JohnnyoftheWell
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Last Active 01-01-70 12:00 am
Joined 01-01-70

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04.16.24 All Blonde Redhead songs RANKED ♦03.28.24 OED Japanese imports RANKED (Q1 2024) ♦
03.22.24 Sputnik's Sacred Cows03.14.24 POP ALIGNMENT
03.09.24 Discogs that peak on song #103.07.24 new staff + contribs RANKED ♦
03.03.24 MARCH of JAZŽŻ ♦02.16.24 G L I T C H genre tag
02.01.24 FEBRUARY of ambi2ent (REC me) ♦01.01.24 well_2023: "YES" albums (2/2) ♦
12.31.23 well_2023: "NO" albums (1/2)12.27.23 (be)rate my LP 'collection'
12.03.23 2023 BNM: cringedex ♦12.01.23 New users :: REVIEWED ♦
11.28.23 Your 5s choices reviewed AGAIN ♦11.15.23 learn from my WORST REVIEWS ♦
11.13.23 Tory stooge music11.10.23 Feed me 2023 things
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road to 2000_wells

So now that the hellishness of Sputroyale is finally over, I can concentrate on something else: hitting to 2000 ratings! I've never made a listening log before, so here are the final 100 albums I'm jamming on my way - maybe it will be fun and/or useful. Feel free to post recs and bitch about everything you see and everything you don't see and stuff okay yay
1The Weakerthans
Reunion Tour

#1901
Indie

A nice way to start! I love the Weakerthans, and many of reasons for this are perfectly encapsulated on that *knockout* of an opener and a few other moments here. Unfortunately, while most of this album goes for the same lyrical succinctness as the band’s masterpiece Reconstruction Site, the music isn’t nearly as strong and it doesn’t have the same emotional weight. Good stuff all the same.

3.5
2Brand-new Idol Society
Brand-new idol Society (2019)

#1902
J-alt idol pop whatever

God, this is awful. My Chemical Romance if they were a manufactured Japanese girl group who played a mix of generic pop rock and digital hardcore while parodying a lack of self-worth. I hate it. I hate that it’s enjoyable. There’s a bit on the opener/album highlight where they get their weakest vocalist to sneer the most intense chorus line like she’s vomiting out her own mediocrity out of self-loathing, and this being by far my favourite moment tells you all you need to know.

3.0
3ZOMBIE-CHANG
TAKE ME AWAY FROM TOKYO

#1903
Electro-pop/techno

I wrote a long neurotic review about this, but basically this is a claustrophobic out-of-your-head mesh of electro-pop stir-craziness that came directly out of quarantine. Obnoxious and uncomfortable as hell, but it nails what it goes for. The new Charli XCX should have been more in this vein.

3.9
4ZOMBIE-CHANG
PETIT PETIT PETIT

#1904
Indie pop

Mostly okay and occasionally slightly irritating indie pop that mostly sounds like discount Halmens for Tokyo Hipsters.

3.0
5Amesoeurs
Amesoeurs

#1905
Vaguly blackgaze

I heard one track from this when budgie played it at hysterically low res on a streaming share thing, and it sounded great because lofi. Then I downloaded the whole album, listened to it and remembered how much blackgaze hecking sucks in hifi and in general.

2.8
6Ryuichi Sakamoto
1996

#1906
Chamber music/soundtrack

Ryuichi Sakamoto is the man and I’ve been meaning to get more into him for a while, and there’ll hopefully be a couple more entries from him by the end of the list. 1996 is basically a set of chamber pieces that serve as a kind of greatest hits for his work as a film composer, and it’s an appropriately rich listen. I didn’t give this as much time as I’d have liked when I first checked it, but it strikes me as something that’ll be more rewarding in the long run.

4.0
7Ulver
Drone Activity

#1907
ambient/DRONE

Checked this as part of a huge feature on Ulver that has been postponed because of technical reasons/I fucked up, but will appear one day. This is okay, very much not their best. First half is a total waste of time, second half is much better and the closer is one of their secret treasures.

3.3
8Bring Me the Horizon
This Is What the Edge of Your Seat Was Made For

#1908
Deathmetalclawfish

Thank you Steak for convincing me to listen to this. It is terrible, but far more tolerable than Count Your Blessings. I love that this band exists.

1.5
9John K. Samson
Provincial

#1909
Indie folk

More John K. Samson, yes yes. This is very quaint and very nice and I like it - it feels like a more assured Reunion Tour without the same highs but also without the tracks that weren’t quite sure what they wanted to sound like. I vibe it maybe slightly more a whole, but 'sall good.

