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Last Active 04-14-09 11:25 am
Joined 06-23-07
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Thirteen exceptional albums! | | 1 |  | Sonic Youth
Daydream Nation
Quite simply the greatest piece of music to ever be recorded. The production, songs, guitars, and lyrics are all equally important to the mood of the album. Thurston Moore and Lee Ranaldo's chemistry here is unprecedented, as chords of lava spew out of their guitar strings and feedback out of their amplifiers. Hearing live performances of the songs here prove even more how perfect Daydream Nation; they just don't match the intensity and depth.
Standouts
"Teen Age Riot"
"Hey Joni"
"Trilogy" | | 2 |  | Neutral Milk Hotel
In the Aeroplane Over the Sea
Your ReasonAnother album file in the Directory of Timeless American Independent Music, In the Aeroplane Over the Sea is a unique and mystifying experience in and of itself. Jeff Mangum's skewed lyrics and honest, gruff voice may be the main focus, but every slightly-out-of-tune guitar and snare hit accent every peculiar dive into the human psyche.
Standouts
"Two-Headed Boy"
"Holland, 1945"
"Two-Headed Boy, Pt. 2" | | 3 |  | My Bloody Valentine
Loveless
If one wants to discover how much engineering can influence the sound of the album, then Loveless is the place to start. Kevin Shields' obsessive attention to detail bore a fruit so lustful and euphoric that if bitten into, it may cause a river of pink fuzz to pour out of your ears. Really, I can't go on writing this for much longer before I start repeating the same things that have been said numerous times before.
Standouts
"To Here Knows When"
"Sometimes"
"What You Want" | | 4 |  | Sonic Youth
EVOL
EVOL may be one of the few Sonic Youth albums that have taken awhile to sink in. While other efforts such as Sister or Daydream Nation were much more accessible (in a loud, noise guitar rock way), EVOL showed the band showing restraint, creating an even more tense atmosphere. With dreamy, echoing songs revolving around celebrity and violence and that iconic cover art, there isn't much better.
Standouts
"Shadow of a Doubt"
"Marilyn Moore"
"Expressway to Yr. Skull" | | 5 |  | Joanna Newsom
The Milk-Eyed Mender
From the first time I heard The Milk-Eyed Mender, I was instantly in love with Joanna Newsom's music. Combining more traditional American folk music (most evident in here voice) with a more 'modern' sound, this collection of bare-bones harp and voice songs accomplishes what many other 'neo-folk' albums don't; it presents music devoid of pretense.
Standouts
"Bridges and Balloons"
"Cassiopeia"
"Clam, Crab, Cockle, Cowrie" | | 6 |  | The Beatles
Revolver
How is it even possible to record a series of albums so historically and musically important? Has Paul McCartney ever thought to himself, "I was in one of the greatest pop groups to ever exist"?
For these questions, I have no answer. What I do know is that Revolver is the Beatles' masterpiece, something which stands far above albums such as Rubber Soul and Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, and even their three later albums. This is where John, Paul, George and Ringo finally took the plunge into the world of experimentation and the world of high art pop music. From beginning to end, there isn't much that can top the experience of listening to Revolver without interruption.
Standouts
"Eleanor Rigby"
"And Your Bird Can Sing"
"Tomorrow Never Knows" | | 7 |  | GZA/Genius
Liquid Swords
With the release of Liquid Swords, GZA became the first member of the Wu-Tang Clan to bypass the quality of Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) with his own 'solo' effort. With RZA's characteristically dark and brooding production, deep beats, and lyrical swords as sharp as the wind, nothing the rap community has seen will likely trump this work of genius.
Standouts
"Liquid Swords"
"4th Chamber"
"B.I.B.L.E." | | 8 |  | Talk Talk
Laughing Stock
Laughing Stock may be one of the few recent works that is automatically entrancing and relaxing. When listened to in a melancholic state, it serves as a reassurance of those feelings, as if Mark Hollis knows exactly how you feel at that moment. Other times, Laughing Stock serves a meditative and more uninvolved experience, coaxing the listener into a state of unawareness. Whatever it does for someone specifically, most will agree that Laughing Stock is an album of peace and beauty.
Standouts
"Ascension Day"
"After the Flood"
"New Grass" | | 9 |  | Wilco
Being There
Like many other albums, I'm not really sure why Being There is of such high quality; nothing here is particularly remarkable. But what I know what Wilco do well is play rock and roll, and that's really what the essence of this album is. Whether it be through upbeat rockers with horns or country-tinged acoustic songs, Jeff Tweedy and company seem to just do everything right in the span of two compact discs.
Standouts
"Monday"
"Hotel Arizona"
"Dreamer in my Dreams" | | 10 |  | DJ Shadow
Endtroducing
Supposedly the first album to be composed entirely of samples, DJ Shadow's Endtroducing... is one of the few albums in the hip-hop canon that is considered to be a bona fide classic in all circles. What makes this 1996 release so captivating is Shadows' ability to generate moods and tones unique to the album. Generally, much of Endtroducing... focuses on archaic samples and massive-sounding beats. The perfect nighttime album.
Standouts
"Building Steam With a Grain of Salt"
"Stem/Long Stem/Transmission 2"
"Midnight in a Perfect World" | | 11 |  | Cryptopsy
None So Vile
Since the release of Cryptopsy's sophomore album, None So Vile, metal has gotten faster, heavier and more 'brutal'. Despite the legions of boring carbon-copies, this album still stands out. Here Lord Worm, Jon Levasseur, Eric Langlois, and Flo Mounier craft a nonstop machine of drunken growls, hyperactive blastbeats, and crushing grooves. At the least, None So Vile is an example of death metal excess.
Standouts
"Slit Your Guts"
"Phobophile"
"Orgiastic Disembowelment" | | 12 |  | Sonic Youth
Sister
After Sonic Youth began to embrace more 'conventional' son structures with EVOL, they took two steps backwards and three steps forward. This resulted in the homogenized stew we know as Sister, as the band embrace their early chaotic selves, while furthering their interest relatively accessible music. Serene guitars give way to Panzer tank noise; to Hell and back. Although it may not be perfect, Sister is monumental in not only Sonic Youth's long career, but in the '80s underground movement.
Standouts
"Schizophrenia"
"Pipeline/Kill Time"
"Tuff Gnarl" | | 13 |  | Vashti Bunyan
Just Another Diamond Day
Nothing was all that interesting about the British folk revival, except for one person: Vashti Bunyan. Her only album for more than thirty years, Just Another Diamond Day demonstrates Vashti's skill in composing thoughtful and harmonious pastoral folk music. Her voice is lighter than air, and the arrangements compliment that aspect of her singing without falling in the backround.
Standouts
"Diamond Day"
"Come Wind Come Rain"
"Rainbow River" | |
FlawedPerfection
07.12.07 | This is an exceptionally exceptional list! | Fort23
07.12.07 | hahahahahaha
na this is actually realy good list. Props to the beatles. is this Eliminators Favor-ites too, or just blackmilks :)
| Electric City
07.12.07 | I really like this list, very nice. | jrowa001
07.12.07 | 2,7,8,10, and 11 are great. im still slowly getting into Sonic Youth. i have 1 but it hasnt really hit me yet | Two-Headed Boy
07.12.07 | Such a fucking great list. | samthebassman
07.12.07 | Pretty good list. | Ephex
07.12.07 | Cool as fuck | The Jungler
07.12.07 | List owns. |
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