shpongle Tales Of The Inexpressible |
| Shpongle Nothing Lasts....But Nothing is Lost |
| Sigur Ros ( ) |
| Sir Richard Bishop Polytheistic Fragments |
| Sir Richard Bishop Fingering the Devil |
| Sir Richard Bishop Improvika |
| Six Organs Of Admittance Dust & Chimes |
| Six Organs Of Admittance Compathia |
| Slowdive Souvlaki |
| Sonic Youth Sonic Youth |
| Sonic Youth Confusion is Sex |
| Sonic Youth Goo |
| Sonic Youth Made In USA |
| Sonic Youth SYR1: Anagrama [EP] |
| Sonic Youth A Thousand Leaves |
| Sonic Youth SYR4: Goodbye 20th Century |
| Sonic Youth Murray Street |
| Sonic Youth Sonic Nurse |
| Sonic Youth SYR6: Koncertas Stan Brakhage Prisiminim |
| Sonic Youth Destroyed Room: B-Sides And Rarities |
| Sonic Youth and Mats Gustafsson Hidros 3 (To Patti Smith) |
| Steve Reich Music for 18 Musicians |
| Steven R. Smith Crown of Marches |
| Suffocation Pierced From Within |
| Suicidal Tendencies Suicidal Tendencies |
| Sun City Girls Kaliflower |
| Sunn O))) Flight of the Behemoth |
| Sunn O))) and Boris Altar |
| Supersuckers Must've Been High |
| Talking Heads Talking Heads '77 |
| Television Marquee Moon |
| The Beatles Abbey Road |
| The Clash The Clash (US) |
| The Clash Sandinista! |
| The Fiery Furnaces Blueberry Boat |
| The Flaming Lips Transmissions From the Satellite Heart |
| The Flaming Lips Clouds Taste Metallic |
| The Go! Team Thunder, Lightning, Strike [US Reissue] |
| The Holy Mountain Entrails |
| The Skatalites Foundation Ska |
| The Smiths Singles |
| The Velvet Underground The Velvet Underground |
| The Velvet Underground The Velvet Underground and Nico |
| Tortoise Millions Now Living Will Never Die |
| Tycho Past is Prologue |
| u-Ziq Lunatic Harness |
| On his forth album, Lunatic Harness, u-Ziq takes elements from various electronic genres (Ambient, drum 'n' bass, etc.) and blends them perfectly. Heavenly synth pads glide over breakbeats on tracks such as "Hasty Boom Alert," while he gets ultra-melodic on the "Secret Stair" series. If you want a combination of Aphex Twin and Venetian Snares without the frustrating eccentricities, then Lunatic Harness is worth looking into. |
| Uncle Tupelo Anodyne |
| Underoath Define the Great Line |
| Vashti Bunyan Lookaftering |
| White Heaven Out |
| Wilco A Ghost is Born |
| Wilco Kicking Television: Live in Chicago |
| Woody Guthrie This Land Is Your Land |
| Wormed Planisphaerium |
| Wu-Tang Clan Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) |
| Yo La Tengo And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out |
| Yo La Tengo I Can Hear The Heart Beating As One |
| 3.5 great |
| Acid Mothers Temple Starless and Bible Black Sabbath |
| Acid Mothers Temple SWR |
| Alcest Le Secret EP |
| Andrew Hill Point of Departure |
| Aphex Twin I Care Because You Do |
| Arcade Fire Neon Bible |
| Autopsy Mental Funeral |
| Bark Psychosis Hex |
| Basilisk Vintyrhell |
| Bathory Blood Fire Death |
| Beirut Gulag Orkestar |
| Belle and Sebastian The Boy With the Arab Strap |
| Belle Epoque A La Derive |
| Bjork Vespertine |
| Black Flag Damaged |
| Black Sabbath Sabbath Bloody Sabbath |
| Black Sabbath Paranoid |
| Black Star Black Star |
| Black Uhuru Red |
Not unlike a multitude of other reggae artists, Black Uhuru have gone (generally) unnoticed thanks to the enormity of Bob Marley. That isn't to say that his music is in any way bad, but sometimes it seems like the world could do with a little more Big Youth, Pablo Augustus, Burning Spear, King Tubby, Toots, and Congos.
