Not 1st listen! “Oh my god… I get it now” My curiosity about this album/musical led me to seek it out last year, as well as some Bonny Light Horseman music, a group Anaïs Mitchell is part of. It’s a particularly odd case, where I felt it was caught between its various genres and influences at first listen. Too cleanly produced for rootsy folk, too dry & deadpan for the theatrics, plus the only voice I was familiar with was Vernon/Bon Iver, which kept distracting me from the story. But today, somehow, all the threads came together. The added context of financial woes to the Orpheus & Eurydice story goes a long way in making it contemporary, where the rattles of cello and musical saw keep the songs planted in this eerie, Tom Waits-esque world of Hadestown without overwhelming the lyrics and story.

Definitely the album I know the least about so far, after commercial smashes from the Weeknd & Shania Twain. Thought of Gang of Four & Young Marble Giants (Colossal Youth) from the name, but so far it’s closer in sound to Arcade Fire and Bleachers. I guess Australian rock hasn’t broken into the Canadian mainstream as much as I thought, though they sure tried in the 80s (INXS, Crowded House) The man can sing- the partly-screamed vocals in “Atlas Drowned” sound like a different person than the baritone of “Achilles” I’m wishy-washy on music that is custom fit for a stadium, but as with Arcade Fire & U2, I find this very enjoyable. The emotional hills and valleys make the almost 80-min run time worth it HL: “Fear and Trembling”, "What Can I Do If the Fire Goes Out?", “Achilles Come Down”, "The Heart is a Muscle", "Le réel", "Say Yes to Life" later on March 31

April 15, 2025 HL: “Bells For Her”, “The Wrong Band”, “The Waitress”, “Cornflake Girl” A few recent listens have been releases from an artist already on the original list. And while I think this doesn’t quite leave the shadow of her previous album Little Earthquakes, Under the Pink is the best example yet of somebody who could have been better represented. This is grand and lush, while still being pretty idiosyncratic and off-kilter. I’m going to Google some lyrics now, and feel pretty dumb about not knowing what a cornflake girl is

I knew “Conquistador”* and “A Whiter Shade of Pale” before today; I adore Brooker’s vocals, particularly in the latter, so I was surprised at how much this album is sung by other members of the band. However Fisher’s voice in the symphonic “Hesperus” and “Pilgrims Progress” works just fine. Procul Harum (also the Moody Blues!) are from a time of early prog that the List instead represented with bands like Spirit and Traffic. I wouldn’t knock out either of those bands for A Salty Dog, but I do appreciate it for those aforementioned symphonic/prog elements, as well as the yearning for the sea. Oh I yearn, Jerry HL: title track, “Boredom”, “All This and More”, “Pilgrims Progress” April 18, 2025 *co-starring the EDMONTON Symphony Orchestra, yay Canada notice us please 🍁 🍁 🍁

April 9, 2025 HL: "Jasmine", "Str8 Outta Mumbai", "Crush", "100,000" I wish I didn't spoil the lore for myself before listening, because I'm still trying to fill in the gaps of what a finished "Bait Ones" would sound like. Maybe down the road I can fully appreciate it as a standalone, but for now I feel blueballed by this clearly innovative take on electronic pop. Like "Chix" sounds like it's gonna be my favourite song, and then it just ends >:0 3 stars, not because it's merely okay, but because it has so much potential it makes me mad >:0

I promised myself I'd give some space between the end of the main list and the start but Ladies and gentlemen... the Weeknd March 27, 2025 (5 years of this album holay) I'm of the opinion that the trilogy, including this, Dawn FM and Hurry Up Tomorrow are solid as fuck- though my favourite is Dawn FM :) The thick, hazy, cinematic synths present in this one provide a template for those other two albums, so this would be the logical choice. What can I say about “Blinding Lights”? That song follows me everywhere I go, up to and including my dreams. I can’t really complain though, because one of my favourite pop songs from lockdown was “Save Your Tears”, which like “Blinding Lights” was co-written with Max Martin/Oscar Holter 🇸🇪 I could nitpick on which Weeknd should be on the 1001, but this one works just fine. Just wish it started and ended in a more concise manner HL: "Hardest to Love", "Scared to Live", “Faith”, "Save Your Tears", “Until I Bleed Out”

