01/06/2025
This year I kept track of shit religiously. I have always been obsessed with data collection and spreadsheets, and this year I decided to archive some of my collections, recording more and more random things, for the sole purpose of having a long list to just look at, at the end of the day. I have a very hard time understanding the passing of a long time; I can perfectly conceptualize days, time-blindness in that category was something I trained myself out of (so much so that without looking at a clock I can guess over/under 5 minutes. Can everyone do that? It always feels impressive to me), but understanding an entire year feels impossible. If I say “I’ve been obsessed with this forever now,” in reality it’s probably been 2 months. “I get this meal every time,” I say at a restaurant I have been to once. “This has been on my mind so much lately,” when I remembered it an hour ago. A year feels endless, every year.
So what does 50 albums really scale out to, in one year? I’ve always been a constant music listener, but I took concentrated care to discover new stuff for myself this year, and thoroughly succeeded (in August, I listened to a new album almost every single day, I made it to 27). These albums totaled up to 635 songs, and 2,357 minutes of deep-diving sonic exploration. Well some are deeper cuts than others, but nonetheless, I found a much richer understanding of what I enjoy listening to, thanks to my obsessive effort to record.
For this rank & review, yes, I technically listened to 51 albums, but only one I rated 0 stars, and 50 is such a great number for a list like this, so I left it off. My star rating versus the numbered rank has to do with the two different metrics I measured these albums: album cohesiveness & track takeaway (what I actually added to my library). If you think my opinions on any of these albums are golden, or objectively wrong, please text me or DM me on instagram and we can discuss it over a candle lit dinner. Genuinely reach out. Because the liking gap is smaller than you think.
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Let’s break this down into chunks: the first 25 I’ll try to be brief about, to give you a little momentum reading (except this first one, the album that landed dead last needs some context). But, I’ll give the star rating, only 1 highlighted track, and a fitting recommendation of it being worth your time or not.
Highlighted Track: Cannibal House Rules
Lame, uninspired, disappointing. Anyone can make bland faux 80s pop and this album is unfortunately proof of this. Mainly disappointed that he isn’t doing the weird voice that I find the most intriguing about his work, as well as a lack of creative lyrics. It is really crazy that only the title track is good -- makes you think he wrote it first and just lazily piled everything else on. The album cover sucks as well. But! I really do love the title track. And the worldbuilding of the music video is FASCINATING and I would have loved to see more of that direction in the album as a whole. This hurt to listen to, and it hurts to write, because I have such a fondness for Jonathan Something’s music that this experience, even though so bad, does not deter me in any way from seeking out new music from him.
Highlighted Track: Saint European King Days
Middling ambient music… not much to say! A time-killer with a nice album cover. Not much thinking to be done. Would not recommend.
Highlighted Track: New Year’s UnResolution
With a title so shocking, I expected a lot more. Messy around the edges, too many interludes, and sleepy in content. I discovered them through their addition to the I Saw The TV Glow Soundtrack, Green, which is just so magical, I expected that dimension through this album. I did, however, enjoy the 7 second interlude in which they just say “Oh wow a bird.” Would not recommend.
Highlighted Track: Sun Moth
Too weird, even for me. Just could not get into it. Would not recommend.
Highlighted Track: Hierophant
Powerful vocals all around, but I keep trying to force myself to like metal music and it’s just not working. If you like drone/siren metal then give this a try, it’s short.
Highlighted Track: How Many Mics
I liked the hip hop better than the more RNB stuff, which surprised me. Idk guys I don’t think I get the Lauryn Hill hype sorry if I get crucified for saying that. Would recommend it for classic hip hop fans. Also Killing Me Softly just goes way beyond this album so don’t count it in this opinion.
Highlighted Track: Ball of the Dead Rat
The first song tricked me and I thought this was just going to be some absurdist-swing-Will Wood shit, but it had a nice variety. Not really my vibe, but I like the main singer’s voice. Would not recommend.
Highlighted Track: Beginner’s Guide to Destroying The Moon
I have a complicated relationship with this album. I like Foster The People a lot, and I really liked a lot of these tracks, but I think it’s just a messily arranged album and that was distracting enough that I had to give it such a low score. Just felt like some similar songs on shuffle. But I think indie rock fans could easily give this one a go and be happy.
Highlighted Track: Lost In A Dream
Listened to this on the perfect day. Great relisten quality and super mellow. A refreshing sound for Andy Shauf’s work, but still comfortingly familiar. Just put this one on as super calm background music.
Highlighted Track: Genes
I had previously heard Wasteland, and thought “Wow! I love this sound! Let me see if this artist has songs like it!” and it turns out, every song on this album sounds like Wasteland, and I realized I was just happy with Wasteland. A lesson in greed, I guess. Listen to Wasteland or Genes.
Highlighted Track: Emotional High
The shortest album on this list lasting a grand 17 minutes, it’s fast paced, and lives up to its name. A nice collection that defines the band’s sound, and great for passing the time montage-style. Would recommend it.