3.5
10Fiona Apple
When the Pawn...

#1910
Jazz pop/baroque pop

Finally got round to doing my homework on ‘90s Fiona Apple and this album is the absolute business. Astounding highs, stunning constituency, and a perfectly developed and highly distinctive lyrical voice throughout. Bonus points for badass jazz, and further bonus points for having one of the most perfect closing pairings I have heard on any record. If this ends up being the best album on the list, I won’t complain.

4.5
11Regina Spektor
Remember Us To Life

#1911
Baroque pop

Listened to this a few times as part of a collab thing with neek, and while it definitely convinced me to explore Regina Spektor further at some point, it hasn’t changed my overall impression of her as a mostly solid but rarely astounding songwriter with a knack for sarcastic wryness that she *almost* lands perfectly up until the occasional off-lyric that fudges the whole package like, um, an egg yolk in a meringue.

3.5
12Tori Amos
From the Choirgirl Hotel

#1912
Alt pop/rock

I checked this on a whim, and the whim was called Let's Catch Up With Late '90s Singer-Songwriters Who Aren't Fiona Apple/Alanis M/PJ Harvey/Shiina Ringo and it was pretty okay I guess.

3.0
13The Flaming Lips
American Head

#1913
Fake baby psych

Fuck this album. Vacuous washed-up psychedelic inanity with a few pretty melodies. Some highlights. Embarrassing shit. RIP The Flaming Lips.

2.3
14The Flaming Lips
Embryonic

#1914
REAL baby psych

American Butt reminded me that there are some Flaming Lips albums I haven't heard, and Embryonic seemed like the most glaring omission so I hopped on it. This album is... a lot. I'm still chewing on it, but I'm mostly impressed - its runtime is chonk and there are a ton of bemusing interludes, but the sequencing and overall tone is remarkably focused, the highlights absolutely bring the thunder, and hearing Karen O impersonate animals for shits and gigs lands better than expected. Will probably eventually bump.

3.5
15Cloudkicker
Solitude

#1915
Prog atmometal

So, I made the huge error of listening to this but forgetting to download it. From my one complete listen, it was excellent. From my current, incomplete second spin, it is pretty excellent. Well done Mr. Kicker, I guess !

3.9
16Fiona Apple
Tidal

#1916
Jazz pop/alternative

Early days big shot successful Fiona Apple pre-telling the MTV awards to fuck themselves was onto something good, but I don't vibe as hard with her. Her voice on When the Pawn... sounds more assured and incisive when it comes to tackling her subject matter, but Criminal is a lyrical stunner and I'm mucho down with The First Taste and Sleep to Dream too. A few of these songs traipse a little, or otherwise do little for me, but otherwise it's mostly solid.

3.5
17Dark Tranquillity
Damage Done

#1917
Melodeath

Very little to say on this other than that it slaps incredibly hard, does not let up and has riffs for days. Lovely unexpected metal kick; this is on par with Character

4.0
18Dark Tranquillity
Fiction

#1918
Melodeath

Almost as good as Damage Done and with superb production, but a couple of cringe tracks (Misery's Crown, Terminus) fuck with the pacing and let it down a little. Still plenty impressive.

3.7
19Tentenko
Nineteen

#1919
Nursery techno

Tentenko. There are some good tracks. Next.

2.8
20 Ichiko Aoba
Origami

#1920
Folk

Part of reaching a dumb rating milestone is clearing up discographies I should have cleared up by now - and that's it for Ichiko Aoba! Hooray! She is so good, and this album is lovely. Not one of her most substantial works, but it's such a short, breezy jam that I've been spinning it on and off ever since. Recommended soundtrack to hand-washing shirts.

3.5
21Sonic Youth
Experimental Jet Set, Trash, and No Star

#1921
Alternative bullshit

Yay, Sonic Youth from their early/mid '90s alt rock peak obnoxious phase. This is an album full of duds, and I probably should rate it lower purely because of how unlistenable and unlistenably prevalent Thurston Moore is here. Fortunately, Kim Gordon dishes out a solid af 3.5 album that I keep coming back to, and that's enough to pretend the rest doesn't exist. Nice.

3.0
22Bohren und der Club of Gore
Dolores

#1922
Doomjazz

Someone said that this was like Bohren doing elevator music, and I thought this would be a good thing but it turned out not to be a very good thing. Whatever. It's okay.

