3k+1 Ratings; Dist is Ligs
Ooooh man in just 4 1/2 years I've listened to 3,001 albums. List is literally digs. I went back as far as my profile could go and stopping right there at Disintegration Loops, although I've had plenty more digs I've clicked on prior to that album. Whatever, let's celebrate this splendid achievement! |
| 36 |  | William Basinski
The Disintegration Loops
I first became acquainted with this by IronGiant’s list asking for tape music recs. While the circumstances of which the albums were assembled is integral to understanding the atmosphere of the songs and the intention of these series of albums being released, this was something I was unaware of until I reached the second DSL album. However, the point still stands for that even without the tragedy of 9/11 coinciding with William’s discovery and publishing of these tapes, the music here still provides a profound listening experience. And even with the tragedy in mind, what each listener takes away with these songs will be different than the next person. Sometimes I feel a sense of hope when I hear, say, dlp 2.1; sometimes I feel a sense of dread and sadness. |
| 35 |  | The Angelic Process
Weighing Souls With Sand
I kinda forget the context of which I discovered this one here, but I know it has ties with hal1ax and BallsDeep (I could be wrong) having the album cover as his av. Anyway, this is one of the most soul crushing albums I have ever heard. Listening to this indeed feels like my soul is being weighted down by many, many pounds of sand. RIP Kris Angylus. |
| 34 |  | Nine Inch Nails
Fixed
Thanks to Polyethylene for getting me into what is now one of my favorite NIN releases. His selling point was the production and how much more intense the remixes are compared to the original did not disappoint me at all. Will also always remember this as the soundtrack to me accidentally backing my car up into a telephone power pole while I was caught in major traffic taking the backroad to school. |
| 33 |  | Carl Orff
Carmina Burana
Speaking of personal life soundtracks, this also became the soundtrack of a special time in my life as an extra in a fantastic theatrical adaptation of Hunchback of Notre Dame (three sold out performances in the two weekends the production ran) and simultaneously for my time on Homecoming court. I peaked as a high school teenager and I’m trudging my way to the finish line ever since. When I die, I want the last thing I hear to be the O Fortuna. An essential piece of classical right here which also briefly sparked a big interest of classical music for me. |
| 32 |  | Guitar Wolf
Jet Generation
The context of which I paid full attention to this album had something to do with an article concerning the Loudness War but as my list asking for help finding this album suggested, I’ve since lost and forgotten what that article was. Anyway, WOW is the album fantastically loud and unashamedly bombastic. It really wouldn’t be a far off comparison to say this is Japan’s Raw Power because, well, that’s this album really is. Press play and feel some fists punch both of your eardrums at full speed. |
| 31 |  | Ed Rush and Optical
Wormhole
Big shout out to Doof for introducing me to this album. Not directly, his magnum opus review of Travel the Galaxy is what piqued my interest in these guys. Travel the Galaxy is cool and all but Wormhole is generally considered these guys’ magnum opus and is apparently an essential in the drum and bass genre (something which the Sput ratings and count thereof all but indicate). Now let me tell you, what Doof feels when he listens to Travel the Galaxy, I feel with Wormhole. A 70 minute adrenaline rush that doesn’t let up till the album ends. |
| 30 |  | Avenged Sevenfold
The Stage
I’m the furthest thing from an A7x fan but man this really blew me away when I first heard this. I listen to this now and it’s still an extremely well done piece of mainstream rock (hey remember when that used to be a genre tag on Sput?). |
| 29 |  | The Residents
Eskimo
A combined effort by Fripp and Doof led me to briefly explore these weirdos’ music. I’m still waiting for this to get the 5.1 surround sound treatment. |
| 28 |  | Runzelstirn and Gurgelstock
Asshole / Snail Dilemma
Fuck.
Big hearty shout out to my boi Sach for making me discover this horrifying piece of art.
Fuck. |
| 27 |  | Les Rallizes Denudes
Heavier Than a Death in the Family
Searching the bootleg charts on RYM, I got very interested seeing that cover and album title. Fuck [2]. |
| 26 |  | R.E.M.