March 29, 2025 HL: "Table For Glasses", "Lucky Denver Mint", "Your New Aesthetic", "Ten", "Just Watch the Fireworks", title track They have more songs besides "The Middle"? While listening to this, my brain drew comparisons to post-Britpop like Coldplay, Travis & Doves, but that's more the fault of the 1001 for not really giving heed to the emo subgenre, or my fault for not listening to much emo on my own. Initially I didn't think it had the chops to wow me over 70 minutes, but take out the 2 bonus tracks, and after realizing that "Goodbye Sky Harbor" is just a really long coda, I concluded it's pretty standard length for a CD release. Clarity has a really great 3 song run at the beginning, but doesn't lose too much momentum after that. It does the sugary, strings + glockenspiel stuff as well as the power-chord-chugging tunes. Perhaps credit is due to Trombino, the producer who also worked on the Drive Like Jehu & Rocket From the Crypt from the OG list, for making it all flow so nicely. In sum- lots to enjoy about the more melodic side of emo.

Not 1st listen! “Oh my god… I get it now” My curiosity about this album/musical led me to seek it out last year, as well as some Bonny Light Horseman music, a group Anaïs Mitchell is part of. It’s a particularly odd case, where I felt it was caught between its various genres and influences at first listen. Too cleanly produced for rootsy folk, too dry & deadpan for the theatrics, plus the only voice I was familiar with was Vernon/Bon Iver, which kept distracting me from the story. But today, somehow, all the threads came together. The added context of financial woes to the Orpheus & Eurydice story goes a long way in making it contemporary, where the rattles of cello and musical saw keep the songs planted in this eerie, Tom Waits-esque world of Hadestown without overwhelming the lyrics and story.

March 31st 2025 HL: "Man! I Feel Like a Woman", title track, "From This Moment On", "That Don't Impress Me Much" I feel like I'm not as enthusiastic for this one for reasons beside the music. There's a reason many of these songs still endure after almost thirty years (at least in Canada), but much of the time that I'm listening to this I imagine a darkened community centre, floor sticky from all the spilled booze, where everyone does the boot scoot n' boogie because that's the only socially acceptable dance. Shania opens this album with an all-time banger though, so can't complain about that

Definitely the album I know the least about so far, after commercial smashes from the Weeknd & Shania Twain. Thought of Gang of Four & Young Marble Giants (Colossal Youth) from the name, but so far it’s closer in sound to Arcade Fire and Bleachers. I guess Australian rock hasn’t broken into the Canadian mainstream as much as I thought, though they sure tried in the 80s (INXS, Crowded House) The man can sing- the partly-screamed vocals in “Atlas Drowned” sound like a different person than the baritone of “Achilles” I’m wishy-washy on music that is custom fit for a stadium, but as with Arcade Fire & U2, I find this very enjoyable. The emotional hills and valleys make the almost 80-min run time worth it HL: “Fear and Trembling”, "What Can I Do If the Fire Goes Out?", “Achilles Come Down”, "The Heart is a Muscle", "Le réel", "Say Yes to Life" later on March 31

Another Australian band I am not familiar with! This would be great pairing with a contemporary album: Don’t Throw Stones -> Glass Houses (Billy Joel, 1980) I enjoyed the first few songs the best, though it's pretty consistent throughout. The comparisons to other 70s bands started to enter my mind, uninvited, around side 2. Although based on the quality of the musicianship and lead singer, I prefer it to a few of the prior entries, for instance the Stranglers & Blockheads 3.5 HL: title track, "Thru the Window", "Suspicious Minds", "Tired of Me", "Big Sleep" April 1, 2025

Melbourne yesterday, Indianapolis today with Margot & the Nuclear So and So's! "I wanna gouge out your eyes"- least psychopathic indie band A couple great songs- see below- but a lot more okay ones in my eyes(ears). It helps that I'm already drawn to this sort of semi-acoustic indie rock. If you enjoy this I recommend Harlequin Dream by Boy & Bear (2013). HL: "Pages Written on a Wall", "Broadripple Is Burning", "German Motor Car" April 2, 2025

