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Top 47 albums of your time

WILL YOU TAKE THEM ngl i pulled this list (and my last one) out of a full-library shuffle, but let's make some good on it...
1Isabella Lovestory
Amor Hardcore


2022
neoperreo

idk if the phrase "serves cunt" had fully taken off in 2022, and jfc what a crying shame if not. Fashion Freak song of the decade, this album can step on me for days.
2Carbon Based Lifeforms
Hydroponic Garden


2003
Psybient / ambient dub

their later stuff has its moments, but this project peaked hard and early with this one. t/t is an ambient GOAT, rest has perfect weightless scifi-adjacent mystique all over it and is backed up by some choice grooves (all understated). album is a little longer than i'd prefer to set aside from it, but it's so easy to slip in/out mid-tracklist that this has never seemed like an issue
3The Tuss
Rushup Edge


2007
IDM/acid techno

"death fuck"

also known as the cracked project RDJames dropped in the long 00s spell where Aphex Twin looked like it had had its run as a studio project, i think this record has reached most of the ears it was destined for at this point, but if this is news to you, it still brings the fire. natural successor to the rattiest side of drukqs
4Robbie Basho
Venus in Cancer


1969
American primitivism

at this point, i owe it to myself to stop sticking this album on lists and to listen to more Robbie Basho. prefer his instrumental cuts on here, but both are excellent - some of the most mystifyingly soulful fingerpicking you'll hear from anyone, great autumn sundown vibes too
5Waa Wei
優雅的刺蝟


2010
Mandopop/Indie pop/folk pop

little hit or miss, but the sappy folkish takeaways on this are as good as they come. title apparently translates as Graceful Porcupine. good.
6Seiko Oomori
Kusokawa Party


2018
j-pop/power metal

still the hardest bangers + bitterest emotional scorched earth i've heard from any record of its kind, can't think of another songwriter who could balance these kind of pyrotechnic cheap thrills with such brutal confessional songwriting without sacrificing one to the other. shrugged it off as a meme on first exposure, found it stuck as the most monumental keeper. leave your Babymetal at home.
7John Hartford
Aereo-Plain


1971
Progressive Bluegrass

zany album's worth of different takes on the form, charismatic throughout (if a little twee, though it comes with the territory) and with some exquisite instrumental takeaways. pretty sure anyone could find something to dig here.
8Yellow Swans
Drowner Yellow Swans


2008
Drone/noise

you are not unhappy enough for this yet
9yourboyfriendsucks!
Episode 1


2016
nocaps-e emo

drem-friendly Chinese bedroom emo ep. the good parts are adorable and the bad parts are also adorable. go fish.
10Eddie Marcon
や​っ​ほ​の​ぽ​と​り​ (​Yahho No Potori)


2009
chamber folk

deeply stirring transitory pinings that hang heavy as the late summer air this record was apparently spawned by. one of my firmest keepers from this year's discoveries
11A Tribe Called Quest
People's Instinctive Travels & The Paths of Rhythm


1990
east coast hip hop

i was the last person on earth to hear this album please share your favourite tunes
12Analogfish
最近のぼくら


2014
j-indie

competent mix of tunes for staring out of a rainy train window w/ lovely crisp production courtesy of the team behind Salon Music. has enough heart at the moments that count to leave a mark
13Toby Driver
They Are the Shield


2018
experimental chamber nerd

cool that this was the record that came up for TD -- his latest solo effort left me whelmed, and this was probably the first post-Mia Matsumiya record he made where the strings worked their way back up a primary attraction (peep the latest Alora Crucible record to hear how far this has carried him). the arrangements on this are often gorgeous, am due a full revisit
14Buffalo Daughter
New Rock


1998
shibuya-kei

as zany as any shibuya-kei record, but this one leans in hard to LOUD psych/stoner jams and comes out with a lot to show for it
15Brainbombs
Burning Hell