3.0
23Deftones
Koi No Yokan

#1923
deftones

I finally made an effort to find out whether Deftones were an alright band or a good band, and I decided that the appropriate way to go about this would be to consume ENTIRE ALBUMS of their music. Koi no Yokan is okay. I'm glad I started here, because it dropped around the time I first joined Sput and I've had a lingering sense of intrigue/fomo from not checking it ever since. It holds up well, but has become increasingly less interesting to me as I've checked their other work.

3.3
24Polvo
Shapes

#1924
ex-Noise Rock

I mid-key simp for Polvo, but this is low-key disappointing - where is the mess and the noiz?! These song structures are annoyingly streamlined, and the production is distressingly streamlined. Twenty White Tents is good Slint worship and Everything In Flames! is a solid banger, but otherwise this doesn't thrill me :[

3.0
25Gazpacho
Fireworker

#1925
Progresssssve

Gazpacho release an album with some long songs and some short songs, and you've heard them play all of them before but better. It's okay - they're a proficient band and avoid supermajor mishaps, but this is getting into diminishing returns territory.

3.0
26A. G. Cook
Apple

#1926
Yesterday's glossy zine / today's toilet paper

A lot of 7G is pretty great (not great enough to make me listen to the whole thing HA!) but this is fucking appalling. Most of what I hate about A. G. Cook and his dumbSELFAWRE spaceboy fuckstyle kill me immediately nothing pop clevermarketing deconstructiongame is very focal to this record and I will probably 1 it at some point maybe. I think it had a couple of decent tracks?

2.0
27Deftones
Saturday Night Wrist

#1927
Saturday deftones

This album convinced me that Deftones are in fact a VERY good band, but I have since been unconvinced because nothing else I've heard from them compares to it. The atmospheres on this go for days, and it's one of their only records where Chino doesn't sound like Bart Simpson/insert-awkward-fictional-character when he screams. I wish I'd hooked up to this back in high school, hot damn.

4.0
28Unsane
Visqueen

#1928
Noise rock

No bullshit straightforward loudtimes, big aggression, big pissiness, kinda one note but that note is LOUD so it is okay, I like this.

4.0
29BUCK-TICK
ABRACADABRA

#1929
Glam Alternative Big Rock

The new Buck-Tick is ...okay. It's fun, it's overblown as always, it's pretty straightforward for them, but it's probably the least impressive of the 10ish albums I've heard from them. Most of these tracks are standard rock numbers that just happen to be performed by a veteran gang of expert performers. "凍える Crystal CUBE ver." is ACE though, love their sampling and synth coda on that. Compelling shit.

3.4
30Aimyon
Oishii Pasta ga Aru to Kiite

#1930
J-pop

I love most of this; '90s flavoured guitar-led J-pop with cheesy as hell choruses, sarky lyrics and solid vocals that aren't tinnitus fuel. Lotta bangers, lotta whimsy - one of the best pop albums of 2020 and an unexpected step up from her last record.

3.7
31Deftones
White Pony

#1931
D e f t o n e s

That album White Pony by that band the Def tones is pretty good?! Yeah, I heard from my mum! So, uh, I checked it!! And the great bits are very fucking great!! The opener (YES, the true one), Digital Bath, Korea, Change, Pink Maggit mmm yes. There are other songs that I do not remember positively despite having listened to them on MULTIPLE OCCASIONS and also Elite (fuck that shit) and also that annoying one where the boy from Tool sings, but overall this is strong enough that the hype makes sense. Second best Deftones (so far!!!)

3.5
32Deftones
Ohms

#1932
Fstoned

It's okay, some of you need to reflect on your choices. Fuck, I dunno. The band are pretty tight. Check Fugazi.

3.4
33Fleet Foxes
Shore

#1933
Indie indie folk indie folk folk indie folk folk

Adorably harmless indie folk that was pleasant and almost memorable and landed a few solid tracks and is well crafted and will be an asset to living rooms and coffee houses the world over hallelujah.

3.0
34Deftones
Around the Fur

#1934
defstoneSHOVEit

I have reached a point in my adult life where it is a c h a l l e n g e to make it through albums like this from start to finish, but still have enough of a chip on my shoulder to moan about it. This is good for what it is, I guess. A few lean bangers, a few annoying misfires, a lot of bad screaming. It's cute that this is still Chino's favourite record.