April 7, 2025 HL: “Rapture”, “Penetration”, “Indian Summer”, “Rehearsal” Today’s AOTD is from David Bazan, of Seattle! I had misgivings about the opener “Options”, thinking I was about to go down a muddy road towards beige, 2000s post-grunge. Then the ironically upbeat “Rapture” immediately shatters that expectation. What could have been a simple morality play about the sin of infidelity is complicated by the dejected final couple of tracks- seeming neither sympathetic nor damning to the “protagonist”. Though it’s not an easy listen, it is a pretty impressive concept album from a time and genre (90s/00s slowcore) I haven’t been particularly interested in. 4* for now

April 8, 2025 I knew a LITTLE Jellyfish before today, just from letting the Algorithm guide me. Spotify gave me “Russian Hill”, and Apple Music has an “Inspired By Queen” playlist that features “Joining a Fan Club”. Both are from this album, so it’s no surprise that I enjoy this. I’ll have to ponder on this further, but it may be genius. *May* If I was in a band and released this 4 years after forming, I’d also maybe think ‘where do you even go from here’

April 9, 2025 HL: "Jasmine", "Str8 Outta Mumbai", "Crush", "100,000" I wish I didn't spoil the lore for myself before listening, because I'm still trying to fill in the gaps of what a finished "Bait Ones" would sound like. Maybe down the road I can fully appreciate it as a standalone, but for now I feel blueballed by this clearly innovative take on electronic pop. Like "Chix" sounds like it's gonna be my favourite song, and then it just ends >:0 3 stars, not because it's merely okay, but because it has so much potential it makes me mad >:0

April 10, 2025 wa wa wee wa

April 12, 2025 HL: “Hanging Out With Halo Jones”, “Sister Moon”, “I Want Your Love” I can’t believe this is how I find out that Andy Warhol is dead ;( Decent mix of ‘70s rock n’ roll with ‘80s production. The robotic monologue that kicks off “Trash City” sets a level of camp that nothing else here can live up to

April 13, 2025 HL: “It’s a Motherfucker”, title track, “I Like Birds”, “Grace Kelly Blues” Eels #2! A pleasant listen, and one that strays enough from Beautiful Freak’s glummer atmosphere for me to understand it being here. I wasn’t immediately in love, despite a lot of the individual elements in it- the sweet brass in track 1, the melodies, the humour- seemingly being perfect for a nice April afternoon. “It’s a Motherfucker” may have unseated “Flower” as my favourite Eels song, though. 3.5

April 15th again HL: “A Year”, “Paper Plane”, the Doors cover I remember seeing a documentary on Status Quo years ago, about how big they are in the UK, only to be underwhelmed by the actual music. This is decent, but amidst the T-Rexes, Stones, Deep Purples, Mott the Hooples and Eric Claptons already crowding the scene, it just registers as a bit of dumb fun. I guess there’s nothin’ wrong with that There IS a British, boogie rock outfit that’s sorely missing from the OG list. Their name: Foghat

April 15, 2025 HL: “Bells For Her”, “The Wrong Band”, “The Waitress”, “Cornflake Girl” A few recent listens have been releases from an artist already on the original list. And while I think this doesn’t quite leave the shadow of her previous album Little Earthquakes, Under the Pink is the best example yet of somebody who could have been better represented. This is grand and lush, while still being pretty idiosyncratic and off-kilter. I’m going to Google some lyrics now, and feel pretty dumb about not knowing what a cornflake girl is

April 11, 2025 HL: "Chinese Water Python" (instrumental), “Linctus House”, “Glass Hotel”, “Sweet Ghost of Light” (bonus) Ranges from nonsense poetry (“Certainly Cliquot”) to more lucid moments (“Executioner”, “Aquarium”), but much is still up to interpretation. I also revisited Hitchcock’s album on the original list, Underwater Moonlight, and remembered how little I understood his lyrics back then. I guess omitting the harmonies, punky rhythms and psychedelic noise of the Soft Boys makes me engage with his surrealist turns of phrase in a way I haven’t before. I can see this growing on me with time. He’s coming to my city this year, and I will admit, this piqued my interest a smidge 3.5 and rising

April 19, 2025 The fact that this guy has collaborated with Nick Cave, The The & Einsturzende Neubaten shouldn’t surprise me, because so far, Nail evokes all 3. Particularly the last two. An abrasive and ugly album, but also somehow arranged like an operetta, with instrumental flourishes and an explosive finale. I didn’t love it today, but I respect its convention-shattering ways.