Highlighted Track: It All Feels Right
Feels so explicitly written to smoke weed or do psychedelics while listening. Very layered and that means that there’s a lot of relisten quality to find more and more things each go around, but content-wise, it’s boring -- there’s not much of a concept past “I’m greening out dude! Watch me hit the ceiling!” If you like “chillwave,” sure, this seems like a staple.
Highlighted Track: (Being ambient, the whole album feels like a package, do not separate)
Heathered Pearls is one of my favorite artists ever, and I was really happy to hear this album. It was shocking to actually hear spoken words, but I loved all their features, and cohesively it felt like another place to visit from time to time. It’s only this low because I relisten only in certain circumstances, it does not have longevity as tracks folded into my library. I think I would recommend other Heathered Pearls albums before this one, for ambient fans.
Highlighted Track: Twist
Now you may be asking, what are you doing listening to Phish in the year of our lord 2024, and the answer would be… Okay well I was clearly at a low point, okay? LMAO. And I was also eating one of my all time favorite Ben & Jerry’s flavors, Phish Food, which I have devoured carnivorously for 2 decades, when I realized I had never listened to a single Phish song in my life. And wow yeah that is what exactly I expected. Almost turned on a Grateful Dead album right after but I said No I think I’ve maybe had enough of this thank you. For a rec Idk it’s fucking Phish, man.
Highlighted Track: Walkabout
Not every song on this album was a hit for me, but overall a very awesome sound. Just really interesting to listen to, and the vocals were entertaining. If you like weird vocals give it a shot.
Highlighted Track: Nos Siguen Pegando Abajo (Pecado Mortal)
Stumbled upon this album accidentally, it’s way out of my genrezone. It’s 80’s Spanish new-wave stuff, and an interesting listen. I think I’d be excited to hear more of his work, and I would prescribe this for someone who wants to also get out of their music comfort zone, but to something seemingly familiar.
Highlighted Track: Muddy River
Laurie Anderson I Love You. This album was really great and all the spoken word parts hit really hard for me (obviously), and I felt like I was on facetime with her. Overall, for me it does not have a lot of relisten quality due to its poetic & conceptual nature, but still manages to be a really fascinating project. If you know you like Laurie Anderson, for sure listen.
Highlighted Track: Here Comes A Regular
I ended up having high hopes for this album that didn’t come true :( But still thoroughly enjoyed it! I have a lot of love in my heart for The Replacements, and it helped that I was overly familiar with a few of the tracks already. Would recommend.
Highlighted Track: Mayonnaise
And another album I was kind of let down by LOL. But honestly I think this one needs to simmer for me, it’s got a great groove that can be explored easily again and again, and at the time I was forcibly trying to enter a Smashing Pumpkins era and unfortunately it did not work. But it will sneak up on me eventually, I am not immune to the (EEEEE)Enchanting voice of Billy Corgan. Would recommend.
Highlighted Track: One More Year
Getting extremely deep cut with this one. How did I never listen to this album before? It has been on my list since it came out, and it really makes me remember that when new albums come out I need to stop saying “Oh, I should make designated time to listen to it,” instead of just pressing play immediately. But, then again, it’s a nice feeling to turn on this album and go “Ohhhh so THAT’S Borderline!” and start attempting to sing along to the lyrics because I’ve heard the song a billion times but it still just sounds like “heebe HEE baaa boo shmeby DEE da do!” Wait this album came out Feb 2020 that’s so sad. Did it have a club presence at all??? Because trust and believe the universe where this album came out at the perfect time I would have been throwing ass in the club to Posthumous Forgiveness. Alright anyways yeah you’ve probably heard this album but just go listen to it again it’s fucking Tame Impala everyone loves Kevin Parker.
Highlighted Track: Whenever Wherever
Simple… delicate… floral… Her voice is truly one of an angel. This kicked off my August Album Adventure and it was the perfect way to start. Honestly I don’t listen to a lot of the tracks I pulled off this album, but somehow her hooks are CONSTANTLY in my head! Shows the real, trance-like presence she takes up in my mind… always calling me home to her garden… Easy listening, give it a Sunday morning shot.
Highlighted Track: Intimate
I didn’t realize just how many songs I knew off this album! Deeply lodged in an unknown corner of my brain, I discovered the memory of the pocket of time in which I listened to Apple Music (back when it was free) on my first iPhone, and I listened to Fleet Foxes and Crystal Castles Radios. The radio function on streaming platforms back then was primitive, and more like a playlist of the same couple songs, and when it ran out, it just played endless remixes of these EDM classics. Back then, I hadn’t established a library, or a way to save music in any way, so the names of songs and artists only stayed in my brain for the duration of any given song. But, the memory of the songs & melodies themselves are so firmly fitted into my adolescence subconscious psyche, that I’m sure it affects my every decision in every waking moment. Would recommend.
Highlighted Track: Rx Queen
It was a Deftones summer, and I wore the fuck out of this album. I really don’t know any track or title off the top of my head because all the songs sound the same and blend together, but that’s what I love about it. And it’s both what I wanted and expected. Can recommend to alt metal fans obviously, but maybe start with a different Deftones album if you haven’t already.