3.0
35Boris With Michio Kurihara
Rainbow

#1935
Psych

Okay, *now* I understand why Smile ended up sounding the way it did - this makes a lot more sense following on from Pink! Really excellent heavy psych skyscapes; I vibe it. Need to return to this, there are some beautiful moments and it flows perfectly.

4.0
36Built to Spill
There's Nothing Wrong with Love

#1936
Indie/lofi

Back in my peak Pavement days I got pretty heavily into Perfect From Now On and Keep It Like a Secret, and since both of those hold up solidly as anything I have no idea why it took my so long to get to the third and final BtS(lol) album that literally everyone who knows anyone has heard. This is great! Most of these tracks here have got that scrappy lofi charm that benefits a lot from a full album play, but I could jam Distopian Dream Girl on repeat for, uhh, multiple subdivisions of entire hours! Hooray for '90s guitar music. Why did Americans keep playing guitars past the new milennium?

3.96
37Migma Shelter
Alice

#1937
J-idol

This is a 50 minute idol synthpop concept project about Alice in Wonderland that is at once overcooked and underdeveloped and there is absolutely no way you should listen to it.

2.5
38Yerin Baek
Our Love is Great

#1938
K-RnB

Who is this oh wait it's one of those girls with a name in hangul from Abe's list, hmmm, if this is the EP I think it is, then it's mostly pretty solid and you should probably check it.

3.5
39Yoriko Ichinomiya
Tango renka

#1939
Folk

Fuck me, this is wonderful. Morose reflective singer/songwriter bliss, mostly simple writing, powerful vocals and all of the right chords (you know the ones (you do)). Checked this on a whim after it appeared on some rando's list and was swiftly reminded why I occasionally check obscure things from randos' lists. Haven't been listening to many new albums since as a partial direct consequence.

4.4
40SUMAC
The Deal

#1940
Metal sludge post

This is loud and slow and raw and pretty much exactly what I expected from this project, and a lot of the time it's fairly killer. Nice. Now for the rest of the discog.

3.5
41Kyoko Mimura
Minna wo Yane ni

#1941
Freak folk

Downloaded this in an effort to follow-up on Yoriko Ichinomiya and expand my kvlt obscure j-folk cred and I have spent a bizarrely long time with this album - bizarre because I don't think I've ever made it through in one sitting and have an overall confused impression that is net positive and charged with the word 'eclectic.' I guess it's good?!

3.5
42LEEBADA
THE OCEAN

#1942
K-RnB

More reputable Abecore, this is pretty solid and flows nicely and is chill and I should listen to it more lol

3.5
43Crippled Black Phoenix
Ellengaest

#1943
Progressive post-doom

Hey, it's a hype record! Some parts of this are fantastic. Others drag like yesterday's stale bread crusts on your problematic cousin's first model railway. Solid vocal performances, occasionally ehhh lyrics and big atmospheric big doomy bigbuilds that occasionally are epic and occasionally are not. It's ok.

3.4
44Dntel
Life is Full of Possibilities

#1944
Indietronica/glitch/IDM

So earlier this year I binge listened a load of albums tagged on rym as GLITCH POP to both disprove and maybe prove that the genre does [not] exist and I don't know why or how the shit I missed this out, but I screwed it. Fantastic album, mucho my vibe, ultra mood, beautiful blend of computerface, retro'00s and f e e l s, and hopefully gonna be up there with Tujiko Noriko when it comes to stuff I actually return to in this style.

4.1
45Tiamat
Wildhoney

#1945
Doom psych cosmosmetal

It's kinda awkward how long it took me to jam this, given that I used to überstan motW (right up to the username!), and their first 3 albums were all pretty much directly inspired by this. It is strange and beautiful and thoroughly satisfying, and I haven't yet found the words to set out the dense spacey ponderous bliss it catches in such a distinctive way, but this is defs more than a good experimental doom album with good keyboards. Magical stuff.

4.1
46Aelters
Mixitch Mjeuga Djisc

#1946
Glitch/IDM/breaks(apparently?!?!)

Big beatz glitch that is sometimes pretty great and sometimes annoying af. Strange ol' time with this. First listen, I mildly hated it and fell asleep halfway. Second listen I made it the whole way and was glad because the second half is pretty great. Future listens told me that the first 10 mins are pointlessly obnoxious and kinda boring, whereas the rest kinda bangs if you're in the mood. Cool.

