2015 instrumental hip hop EP from Grenoble, France. Jazzy chill hip hop.
Fun fact: while Céleste isn't inspired by the video game Celeste—the video game wouldn't start development for another four months!—L'indécis has participated in speedrunning Celeste!
2022 experimental rock album from London, England. A crazy experience that takes from prog rock, show tunes, jazz fusion, and more. A hellish nightmare concept album, at times sung, at other times ranted in a blend of carnival barker and auctioneer; often hectic, occasionally soft, frequently discordant.
My picks: "Eat Men Eat," "Welcome to Hell," "Dangerous Liasons"
1959 cool jazz album. Notably uses a variety of time signatures, rather than sticking with the tried-and-true 4/4. (Not that there isn't 4/4 on the album.)
My picks: "Blue Rondo à la Turk," "Take Five," "Pick up Sticks"
1996 indie pop/rock album from Jönköping, Sweden. A fairly strong lounge influence and lyrics that darkly contrast the upbeat music make this a pretty interesting album. "Lovefool" is the big hit, and "Step On Me" is also plenty popular, but the album's got plenty of other good ones, including a great Black Sabbath cover.
My picks: "Your New Cuckoo," "Heartbreaker," "Iron Man"
1970 folk rock/country rock album. The front half of this album has an incredible run of some of the best of Neil Young's work—not to say the back half is bad by any means. "Tell Me Why" might be my favorite Neil Young song overall.
My picks: "Tell Me Why," "Southern Man," "Don't Let It Bring You Down"
1971 prog rock album from London, England. Okay, everyone loves "Roundabout." But where's the love for the rest of the album? It's an incredible album the whole way through.
Except for "Cans and Brahms." Feel free to skip the "pesky contracts prevented a Rick Wakeman original" track. 😆
My picks: "South Side of the Sky," "The Fish (Schindleria Praematurus)," "Heart of the Sunrise"
This is a real bit nostalgia for me. Without getting in to my whole musical evolution, this was one of the most influential records from when I first began almost exclusively listening to punk/hardcore/post-punk. One of those records I’d been kicking myself for getting rid of. Found this sealed for like $10 and snappped it up. Gonna do a blog post at some point.
1995 math rock/noise rock album from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Loud, angular, discordant. Aggressive up front, although the album calms down a bit towards the back end.
Pro-tip: if you ever want to annoy co-workers, try putting on "Repeat Defender," especially from about 4:28-5:48!
My picks: "Stupid Puma," "Repeat Defender," "Dick Suffers Is Furious With You"
I know I’m not blowing anyone’s mind with these records but holy shit! This 2011 pressing! I had a copy of Quadrophenia I got about a year ago, and it was a fine copy. Somebody had played it a lot. But this pressing showed up at Next Chapter Records in Putney #Vermont, and it is near mint. It sounds so good. A perfect version of this tremendous record.
2007 dark ambient/industrial rock OST. While the ambient tracks are solid if occasionally forgettable, when Kelly Bailey rocks out it's some absolutely fantastic stuff. "Vortal Combat" is possibly my favorite song in the franchise.
My picks: "Vortal Combat," "Sector Sweep," "Eon Trap"
2000 rap opera concept album. I'm generally not big on rap, but between catchy beats and some very unconventional (and nerdy) subject matters, this album is definitely an exception for me. The first song alone mentions Neuromancer, Ghost in the Shell and The Matrix. Wonderful stuff.
My picks: "3030," "Virus," "Time Keeps on Slipping"
2012 synthpop album consisting of demo versions of all of the songs off of Reptilians. While the final versions on Reptilians are more polished, there's something really neat about hearing these earlier, rougher recordings.
My picks: "Jackalope (Julius) (Van Mix)," "Astoria - Original Recording," "Quality Time - Skeletron Mix)"