Highlighted Track: Judge Judy
Alright yes this album is awesome but it doesn’t break the top half of my list for a reason: it’s gotta incubate. When I was a flower delivery driver, I drove all around town & through the suburbs until sunset, in my 18 year old minivan. I dropped out of my high school senior year to finish my degree with a year of homeschooling (-- Have we talked about this? There’s a lot here we can discuss later), which was a fantastic decision, but it left me lonely having a vastly different day schedule than my friends still technically in school. So I spent that winter driving around, with no AUX cord, only a CD player and the sweet floral smells emanating from my backseat. I had heard 1 song off IGOR, and ordered the CD without listening to the rest, and then I listened to it every single shift at full volume. For me. IGOR is so deeply tied to exploding sunset skies, the smell of freshly blooming flowers, and a weird independent loneliness that pervaded my every thought. SO, naturally, Chromakopia had a lot to follow after my deep uninterest in Call Me If You Get Lost. This is a long, anecdotal way of saying that I adored the album rollout (and insane yearning fans of Frank Ocean) and although it did not really hit that hard in my first few listens, I hope that it finds me again at the right time. Maybe I get another delivery job… or move to a place where I have a 53 minute commute… much to think about as the winds of change catch momentum.
Highlighted Track: My Prayer
This album is crazy: if you have heard one song, you have literally heard every single one. They took the same chord progression and reused it 48 times. And it manages to not be annoying as fuck, I am genuinely interested at every new use of it. You know the tune from “I don’t want to set the world on fire … I just want to start a flame in your heart…” and its eeriness is enticing throughout the album. For a whole album, you don’t need to listen to the whole thing to get it, but this is a completionist’s dream.
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Okay so it seemed I lied about keeping things short. My bad. It will happen again. Top 25. I’ll reign in the personal anecdotes about how Music Changed My Lifeeee! (unless you are enjoying them?) and now you’ll get the genres of each album included in the info.
Highlighted Tracks: My Dead Girl / Raising The Skate / The Graduates
Genres: alternative/indie rock
I’ll admit, I went back and forth on this album a lot of the time. At times, it’s trying too hard to be edgy, too forced cool-girl -- but other moments feel really sincere and almost desperate. The instrumentation is strong in its awkwardness, and her slower speaking-singy voice is just as compelling as her loud, actual melodic singing. There’s a lot of really hypnotic moments on this album, she does a great job of building this weird experience of suburbia & elements of friendlessness. It’s a self-assured project, but there’s so much loneliness in a lot of the lyrics. I should definitely stew in the experience of the whole album again, but trust and believe My Dead Girl went platinum in my household.
Highlighted Tracks: Avocado, Baby / What Death Leaves Behind / Glue Me
Genres: indie pop
This may be one of my favorite musicians that play with EXCITEMENT!!! so much. The content and instrumentation of their songs are absurd & tinged with melancholy, but on every track this main singer sounds so unbelievably hyped. And I’m obsessed with an artist just getting so fucking excited to make their art. Further proved by the exclamation point in their name -- it’s there for a damn good reason!!! Everything is so catchy, and there are so many weird ear-catching phrases (They say you and me are tautology)(I’d excavate his throat of voice)(It won't get better, that doesn't mean it's gonna get any worse / You'll find a draft of a life-long love letter, signed to the man who will be driving your hearse). God this album is so much fun. And yes, his voice is slightly annoying, but that’s what gives it charm to me. Save this one for a summer walk. Or for the Little Miscreant in your life.
Highlighted Tracks: Lovely Allen / Choppers / Royal Gregory
Genres: dance/electronica
A sleeper hit for me. This definitely took some marinating in my mind over the year but I really came to appreciate its weirdness, and it definitely had a hand in shaping my own music/sound making practice. It has this frantic, fervent energy that makes your whole body dance and vibrate without permission. Instrumental only, it still takes you to these post-apocalyptic places that are still roaring with life and sound. If I was still a runner, this project would probably get me on my feet every fucking morning. For a dystopian John Wick club scene, and for me trying to hype myself up to finish the laundry and dishes as fast as I possibly can. Lovely Allen has been in my library for years, its romantic quality feels so much different from a lot of the other tracks, so it’s still my favorite. Full volume, scuttle around on the floor with the lights off, and truly feel like the fucking primal animal you are! Dr. Pepper: The Gathering, your taste in music is so interesting, I need your opinion on this album ASAP.
Highlighted Tracks: Von dutch / Sympathy is a knife / B2b
Genres: electropop, hyperpop
Is there much I need to say about this album? Probably not. You’ve heard it all by now. Loved this as a creative project, and loved what she did with the remix album. Did not love how it became an election symbol. That felt so weirdly unrelated to the content of the album, and super forced. I don’t really think Kamala Harris is doing cocaine in the club bathroom, but that’s just one man’s opinion. Anyways you like this album or you don’t, I don’t give a gaf. Sometimes it surprises me how high I have ranked it but then I remember listening to Von dutch for the first time, and that definitely felt like doing coke in the club bathroom.