3.3
47King Crimson
In the Court of the Crimson King

#1947
pog

HEY this one is pretty awkward to write because smdh it took me 1947 ratings to get to a King Crimson album ha ha what a NERD i bet he never gets laid (it's been a cruel pandemic !) ! here are two things about this album 1) it is very awesome and i am dumb for not hearing it 2) i am even dumber for having poisoned my young brain with steven wilson and mikael opeth and the mars volta and other dumb shit in the meantime, because i don't feel like these songs are inspiring quite the same sense of VoyageOfdisCovery in me that they deserve to (this is better than those artists' comparable works though of course probably hmm maybe not Signify, will relisten to that) 3) yeah okay maybe Moonchild is a little bit much but still p cool

4.3
48David Thompson
The Wall

#1948
retro sowingcore

almost worth the mounds of hyperbolic claims it receives

2.4
49This Heat
This Heat

#1949
Experimental rock / vaguely post-punk maybe

This is effectively 50 minutes of a rock band emulating teapot sounds, so I'm happy to see that Ghandhi 5 looking STRONG on it. That said, it's creative and unpredictable and fascinating and other positives, and I'm thoroughly glad I checked it; the twists and turns that go down on cuts like Horizontal Hold and 24 Track Loop are d e l i c i o u s and I'm a big fan of how the whole thing drifts in and out of minimalism...if sometimes to the point of "what's going on?" Cheers Demon, anyhow

3.9
50King Crimson
Red

#1950
Pogrok

Now that I have indisputable evidence that KC are in fact great, it's time for a bit more homework. Red is awesome, shock horror - it's probably a more even listen than ITCOTCK, but it doesn't hit the same magical mystical atmospheric charm more me - it's more rough n ready, but takes this in its stride. Generally fantastic stuff - although, as before, having gotten into Zorncore before hearing "Providence" and having read a million Sput users cream themselves over "Starless", there was a slightly evil expectation game going on...

4.2
51Siouxsie and the Banshees
Juju

#1951
Post-punk/gothic

Gave this a check years ago, but then minushumanboi queued "Into the Light" in a listening party and I remembered that I forgot that this is great stuff. An absolute workout in nifty post-punk guitar + a stellar showing from Siouxsie herself + tracks as memorable as "Arabian Knights" and "Monitor" = happy days.

3.8
52The Cure
Disintegration

#1952
Post-punk/gothic

Well, well, __WELL! Almost skipped this out entirely, but then remembered that I'm on a quest to hunt down embarrassingly absent classics, and so: *lukewarm take* this is way overlong and *hot take* this is mainly because the first three songs are a chore to get through. Sorry, "Pictures of You" stans! Somewhere halfway through "Closedown" I started questioning whether I was listening to the Lateralus of post-punk, and no, NOT in a cool way. "Love Song" raises the tone considerably and it's one great song after another from there (maybe excluding the final two, eh). Overall, this convinced me the Cure are worth their salt in a way Pornography never did, but I'm gonna be cherrypicking highlights rather than jamming it as a whole from now.

3.9
53Poppy
Music to Scream To

#1953
N O I S E

Might have leapfrogged Lana del Rey's spoken word album as the biggest delet album of 2020. Low effort enough to avoid being the cringiest.

0.9
54Boards of Canada
Geogaddi

#1954
idm

Not sure why I thought it would be a good idea to take a ~7 year break between getting into Music Has the Right to Children and this, but this is strange and beautiful and mesmerising and very very great and I love it even if the final stretch is a little thinly spread (with SOME exceptions!!!)

4.3
55Tricot
10

#1955
Math rock

Uh, awesome! Although the singles were great, this was the last thing I expected after their stale major label debut earlier this year - this is short, sharp, catchy, energetic and quite possibly the best Tricot record to date. Definitely their best vocal melodies so far, and some huge bangers to back them up. Probable top 10 2020 material for me.
4.1
56Classics of Love
World of Burning Hate

#1956
punk rawk

loud hateful angry punk in 2020 it's pretty ok

3.0
57Funwari-chan
with Funwari-chan!

#1957
(mainly) instrumental vocaloid

after Lacedaemonius' mucho recommended review series, I was worried that the Funwari-chan trilogy would crumble under the weight of it's own myth. it's p nice, this one tails off but holds up for fuzzy fluffy bittersweets.