1992
noise rock

sordid profane bangers of fuck, the right kind of dirty_angry_man noise rock, lots of potty mouth, lots of "what if the stooges but more fuck?" overtones
16Joy Division
Closer


1980
post punk

we are getting into late autumn and there is still time to choose life
17Shpongle
Nothing Lasts... But Nothing Is Lost


2005
Psybient

was glad to see this come up - haven't taken the full trip in a while, but it's easily the most fluid and overall satisfying of the Shpongles I've heard. their DMT-kitsch everything-and-the-kitchen-sink approach lands just right when each iteration of *everything* is afforded a relatively modest time window. always something new around the corner on this one, so its indulgences never bring it down
18Massive Attack
Protection


1994
Trip-hop

timely reminder that this is a totally seamless downtempo classic and secretly superior to Blue Lines in every aspect other than endearing discontinuous jank. Tracey Thorn's vocal was the best session performance they ever tracked
19John Coltrane
Black Pearls


1964
jazz

not my (or anyone's afaik) favourite trane, but still a tight album's worth of good times. not much more or less than you could expect from any stately sit-down bop night, but that is a good premise and he is good (if not at his most idiosyncratic here)
20Juno Reactor
Bible Of Dreams


1997
Goa trance

very fun beefy album, does not fuck around with long builds or epileptic synth indulgences in the way that's brought many a goa record down. extended slammers every step of the way here, for your entertainment
21Yorushika
Plagiarism


2020
J-Pop/indie pop/yakousei

tend to see this band as a lightweight act on top of the right trend with a good vocalist and the occasional above-average jingle, but gotta admit they pulled out the stops for this one. upbeat tone and tight pacing go a long way here, this is one of the better records of the current wave of Japanese indie-pop it-bands.
22Uusitalo
Vapaa Muurari Live


2000
dub techno/microhouse

long as you're happy with so much more being done with some much less, this record posits its own definition of "long banger"
23Pan Sonic
Kesto (234:48:4)


2004
Industrial drone noise glitch

it's been years, but i'm due another run with this 4hr behemoth - every encounter i've since had with an individual track since has been highly flattering, take my time away plz
24Sonny Criss
Sonny's Dream (Birth of the New Cool)


1968
JAZZ

every answer you've ever needed to the question of what the Black Saint + Sinner Lady would sound like as a rollicking big band stormer sans the Latin elements, with a few extra tricks up its sleeve. fantastic bloody record
25The Modern Lovers
The Modern Lovers


1976
post-punk

the only tongue-in-cheek gawk-punk proto-hipster fly record you have ever needed. laugh out loud stupid-funny at points but full of great songwriting.
26Kitty (WA)
Kitty


2015
atmo gaze wavy seefeel/darla-adjacent moody blissout

(i don't have any more words for this one hm)
27Radiohead
OK Computer


1997
okay rock

lol ffs
28Faye Wong
To Love


2003
Mandopop/downtempo/art pop

One of my favourite C-pop records, just one great song after another. Lovely delicate incorporation of downtempo stylings, perfect wistful vocal performance, many of the sentimental folk-pop ballads that the Chinese market is megasaturated in (and western pop has long since lost the cheese for (Faye Wong has a ton of these, but many of her best are here)), altogether perfect swan song to the studio album era of a legendary career
29Lush
Mad Love


1990
Shoegaze

early Lush were louder and had more edge to them. good!
30Perturbator
The Uncanny Valley


2016
Synthwave

not quite my favourite perturbator but probably his most high-octane. hilariously unfashionable sound, but still borderline unbeatable if you need a blood-pumping gamer jam
31Pig Destroyer
Phantom Limb


2007
grind

i should have skipped over this tbh, this album has flat production and relies far more on boneheaded cheap thrills/breakdowns/chugs than either of the extraordinary records the precede it. KEEP anyway because pxdx, but
32Boris
Amplifier Worship


1998
drone/doom/sludge/boris

pissed i won't see them play this live, huge fucking record that has only gotten better with time for me. middle three songs alone cut it out as a top 3 Boris experience
33Citrus
Pits Are the Pits (25 Gold = Rare = Debris...