Highlighted Tracks: The Unborn Capitalist From Limbo / Replica / Violent Moon
Genres: alternative/indie rock
Okay y’all gotta walk with me on this one. I LOVE a man with a freaky weird voice, if that’s not apparent by now. But this guy… got some Sinister storytelling in his weirdness that makes me feel this existential dread. The album cover seals the deal, but you know when you take a flash photo in front of a pitch black sky? That is the way this album makes you feel. There is something inherently Wrong with the world he has built, truly captured in some sort of musical limbo. It’s wandering, there’s repetitive motifs about the moon, and I am never sure what is real in the reality of this album. The most haunting string work I have heard since Take Care. And it does a fantastic job of not feeling like “scary” music -- it’s still inviting, it is gentle with its listeners. I feel so lost in this sphere, but I trust my guide. For my sad drunks: late night winter drunk walk home. Not too late, though. You might end up somewhere you can’t come back from.
Highlighted Tracks: Prayers/Triangles / Phantom Bride / [L] MIRL
Genres: alternative metal, shoegaze, early nu-metal
Alright more Deftones. I was honestly surprised I liked this one more than White Pony, knowing that it came out in 2016 and Deftones are more iconic for their older stuff. This is the sweet spot of metal that I enjoy, it’s a calmer drone, the vocals are as enjoyable as the instrumentation, and all the songs sound the same (in the best way possible). Listened at the perfect, miserable point in the summer, and then accidentally fell asleep with it on for like 12 hours so that definitely made a crater-sized impact on my musical statistics. This made me get why people are crazy about them, like they are just Good at music.
Highlighted Tracks: Space And The Woods / Random Firl / The Bears Are Coming
Genres: alternative/indie rock
FOR MY FREAKS FOR REAL. I cannot stress enough that if you love bizarre funk rock you have to indulge in this POST-HASTE. Every time I listen to any track off this, it reminds me of the time I got electrocuted by a Christmas tree. Unbelievably infectious songs that make me want to roll down a grassy hill in a tire. Only 3 stars because of album cohesiveness, but honestly I don’t care deeply about that. It’s more about the fact that there’s a good chunk of songs that I like less than others, but they still manage to have like 30 seconds where I’m throwing ass like my life depends on it. If I was a DJ, I would play Space And The Woods at every single set. I earnestly believe that in 2025, to survive, we MUST get freakier. So for the world’s sake, it’s your personal responsibility to find ways to make the world weirder. You must actively seek out the scary concreteness of the future, and rev up your jackhammer. You have GOT to find albums like this for yourself that make you want to do something insane, but worthwhile. My Katamari-Roadhouse Soldier, this one’s for you, get your ass on this now.
Highlighted Tracks: Cellphone’s Dead / The Horrible Fanfare (...) / Soldier Jane
Genres: alternative/experimental rock & electronic
Beck I Love You. Really awesome stuff as always. I am speaking directly into your ear. He elicits such visions out of me that seem so accessible, but just out of reach. Like what he understands about music and language is on the edge of my peripheral vision. Number 1 king of lyrics for me personally, nobody is doing this shit like him, except maybe like, Bjork. And well now I went down a small google rabbit hole and am listening to Beck remixes of Bjork. Anyways sounds in my FUCKING ears. This album is on the longer side but he can do whatever he wants forever idgaf. FUCK!! T-SHIRT THAT SAYS I LOVE MUSIC!!!!!!!
Highlighted Tracks: So Real / Lover, You Should've Come Over / Forget Her
Genres: rock
This is another pick where I am scared for my life that I didn’t rank it high enough. IT’S ANOTHER MARINATER, I PROMISE! There is a cult following for Jeff Buckley and specifically this album, so know that I was locked and loaded to be blown away. And at times, I truly was. The Hallelujah cover, the guitar work on every track, and previously I had only heard the chorus for Lover. And, naturally, hearing that song in full for the first time is a religious experience. Like holy fuck it’s really never over. Just romantically haunting every step of the way. Years before I was born, he famously died in Memphis, in the Wolf River. You can see the Hernando de Soto Bridge perfectly from the balcony of the Bass Pro Shop Pyramid, by the way. It’s pretty fantastical when lit at night. Makes you forget you’re standing on the ridiculous Bass Pro Shop Pyramid. You can also see most of downtown, and with a good eye you can spot the Clark building. It’s a landmark that eventually leads to the second-best grocery store, and a flower shop you never went into. And sometimes when you are somewhere else entirely, you can still hear the same leaves blowing and the same songs being sung. When Jeff Buckley sings, I think of a specter haunting a place I never expected to be a ghost to me.
Highlighted Tracks: Wasted On You / Norm / Sunset
Genres: indie
Forever grateful I got to see this live in a stripped-back concert of just him in an echoey church. It was beyond perfect for his work, especially for an album asking “Hey, what if God didn’t know how to love and was really insecure about it?” He is always so gentle in every delivery. Even when the story gets increasingly unnerving and leads to a terrifying climax, everything still feels like a soft blanket, dreamlike. My one critique with this concept album is the lack of the subject’s own perspective -- I think it would have solidified the terror of it all. Have you been slow dancing with yourself in your kitchen lately? If not, it’s never too late. You can spare 36 minutes on a Thursday night when your roommates aren’t home, and you burnt your dinner.