April 14th, 2025 HL: “Sgt. Baker”, “American Life”, “Tommy the Cat”, “Fish On” Only knew this band as the ones who made the South Park song. Wasn’t particularly *excited*, but definitely curious. The mix of funk metal with more esoteric, avant-garde elements sounds like a recipe for sensory overload. Not today 🫡 While enjoyable on its own merits, it oughta be in the book just to prove the Residents’ Duck Stab was actually influential, and not just an isolated curio from the 70s

April 21, 2025 HL: title track, “Who’s Your Boyfriend”, “Choke on a Cock”, “Losing on a Tuesday”

April 16, 2025 Bob fookin Seger 4 all-time hits and 5 decent tracks that keep the good times going

April 17, 2025 Own this CD (bought it because it has "Cannonball", a song I learned from a busker in Galway) Listening to it for the 1st time today, though Mixed feelings about “Delicate” as an intro to the album; it’s aggressively gentle. But after the album ended, on the strange 3-part final track, I have to take off my hat to Mr. Rice (and also Ms Hannigan) for how the whole album is structured. Stable and melodic at first, but then more unpredictable as the relationship disintegrates.

I knew “Conquistador”* and “A Whiter Shade of Pale” before today; I adore Brooker’s vocals, particularly in the latter, so I was surprised at how much this album is sung by other members of the band. However Fisher’s voice in the symphonic “Hesperus” and “Pilgrims Progress” works just fine. Procul Harum (also the Moody Blues!) are from a time of early prog that the List instead represented with bands like Spirit and Traffic. I wouldn’t knock out either of those bands for A Salty Dog, but I do appreciate it for those aforementioned symphonic/prog elements, as well as the yearning for the sea. Oh I yearn, Jerry HL: title track, “Boredom”, “All This and More”, “Pilgrims Progress” April 18, 2025 *co-starring the EDMONTON Symphony Orchestra, yay Canada notice us please 🍁 🍁 🍁

April 20, 2025 This is either a cacophonous experiment gone awry or one of the best albums I’ve heard in a while. Fuck it, it’s both

April 24, 2025 HL: "Zion's Blood", "Dread Lion", title track Incredible album cover There really is a strange lack of dub on the original list. Sure you hear its influences a lot, in the Specials, the Sabres of Paradise, David Holmes, Public Image Ltd.- the list goes on. Kinda like another album within the genre, East of the River Nile (Pablo), I spaced the hell out while listening to it, but in a good way :)

April 23, 2025 HL: "Heart Cooks Brain", "It's All Nice on Ice, Alright", "Lounge (Closing Time)", “Cowboy Dan” Both this & the Moon & Antarctica have been on my radar for a while, at least as long as I’ve had an account with RateYourMusic. The first time I tried listening to this (within the last year), I got through the opening track "Teeth Like God's Shoeshine" and gently switched to something else. There's a time and a place for that noise, I thought. Now that I’ve heard the whole Lonesome West, that song is among the better tracks here. Still not in love with Isaac Brock’s vocals, though he & the band do show versatility within 75 minutes. The mumbled “Long Distance Drunk” does nothing to foretell the howls of “Shit Luck”. The pretty riffage in “Trailer Trash” contrasts with the occasional funk of “Lounge”. Maybe this will join indie rock albums Yankee Hotel Foxtrot and Slanted and Enchanted someday; critically acclaimed albums that took me actual years to truly appreciate. 3.5/5

April 25, 2025 HL: title track, "Blitzregn baby", "Dieter Meyers Inst.", "Christiania", "Jævel av en tango" My worries that this would just be more post-punk revival were quickly dashed. Interesting use of cabaret and Eastern European folk alongside more mainstream rock. Of course, much of the themes are lost to this Anglophone, so all that really helps paint the picture of a mental hospital are the ever-changing genres & the occasional Bone Machine-esque clanging percussion. Thanks for sharing!

