imathers replied to your post: The 20 Albums From 1999 I’m Taking With Me To LA
we had verrrrry different 1999s (µ-Ziq, radar bros, mogwai, low, etc)
Well, I can only claim to having been a fan of about half these albums in 1999, mostly the “pop side of college radio” stuff. My actual list from that year would have had even more of it - Flaming Lips, Sleater-Kinney, Sparklehorse, etc…anything that didn’t sound like it was aiming for a Tibetan Freedom Concert slot was looked at with skepticism.
THERE CAN ONLY BE TWENTY FROM EACH YEAR, BE THEY LP, CD OR CD-R. TWENTY.
- The Beastie Boys, Beastie Boys Anthology: The Sounds Of Science
- Beck, Midnite Vultures
- The Birthday Party, Live 1981-1982
- East River Pipe, The Gasoline Age
- Missy “Misdemeanor” Elliott, Da Real World
- Eminem, The Slim Shady LP
- The Faint, Blank-Wave Arcade
- Folk Implosion, One Part Lullaby
- Jay-Z, Vol. 3: The Life And Times of S. Carter*
- Fela Kuti, The Best Best Of Fela Kuti
- Latin Playboys, Dose
- Le Tigre, Le Tigre
- The Magnetic Fields, 69 Love Songs
- Method Man & Redman, Blackout!
- Randy Newman, Bad Love
- Old 97s, Fight Songs*
- Prince Paul, A Prince Among Thieves
- John Prine, In Spite Of Ourselves
- Slick Rick, The Art Of Storytelling
- Wilco, Summerteeth
*potentially on the chopping block if I hear a better album from 1999. But I’m going to try and avoid that until I move.
THERE CAN ONLY BE TWENTY FROM EACH YEAR, BE THEY LP, CD OR CD-R. TWENTY.
- Amadou & Mariam, Welcome To Mali
- Eef Barzelay, Lose Big
- The Breeders, Mountain Battles
- Death Cab For Cutie, Narrow Stairs
- Bob Dylan, The Bootleg Series, Vol. 8: Tell Tale Signs*
- Electric Six, Flashy
- Electric Six, Sexy Trash
- Robert Forster, The Evangelist*
- Neil Halstead, Oh! Mighty Engine*
- Louis XIV, Slick Dogs And Ponies*
- Love Is All, A Hundred Things Keep Me Up At Night
- The Mountain Goats, Heretic Pride*
- Randy Newman, Harps And Angels
- Paramount Styles, Failure American Style*
- Portishead, Third
- Jay Reatard, Singles 06-07*
- Rocket From The Crypt, All Systems Go! 3
- Rocket From The Crypt, RIP
- Sun Kil Moon, April*
- Usher, Here I Stand
Look at all those asterisks next to old farts and outtakes comps from long-time favorites. 2008 is the most recent year I’ve got anywhere near 20 albums from, and considering how detached from the pulse I’ve gotten, you’d think I became a successful magazine publisher or something (“guys, I’ll write the Death Cab blurb…this is their most REM-ish album yet! Alt-rock is back!”).
*potentially on the chopping block if I hear a better album from 2008. But I’m going to try and avoid that until I move.
THERE CAN ONLY BE TWENTY FROM EACH YEAR, BE THEY LP, CD OR CD-R. TWENTY.
- James Brown, Star Time
- Chapterhouse, Whirlpool
- Cypress Hill, Cypress Hill
- The Feelies, Time For A Witness
- Fugazi, Steady Diet Of Nothing
- Kix, Hot Wire*
- My Bloody Valentine, Loveless
- Nirvana, Nevermind
- Pet Shop Boys, Discography: The Complete Singles Collection
- The Pixies, Trompe Le Monde
- PM Dawn, Of The Heart, Of The Soul And Of The Cross: The Utopian Experience
- The Pooh Sticks, The Great White Wonder*
- R.E.M., Out Of Time
- Sonny Sharrock, Ask The Ages*
- Slowdive, Just For A Day
- Matthew Sweet, Girlfriend
- Teenage Fanclub, Bandwagonesque
- Richard Thompson, Rumour And Sigh*
- Throwing Muses, The Real Ramona
- A Tribe Called Quest, The Low End Theory
*potentially on the chopping block if I hear a better album from 1991. But I’m going to try and avoid that until I move.
imathers replied to your post: The 20 Albums From 1988 I’m Taking With Me To LA
Predictably enough I’m shocked that Spirit of Eden isn’t in here.