Highlighted Tracks: Microwave Dinner / California / We Don’t Need To Talk About It
Genres: alternative/indie rock
The first album I listened to this year! Usually, I really hate Hippy Folk-Punk Wild Man Screaming music, but something about Petey just captured me. There’s a sass to his hollerin’ that makes me feel like I’m listening to an old friend drunkenly karaoke a song out of their vocal range, or imagining a future friend retelling a story of sticking his head out the car window on a California highway. He has a way with words that feels familiar, but I feel like this album is unpredictable. The arc of the relationships and situations described throughout the album end bittersweet, but hopeful. I forgot how desperate I am for hope when I hear him. I also did not realize for the longest time that he is the same guy who makes esoteric TikTok comedy? This was certainly a realization to come to after being emotionally blown up listening to Microwave Dinner for the millionth time. There’s a certain cheesiness in this album, but it feels like it revels in making fun of the stupid parts while maintaining a certain charming composure. Humor as a certain vessel for nostalgia. It makes the serious parts all the more compelling, there’s still a lot of hidden messages everywhere. I make a lot of assumptions, but I feel like I know a Petey. Is he getting my secret messages? Probably not. I do often wonder if he’s curious enough to read any of these blog entries, he does like my writing. If you are, I like you better in your more serious works. It makes it both more enticing, and funnier, to watch you dance.
Highlighted Tracks: Moon Tower / House / I’m Not Where I Need
Genres: indie, shoegaze
Christ. Another choice that hit me at the perfect time this year -- and like an 18 wheeler. I just remember walking to the grocery store a lot with this playing. It always felt cinematic, because the grocery store parking lot sky effect was almost always in full swing. This may be my favorite content + cover + title combination, it really significantly feels like going to a new physical place, a concept I have been obsessed with trying to capture ever since I watched The OA. And where it takes me is a delicate, fragile place, but I still feel safe. It’s all too familiar, and I go back and back time and time again. Themes of loneliness and friendship and home. The vocals are quiet and masked to a degree, it makes the lead feel hidden, inaccessible, but still willing to be vulnerable. My favorite thing about this album is that through many, many listens, I still know so little of the lyrics. It feels made to let me mumble through every melody without judgement.
Highlighted Tracks: Billions / Crude Drawing Of An Angel / Butterfly Net
Genres: experimental pop, avant-pop
Bro HOW WAS I SO LATE TO THIS ALBUM. Like guys come on why did no one I know put me onto this. How could you leave me in the dust like this. Well, nevertheless, I first listened to this album on loop, on a cold March morning while I was building a monument to endless cycles. I was working in a room, sweating, as it filled with sunlight. Have you spent time watching people stand in direct sunlight? It’s like elevated people-watching, you have no choice but to fall a little in love with them (it’s happened to me a few too many times -- don’t do this). This whole album basks in blinding sunlight. I was really surprised, as throughout this year I claimed I have “little taste for pop,” but calculating this list and really combing through how many pop picks I had, this one easily soared to the top. It may be the album cover, it may just be Sunset, but christ, I give it a listen every time I need a hit of vitamin D. Fight-Club-Sonic-Underground I suggested this to you a while ago in passing, but seriously, devour it.
Highlighted Tracks: Soft Scene / Selectallcopy / Becker
Genres: shoegaze, alternative rock
Another one I sort of stumbled upon, I don’t know what I expected, but fully has my attention. Change My Head has been in my library for a while, but I was starting to get sick of it. I saved this album a long time ago, I liked the title and the cover, but I think I avoided it in fear of wasting my time. I was always just on the verge of deleting it from my mind entirely. But literally all the rest of the songs are better than Change My Head. Swimming through this album is weird, I felt like I was in some sort of trance, and initially rated it lower, but over time I have succumbed to what it wants. And I’m having a hard time even now, while listening, trying to describe it. My head is dunked underwater and I am being told things I need to listen to, but the words just pass through. There’s some sort of impartial importance being imparted to me intrinsically -- but when passed through the filters of gentle but screeching guitar, off-kilter drums, and the delicate hand of a music producer, it just loses cosmic meaning -- but retains my interest. The familiarity of a dark room becomes haunting. This album begs for visuals, but I’m a proponent for letting the need to clash audios & visuals to stay unsatiated. For those who are looking to investigate the voidlike space that resides right between your brain and your skull.
