In chronological order - newest to oldest
LOW - HEY WHAT (2021): 45 minutes of slow, plodding greatness. LOW is a band that revels in an idea, languishing it and exploring how it stretch it in every dimension. They have perfected this coming over 3 decades. But HEY WHAT is amazing. At times you are wondering how they managed to make a sound. What this album absolutely exceeds on is urgency. When married couple Alan and Mimi ask "Must be another day/how long must I wait?" and followed up later by singing "A mistake has been made/There's a price to be paid", there is a doomed feeling that suffocates the audience. It is experimental music at it's finest.
SOPHIE - OIL OF EVERY PEARL'S UN-INSIDES (2018): I have wrote lots of posts about this album, but it is the definition of perfection. It is art at it's highest degree. The first three tracks are expertly crafted electronic music before SOPHIE delves into 3 songs that push and challenge the audience. At times, it is not enjoyable, but music is not always supposed to be enjoyable. It is about the transition and journey. At the end of Pretending, SOPHIE segues right into the sugary highs of Immaterial, a song about loving yourself unconditionally regardless of gender, label, experience. SOPHIE transitioned genders under the spotlight of fame. There is something uplifting about someone singing "I was just a lonely girl in the eyes of the my inner child. But I could be anything I want and no where I go you'll always be in my heart". and you would be left with the impression that SOPHIE has come to terms with who she is. She has found happiness. However, Immaterial abruptly ends and 9 minutes of industrial, electronic chaos persist, leaving one with the question - what does personal growth matter if the world we are living in will demolish regardless?
Frank Ocean - blonde (2016): When Frank Ocean recorded Channel Orange, he crafted a dozen or so songs about other people and told stories about others. On blonde, Frank Ocean turns inwards and explores every inch of his mind. Auto-tune and voice modulation weave in and out of the songs, creating a distance from Frank's mind. The songs and their subjects are often opaque, only revealing themselves upon subsequent listening experiences. You leave a one hour experience not knowing Frank Ocean any better than when you went in. Only snippets of an artist content with distance.
Darkside - Psychic (2013): Slow, brooding electronic music meant for a walk at dusk. Immaculately produced, you can hear every guitar strum, every hit of the drum, every single note of the singers voice. Modern day music does often times have pristine production, but not in the way Darkside does. What is interesting is, in the face of the deliberate choice to have immaculate production values, is to often times obscure or wash out the vocalists making it often times near impossible to hear what he is singing. Even at his most accessible, Nicolas Jaar desires to confound and challenge.
Nicolas Jaar - Space is Only Noise (2011): Space is only noise if you can see is a call to action. Listen to the album with your eyes closed. Each instrument, each vocal, each section has depth to it. Every reverb intended to provide you the depth of the song. Jaar's desire is to not only evoke emotions and feeling with vocals and instruments, but how they can be presented in an audio landscape. This is the type of album that is required to be listened and experienced from front to back.
Sleater-Kinney - The Woods (2005): Front to back, Sleater-Kinney the Woods is the greatest rock album recorded this century. This is a band operating at full capacity, understanding that they thrive and excel when they all work together. Both guitarists and drummer are given chances to shine and both Corin and Carrie are given the opportunity to showcase their songwriting. The result is an exceptional album that encapsulates that is perfect about rock music.
Jay Z - The Black Album (2003): Jay Z excels at story telling. I am sure that others would more favorably the audaciousness of Kanye West, the coolness of Outkast, but to me Jay-Z is the peak of hip hop. Sure, there are moments that make you uncomfortable - homophobic slurs in his music, problematic off the hand remarks about Jewish individuals, instances where Jay-Z is misogynic against women. These are all fair and accurate summations of his music and potentially Jay-Z as a rapper. But artists and humans by nature are complicated and permitted to make mistakes. It was always interesting to me that The Black Album was dubbed a retirement album, because it honestly feels like Jay-Z at the top of his form.
2 Many DJS - As Heard On Radio Soulwax Pt. 2 (2003): Soulwax (ie, 2 Many DJs) have always been on the forefront of challenging the notion of dance music. Radio Soulwax Pt. 2 took the formula of what a DJ mix was and threw it out the window. There were others challenging the notion of DJ mixes - Basement Jaxx in the 90s were playfully expanding the palette of dance music. But Soulwax Pt. 2 abandons all pretenses of what is acceptable for a nightclub. In the first five minutes of the mix, they mix together Fuck the Pain Away by Peaches, Where's My Head at by Basement Jaxx, No Fun by the Stooges, I'm Waiting On My Man by the Velvet Underground and Push It by Salt N' Pepa. Nowadays, this is the normal. DJ felt less constrained by genre and more constrained with vibe and sound. As Heard on Radio Soulwax Pt. 2 is a marathon of ideas - can Dolly Parton, Rokysopp and Destiny's Child actually go together? Can you dance to the Breeders? Can we just throw Prince's sexual grunts midway through songs without context? It is astonishing in it's scope. The question of is this an album is even open. Traditional DJ mixes more closely resemble albums. Radio Soulwax Pt. 2 eschews the traditional format of an album and instead is just 50 or so songs spliced together in no way that resembles an album.
System of a Down - Toxicity (2001): Toxicity is a perfect album to me, because the composition and melodies are perfect, expertly weaving in genres unusual and atypical to heavy metal. Above all else, SOAD understand that a loud, catchy hook that works well for contemplation as well as the mosh pit works best.