"The Caretaker conjures a quieter, more introspective spirit, lost in his own mind amidst a low-lit labyrinth of ever-decaying and antediluvian shellac phrases. Sourced from a mysterious collection of 78s, these vague snippets of archaic sonics reflect the ability of Alzheimers patients to recall the songs of their past, and with them recollections of places, people, moods and sensations." - from Bandcamp "If this music was a food it would taste like a single hard-boiled egg that’s really dry"- Dylan in the YouTube comment section Hi, it's me, the one who brought the spooky ghost jazz. First off, compared to 'A stairway to the stars' and 'Everywhere at the End of Time', it doesn't evoke horror in the same way. Despite the alienating treatment on big band fragments like "Libet's delay" and "Tiny gradiations", I find the overall effect to be less despair and more saudade ("Longing, melancholy, nostalgia"- Oxford dictionary) My fascination with repurposed samples in music probably goes back to my Beatles obsession as a teen, with tracks like "Revolution 9" and "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite" making use of tape loops from old recordings. However, it wasn't until COVID lockdown, when I discovered both the Caretaker and this generator, that I became aware of the word "plunderphonics". The Avalanches, DJ Shadow, Beastie Boys & the Bomb Squad are all examples of plunderphonics at its best, and I credit this website for exposing me to them. I’ve never known that technique used to such great emotional effect as the Caretaker does. Ironically, I didn’t have much of an emotional reaction to hearing it tonight, as I was trying to examine it more critically. After all, I could have put Future Islands on this list, or Japanese Breakfast, or the Guess Who. Did we need another electronic artist from the UK? But then the warped orchestra of “The sublime” kicks in, that one heartstring gets pulled and I remember why I keep coming back to this before so many of the albums I’ve heard. (And also I don’t feel like absolute garbage like I did after EATEOT) HL: "All you are going to want to do is get back there", "Moments of sufficient lucidity", "Libet's delay", "Mental caverns without Sunshine", "Tiny gradiations of loss", "Camaraderie at arms length", "The sublime is disappointingly elusive", "Their story is lost" (bonus track)

April 25, 2025 HL: "6L GTR", "Panic Attack", "Ticket Inspector", "The Price of Smokes", "Emperor of the Beach", "Getting Better" 5th Australian act so far on the user list, and 5th that I had no idea about beforehand (after Gang of Youths, the Sports, Gurrumul and Foetus) I don't care for punk... ...but I like this

May 2, 2025 HL: “Spanish Train”, “Lonely Sky”, “A Spaceman Came Travelling”, “Old Friend” The one song of his I really knew before- besides THAT one- was “Don’t Pay the Ferryman”, a great slice of 80s pop. This is quite different, though bits of synth and strings suggest he wasn’t content to be just a folk troubadour. Knowing he toured with Supertramp around this time makes a lot of sense to me. 1924, lords and ladies, modern day London- de Burgh really plays with time in this album. And while the production dates it to a specific time, 50 years ago, I found myself enjoying those stories more and more as the album progressed- though personally I like the ones about supernatural beings more than the one about the stripper.

April 27, 2025 HL: “About You”, “Don’t Look Back”, “Neil Jung”, “Going Places”, "I'll Make it Clear" Delightful Today is an apology tour of sorts; in addition to hearing this for the first time, I also revisited Teenage Fanclub's Bandwagonesque (album #420). I've long been a sucker for some jangly guitar, but to quote me from 2023: "there were a few times about midway thru the record where I didn’t realize one song had ended & and another started." And I will admit, Grand Prix can be a bit samey as well, though it shows a bit more diversity, with occasional brass and organ. But when the overall sound is so bright and melodic, how could I fault them for sticking to that sound? Both this and their prior album have absolutely stellar harmonies, which I don't think I fully appreciated two years ago.

April 29, 2025 HL: "Runnin' Around", "Give Me Back My Man", "Private Idaho", "Devil's In My Car", "53 Miles West of Venus" QUICHE LA POODLE 🐶

April 30, 2025 HL: “10 d E A T h b R E a s T ⊠ ⊠”, “29 #Strafford APTS”, “8 (a circle)”, “____45_____” I figured from the song titles that this would be left field compared to “For Emma Forever Ago”. Yet many of the tracks are still recognizably Bon Iver, odd IDM production aside. “God” and the title track aren’t too far removed from his self-titled album from 2011 (though I will add, it is quite the leap from FEFA to that one). Though Bon Iver’s own records are regrettably absent from the original list, I did get a glimpse of his experimental side in both Yeezus and MDBTF, from Kanye (that Nazi sympathizer from ChiTown). Still, I needed two full listens to process this, even though it’s pretty short. Critics praised the lyricism; I have no idea wtf he was singing since I was more focused on the vocal treatments and sampling. Still, listening to it this morning was a weirdly invigorating start to the day. Will keep this in my digital library!