Highlighted Tracks: Houdini Crush / General Dome / Hard Times
Genres: indie pop, experimental rock
WEIRD! I don’t know what the fuck is going on at any point in this album. Thoroughly unclear and taken through a blender: The Way I Love Music. More artists (beyond musicians) need to be obtuse and confusing on purpose. Not just saying this because I am tired of having to have a point and then explain myself. I promise. But this project is repetitive in all the right points, and feels like it was written via fridge poetry. Every hook gets snagged in my head constantly, and this is another album where I miraculously forget the title of every song. This leads to a fun game I get to play with myself: it starts when I start singing “Put onnn a happy face, put onnn a happy face …” and then think, “Wait, which one is that?” which leads to me searching Buke & Gase in my library, clicking each song. And after hearing the first 5 seconds of any of my guesses, I think, “Well this isn’t it, but CHRIST this song is so good, hold on I’ll listen to this song first before figuring it out.” And through this method of searching, I do indeed finally figure out the hook I was looking for is from Metazoa, but in the process, I have listened to the whole album, and have every other hook stuck in my head. The pounding drums in every track have certainly led this album to becoming a strong heartbeat that is easily heard anywhere in my library. An album with the BPM for those who really often think about how skipping like a child could get you to your destination much faster, and you would do it, but fear societal judgement.
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I love you if you have read every single one of these entries. I’m expecting recommendations, from the die hard esteeayen-heads out there, even if you think you might be way off base. I don’t care, I’ll listen to it just for you. Top 10. You get the release year now, for shits and giggles. Buckle up.
Highlighted Tracks: Kin to Coal / Drowned in Water and Light / Black Leaves and Broken Branches
Genres: avant-garde, industrial electronic
Year: 2014
Christ, I love sounds. I say that constantly and sometimes I’m saying it because it sounds stupid to say but jesus christ on the fucking cross sound is a medium that we do not talk about in the same way as visual art and it makes me insane. The concept of sound feels like this entirely hidden world that you must explore the murky depths of alone. It’s so personal. It’s in your head! How much more intimate can art get! Vessel does a fantastic job of navigating that dark place between sound and music. The familiar and the foreign tell a story that forces you to just focus and listen. There’s things in the album that make me so curious, asking “what POSSIBLY could have created that sound?” and yet, I’m more than content with its mystery. I desperately wander the world in hopes that I’ll hear that sound down the street, within earshot, but the source just out of eyeshot. There’s a powerful effect when you listen to this album for the first time in the winter, as well. It’s desolate, titles alluding to a dark world, but I want to stay in that world for as long as I can. And it’s funny how Red Sex was used seriously, and then kind of clowned on, on TikTok LOL -- by the way, I highly recommend the re-strung version, much more haunting. Vessel was my #1 artist on Spotify Wrapped this year, and everything they do is just a perfect stunner for the end of the world. I would say you should listen to this album in your descent into madness, but that feels cliche. Maybe give it a shot when you get back from Wonderland. For revenge…? Against the opps or yourself, dealer’s choice. Just make sure you are keeping your eyes closed.
Highlighted Tracks: The Magician / Begin Again / Alexander All Alone
Genres: indie
Year: 2016
Yes this is the THIRD Andy Shauf album on this list because I LOVE him and will FOREVER listen to anything he makes. Just knocked it out of the park with this one, his concept albums always feel so fresh and weirdly-worded that they catch the ear off guard. Finding the connections between the characters is so satisfying, and the atmosphere at being at a party where you kind of don’t belong is so delicious. It feels voyeuristic at times (which is funny, compared to Norm). I just love his characters so much, and I feel like I never hear music just like his storytelling. The timeline of the party is really interesting too, and at some point someone dies?? Kinda?? And it’s brushed over/reality is changed by the next song. It’s just so easy to believe his realities. I also keep taking turns of phrases from his work that are kind of non-sequitur and mixing them into my vocabulary, so if you hear me say “It’s the city the size of a dinner plate,” he’s to blame. All of his work feels like these really intimate glimpses into these people’s lives and it is easy for him to slip in and out of these different personas. I am obsessed with him forever.
Highlighted Tracks: You Can’t Have Your Cake and Ego Too (Happy Birthday) / See / You Always Said
Genres: indie, shoegaze
Year: 2021
It’s so easy to get lost in this one, it’s so dreamy and alluring. Music I am dying to hear in someone’s basement. A garbled trip through hypnotic guitar and percussion, another one of god’s little tests. I became obsessed with this one pretty quickly, and it feels pretty short. You ever wake up in the morning after a long, hard night, and melt away in the shower? This is like being washed down that drain with teal and purple soap bubbles. Like getting closer and closer to the echoey voice calling to you at the end of the pipe. This is also definitely one of those mind-clearing albums, so trying to say something coherent is proving a little difficult. Music for forgetting your sandwich at home but kind of not caring. Music for walking to Burger King and missing a turn, but kind of not caring about that either. I love the Audiotree live session a lot, they perform live as well as they do recorded. Guy I Had A Crush On In Freshman Year you would love this one.