3.3
58Funwari-chan
Funwari-chan with a cube

#1958
funwari-chan

with a cube

3.0
59Funwari-chan
Funwari Laboratory

#1959
industrial funwari

probably the best in the trilogy, shimery shiny flashy flashy sometimes fluffy hmmnng yes okay

3.5
60Helena Deland
Someone New

#1960
something something something INDIE

boring indie popfolk whatever with poorly conceived arrangements, fidgety songwriting, too many melodies, no good melodies and bland lyrics that kinda require you to actively project the faintest trace of personality onto them. cannot wait for the inevitable sowing 4 review

2.5
61Bring Me the Horizon
Post Human: Survival Horror

#1961
post-trend popcore

This band is still farcically awful, but they marginally raised their own standards here. pop hooks and skramz and things yes ok, peeps are gonna eat this up

2.3
62clipping.
Visions of Bodies Being Burned

#1962
Horrorhouse hip-hop

Ha ha ha I understand nothing about hip-hop, but that's okay because this album has no beats ! Mostly gripping stuff, will probs bump in due time.

3.6
63Everything But the Girl
Temperamental

#1963
House

Finally got to the final Everything But the Girl album, and the second on their megawesome late '90s britronica 2-piece. This wasn't as much of an instant hit for me as their more trip-hop album Walking Wounded, but the highs are absolutely fantastic. I'm not so into house generally, and there are definitely points at which this goes a little further down that road than I'm comfortably following ("Compression" is defs a 7-min Decision), but overall very excellent great album great group yes yes

4.0
64BATS
Red In Tooth and Claw

#1964
Post-MarsVolta sciencecore

So these bois are pretty good at their game and I can't knock this, but it's not giving me the kick I'd hoped it would :[ They'll do intense science things on their distortion instruments and I'll think "oh they're doing an intense sciencething" but the energy is neither lost nor converted to my hormonal balance and/or v i s c e r a l reactoins, it is just there !

3.0
65Amenra
Mass III

#1965
Post metal

I finally listened to an Amenra album! It was really good!! The amount of times the whole band repeats the same 4 bars in straight fking robotquavers fifty zillion times in a row slightly takes the piss, but mostly this rips!!!

3.7
66This Heat
Deceit

#1966
Post-punk

Hey mum I listened to the second This Heat album after hearing the first one haha yeah I know haha what am I like. It turns out that the second This Heat album is very very good and dark and fascinating and creative and I vibe with it mildly but prefer the ascetic weirdness silenttreatment freakynoise of their debut so Demon was the real winner here hooray

3.8
67Godcaster
Long Haired Locusts

#1967
Freakpunk art musics

Haha yeah okay, robertsona wins the day. This is a lot of fun, and you can tell the band had a blast making it. Solid hidden gem from this year

4.0
68Bring Me the Horizon
Suicide Season

#1968
matelcroe

I forgot my self-respect and decided to clean up this band's discog. An enormous step-up from their garbage-standard debut. I hate it. rawr.

2.2
69Bring Me the Horizon
Sempiternal

#1969
Alternative metal

If I had heard this when I was 14, I would probably have 5'd it, and if I had 5'd it when I was 14, probably wouldn't be ashamed of my past self. Easily their strongest album.

3.1
70Visit Kalvhaga
hardcore ambient

#1970
ambient hardcore

As one of the select few with the privilege to have been in the writers' room at the time this was birthed, I cannot overstate how glad I am to have witnessed the genesis of a legend. Essential.

4.9
71Vennart
In The Dead, Dead Wood

#1971
Alternative progressive rockmetal

The best thing I've heard from Mike Vennart since Oceansize's Frames - one of 2020's best surprises and some thunderous guitar tones.

4.0
72Deftones
Deftones

#1972
Alternative altmetal

This album left me with the dual impression that a) it is one of the better albums made by Deftones and b) I don't like Deftones as much as I thought I did. This is confusing. I *should* like it more than KNY, Ohms, AtF and maybe even White Pony, because I'm very much on board with that they're trying to do here most of the time. But I don't. It grates on me. I'm tired of Chino Moreno. Ugh. Gonna put this on hold, slap a 3 on it, and see if it grows.

3.0
73Boris
The Thing Which Solomon Overlooked 2

#1973
Drone

slowBoris + a powerjam open that sounds exciting as hell but worked a little better on Smile's tracklist imo. All good.

