Top albums of all time (as of October 2024)
I decided to share with you my favorite albums of all time (as of October 2024). All these albums are 10/10 for me and I obliviously highly recommend all of them :)
공중도둑 (Mid-Air Thief) - 무너지기 (Crumbling) (2018)
Neo-Psychedelia, Folktronica, Psychedelic Pop
Mid-Air Thief is a mysterious Korean artist that makes unique and beautiful psychedelic folktronica soundscapes. This album has rich and warm textures, amazing production and a perfect blend of electronic and acoustic sounds. It transports you to a dreamlike and ethereal world where every sound is mesmerizing and beautiful. It's an incredible album that everyone should experience.
파란노을 (Parannoul) - After the Night (2023)
Shoegaze, Emo, Indie Rock, Post-Rock
Parannoul's popularity exploded in 2021 after the release of his second album To See the Next Part of the Dream, which got popular on rateyourmusic and other online music forums. His DIY and lyrically emotional approach to raw and noisy shoegaze resonated with a lot of people (myself included), and it almost felt like there was a desire, in this internet age world, for this exact type of music. In 2023, he released his third album, After the Magic: instead of the raw and self-loathing type emo emotion of the second album, this album was more hopeful and warm, less raw sounding and with more electronic sounds, a really magical and beautiful album.
After the Night is a live album that got released in 2023, a few months after After the Magic. This album contains Parannoul performing with a live band his best songs from both TSTNPOTD and After the Magic, and ending with a new 46min song, making it a clear homage to Long Season in Fishman's 98.12.28 Otokotachi no wakare live album (which is also one of my favorite albums that I will talk about later in this post). The live performance of his previous best songs arguably elevate them even more, and together with the mind-blowing new 46min song make this album one of the best things I've ever listened to.
Björk - Vespertine (2001)
Art Pop, Electronic, Glitch Pop
What can I even say about Björk that wasn't already said? She is one of the best, if not the best pop artist of all time, and in my opinion Vespertine is her best album. With themes of romance, sensuality and sexuality, this album is filled with groundbreaking and jaw droppingly beautiful music and passionate vocal performances. An otherworldly masterpiece.
The Brave Little Abacus - Just Got Back From the Discomfort—We're Alright (2010)
Midwest Emo, Experimental Rock
Emo doesn't get better than this: raw, intense, poetic, emotional, quirky and avant-garde. This album has complex layers of rich sonic textures and deeply emotive vocal performances, resulting in a kaleidoscopic cohesive chaos of instrumentation. The Brave Little Abacus, in my opinion, are the GOATs of emo music.
Car Seat Headrest - Twin Fantasy (2018)
Indie Rock
Car Seat Headrest released Twin Fantasy in 2011, but re-released it in 2018 after re-recording with some alterations, which in my opinion was a big improvement. This album is peak indie rock and is amazing both sonically and lyrically. The emotional struggles of adolescence and young adulthood were never portraited better in music.
Death Grips - The Money Store (2012)
Industrial Hip Hop, Hardcore Hip Hop, Experimental Hip Hop
The most foward-thinking ahead-of-its-time, almost futuristic in a way, experimental hip-hop that exists. Just pure mania, energy and bars. Extremely chaotic and at the same time extremely catchy, Death Grips just wrote banger after banger and called it a day. Just batshit insane music.
Fishmans - LONG SEASON (1996)
Neo-Psychedelia, Dream Pop, Progressive Pop
LONG SEASON is an album by the Japanese band Fishmans that contains only one 35min song. That song, however, is one of the most transcendental pieces of music ever - literally pure bliss. It's a perfect auditory experience, carrying us seamlessly through different emotional landscapes, immersing us in a reflective and dreamy state of existence.
Fishmans - 98.12.28 男達の別れ (98.12.28 Otokotachi no Wakare) (1999)
Dream Pop, Neo-Psychedelia
98.12.28 Otokotachi no Wakare is a live album by Fishmans, and it was their last release before the main vocalist Shinji Sato sadly passing away from heart failure. This is, in my opinion, the best live album ever recorded. It contains the best songs from Fishmans catalogue, and it ends with a 41min version of Long Season. Sato's beautiful live performance together with the transcendental instrumentation makes this one of the most magical pieces of art ever conceived. It’s pure, unfiltered joy and bliss. There's really no words to describe how good this masterpiece is.
Godspeed You Black Emperor! - Lift Yr. Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven! (2000)
Post-Rock
Lift Yr. Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven! almost doesn't sound like an album, but instead like an apocalyptic journey, an auditory experience, an epic and hypnotic piece of art. Its expansive and cinematic qualities evoke a sense of both despair and transcendence, culminating in cathartic peaks. Even though this album is primally instrumental, it is able to evoke profound emotional depth. It's a monumental post-rock masterpiece.
Have a Nice Life - Deathconsciousness (2008)
Post-Punk, Shoegaze
Depression drenched in layers of guitars and reverb. Lo-fi shoegazy philosophy. This album has a dark atmosphere and textural obscurity that evokes a nihilistic and deterministic sadness and despair. The cathartic peaks and raw emotional intensity together with the more atmospheric and melancholic passages, makes it a unforgettable listening experience.
