| 4.5 superb |
| AJJ People Who Can Eat People are the Luckiest People |
| Alcest Écailles De Lune |
| Animal Collective Strawberry Jam |
| Animal Collective Fall Be Kind |
| At the Drive-In Relationship of Command |
| Between the Buried and Me The Great Misdirect |
| Black Sabbath Paranoid |
| Black Sabbath Master of Reality |
| Boris Boris At Last -Feedbacker- |
| Botch An Anthology of Dead Ends |
| Angers me to think what these boys could have accomplished with a few more years, a little more refinement. But what a fucking swan song. An EP with all the power of an LP. A solid grasp of quiet/loud dynamics that would have elevated their LPs to a whole other level. Afghamistam, which is essentially an interlude, has the audacity to be the longest track on the album. A window into what the band's future might have held. Hushed emo vocals give way to some glorious Slint worship in the closing minutes. It gives new perspective to the uncompromising violence in Botch's sound. If this is a dead end, it was well worth the detour. |
| Brian Eno Ambient 1: Music For Airports |
| Distilled, elemental, patient and seemingly vacant. The few moments of trembling anticipation, that might prefigure some great breakthrough or climax, quickly subside. This would frustrate, if not for the record's ingenious use of space. Matter and antimatter. Void and volume. Inhalation and exhalation. Whispers, but never speech. What Eno offers sonically is not a cleansing rainstorm, nor a complex river system - all tributaries and runoff, green fingers fanning out across yellow land - but instead a solitary drop in an ocean. Yes, all well and good. But where are the guitar solos and drum fills, Brian? |
| Can Tago Mago |
| Candlemass Epicus Doomicus Metallicus |
| Cattle Decapitation Monolith of Inhumanity |
| Chance the Rapper Acid Rap |
| Circle Takes the Square As the Roots Undo |
| clipping. Midcity |
| Darkthrone A Blaze in the Northern Sky |
| David Bowie Hunky Dory |
| David Bowie Low |
| Death Grips No Love Deep Web |
| Death Grips Death Grips |
| Deftones White Pony |
| Drudkh Blood In Our Wells |
| Fiona Apple The Idler Wheel... |
| Four Tet Rounds |
| Funkadelic Maggot Brain |
| Godspeed You! Black Emperor Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven |
| Godspeed You! Black Emperor F♯ A♯ ∞ |
| Jethro Tull Thick as a Brick |
| John Frusciante Niandra LaDes and Usually Just a T-Shirt |
| Jonny Greenwood There Will Be Blood OST |
| Joy Division Unknown Pleasures |
| Kanye West My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy |
| Katatonia Brave Murder Day |
| Kendrick Lamar good kid, m.A.A.d city |
| King Crimson Red |
| La Dispute Somewhere at the Bottom of the River Between Vega and Altair |
| Lou Reed Transformer |
| Madvillain Madvillainy |
| Mercyful Fate Don't Break The Oath |
| Metallica Ride The Lightning |
| Miles Davis Kind of Blue |
| Mos Def Black on Both Sides |
| Negura Bunget OM |
| Panda Bear Person Pitch |
| Paul Simon Graceland |
| Peste Noire La Sanie des Siècles |
| Pink Floyd Meddle |
| Pixies Doolittle |
| Radiohead OK Computer |
| Radiohead In Rainbows |
| Shabazz Palaces Black Up |
| Sigh Imaginary Sonicscape |
| Slayer Reign In Blood |
| Spiritualized Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space |
| Steely Dan Aja |
| Talk Talk Spirit of Eden |
| The Beatles Abbey Road |
| The Dismemberment Plan Emergency & I |
| The Doors The Doors |
| The Mars Volta De-Loused in the Comatorium |
| The Mothers of Invention Freak Out! |
| The Who Who's Next |
| Tool Lateralus |
| Unwound Leaves Turn Inside You |
| Vampire Weekend Modern Vampires of the City |
| Van Morrison Astral Weeks |
| Weezer Weezer |
| Wilco Yankee Hotel Foxtrot |
| Wolves in the Throne Room Two Hunters |
| The acme of Cascadian Black Metal. Natural beauty is channeled here in a way you'd never think possible in the hands of an extreme metal band. But to call this supremely calming and ambient record "extreme" seems a little misguided. You can get lost in the lush sonic expanse if you're not careful -- and once lost, you may not wish to find your way back again. This is living, breathing music. A wonderful re-contextualizing of Norwegian BM tropes. The macabre becomes the triumphant. The bleak becomes... well, bleak - but tempered by awe in the face of nature. This is the best kind of cultural appropriation and there needn't be any controversy. |
| 4.0 excellent |