3.5
74Boredoms
Super Ae

#1974
Psych / noise

As a post-Japanoise classic and one of those Canon bands that most of Sput seems to vaguely acknowledge and respect without ever actively talking about, I felt more than a little awkward about not having any Boredoms albums under my belt. Then I listened to Super Ae. Now I'm just confused. This is very cool and very deadpan and very long and I guess I enjoyed it more than once. Next.

3.6
75Roisin Murphy
Roisin Machine

#1975
Pop / disco

Some bangers, some cruisers, some hmmers, a lot of good disco that I would probably enjoy more if I were in an environment where hearing good disco as it should be heard was viable. Fuck the police ig

3.4
76Shohei Amimori
Sonasile

#1976
Glitch / IDM / artpop / modern classical / ambient

Sweet Trip walks into a Pokemon Center and falls asleep in the waiting room. This is extremely my shit. There is a song called "Sheer Plasticity Of The Lubricant."

3.7
77Ryo Fukui
Scenery

#1977
Jazz

Damn fine pianotimes.

4.0
78Lauren Bousfield
Palimpsest

#1978
Glitch pop/breaks/noise pop

Best album named Palimpsest released in 2020. Classic Sputnik to both sleep on this and underrate it at the same time. This is a headfuck. It bangs. It's disorienting but not aimless. It teases a range of directions and *sometimes* embraces some of them. Crystal Castles meet 100 gecs. I'm down.

3.7
79Nero's Day at Disneyland
From Rotting Fantasylands

#1979
Breaks/glitch

Palimpsest got me all excited over Lauren Bousfield, so I checked out her r o o t s! This has aged like mud! Horrific synth tones and an overreliance on the same spookhouse melodic cliches. No, no, no.

2.8
80Satanicpornocultshop
Arkhaiomelisidonophunikheratos

#1980
Art pop / glitch

Been gettin that sweet sweet glitch ITCH back on, and this is a reasonably big name I never did the rounds on. It's okay. This album makes a few wayward af decisions but understates almost all of them instead of chalking up great big obnoxious d i s j o i n t e d cred like the two albums above. I can roll with it, but it's in the "glad this random cool shit exists" camp and not a huge keeper.

3.3
81Venetian Snares
Doll Doll Doll

#1981
Breakcore / murder ambient

Been on a kick with chaotic dysfunctional tasteless oof music, so I figured it was time to check off another Vsnares staple album. Doll Doll Doll is harrowing to a fault and there is no suitable time and place to listen to it and I admire this but can't get into it as much as the Cylinder album or RozzawaefkcHungarian one as things stand.

3.6
82Oneohtrix Point Never
Magic Oneohtrix Point Never

#1982
Ambient/glitch/spaceboy radio

Oneohtrix Point Never is still comfortably in the middle of my pile of "whatever" artists and his new album has done very little to change this BUT I had an unironically great time napping to the middle of this album and then waking up to listen to the rest of it in bed with no idea when it was going to end. Being forced to treat every track like a potential closer worked wonders and smoothed over some of its more disjointed aspects, but listening to it like a normal human did not yield the same dividends.

3.0
83Shohei Amimori
PataMusic

#1983
Glitch stuff

I dug Sonasile enough to follow up on this. It's pretty good. Shohei Amimori does more spacey soundscapey stuff and less awesome scattergun Pokemon Center pop stuff and I therefore like it less. Ok!

3.3
84Doin' Fine
Twinks Going to Hell for Being Twinks

#1984
Noiz pop

GOD IS DEAD AND HAS BEEN REPLACED BY A TRANS WOMAN yes okay this is a total mess of an album and is sometimes fun and sometimes not fun I guess I am glad to have heard it?

2.8
85Satanicpornocultshop
Catholic Sunspot Apron

#1985
Glitch artpop

Literally no-one listens to this band outside of #1980, so I figured I'd be that guy! It wasn't really worth it - this is basically a less exciting version of that album with a couple of bops (SITTING ON A BUCKET!!!!!!) - but it made me appreciate #1980 more so I guess this is a good thing!?

3.2
86Jamiroquai
Dynamite

#1986
Funk

This list has too much glitch and I needed some funk and for the past 12 years I have randomly listened to the opener from this at approx. 2.5 yearly interludes so I chose this album for my #1986 spot and it bops pretty hard and Doof 1'd it but 5'd the new Oneohtrix lmao the dude must have two left feet okay.

3.6
87Mid-Air Thief
Crumbling

#1987
Folktronica

Damn, I slept on this! Gorgeous delicate spindly quite original (?) blisstimes. I'm a little suspicious of how much mileage this will have, but I reaaaaaally hope it'll be a keeper.