Madvillain - Madvillainy (2004)
Abstract Hip Hop
Madvillain is a MC/producer duo that features MF DOOM and Madlib, and they released only one album together: Madvillainy. Madlib's original, experimental and flawless production together with MF DOOM's lyrical and rapping mastery created one of the best hip-hop albums of all time. Abstract and jazzy beats under genial lyricism, flow and delivery - an hip-hop masterpiece. (MF DOOM is, in my opinion, the best rapper of all time).
The Microphones - The Glow Pt. 2 (2001)
Indie Folk, Psychedelic Folk, Slacker Rock
Folky, lo-fi and poetic, The Glow Pt. 2 is an experimental exploration of love, loss, and self-reflection. The lyricism and songwriting by Phil Elverum (the man behind The Microphones) is so beautiful and able to capture complex emotions in simple, haunting lines. The sound of this album is also just so so good - with experimental and avant-garde folky and indie rock elements he's able to create vivid immersive imagery and raw emotional landscapes, sometimes more quiet and lush, other times more raw and distorted, but always perfect. This, together with his mastery of lyrical vulnerability and emotional depth, makes this album one of the best albums ever made. If I could give 11/10 ratings, this album would definitely be one of the few ones that would get it.
My Bloody Valentine - Loveless (1991)
Shoegaze, Noise Pop
Loveless is considered to be the most important shoegaze album, and one of the best albums of all time. It has influenced countless artists and is known as the “father” of shoegaze. Sonically innovative, the layers and layers of guitars, feedback, drones, noise and distortion create visceral and hazy walls of sound where the vocals and melodies are immersed and intertwined, resulting in a ethereal, dreamy, psychedelic, noisy and hypnotic mix of sounds. It pushed the boundaries of sonic experimentation creating mind-bending dreamy soundscapes - a masterpiece. Also, the album cover looks exactly how the music sounds.
Slint - Spiderland (1991)
Post-Rock, Post-Hardcore, Math Rock
Spiderland is a cold album, with an eerie atmosphere and an unsettling narrative style. It ranges from quiet spoken-word parts to screams and visceral guitar riffs. Lyrically surreal and ambiguous and instrumentally intense and harrowing, it leaves its listeners with a lingering feeling of unease. Dynamically unpredictable and emotionally raw, this album remains a timeless and influencial masterpiece.
Elliott Smith - Either / Or (1997)
Singer-Songwriter, Indie Folk
Mellow and depressive, Either / Or showcases Elliott Smith's ability to express emotional vulnerability through intimate and melancholic songwriting. This album is hauntingly beautiful and stunningly produced. Every time I listen to it I'm wowed by what Elliot Smith can do with his minimalist yet flawless approach to acoustic music, and how he intertwines it with moments of electric guitar and a more lush instrumentation. A singer-songerwriter masterpiece.
Swans - To Be Kind (2014)
Experimental Rock, Post-Rock
Swans are one of the most influencial experimental rock bands, known for their avant-garde experimentation and visceral music. Although Soundtracks for the Blind is often considered their best work, I find To Be Kind to be equally transcendental but slightly more cohesive and with more raw intensity and emotional focus. This album moves between meditative, drone-like passages and explosive, chaotic eruptions of sound and emotion, making it an immersive and almost physically demanding listening experience. An hypnotic and brutal piece of art.
Unwound - Leaves Turn Inside You (2001)
Indie Rock, Post-Hardcore
Leaves Turn Inside You is Unwound's magnus opus. This album takes the band's usual post-hardcore sound and twists it into something far more atmospheric, experimental, and expansive. The soundscapes they created, together with the emotional depth of their lyrics, are able to evoke a sense of bleakness and hopelessness while simultaneously feeling ethereal and otherworldly. An haunting and influencial avant-garde masterpiece.
椎名林檎 (Sheena Ringo) - 加爾基 精液 栗ノ花 (Kalk samen kuri no hana) (2003)
Art Pop, Art Rock, Progressive Pop
Kalk samen kuri no hana is an extraordinary album by the Japanese artist Sheena Ringo. Its eclectic noisy cacophony of instruments blends perfectly with her passionate and catchy singing. She is like an extremely talented mad-scientist of music. Dense, experimental, genre-defying and creative: an artsy masterpiece.
青葉市子 (Ichiko Aoba) - 0 (2013)
Contemporary Folk, Singer-Songwriter
How does she do it? How does she create such incredibly beautiful and immersive music with just an acoustic guitar and her voice? The two main elements of Ichiko Aoba's minimalist approach to music are her soft, serene vocals and her intricate fingerpicked guitarwork. This, together with subtle field recordings, achieves a dreamy tranquility, an otherworldly and intimate meditative soundscape. Although all of her music has these qualities, for me its in 0 that they are the most transcendental and stunning. A gentle and beautiful masterpiece.
I hope I was able to make you interested about some of these albums and that you'll enjoy them :) You can check my RYM account on my Links page.
- dan 15/10/2024