50 Albums You Might Not Have Heard but Should
yeah |
| 1 |  | Woob
Woob² 4495
i think this might be my second favorite electronic-related thing, right after Boards of Canada |
| 2 |  | Buck 65
Square
A sprawling hip-hop album set up as four 10+ minute songs. just as abstract as it is soothing |
| 3 |  | Edie Brickell
Shooting Rubberbands At The Stars
This was an unexpected 5. It's 80s folk-pop stuff that actually uses the 80s trends to its advantage. it doesn't sound dated, it sounds full, yet delicate. and always beautiful |
| 4 |  | Genelec & Memphis Reigns
Scorpion Circles
In passionate moments I think this might be the best hip-hop album ever |
| 5 |  | Johnny Foreigner
Waited Up 'til It Was Light
A wildly vibrant masterpiece of a punk/alternative offshoot I didn't really realize existed. amazing shouted and slurred male and female vocals, trippy and spastic and yet you can't stop following it. seriously, this should have a 4.3 at least |
| 6 |  | The Thermals
The Body, The Blood, The Machine
read tha review mang |
| 7 |  | Ahmad
Ahmad
potsy-hop |
| 8 |  | Asobi Seksu
Citrus
if you heard it first you'd probably think it was Japanese, but these guys are actually from New York. absurdly gorgeous shoegazey dream pop stuff |
| 9 |  | Black Dice
Beaches and Canyons
hypnotizing avant-ambient stuff |
| 10 |  | Bluetech
Sines And Singularities
amazing soft and straight-forward downtempo stuff |
| 11 |  | Born Gold
Bodysongs
Pop mixing way too many drugs |
| 12 |  | Breather Resist
Charmer
Sludgy trippy metalcore produced by Kurt Ballou. This tends to be the metalcore album i recc people right after Jane Doe, We Are the Romans, Opposite of December, etc. |
| 13 |  | Busdriver
Temporary Forever
absurd, cartoony hip-hop with an emphasis on the poetry (the lyrics are consistently packed with more words than really fit, and there's a few spoken-word interludes, but it's all brilliant). you might've heard Imaginary Places on the Tony Hawk game it was on |
| 14 |  | Clark
Body Riddle
Really hard to describe electronic stuff. but it's light and airy with still really powerful harmonies |
| 15 |  | Das EFX
Dead Serious
This really is essential |
| 16 |  | Deep Puddle Dynamics
The Taste of Rain...Why Kneel
Hyper-brainy hip-hop courtesy of Sole, Alias, Doseone, and Slug |
| 17 |  | Dirtwire
Dirtwire
electro-folk or something |
| 18 |  | Dynospectrum
Dynospectrum
more hyper-brainy hip-hop with Slug and others - this one's darker tho |
| 19 |  | Elephant9
Walk the Nile
Insane jazz fusion |
| 20 |  | Ellen Allien & Apparat
Orchestra Of Bubbles
More beautiful electro |
| 21 |  | Emma Ruth Rundle
Some Heavy Ocean
I will put this on as many lists as I need to |
| 22 |  | Eric Dolphy
At the Five Spot, Vol. 1
If you like Out to Lunch, this is next. |
| 23 |  | Extra Life
Secular Works
Probably not for everyone.. but entrancing if you let it inside you. these songs are like... deconstructed hymns sung fiercely instead of somberly, and set to rhythms determined by this terrifying pulse in the center. |
| 24 |  | Fu-Schnickens
Nervous Breakdown
more amazing potsy-hop |
| 25 |  | Hum
Downward Is Heavenward
incredible shoegaze/alternative |
| 26 |  | Hungry Ghosts
Alone, Alone
as the main review says, "silence in the form of music" |
| 27 |  | Infidel?/Castro!
Bioentropic Damage Fractal
still the wildest piece of experimental music i've heard |
| 28 |  | Jan Dukes de Grey
Mice and Rats in the Loft
"folk," "psychedelic," "progressive rock..." |
| 29 |  | McLuhan
Anomaly
my soundoff: "Wow... this is fucking insane. Even though I can see why I'd never heard of it. Anomaly is a set of four beastly journeys filled with comically unique, almost campy instrumentation. Flutes, all kinds of brass, a fucking slide whistle solo? The album's messages come from the fantasy-inspired storybook lyrics, and their vocal delivery, both crooned and spoken, both sounding absurdly legit. But the songs also set aside plenty of time for those magical 70s prog jams, with all the build-ups and explosions executed masterfully. Put simply, Anomaly is delightfully bonkers." |
| 30 |  | Miyuki
Ghostly Vibes
dark spacey downtempo |
| 31 |  | Mouse On The Keys
An Anxious Object
Post-math-jazz-rock |
| 32 |  | My Sleeping Karma
My Sleeping Karma
smooth-as-fuck psychedelic/stoner rock |
| 33 |  | Nasum
Human 2.0
essential grind with less than 200 votes |
| 34 |  | Number Girl
NUM-HEAVYMETALLIC
I will put this on as many lists as I need to as well |
| 35 |  | Oval
94 Diskont
An ambient/electro album unlike any other. seems a lot of people think of it as the beauty in a CD skipping, and i get that, but i think it's more just a downtempo album with all the sounds super hushed down and analog-ified. and it is really beautiful. |
| 36 |  | Peste Noire
La Sanie des siecles - Panegyrique de la
French progressive black metal, pretty insane vocals on this one too |
| 37 |  | Screaming Females
What If Someone Is Watching Their TV?
catchy ugly explosive punk sung by a screaming female. yummy. |
| 38 |  | Sebadoh
Bakesale
Nice hazy indie, with riffs |
| 39 |  | The Evens
The Evens
Ian MacKaye and his wife. A masterpiece of "less is more." |
| 40 |  | Sweet Trip
Velocity : Design : Comfort
This is something else |
| 41 |  | The Books
The Lemon Of Pink
I've heard this called "collage-pop," and while that does cover some of the sound, there's a lot more it doesn't cover. this is really a whole new music. um, yes, one of the best on this list |
| 42 |  | White Suns
Sinews
noise rock with very faint memories of "rock" |
| 43 |  | Aim
Cold Water Music
Chill-ass trip-hop |
| 44 |  | Drop Nineteens
Delaware
Seminal shoegaze |
| 45 |  | edIT
Crying Over Pros For No Reason
catchy meticulous glitch-hop |
| 46 |  | Love Like... Electrocution
Love Like... Electrocution
honestly one of my favorite skramz albums |
| 47 |  | Merzbow
Frog
Really this is so cool. It's jagged noise but there's more space between the layers this time, so it sounds like something more alive than just a big wall of sound |
| 48 |  | The Raincoats
The Raincoats
seminal post-punk |
| 49 |  | Ufomammut
Idolum
psychedelic/sludge/post-metal |
| 50 |  | Holy Fuck
Latin
whatever it is it's gud |
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