Anyway, Red is a great album; there are plenty of head-nodding moments, particularly in "Sistren" and "Carbine". One track that I rarely see mentioned is "Utterance," which is definitely my favorite here. The vocals are at their most inspirational and uplifting, backed by more thick grooves and echoing backup vocals, singing "What a joy to hear the utterance of a Rasta." Occasionally the slight '80s sounding production can be a turnoff, especially with the percussion, but it's pretty easy to get over.
|
| Blacklisted The Beat Goes On |
| Blacklisted We're Unstoppable |
| Blonde Redhead Misery is a Butterfly |
| Blondie Parallel Lines |
| Bolt Thrower Those Once Loyal |
| Boredoms Super Ae |
| Boris Amplifier Worship |
| Boris Heavy Rocks |
| Bright Eyes Fevers & Mirrors |
| Broken Social Scene Broken Social Scene |
| Cam'ron Purple Haze |
| Camel The Snow Goose |
| Cap'n Jazz Analphabetapolothology |
| Carnage Dark Recollections |
| Charles Bronson Complete Discocrappy |
| Charles Mingus Mingus Ah Um |
| Chris Clark Clarence Park |
| Colleen Les ondes silencieuses |
| With her third full-length release, Cecile Schott (AKA Colleen) has abandoned the use of electronics and looping in favor of a more natural sound; the tracks here are littered with classical guitar, viol, clarinet, spinet and a singing bell. "Sun Against My Eyes" and "Sea of Tranquility" are particularly notable for their combination of clarinet and guitar, while the more chamber-oriented pieces seem to limp along with no end in sight. At its worst, Les Ondes Silencieuses is charming, pedestrian folk music. |
| Colour Haze Los Sounds de Krauts |
| German outfit Colour Haze are here to rock. Hell, their website layout is modeled after an amplifier. With the two-disc giant that is Los Sounds de Krauts, they took styles such as kraut and stoner rock and jammed - resulting in several songs exceeding ten minutes. These longer tracks, including the epic closer "Schlaflied," put Colour Haze's best properties out front. When they attempt more structured, 'traditional' songs is when they fall flat on their face. This is a rare occurence. |
| Colour Haze Tempel |
| Converge No Heroes |
| Cursed II |
| Cursive Domestica |
| Death Symbolic |
| Death Leprosy |
| Decrepit Birth Diminishing Between Worlds |
| Deltron 3030 Deltron 3030 |
| Derek Bailey Pieces for Guitar |
| Derek Bailey Aida |
| Dinosaur Jr. Beyond |
| Dismember The God That Never Was |
| Dismember Dismember |
| Drudkh Blood In Our Wells |
| Dystopia Dystopia |
| Originally recorded in 2004-2005, Dystopia is everything one could hope from the band: strung-out vocals, nasty riffs, and plenty of misanthropic sludge madness. Although they tend to overuse samples (see: "The Growing Minority"), Dystopia's music has grown more paranoid and nihilistic with every year. They get political with their cover of Carcinogen's "Number One Hypocrite" and self-loathing on "My Meds Aren't Working". It's all good crust sludge fun, though. |
| Electric Wizard Dopethrone |
| EPMD Strictly Business |
| Espers II |
| Fiona Apple Extraordinary Machine |
| Flying Saucer Attack Further |
| Fugazi End Hits |
| Fugazi In on the Kill Taker |
| Gang Starr Daily Operation |
| Gastr del Sol Camoufleur |
| Ghost In Stormy Nights |
| Ghoul Splatterthrash |
| Glenn Branca Symphony No. 3 (Gloria) |
| Glenn Branca Symphony No. 6 (Devils Choir at the Gates of..) |
| Glenn Branca Symphony No. 2 (The Peak of the Sacred) |
| Glenn Branca Symphony No. 5 (Describing Planes of an Expanding) |
| Godspeed You! Black Emperor Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas To |
| Godspeed You! Black Emperor F# A# ∞ |
| Hala Strana Fielding |
| Herbie Hancock Headhunters |
| Howlin Rain Magnificent Fiend |
There are bands out there doing the whole 1970s thing a lot better than bumbling retards like Jack White could ever hope. That means no clumsy, forced guitar riffs and horrible color scheme gimmicks; it's all about rocking out in the summer sun. Ethan Miller has been at this for some time, whether playing guitar in Comets on Fire or fronting Howlin Rain. Magnificent Fiend, which will be released this coming March, is about as authentic an album of this sort can be.