Refused - The Shape of Punk to Come (1998): Has the band turned into a parody itself upon their return to music? Sure. But the highs of The Shape of Punk To Come are enormous. Sure, there are moments that one could be inclined to roll their eyes too. But that intrinsic to punk music. A band names a song concocting a political party based upon their band name - one could be inclined to die of embarrassment or to revel in the kick ass riffs.
Daft Punk - Homework (1997): It is very interesting how the first two Daft Punk albums have instructive titles. Discovery is about chartering a new path. Homework is about musicians at the top of their class thinking - how can we take the lessons from previous iterations of dance music and package it a-fresh. Every song hits hard. The production astounding. The dedication to their ideas admirable.
Bjork - Homogenic (1997): I typically have three criteria for what makes excellent music. Firstly, is the melody intriguing and listenable. Not necessarily catchy - but is the arrangement. Secondly, is there innovation. This does not need to necessarily be the introduction of a new instrument rarely used, but the deliberate goal of doing something different than one's predecessors. Derivative music is not excellent. Lastly, is there an idea that intrinsic to the artists or song that forces the listener to wonder about the music. This is a very long set-up to say that Homogenic excels in every one of these categories where most albums and songs are merely catchy. Bjork uses her songs and albums as a canvass to challenge, entertain and tell stories like no one else.
Bjork - Post (1995): I would be so intrigued to know what Bjork's thought process behind this album. "Lets craft a lush string arrangement where I whisper and all the sudden it becomes a big band where I just scream at the top of my lungs". Each song on this album has an impossible task of exceeding the song before it, but Bjork does set out to top what came before, but to go in a completely different direction.
Nine Inch Nails - The Downward Spiral (1994): How Trent Reznor conceived of this album is beyond me. He is the discussion for greatest of all time, especially with three back-to-back iconic albums. But Downward Spiral is the pinnacle of NIN, in my opinion.
Nirvana - In Utero (1993): I grew up on a certain type of grunge music. My dad enjoyed Pearl Jam, Soundgarden and, very specifically, Nirvana's Nevermind. Listening to In Utero, it is very interesting to me because it is incredibly clear that Kurt Cobain was a very troubled man, but also that Nirvana were exceptional, determined to define the limits of what pop music can do. The melodies are still catchy, but each song is intended lyrically and sonically to test it's audience.
De La Soul - 3 Feet High and Rising (1989): The ongoing tragedy of the 21st century is that this album cannot be consumed online anywhere. Sure, CDs, tapes and vinyls are fine, but how is an awkward 13 year old in 2022 going to discover the perfection
Michael Jackson - Thriller (1982): Thriller is an incredible feat of music that will never be recreated, but is also incredibly tragic. Michael Jackson is a complicated figure - even calling this album perfect may make some uncomfortable. How could a monster who molested children record a perfect album. My relationship with Michael Jackson has waned - I avoid listening to his songs and albums because of the notion that somehow this will go towards a legacy of child molestation and an estate dedicated to tarnishing victims. However, Thriller is the best pop album ever written and will very likely never be topped. Reconciling those two ideas can be difficult, but I am sure there is a way that people can consume this album ethically without giving money to the Jackson estate.
The Human League - Dare! (1981): The intersection between dance, pop, rock and electronic music is super interesting, especially at this time period. The Human League straddle that line every so carefully - you would not be faulted for categorizing this album as any of those qualifiers. The lofty and aspirational melodies mixed with the forlorn vocals of Phillip Oakley are so influential.
Black Flag - Damaged (1981): At 35 minutes, the intended goal of Damaged is an audio onslaught of noise and screaming. The pace is rarely if ever slowed down. Henry Rollins as a front man is so captivating - it is no wonder he has far extended past the legacy of Black Flag as an icon of pop culture. His vocal performance carries each and every track.
The Clash - London Calling (1979): What an exceptional album. The Clash saw what punk was becoming and decided to pivot to demonstrate that punk ought to become. They never faulted from this goal in future albums. The Clash saw where the line was and decided to push punk into a new direction.
Blondie - Parallel Lines (1978): This is not to slight the remainder of the band, but Parallel Lines is a showcase of Debbie Harry is a vocalist. The remainder of the album is excellent, but Debbie Harry elevates every track with an extraordinary vocal performance. Debbie Harry in so many ways became the blueprint for every female rock and pop star to come. I think about One Way or Another, and how at all times it feels the band is trying to keep up with Debbie, trying at each juncture to showcase her extraordinary talent.
The Ramones - Ramones (1976): In so many ways, the Ramones perfected punk. Ramones is the perfect punk album. It would have been acceptable for no one to try to follow it up, but others did very well. But it is a half hour of blissful melodies and juvenile attitude.
Stevie Wonder - Innervisions (1973): You can see the lines between Stevie Wonder and the songwriters who followed. Stevie Wonder tells stories about others in such a fascinating way, but always makes sure that the music marries together the sound and the stories. Stevie Wonder expertly contemplates not only the subjects of each song, but what is the music to accompany that story.
Herbie Hancock - Headhunters (1973): I actually never encountered Herbie Hancock until COVID-19. Same with Miles Davis. Jazz was just never something that overly interested me. Boy was I wrong. Jazz at it's height is precisely what Herbie accomplishes on Headhunters. An intriguing and relaxing soundscape to sink into.
Miles Davis - Kind of Blue (1959): The type of album you can put on a Saturday morning while getting ready for the kids and it just makes the world feel right.