| Akira Yamaoka Silent Hill 2 |
| Alcest Souvenirs D'Un Autre Monde |
| alt-J An Awesome Wave |
| Animal Collective Feels |
| Animal Collective Merriweather Post Pavilion |
| Animals As Leaders Animals as Leaders |
| Arcade Fire Funeral |
| Arcade Fire Reflektor |
| This was a pleasant surprise. The bombastic, but ultimately empty anthemics of earlier Arcade Fire releases is redressed here with a healthy dose of cheesy fun. There's still plenty of OTT emoting, but Win Butler sounds a little more self-aware this time around. James Murphy's influence is much appreciated. Synths often take precedence over guitars, highlighting the dance punk qualities of the band's sound. Love the clear and airy production on the back end of the album, too. |
| Beck Odelay |
| Behemoth The Satanist |
| Big Black Songs About Fucking |
| Big Black Atomizer |
| Blind Guardian Nightfall In Middle-Earth |
| Bob Dylan The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan |
| Botch We Are the Romans |
| Burial Untrue |
| Burzum Hvis Lyset Tar Oss |
| Burzum Filosofem |
| Camp Lo Uptown Saturday Night |
| Cerce Tour Sampler CD-R |
| Cerce Cerce |
| Coldworld Melancholie² |
| Converge You Fail Me |
| Cynic Focus |
| Danny Brown XXX |
| Danny Brown Old |
| Darkthrone Transilvanian Hunger |
| Deafheaven Roads To Judah |
| Death Grips Government Plates |
| Dinosaur Jr. You're Living All Over Me |
| Dirty Three Ocean Songs |
| It's like looking on as something tragic transpires, but not feeling compelled to intervene. You just sit and watch. And it works out in the end. For post-rock, which so often courts the bombastic, this record displays impressive restraint. This is all very pretty and has some solid catharsis on offer. But crescendo-core it is not. It's too understated to evoke the infinite or inspire awe, instead it's almost parochial - could only be Australian. Docking a point because of length and some occasionally unmemorable passages. |
| Discordance Axis The Inalienable Dreamless |
| DJ Shadow Endtroducing..... |
| Dr. Octagon Dr. Octagonecologyst |
| Drudkh Autumn Aurora |
| Earl Sweatshirt EARL |
| El-P Fantastic Damage |
| Elliott Smith Either/Or |
| Emperor In the Nightside Eclipse |
| Fire! Orchestra Exit! |
| Flying Lotus Cosmogramma |
| Frank Ocean channel ORANGE |
| Fripp and Eno No Pussyfooting |
| Germ Grief |
| Vocals like banshee shrieks. Sparkling metal guitars, almost blackgazy. Really good stuff. Could do with being a little shorter. |
| Godspeed You! Black Emperor 'Allelujah! Don't Bend! Ascend! |
| Gris À L'Âme Enflammée, L'Âme Constellée... |
| This was a consistently beautiful album. I want to give it a 4.5, but I just think it's a little on the long side. As a result, its ebb and flow becomes more predictable as it drags on. The dramatic peaks and atmospheric interludes are nicely arranged, though. |
| Hella Hold Your Horse Is |
| Interpol Turn on the Bright Lights |
| Oh, this is that band fronted by 'Generic Post-Punk Vocalist #17?' I've been meaning to check them out for years. Heard great things. This album is chill, for the most part. Sometimes it's beautiful even. Trying my hardest to get lost in the expansive, rippling sound-scape, I definitely feel something. But it's faint. The lights flicker expectantly, before being snuffed out by the vengeful ghost of Ian Curtis -- icy cold, drained of vitality. EDIT: grows on you once you get past the vocals. |
| ISIS Panopticon |
| J Dilla Donuts |
| James Blake James Blake |
| Jesu Jesu |
| Joanna Newsom The Milk-Eyed Mender |
| John Coltrane A Love Supreme |
| John Frusciante To Record Only Water for Ten Days |
| Joni Mitchell Blue |
| Kendrick Lamar Section.80 |
| Kid Dynamite Shorter, Faster, Louder |
| Killer Mike R.A.P. Music |
| Korn Korn |
| Kvelertak Kvelertak |
| The most fun I've had with a black metal(?) record in a long time. Almost like listening to blackened party rock anthems. Maybe a little repetitive on occasion, but the album is a tasteful length, does not overstay its welcome. |
| Kyuss Welcome To Sky Valley |
| Lauryn Hill The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill |
| Leonard Cohen Songs of Love and Hate |
| Lisa Hannigan Sea Sew |
| Liturgy Aesthethica |
| Mac DeMarco 2 |
| Mark Hollis Mark Hollis |
| Mastodon Leviathan |
| Megadeth Rust In Peace |
| Metallica Master Of Puppets |
| Michael Jackson Thriller |
| Milo I Wish My Brother Rob Was Here |
