10 Albums You Need To Listen To… Immediately.
10 albums you need to listen to now. That’s it. So, in no particular order –
Death of a Ladies Man - Leonard Cohen
When this album was released, it was met with incredibly horrible reviews and is still often referred to as one of Cohen’s weakest projects. I mean, the man himself essentially disowned the record. Buuut, regardless of the critics of the 70’s, this record is absolutely magnificent and so so charming. It sounds straight out of a 1940’s Fritz Lang noir film and lyrically truly embodies the most intricate aspects of Cohen’s songwriting – his history as a poet really shines through on this album that is so far ahead of its time. Thematically – it’s brilliant. It’s sexual, theatrical, it battles masculinity, and sounds nothing like what was coming out at the time. People say it’s overproduced, but, that’s something that I really enjoy about the album. I think it was so very important for Cohen to do something different and that he did – the title track speaks for itself. One of my favorite songs and overall one of my favorite records of all time.
69 Love Songs - The Magnetic Fields
Stephin Merritt the man you are. Never did I ever think that 69 love songs could cover everything about love. And it can’t. But man oh man does this record do a fantastic job at talking about so much. This album kind of sounds like a playlist if that makes sense – there are so many genres covered in ways that follow the lyrics and ulterior meanings behind the tracks – and with Merritt’s dead, baritone voice they allow room for the listener to project and adapt their own feelings into the songs. The songs are simple yet so meaningful – the big moments about love we hear from the likes of Jeff Buckeley can sometimes separate the author’s experience from the listeners, but on this album, everyone’s experience of love counts.
Untrue - Burial
Probably the coolest and most mysterious guy of all time, William Bevan’s second and last studio album was and is such a critical and monumental piece in electronic music’s history. He explores themes of love, loss, loneliness through an eerie, ambient lens all while having none of the professional tools to do so. What I mean by that is – Untrue was made on SoundForge, so, every drum clap was manually placed, and every vocal chop was eyeballed and hand-cut. The imperfections on the record are imperative to what makes it feel like it's alive, all for the emotional essence and detail of human labor. After Untrue was released, everyone wanted to sound like Burial. This album is atmospheric, intuitive, and a must-listen for anyone who enjoys electronic music.
Comment Te Dire Adieu? - Francoise Hardy
“How can I say goodbye to you?” is definitely one way to title an album. Hardy was the cool mysterious girl of French pop music and skyrocketed to new levels of respect and depth with the release of this record. Written through the lens of elliptical, distant women, Hardy finds the crosspaths between emotional ambiguity and emotional excess. Thematically the tracks are never asking for a perfect love story, they are about second thoughts, they speak at you with emotional grunt and honesty instead of trying to find a “fix to the problem”. It’s a masterclass in songwriting and storybuilding and is definitely something that everyone needs to hear.
Ramadan - ee
The San Francisco band’s debut album holds a fragile space that not many bands can attain. Covering themes of restraint and breaking egos – it’s an indie record that always left me puzzling why it never got more attention. The tracks aren’t rushed, they’re playful and precisely hand-crafted yet let themselves play out over time making the listeners really pay attention to everything that’s being offered. The album sits with uncertainty, and has that same sort of distorted, low-production feel as something like Elliot Smith’s self-titled album. It was released during a time where indie music was all about hooks and visibility but instead stayed away from that completely, reiterating that the fragile space that the record holds is rooted in its sincerity, discipline, and lack of extravagant revelations or self admissions.
In the Aeroplane Over the Sea - Neutral Milk Hotel
I don’t think anyone that knows me would be remotely shocked that I’d have this album on the list, and if you’re familiar with indie music you’ve probably already heard it. But, no matter how many times that annoying dude who lives on RYM threads pushes this record, it does not take away from how brilliant it is. Surreal imagery jumps around on this album like a wildfire and is what Jeff Mangum is so well-known and respected for. The songwriting and vibe creation on this thing is simply just immaculate and so hard to replicate. It’s elusive, timeless, it’s urgent and relentless, and it truly changed what indie music could and would sound like forever. If you haven’t listened to this record yet, it’s definitely a must, more so than any other record on this list I’d say.
Ghosts of the Great Highway - Mark Kozelek (Sun Kil Moon)
There was uncertainty of what was next for Mark Kozelek after Red House Painters, but thank God it was this. Kozelek has always focused on talking to the listener, and it’s more apparent than ever on GotGH. Kozelek’s approach to writing always pays attention to detail and it makes the smallest of moments on this record feel the deepest emotionally. It’s such an intimate album that is so humorous and gentle without telling you how to feel. It’s like the listeners have flipped their way to a random page of Mark Kozelek’s diary and the album played out from there. This record is a gem in indie music that so many future talented acts borrowed from, and for great reason. As polarizing as the guy is, he’s made some perfect albums.
Glow On - Turnstile
Hardcore music was always one of those genres that I would immediately turn off if it came into a shuffle or autoplay because I simply cannot stand how loud it is. Little did I know that a hardcore record would become one of my favorites of all time…thanks to Turnstile. Glow On is such an incredibly fun record. Influential, redefining, genre-bending…yes…it is all of those things, but I think it being fun comes first. A hardcore band that’s not full of middle-aged white guys (maybe that’s all it took?) took the genre and shot up lethal doses of funk, pop, disco, and everything in between and made a masterpiece. The tracks are so accessible and made it possible for anyone to like hardcore, and they did this without cutting corners, the songwriting is as fun as the instrumentals while remaining emotionally tapped in. It’s anthemic and it redefined the genre, and while I might personally prefer Never Enough, I think that anyone getting into Turnstile needs to start with Glow On.
Magnolia Electric Co. - Jason Molina
The “Loveless” of alt-country. A true masterpiece. Jason Molina sings about a world that is personal and ambiguous. Every note on this album is universal yet fragile – the ambience created makes you feel like you’re a depressed cowboy drinking out of his flask at sunset. Molina doesn’t overwrite on his songs, they’re sparse, he makes the listeners earn each word that he gives them and leaves the interpretation up to them. It’s pure Americana in its rawest form, and his presence is emphasized on every single second of the record. It’s a gateway drug into his discography and journey and leaves fans yearning for more from the first to the last track.
In Through Out the Door - Led Zeppelin
There’s no other way to end this post without listing a classic. Possibly Led Zeppelin’s grooviest and most diverse record, ITOtD emphasizes everything in their career that led up to this LP while bringing experimental aspects to their sound. Sonically this album is just genius, songs like Fool In The Rain are brilliant and reach new heights while bringing depth and vulnerability to the album. It’s unpredictable at times but that’s what’s so fun about it – and a must listen for any classic rock fan.
Honorable Mention: Bandwagonesque - Teenage Fanclub
That’s it. Go listen. You won’t regret it.