Highlighted Tracks: Thank You for the Violets / Outlandish Poetic / Out on Death Row
Genres: baroque pop
Year: 2018
Okay do you remember the beginning of this list? In which I heavily dragged the artist known as Jonathan Something? I had to destroy him for his shortcomings because of this album. This album is fantastic. An excellent storyteller and the title serves it well -- these stories are fucking weird. Also look at that genre, have you ever heard “baroque pop”? It’s exactly what it sounds like. He has such a knack for arranging words in a really deliciously absurd way. It’s hard to predict what’s gonna come next. And he builds these weird worlds, where usually I feel I’d like to escape into them, but there’s something about these that are so… Karmic? Slyly Nefarious? Full of Funny Punishments? I enjoy being on this side of the glass. If he decides to leave behind music, he’d be a great crafter of slapstick torture in hell. One of my favorite things about him is that it sounds like he’s trying to do a Bob Dylan thing with his voice, but, kind of half-heartedly? Like you could sing every single one of his songs in a Bob Dylan voice and it would work. Now, the title track of this project holds a very special place in my heart, as for my freshman performance art assignment, I blasted this song as I ran as fast as I possibly could through the entire school, holding a raw salmon fillet. It was exhilarating to become the leader of a school of fish. I highly recommend it. This album is a blast, you’ll be a little confused but just let him do his thing.
Highlighted Tracks: Untitled / NYC / Say Hello to the Angels
Genres: indie rock, post-punk revival
Year: 2002
God where do I even start with this one. This is a classic indie rock record and it makes sense, their sound is electric and you can practically smell the musty dive bars it’s being played in. There’s something so alluring about Paul Banks’ vocalizations, lyrics feel like enchantments. My experience with this album is really specific, I took an industrial stick welding class this year, and just listened to this album on repeat the entire month. Welding is loud, and even though this was turned up all the way, it still kind of exists in my head in a weird way where I don’t think I can ever really comprehend this album all the way through, because I was always just hearing it and never being able to actually listen. It’s a little too locked in with my subconscious that I immediately feel like I need to be doing something with my hands (and maybe the sharp smell in my nose isn't a musty dive bar, but the stench of burning steel). But I feel like this works for that enchanting feeling, like things are being said plainly, but there’s something powerful to be found when I’m not really paying attention. I do not think I could experience this year again. I think it would kill me. Too many gigantic milestones and mind-altering challenges. But the brief months of May and June when I was heavily experiencing an Interpol phase, things felt briefly palatable. I am praying that I find an artist that saves me the same way in 2025.
Highlighted Tracks: AM I NOT YOUR BOY / NO WAY / HANGMAN
Genres: progressive hip hop, noise pop
Year: 2014
Turns out everyone was ALSO onto Young Fathers before me! What the fuck guys! Scientists are asking “Why does it feel so satisfying to find a really good artist that no one you know has heard of?” with no luck of an answer. Do I really have such a desire to be the most specialest girl in the world? Anyways, really fucking haunting stuff. Raw and bombarding. I don’t know how much I can describe about this album without feeling like I’m… giving it away??? There’s no flashy twists or surprises, it’s consistent throughout, but there is something so magical of having no expectations with this. This is definitely in my top albums that I would do ANYTHING to listen to for the first time again. Instrumentation & vocals are so representative of each other, a perfectly mixed and produced project all around.
Highlighted Tracks: Sore Spores / Shimmychick / Ginger (Water Birth)
Genres: psychedelic, dream pop, indie folk
Year: 2011
Like a lot of albums on this list, this one is number one proof that my favorite music is literally just music made by sirens. I was literally meant to be a sailor, dashed upon the rocks by the mirage of beautiful women, but I digress. This album just consistently blows my mind over and over. Its gentleness feels so rewarding. Unlike what I just stated about the last album, listening to this one feels like listening to it for the first time, every time. It found me at the exact right time, too, perhaps at my worst point of the year. I was preparing to travel for unfortunate reasons, my paranoia was at its worst, I felt sick all the time, and I couldn’t sleep at all. It felt like I was sleepwalking all the time. Things were becoming murky and indiscernible. So, naturally, you’d expect that something real and grounding could place me back into a reality that was understandable, but it became clear I wanted the opposite. This album’s world lives in that sleepwalking place, like a spinning coin that’s unsure if it’ll ever fall. Soft, never-ending melodies and harmonies that feel like they are coming from your own subconscious. Creation myths and delicate little tinkling of xylophones. I would say I got lost in this album, but it makes me feel more clear than ever. Music for doing your laundry and taking your time at the grocery store. Honestly music for just existing. Isn’t that just laundry and groceries though? How wonderful is that.
Highlighted Tracks: I can’t pick a favorite. Seriously listen to every track.