4.0
88Satanicpornocultshop
Anorexia Gas Balloon

#1988
Dump hiphop glitch pop whatever

Okay, I am now done with Satanicpornocultshop. This is an iconic and ridiculous and sometimes hilarious (mostly) covers album, and it was WORTH IT the first time to hear them murdering The Velvet Underground and Utada Hikaru and Lee Hazlewood and somehow not murdering Kylie Minogue, but that was as far as things needed to go. 74 minutes pahaha. Detachable pee-nis, indeed

3.0 for the mems
89Oneohtrix Point Never
Replica

#1989
Ambient glitch plunderphonics

This is classic OPN insofar as the vision and concept are pretty smart and the execution sounds like it came from a highly competent human, but it is also unusual in that it is almost a great album too. Almost! The first three in particular are a solid suspenseful creepout, and I guess the rest is at least consistent. I'm not sure how much this rises above the conceptual overall, or how much intrigue it'll preserve outside the first few spins, but I'm at least glad to have checked it. Gonna have to revisit R-Plus Seven now and figure out if this is definitely better or not...

3.7
90Chiyono Ide
わたしの高校生活

#1990
Alt. j-idol

Shizuoka homegirl and profile pic inspo Chiyono Ide (of 3776 fame) drops a solo album about her time as a highschooler! It kinda bangs! It's a lot poppier than her 3776 stuff, but they bring back that sound for the closer and spend the rest of it on a megacatchy spiced up adorable messy nostalgic caper that is occasionally extremely irritating but mostly pretty cool. Queen.

3.6
91Carissa's Wierd
Ugly But Honest: 1996-1999

#1991
Slowcore

Damn. I've been listening to Songs About Leaving for years and have no idea how it took me so long to hear this. It's magical and crushing, but in a slightly less glum way to SAL - these tracks generally have a little more life in them, but they orientate it towards megableakness regardless. Those fuckin highlights, man... Drunk w/ // Lazy Eyelids // One Night Stand // Blanket's Stare // Fluorescent Lights // Some Days. That's over half the album, I think? Essential sadboi vibes.

4.2
92Phoebe Bridgers
Copycat Killer

#1992
indie cinefolk

Pointless EP almost uniformly reworking the cheapest parts of original tracks into cheaper whateverness. Meh.

2.4
93Seahaven
Halo of Hurt

#1993
alternative sowingcore

atmospheric brooding altrock songs that don't rock. not awful, but the ~peaks almost uniformly underwhelmed me and I couldn't get into the b r o o d. the good bits reminded me of the new Downy, which I revisited and got happy about, so yay?

3.0
94Carissa's Wierd
You Should Be At Home Here

#1994
slowcore

Phero forced me to listen to this and hmm, it's good but I don't vibe it as hard as their other two albums. It's good, but it leans more on melodic stringscapes and doesn't indulge as openly in full sadness or perfect duettimes. Perhaps it will grow! For now, I'm feeling a soft

3.7
95Yoshiko Sai
Mangekyou

#1995
psychedelic folk

someone (that guy!) reminded me I haven't listened to this, or any Yoshiko Sai, in absolutely ages. She is good, this is good. I prefer the melodramatic marooned panoramic spaceouts on Mikkou, but this cosier folk palette also suits her nicely. Cool lady.

3.5
96MYSS KETA
IL CIELO NON E UN LIMITE

#1996
Music

yeah okay this is epic. Rider Bitch probable song of the year. audacious.

3.9
97The Smashing Pumpkins
Cyr

#1997
alternative DAWpop

boring redundant shit from a boring redundant band

2.2
98Yukika
Soul Lady

#1998
City pop

Catchy and concise, grooves n hooks for days. Easy pop highlight of 2020.

4.1
99Rubio
Mango Negro

#1999
Art pop/trip-hop

Catchy and not concise, haze n smoulder for days. Easy pop highlight of 2020.

4.3
100Ging Nang Boyz
君と僕の第三次世界大戦的恋愛革命

#2000
Punk

Japan's parallel to BTMI. Dumb overwrought insanely energetic "youth punk." Delivers all the best dumb qualities of the brand in spades, hilariously blunt lyrics. I love that this is dumb enough that I can follow it. KIMI NO KOTO GAI DAISUKI DAKARA this is number 2000. It is also very long and, um, I need to listen to it more. Fucking excellent.

4.5
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