Green
I honestly don’t really know what compelled me to give this a proper listen, of all the other R.E.M. albums I could have chosen from. Kurt had it right, this is the best album these guys (at least that I’ve heard, and that includes the ones I haven’t felt like rating). Love the 25th Anniversary Edition CD I copped while I was digging this; the poster and other goodies that come are great and the bonus live disc is absolutely great as well. |
| 25 |  | Sleigh Bells
Treats
Jessica Rabbit was actually the first album I heard by these guys and I quite liked it, despite the generally mixed reception it seemed to get. It wasn’t till I ventured a lil deeper into Doof’s thoughts on the band that these guys’ debut really stuck out to me. I instantly fell in love with the cheerleader-esque vibe of the album and the digi-grind undertones. The rough, crunchy production also gives it an extra sort of charisma that I think would be lesser if the production was much cleaner and crisp. |
| 24 |  | The La's
The La's
I fell in love with Sixpence’s self-titled all over again and I became curious about the guys who originally wrote and performed the closing track, There She Goes. What really struck me on my first listen was just how 60s it sounded while also not feeling dated. To quote my first comment on the album’s thread, The La’s s/t is a strange combination of British Invasion era Beatles, Mick Jagger swagger, R.E.M. jangle pop, and British power pop that is so infectiously lovable. Indeed, this is a gem lost in time that deserves to be listened by much more people. This discovery also landed during a time of where I had to do final exams so it fit snuggly into my typically Beatles exclusive playlist while studying. |
| 23 |  | Moby
These Systems Are Failing
A big hearty shout out to DanielCardoso for giving this album to me as a rec. While The Beatles and The La’s soundtracked my studying, this Moby album soundtracked my drives to and from school. Not much to say here without echoing something from my best of 2016 list but I’d really have to emphasize the joy that I get whenever I listen to this album. The fans can get pissed at the man for making another rock album, but Moby really captured something on here that really strikes a chord with me. That deluxe edition CD of These Systems Are Failing will always be one of my prized possessions. |
| 22 |  | Fire!
She Sleeps, She Sleeps
Fripp’s review of this alerted me that these guys had released an otherwise or this would have flown over my head. Fire! (and this statement encompasses Fire! Orchestra) is definitely one of my favorite bands and the release of She Sleeps really solidified that. |
| 21 |  | Jeff Rosenstock
Worry.
I really felt like an asshole for checking this album out past the deadline for users to submit their AOTYs. Passionate, anxious, and lively above all else, the man behind The Arrogant Sons of Bitches released a fuckin amazing album. |
| 20 |  | Mayhem
Mediolanum Capta Est
Ah man, I remember the first time hearing this album. It was the same day I met that street musician Bryce Mulholland (search the name up on Sput or Bandcamp and give him a listen) outside of this museum in San Francisco. My brother and I were there with our cousins whom we barely ever had time to hang out with and talk to. As our stay in the bay area came to an end, we had to drop them back home a city or two over and while it was night time, I gave that new Mayhem live album another listen. When the Bandcamp app wouldn’t play anymore songs and force me to buy the album, I decided to check out this other Mayhem live album I hadn’t heard yet. My soundoff says it all, really. |
| 19 |  | Portishead
Roseland NYC Live
Anyone who knows me knows that I’m a nut for live albums. Anyway, this album is fuckin gorgeous and I frankly think the performances of these songs are better than the originals. Shit, I got my dad into Portishead when I showed him this album. Those jazz undertones from Dummy become more apparent here as they come to head with a more pronounced alternative edge alongside the band’s typical trip hop sound. If you like Portishead, this is essential. |
| 18 |  | Gunther
Pleasureman
This album made me gay and I’m a better person because of this conversion. |
| 17 |  | Morbid
December Moon
I don’t totally recall the context of which I discovered this album, but it surely coincided with my initial draft of what would soon become my now long awaited Live in Leipzig review (Sorry boys I’m still working on that sucker). Dead’s delivery is notably more thrashy and death metal than what most people are familiar with in his performances with Mayhem; although one listen of this and one can see where his unique delivery in the black metal realm comes from. A gem that should be heard by every metalhead. |
| 16 |  | Soundtrack (Film)
Flashdance
I have no idea why but I developed a strong urge to listen to that song Maniac one day and me listening to that song non-stop lead me to both revisiting this film and listening to that soundtrack for the first time. Even as I’m working on this list right now, I don’t recall much from the movie other than how fucking beautiful Jennifer Beals is. However, my goodness do I love the soundtrack for this film. I don’t quite know how to explain why these completely outdated collection of songs just make me feel a certain way... |
| 15 |  | Clint Mansell
Black Mirror: San Junipero
After a real fucking long time of trying to start my Netflix account back up and pay for the damn thing, I finally got to watch the latest season of one of my favorite tv shows. *inserts soundoff here* |