Genres: indie rock, post-punk revival
Year: 2007
If you listen to any album off this list, please, for the love of GOD let it be this one. CHRIST PLEASE LET IT BE THIS ONE!!! Everything about it is a perfect album to me: arrangement, instrumentation, vocalization, lyrics, FUCK!!! Jump started my Interpol obsession with the power of one thousand car batteries. It’s somehow so gothic? The first track is so moody and feels so final, it makes for such an interesting start to this project, to already feel so desolate before we’ve even gotten anywhere. But, with tragedy, it’s not a spoiler that we know things won’t end well -- no, the excitement lies in the discovery of how bad things can really get. I love this weird, downward path that we explore through every track, it makes you feel somewhat responsible for wanting more of this story and to see where it goes. And yes, I say that albums have “worlds” and stories a lot, and sure, a lot of them on this list may be less unified than I give them credit for, but I don’t give a gaf. Because this one fucking rules. I’m getting to this point of obsession with these final albums that I don’t even know how to articulate myself anymore. You have to just trust me at this point because I’m just like foaming at the mouth banging my head on the wall with excitement thinking about The Heinrich Maneuver. C’mon guys there’s a track where the narrator thinks a threesome will solve all his relationship problems WHAT else can you want from an album.
Highlighted Tracks: Watching T.V. / That’s My Floor / Image
Genres: synth pop, prog pop, electro pop
Year: 2024
Where do I possibly start? How can I possibly even start to describe this album? How do I even conceptualize that I will be seeing it performed live in April? If eating a computer tasted like blue raspberry. Like falling down the stairs of an MC Escher building and hitting your head on a silk pillow. When you crawl into the skin of a disco ball and find a little alien playing drums on the inside. An obvious gigantic hit from Magdalena Bay, and probably a bunch of people’s album of the year. So unbelievably danceable and carefree. An instant crowd pleaser. Phenomenally mixed and performed, the visuals also hold a lot of creative weight with the album. Existentialist pop is soooo in, we are doing amazing preparation for the imminent return of recession pop This album went triple platinum at every dance party at Club Stan. And also when I was working alone in the studio late and night and could run around and really put on quite the lip-syncing performance. Really a shame no one was ever around to see it. Such a staple in my library and pop culture for years to come -- an album that is truly shelf-stable. If you haven’t heard it already, it is never too late to shake ass to Love Is Everywhere.
Highlighted Tracks: I Got Heaven / Split Me Open / Sometimes
Genres: punk rock, noise rock
Year: 2024
This shit wakes you the fuck up out of summer stupor like no other. GOOD GOD! I have never screamed so loud at a concert. I probably haven’t screamed that loud in my life. Being in the same room with them was the most fantastic experience of my life. No other album turns my immediate surroundings into a mosh pit so quickly -- a ten-track invitation to forget what is going on for a second and start thrashing & screaming as loud as I can for about 7 seconds. This is what The Beatles sounded like to concerned parents in the 60’s. Makes me feel like I could rip something’s throat out. I am crazy about this album. Amongst the harshness of it, between wailings, her voice is so gentle and sweet. And I know that she is quite literally whispering sweet nothings in my ear. God this album is so romantic. One of those albums that are stolen directly from my diaries, I think. Too much is right on the nose. Marisa Debice literally has one of the most angelic and scary voices of a generation. Her switch-ups mid-song are incredible. I don’t know if I have a very clever or colorful anecdote for this finale, but I can tell you this much: I spent a lot of time in the library this past summer. If I was not at work, my ass was on the non-fiction floor perusing the shelves 331 (Labor Economics), 792 (Ballet), and 622 (Mining Operations), like I hadn’t already checked out every book in those sections. And so naturally, when you go to the library a lot, you really spend an equal amount of time walking to and from the library. And I spent quite a lot of time using this album as fuel for my short little commute. And a lot of those commutes were spent fighting the sticky sweat from my tank top making contact with my backpack as the sun blazed overhead. I walked past my destination several times, kind of exhausted from heat, but so entranced by everything about this that I felt I needed to see the whole project through, while moving or exercising on some level. Because the reward of movement while listening is definitely a form of processing catharsis. And as I have told you before, looking at people in direct sunlight is love to a degree, but staring right at the sun? That feels like nothing other than pure devotion. I have spent a lot of my life staring at people who are suns (I cannot recommend this less!!!), so to see someone on stage perform with the grace, the anger, and the beauty of a million burning suns, well it makes it impossible to feel so devoted to anything else (therefore, my recommendation of not staring, is null and void). Devotion is worth the sweat produced.
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I love that you let me indulge in my little fantasies. This fantasy being that I can write interesting music reviews and sneak in some poetry & confessions when you aren’t thinking about it. Please tell me if you ever listen to this stuff, or read this at all, because figuring out comments in html is beyond my paygrade. But seriously I love recommending music to people. I’m only human!!! Also do you remember the liking gap I mentioned at the beginning of this? I was really serious. You wouldn’t be reading this if I didn’t like you. Like I really don’t let people who annoy me follow me on Instagram.
So get ready, I’ve already listened to four new albums, and I’m prepared to reach 100 albums this year for an ultimate album smackdown. I don’t really have New Year’s Resolutions, but I do have a 5,000 point plan I am crafting to survive my early twenties (not kidding). But I think the closest thing I have to a resolution is to make more outlandish art, and specifically, absurd but palatable sound art. You can tell that I’m really normal about the qualities of sound and the emotional responses they elicit, so I’m hoping that my work can do that for someone else. I just want to play over and over in your head, and give you no reason to stop hitting rewind.
Here is a playlist compiling my recommended tracks. Enjoy.