- Joined
- Jan 8, 2025
Popular (but not yet included) picks
The Flaming Lips - The Soft Bulletin
Admittedly less-than-perfect if you value strong vocals, a sound that isn't completely blown out and dislike dorky, sickly-sweet, vaguely-scientific lyrics that could have been written by children, but nothing can shake the love I have for this album. There's not a single bad second on here, and I'm continually floored by how it sounds. I have no clue how a vast majority of the sounds on this album were made, but I'm eternally grateful that they were captured and mixed onto this album.
Radiohead - Kid A
Everything that can be said about the music on this album has already been said, though I would like to add that I love the release and promotion of this album just as much as the music itself. I'm equally as interested in the "eras" surrounding my favourite albums as I am the music itself, as it helps me to better understand the mentality and reason for why the songs turned out the way they did. I love the lack of singles, making the album a completely blind experience for most, the goofy tent performance they did, the short television segments they ran (some of my favourite pieces of visual art), the photoshopped portraits of the band that Radiohead gave out to the media and the hidden booklet that was included in initial pressings of Kid A, which featured lyrics that would later appear on Amnesiac and Hail to the Thief.
Eels - Daisies of the Galaxy
Very interesting subject matter and one of the best albums within the indie rock genre. Contrary to the gruff vocals of Mark Everett, the lyrics on Daisies of the Galaxy are very carefree and innocent, which is a contrast I adore. Whether any of these songs relate to one another or contribute to an overarching idea is ambiguous, but I've always seen this album as a reflection on childhood from the eyes of parenthood, which is executed perfectly with how middle-of-the-road it is on a lyrical and instrumental level. It's about as urban as it is rural, and about as childlike as it is adult. It's worth mentioning that "Selective Memory" is the intended closer to the album - Eels' record label forced the band to put "Mr. E's Beautiful Blues" on the album as a bonus track. Both songs work very well as closers, though I think Mr. E's Beautiful Blues reduces the impact of Selective Memory when you listen to the album without that knowledge.
Sweet Trip - Velocity : Design : Comfort
A pretty big deal if you hang around any of the large online music communities, Velocity : Design : Comfort is the best electronic album I've listened to. It's a very tough album to describe - a lot of electronic albums root themselves in the futuristic and intangible, and this album does just that. It does the music goodly, I guess. It's about as melodic as it is harsh and atonal, which is rightfully quite polarising. The long track durations also don't do this album any favours if you aren't already feeling the music.
Deeper cuts
Pain - Full Speed Ahead
One of those bands that are satisfying to watch evolve, Full Speed Ahead is the final album from Pain, a punk band. Perhaps punk in name but not in spirit, Pain's music is very jovial and comical - an influence that likely comes from the interest that the frontman has in drawing cartoons. The comedic aspect of this album makes it very difficult to sell as a recommendation, but there's a surprising level of merit to the actual music, and the lyrics are all very clever with their use of wordplay and rhyming conventions. If you like "Right On" you'll more than likely enjoy the rest of the album.
Serani Poji - Manamoon
Among the most significant albums I've listened to, Manamoon felt like a step up in music when I first listened to it a few years ago. The album has some of the best mixing and production I've heard on any piece of music, simultaneously being very minimal yet incredibly lush at the same time. It's sadly both a Japanese album and a video game soundtrack, which means that it has a long, long way to go before it receives any of the recognition that it rightfully deserves.
Citrobal - My Caution Line
I'm cheating by including this one. It's a 25-minute EP, but I couldn't resist myself - it's the best album I've listened to in recent memory. It's another Japanese one, this time belonging to the singer-songwriter genre while also having a prominent bossa nova influence. The guitarwork on this album is sublime, and so are all of the vocal performances. The singer now works as a freediving instructor, which I think adds to how freeing and timeless the music is.
The Flaming Lips - The Soft Bulletin
Admittedly less-than-perfect if you value strong vocals, a sound that isn't completely blown out and dislike dorky, sickly-sweet, vaguely-scientific lyrics that could have been written by children, but nothing can shake the love I have for this album. There's not a single bad second on here, and I'm continually floored by how it sounds. I have no clue how a vast majority of the sounds on this album were made, but I'm eternally grateful that they were captured and mixed onto this album.
Radiohead - Kid A
Everything that can be said about the music on this album has already been said, though I would like to add that I love the release and promotion of this album just as much as the music itself. I'm equally as interested in the "eras" surrounding my favourite albums as I am the music itself, as it helps me to better understand the mentality and reason for why the songs turned out the way they did. I love the lack of singles, making the album a completely blind experience for most, the goofy tent performance they did, the short television segments they ran (some of my favourite pieces of visual art), the photoshopped portraits of the band that Radiohead gave out to the media and the hidden booklet that was included in initial pressings of Kid A, which featured lyrics that would later appear on Amnesiac and Hail to the Thief.
Eels - Daisies of the Galaxy
Very interesting subject matter and one of the best albums within the indie rock genre. Contrary to the gruff vocals of Mark Everett, the lyrics on Daisies of the Galaxy are very carefree and innocent, which is a contrast I adore. Whether any of these songs relate to one another or contribute to an overarching idea is ambiguous, but I've always seen this album as a reflection on childhood from the eyes of parenthood, which is executed perfectly with how middle-of-the-road it is on a lyrical and instrumental level. It's about as urban as it is rural, and about as childlike as it is adult. It's worth mentioning that "Selective Memory" is the intended closer to the album - Eels' record label forced the band to put "Mr. E's Beautiful Blues" on the album as a bonus track. Both songs work very well as closers, though I think Mr. E's Beautiful Blues reduces the impact of Selective Memory when you listen to the album without that knowledge.
Sweet Trip - Velocity : Design : Comfort
A pretty big deal if you hang around any of the large online music communities, Velocity : Design : Comfort is the best electronic album I've listened to. It's a very tough album to describe - a lot of electronic albums root themselves in the futuristic and intangible, and this album does just that. It does the music goodly, I guess. It's about as melodic as it is harsh and atonal, which is rightfully quite polarising. The long track durations also don't do this album any favours if you aren't already feeling the music.
Deeper cuts
Pain - Full Speed Ahead
One of those bands that are satisfying to watch evolve, Full Speed Ahead is the final album from Pain, a punk band. Perhaps punk in name but not in spirit, Pain's music is very jovial and comical - an influence that likely comes from the interest that the frontman has in drawing cartoons. The comedic aspect of this album makes it very difficult to sell as a recommendation, but there's a surprising level of merit to the actual music, and the lyrics are all very clever with their use of wordplay and rhyming conventions. If you like "Right On" you'll more than likely enjoy the rest of the album.
Serani Poji - Manamoon
Among the most significant albums I've listened to, Manamoon felt like a step up in music when I first listened to it a few years ago. The album has some of the best mixing and production I've heard on any piece of music, simultaneously being very minimal yet incredibly lush at the same time. It's sadly both a Japanese album and a video game soundtrack, which means that it has a long, long way to go before it receives any of the recognition that it rightfully deserves.
Citrobal - My Caution Line
I'm cheating by including this one. It's a 25-minute EP, but I couldn't resist myself - it's the best album I've listened to in recent memory. It's another Japanese one, this time belonging to the singer-songwriter genre while also having a prominent bossa nova influence. The guitarwork on this album is sublime, and so are all of the vocal performances. The singer now works as a freediving instructor, which I think adds to how freeing and timeless the music is.