| 14 |  | Kyle Dixon & Michael Stein
Stranger Things, Volume One
Once I finally got over my hype for Black Mirror, I decided to give Stranger Things a shot. It’s cool, I quite liked all the Stephen King homages as well, but man does that soundtrack really grab ya. |
| 13 |  | Haruomi Hosono/Shigeru Suzuki/Tatsuro Yamashita
Pacific
Big hearty shout out to Finn for introducing me to this gem. |
| 12 |  | Celtic Frost
Into the Pandemonium
While reading Black Metal: Evolution of the Cult, I finally decided to give Celtic Frost a proper listen. Of all the CF albums I heard, Into the Pandemonium was the one that I liked most, and it only kept growing from their. While the book did go to a length in describe the odd nature of the album, I was still unprepared for what I was going to hear. A metal cover of that long forgotten one hit wonder Mexican Radio? Female vocals, sweeping orchestras, and Skinny Puppy-esque industrial detours? It immediately became easy to understand that the motivation behind the record company repeatedly attempting to sabotage the band’s recording sessions of this album because what they heard “was not music.” Thank God they had the balls to stick it up to those suckers and release this masterpiece. |
| 11 |  | Thirty Seconds to Mars
A Beautiful Lie
At this point I had reached what I like to call a “burn out.” I had attempted to listen to Buck-Tick’s entire discography in one day and I ended up listening to only about half of it before my latest burn out, which occurred quite a long time after the one before. Anyway, in these burn outs, I completely stop listening to new music and return to things that are already quite familiar to me. I had this urge to revisit ol’ 30 StM and to quote a comment I made on that album’s thread: “First time hearing this in a very long time. I really don't remember Jared's vocals being this buried in the mix... nor remember it being this goddamned amazing.” |
| 10 |  | Pulp
Different Class
SandwhichBubble was who introduced me to this album but it was CL0VER who made me revisit this with fresh ears. Fuck [3]. Common People never fails to give me eargasms. |
| 9 |  | Fleetwood Mac
Rumours
My guitar teacher made a reference to the history of this album, what with the affairs and the dangers of having a band being made up of two couples in failing relationships. The last time I felt this level of love at first listen was when I first heard NIN’s The Fragile about 3-4 years ago. An absolutely gorgeous album, though for now I’m just sticking with my edition of the CD that doesn’t have Silver Springs cos I’m not spending more money on another edition that has a pointless additional CD made up of uninteresting demos of all the songs on the album. |
| 8 |  | Von
Satanic Blood Angel
Upon further reading in Black Metal: Evolution of the Cult, I discovered this band and gave their discog a listen while reading their chapter. At this point I was still recording demos for a black metal band I have referenced in an earlier list. To an extent I think the simplicity of the riffs influenced the way I wrote the riffs for at least two of the songs on the EP. But if I were to speak of what’s most appealing about the band is those goddam vocals I mean FUCK [4]. |
| 7 |  | Amy Winehouse
Back to Black
I’ve always had this gal in the back of my mind, but it wasn’t until I was I stumbled upon one of Amy’s gigs on tv that I really started to pay attention to her. A pity she had to die but what she left behind softens the blow. |
| 6 |  | Dakhma
Suna Kulto
What my true AOTY of 2016 would have been if I hadn’t just heard it last month. Another shout out to Finn for this other beautiful fuckin rec. Basically if GY!BE did black metal. It’s as beautiful and cathartic as it sounds. |
| 5 |  | Lights
The Listening
I owe this dig to CL0VER as well. I hadn’t experienced the same bliss listening to female pop since I first heard Marina Diamindis in 6 years ago and that is saying quite a lot really. |
| 4 |  | The God Machine
Scenes from the Second Storey
Oooooh man do I owe a shit ton to ALA for re-introducing this album back into my life. A long time ago I saw a review for this album and intended to check it out before completely forgetting about it until Morgan recommended me the album opener. What a piece of art this is. |
| 3 |  | Heretoir
Heretoir
I first heard the album this guy released this year and was slightly let down. Just sounded like a not boring version of that one Alcest album Shelter. So then I decided to give this one here a listen man was I blown away. An absolutely perfect blend of the depressive stuff from the debut and the blackgaze from the new one with fantastic vocals to boot. Really don’t get the hate for this at all. |
| 2 |  | Wear Your Wounds
WYW
Listening to this for the first time was like the first time I heard Petitioning the Empty Sky and, perhaps more appropriately, Phoenix in Flight and Phoenix in Flames from Jane Doe. That atmosphere from Phoenix in Flight was something I’ve always wanted to hear again from Converge and here we are now with a project filled with nothing but a bunch of that. Fuck [5] |
| 1 |  | Ulver
The Assassination of Julius Caesar
The Assassination of Julius Caesar: Ulver doing a better Depeche Mode impression than Gore and Gahan can do these days. And tfw Ulver being able to write better pop songs that almost everything out there in the mainstream right now. |
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