While heavily endebted to groups such as The Band, it never seems forced. "Nomads" floats by in a lazy feel-good fashion, with pronounced bass and groovin' drums underlying chilled-out vocals and electric piano. Magnificent Fiend ends with "Riverboat," which gradually builds into an orgy of piano, synths, anthemic vocals and fuzz guitar jams. This album isn't necessarily one that I'll always be in the mood for, but it is definitely worth a casual listen on a bright, warm day. |
| Husker Du Flip Your Wig |
| Ice Cube AmeriKKKa\'s Most Wanted |
| Immolation Dawn of Possession |
| Integrity Seasons in the Size of Days |
| Integrity To Die For |
| J Dilla Donuts |
| James Blackshaw Celeste |
| Jens Lekman Oh You're So Silent Jens |
| Joanna Newsom Walnut Whales |
| Joanna Newsom Yarn and Glue |
| John Coltrane Giant Steps |
| John Coltrane Interstellar Space |
| John Fahey The Yellow Princess |
| John Fahey Christmas Guitar Volume One |
| John Zorn Spy vs. Spy: The Music of Ornette Coleman |
| Johnny Cash At Folsom Prison |
| Kanye West Late Registration |
| Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin I |
| Lightning Bolt Ride The Skies |
| Lily Allen Alright, Still |
| Lotte Kestner China Mountain |
| Lykke Li Youth Novels |
| Mammatus Mammatus |
| Mastodon Leviathan |
| Medeski, Martin and Wood Let's Go Everywhere |
| Medeski, Martin and Wood End of the World Party (Just in Case) |
| Modest Mouse The Moon & Antarctica |
| Mogwai Zidane: A 21st Century Portrait |
| Moonsorrow V: Havitetty |
| Morbid Angel Altars of Madness |
| Municipal Waste Waste 'Em All |
| Naked City Absinthe |
| Nasum Helvete |
| Neurosis Through Silver in Blood |
| Nocturnus The Key |
| Off Minor Innominate |
| Panda Bear Young Prayer |
| Panda Bear Person Pitch |
| Paysage d'Hiver Schattengang |
| Paysage d'Hiver Kristall und Isa |
| Pink and Brown Final Foods |
| Poison Idea Feel The Darkness |
| Portishead Dummy |
| Richard Youngs Autumn Response |
| Richard Youngs Advent |
| Sigur Ros Takk |
| Six Organs Of Admittance The Manifestation |
| Sleep Sleep's Holy Mountain |
| Sonic Youth SYR2: Slaapkamers Met Slagroom [EP] |
| Sonic Youth SYR3: Invito Al Cielo [EP] |
| Sonic Youth Silver Session (For Jason Knuth) |
| Spacehorse Spacehorse |
| Sun City Girls Grotto of Miracles |
| Sun City Girls Dulce |
| Sunn O))) Black One |
| The Beatles Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band |
| The Dave Brubeck Quartet Time Out |
| The Dillinger Escape Plan Irony Is A Dead Scene |
| The Dirtbombs Ultraglide in Black |
| The Fiery Furnaces EP |
| The Flaming Lips Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots |
| The Flaming Lips Zaireeka |
| The Goslings Grandeur of Hair |
| The Holy Mountain Enemies |
| The Nation of Ulysses Plays Pretty for Baby |
| The Smiths The Queen Is Dead |
| The Zombies Odessey and Oracle |
| This Heat Deceit |
| Tortoise TNT |
| Trash Talk Plagues |
| Uncle Tupelo No Depression |
| Underoath The Changing Of Times |
| Vashti Bunyan Some Things Just Stick in Your Mind |
| Warning The Strength to Dream |
| Wilco Sky Blue Sky |
| Wilco A.M. |
| Wire Pink Flag |
| Yakuza Samsara |
| Yo La Tengo The Sounds Of The Sounds Of Science |