| Milo Things That Happen At Night |
| Milo Things That Happen At Day |
| Modest Mouse The Moon & Antarctica |
| Morbid Angel Altars of Madness |
| NAILS Unsilent Death |
| NAILS Abandon All Life |
| Neil Young Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere |
| OutKast Stankonia |
| P.O.S Never Better |
| Pink Floyd The Dark Side Of The Moon |
| Pink Floyd The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn |
| Pixies Surfer Rosa |
| Portishead Dummy |
| Protest the Hero Kezia |
| Protest the Hero Fortress |
| Radiohead Hail to the Thief |
| Radiohead The Daily Mail/Staircase |
| Rush Moving Pictures |
| Serge Gainsbourg Histoire de Melody Nelson |
| Simon and Garfunkel Bridge Over Troubled Water |
| Strand of Oaks Pope Killdragon |
| Swans White Light From the Mouth of Infinity |
| System of a Down Toxicity |
| Television Marquee Moon |
| The Beach Boys Pet Sounds |
| The Cure Pornography |
| The Jimi Hendrix Experience Electric Ladyland |
| The Jimi Hendrix Experience Are You Experienced |
| The National Alligator |
| The National Boxer |
| The National High Violet |
| The Rolling Stones Let It Bleed |
| The Rolling Stones Beggars Banquet |
| The Smashing Pumpkins Siamese Dream |
| The Smiths The Queen Is Dead |
| The Stooges Fun House |
| The Velvet Underground White Light/White Heat |
| The Who Tommy |
| Time To Burn Is.Land |
| Torche Harmonicraft |
| TV on the Radio Young Liars |
| Weezer Pinkerton |
| Wormrot Abuse |
| 3.5 great |
| Animal Collective Centipede Hz |
| Atheist Unquestionable Presence |
| Black Flag Damaged |
| Bon Iver For Emma, Forever Ago |
| Burzum Det Som Engang Var |
| Cannibal Ox The Cold Vein |
| Chelsea Wolfe Unknown Rooms: A Collection of Acoustic Songs |
| Childish Gambino Camp |
| Cocteau Twins Heaven or Las Vegas |
| Saccharine sweet, but lacking nutritional value. Hoping it's a grower. Immensely likable, but not loveable (yet). |
| Coheed and Cambria The Second Stage Turbine Blade |
| Death Human |
| Eminem The Marshall Mathers LP 2 |
| Fripp and Eno Evening Star |
| Ghostface Killah Supreme Clientele |
| Grimes Visions |
| Husker Du Zen Arcade |
| Infest No Man's Slave |
| John Frusciante From the Sounds Inside |
| John Frusciante PBX Funicular Intaglio Zone |
| Killswitch Engage Alive or Just Breathing |
| The clean vox and the frequent, chugging bro-downs take away from the experience somewhat. But all musical snobbery aside, you have to be fairly soulless not to enjoy this stuff. This is really tight and catchy. And I'll be honest, a few of those bro-downs did get me awkwardly headbanging with headphones on, alone in my room at 2AM. Hey, I'm not going to deny what is essentially a good bit of fun. Metal can groove, too. |
| Mac DeMarco Rock and Roll Night Club |
| Mercyful Fate Melissa |
| Nas Illmatic |
| Neil Young After the Gold Rush |
| Nine Inch Nails Pretty Hate Machine |
| Angsty, grimy, vulnerable, suffering major growing pains. This is some profoundly adolescent music, but if you can get past that, you will find a synth pop record unlike any other. No twinkling, bubblegum wonderland here, just rusty razor blades and pounding machinery. At this point in Trent's development the industrial trappings are still just that, trappings. He is yet to realise the full potential of the aesthetic that would cement TDS as a modern classic. But this record represents a solid prototype for future projects. Things are taking shape. It's more than a curiosity. It stands alone, youthful, impetuous, and catchy as hell. |
| Nirvana Nevermind |
| Oneohtrix Point Never Replica |
| OutKast Aquemini |
| Paul Simon Paul Simon |
| Pink Floyd Animals |
| Porcupine Tree In Absentia |
| Porcupine Tree The Sky Moves Sideways |
| Queensryche Operation: Mindcrime |
| Radiohead The Bends |
| Radiohead The King of Limbs |
| Red Hot Chili Peppers Californication |
| Red Hot Chili Peppers Blood Sugar Sex Magik |
| Run the Jewels Run the Jewels |
| Sigur Ros Kveikur |
| St. Vincent Strange Mercy |
| Tame Impala Innerspeaker |
| Tame Impala Lonerism |
| The Flaming Lips The Soft Bulletin |
| The Jesus and Mary Chain Psychocandy |
| The National Trouble Will Find Me |
| The Offspring Smash |
| The Offspring Americana |
| The Roots Things Fall Apart |
| The Stooges The Stooges |
| The Velvet Underground Loaded |
| Thy Art Is Murder Hate |
| Tool Ænima |
| TR/ST TRST |
| tUnE-yArDs w h o k i l l |
| Vampire Weekend Vampire Weekend |