2009
shibuya kei/indie pop/noise pop/twee pop

obscure disorganised shrapnel, perfect gratification, secret shibuya kei GOAT, too good to rec usually but shuffle has caught me out here
34Bleach03
Kien


2008
hardcore

thrashy abrasive all-girl madness here, this group is hit or miss for me outside of their firestorm of a debut EP, but this is one of their rawest and most entertaining later albums
35Miranda!
Es Mentira


2002
synthpop

been obsessed with this lately and would have had it on an earnest digslist - first 5 tracks are one of the best runs i've heard from this era of pop (hint: you've never heard of it because argentina), dope androgynous masc/femme vocal harmonies through the whole thing and some of the lithest fucking hooks i ever did here
36Pavement
Wowee Zowee


1995
indie rock

top 15 stoner accomplishment probably. can't wait for the movie-documentary-fanfic(???) to commercially release
37Uyama Hiroto
A Son of the Sun


2008
lofistudybeats

we still have nujabes at home
38Mild Sorrow Integrated
arbol.


2022
IDM

this record was boring tbh whoops should have skipped this
39Hiroshi Yoshimura
Music For Nine Post Cards


1982
Minimalism/New Age

obvious classic for all the right reasons. absolutely spellbinding leverage of simple melodies.
40Monolake
Hongkong


1997
Dub techno

bit disappointed that this was the Monolake album that came up -- it's probably my favourite, but already a landmark chain reaction jam for all the right reasons. the dubbiest cuts are the choicest, but don't forget to yeet over to Cinemascope and get a load of those clinical minimal bleep-cascades that imo have served Monolake further in the long run
41Matryoshka
Zatracenie


2007
Downtempo

pretty distinct atmosphere on here - oppressive overtones interspersed with brief moments of
, pinpricks of sunshine through backstreet grime. second track is a longtime staple
42Nevermore
Dreaming Neon Black


1999
Thrash/prog metal

i've badmouthed both those genres to death, but this is flat-out one of *the* best metal albums. riffs + vox are in their own class, songwriting is watertight, concept and lyrical narrative both devastating, production just the right level of raw without brushing against lofi silliness, several individually stunning tracks (Beyond Within, t/t, Deconstruction, Poison Godmachine, Fault of the Flesh, No More Will jfc). essential record.
43Spangle call Lilli line
or


2003
Indie/post rock

winter coat music for crowded streets. Nano is one of the best songs of its kind, several enduring gems to keep it company, excellent band
44Oceansize
Home & Minor


2009
Post rock?

mmmmmmmmmmmmzmm ngl everything this could offer you, 43 does better
45Dntel
Life is Full of Possibilities


2001
Indietronica

quite confused as to why this is still as slept on as it is (especially given that Dntel was half of the Postal Service) - some of *the* defining tracks of the early 00s indietronica wave are on here, even if the bulk of it leans closer to IDM and glitch. "Why Iʼm So Unhappy" is absolute peak shit when it comes to using incremental glitch and disintegration as a shortcut to pathos, several other highlights here.
46LTJ Bukem
Journey Inwards


2000
Atmo DnB

not the release I'd have picked for this artist/genre (doesn't have nearly enough character to fuel the 90+ minute voyage it shoots for), but an LTJ Bukem appearance is not to be turned down
47Dire Straits
Dire Straits


1978
Blues rock/classic rock

acclaim for this one is an awkward pinch between "the one that contains Sultans of Swing" (which, yes, is one of *the* classic rock GOATs) and being highly acclaimed by longtime fans at the expense of their mid-career arena-happy material -- two positive strands of consensus that don't quite tell the whole story (first half Communique played the same game at least as well as this and got dramatically less credit for it). solid album in any case, has a handful of deep cuts for those who chalked it up as an iconic-singles deal
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