You’re not the only one, actually! Off the top of my head, I’m never quite sure which Talk Talk albums I’ve kept around. Answer: the two before this one (for now), but I have three of the six tracks from Eden on a self-made comp. I think l liked those guys best when they were moving away from Duran Duran towards ambient jazz balladry, but hadn’t quite made it there yet.
attackofthekillerderk replied to your post: The 20 Albums From 1988 I’m Taking With Me To LA
Year-relevant question: thoughts on Randy Newman’s “Land of Dreams” (I think it’s the man’s most underrated record).
I’m party to that underrating at the moment - sold back my vinyl copy not too long ago and I’m afraid I don’t remember too much about it aside from off-putting arrangements and, not unrelatedly, the rap parody. I’ll definitely revisit it some day - wouldn’t be the first time I got over “off-putting arrangements” on a Newman album - but for now I’m sticking with six other albums and a Born Again/Little Criminals “best-of” CD-R. If you have a favorite track or two I should YouTube, let me know.
THERE CAN ONLY BE TWENTY FROM EACH YEAR, BE THEY LP, CD OR CD-R. TWENTY.
- Louis Armstrong, Hot Fives, Vol. 1
- Louis Armstrong, Hot Fives & Hot Sevens, Vol. 2
- Beat Happening, Jamboree
- Cocteau Twins, Blue Bell Knoll*
- Leonard Cohen, I’m Your Man
- The Feelies, Only Life
- Galaxie 500, Today
- The Go-Betweens, 16 Lovers Lane
- Half Japanese, Charmed Life
- Tom T. Hall, The Essential Tom T. Hall: The Story Songs
- Biz Markie, Goin’ Off
- My Bloody Valentine, Isn’t Anything
- Mary Margaret O’Hara, Miss America*
- The Pixies, Surfer Rosa
- Poison, Open Up And Say…Ahh!*
- Public Enemy, It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back
- R.E.M., Green
- Scrawl, He’s Drunk
- Paul Simon, Negotiations And Love Songs
- Slick Rick, Great Adventures Of Slick Rick*
*potentially on the chopping block if I hear a better album from 1988. But I’m going to try and avoid that until I move.
perpetua replied to your post: The 20 Albums From 1997 I’m Taking With Me To LA
It seems very pointed to skip OK Computer and Brighten the Corners here.
I’m afraid you’re misreading the tea leaves, dude. While my personal canon favors Pavement pre-97 and Radiohead post-97, I don’t dislike these albums. I have seven tracks from Brighten The Corners on a CD-R followed by some Terror Twilight and B-sides. I’ve also got eight tracks from OK Computer lumped in on one with seven from In Rainbows. If I did the trimming now rather than a few years ago, both albums would receive lil’ “21st Best Album Of…” blurbs. Fans of Timbaland & Magoo, The Pulsars, Modest Mouse, Bjork, Superchunk, Portishead, etc, etc shouldn’t be affronted just because there are 20 albums I’d rather hear in full from 1997 than the fine albums they dropped that year. I’d just rather throw on a CD-R of non-stop awesome than skip past or endure the handful of numbers that don’t really do it for me.
I apologize if the all-caps “ONLY TWENTY” stuff clouds that these are aggressively subjective lists, and intentionally phrased as such. This is not The Ultimate Guide To The 20 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die And All Others Can Be Assumed Shit And Shat Upon Thusly. I simply like my music collection to be wieldy rather than unwieldy.
As this suggests, if anyone’s DYING to know what I think about their favorite platter from any year, I’ll tell you. I have no secrets in my binders.