May the 1st, 2025 HL: “Waiting on the World to Change”, “Gravity”, “The Heart of Life”, “In Repair” There are many albums I want to like more than I do, but much fewer ones that I want to hate more than I do. Continuum belongs in the second category. Good job John Mayer 👍 I’ve come a long way from dreading to hear that opening track at my grocery store job 3.5

May 3, 2025 HL: “Mogwai Fear Satan”, “Yes!”, “Tracy” The spoken word about making up a ‘bit of a sketch’ reminded me of the Limmy Show. Probably just that Glasgow accent. It has a beautiful finale, the question that I won’t quite be able to answer this afternoon is: “Was the journey worth it?” It was definitely heavier and noisier than I expected, but I guarantee there will be times where I’m looking for that dense atmosphere. Just doesn’t happen to be today

Late on May 4, 2025 HL: “Shut Up”, “She Will”, “Husbands”, “Marshal Dear” Another first time listen (well, Wiki says they had one song in the credits for Ex Machina, but I don’t recall if I stayed that long) As cold and brusque as its title suggests, but also darkly alluring. It definitely sheds the pop appeal of post-punk revival bands from the 2000s, but it’s not all brooding and feedback- there are some genuinely catchy grooves here. That crunchy bass :0 Went to see Sinners hours before listening to this, so way to keep the gothic atmosphere going! 🧛‍♀️

May 6, 2025 HL: “Bouncing Around the Room”, “Gumbo”, “Simple”, “Harry Hood” I’ve never listened to this band before today, but I did read about the recent fan poll for the Rock Hall of Fame, where Phish was #1. Okay, well THAT just happened! This collection of recordings goes from reggae, to jazz, to weird a cappella breakdowns. I understand the appeal, since both discs are great examples of improvisation and crowd engagement. My own jam band bias makes me think it’d be very easy to forget the audience and commence 20 minutes of atonal droning, but Phish seem pretty aware of getting their fans’ attention- partly through the aforementioned genre switchups. At the end of the day it’s fun but there’s no one track I eagerly want to revisit right now. 3/5

May 8, 2025 HL: “Blue”, “Colors”, “Kairo”, “Passion”, "Dareka no Negai ga Kanau Koro", “Keep Tryin” Utada wrote “Simple and Clean” for Kingdom Hearts, a game I have never played, but it appears in the reveal trailer for Sora as a downloadable character for Super Smash Bros Ultimate. Let me emphasize, that song is not in Super Smash Bros., just in the trailer. Yet I regard it as something of a perfect melody, despite only knowing about it in this second/third hand way. https://youtu.be/KGidvt4NTPI?si=oUTXgG073SUWhYYa Check it out, it’s fricken beautiful. Anyway, back to this full hour of J-pop, a genre that’s absent in my own library as well as the 1001 book. It’s not a perfect album in my eyes, with not every track benefiting from the mid 2000s techno, but my attention kept getting drawn back to the main melodies, and when they hit, they HIT. Sometimes offbeat and quirky (“Keep Tryin”), sometimes ethereal (“Blue”, aka the next track), they’re the element that left the strongest impression on me. And the production isn’t only a hindrance: the bleeps and bloops elevate certain tracks, like “This is Love” and the Latin-esque “One Night Magic”. Overall, a pleasant listen. Maybe I’m overrating it a bit because of the novelty, but I definitely plan to check out more Hikaru Utada down the road.

Still May 11, 2025 thank u for the jazz fusion album, We Like It Here, by Snarky Puppy Wouldn't mistake it for the Phish album, but both have a way of letting virtuosity overshadow other elements of the compositions. I even had that feeling from Mahavishnu Orchestra's The Inner Mounting Flame, considered one of the very best in the genre. Then again, if they tour nearby I would pay money to see Snarky Puppy absolutely shred. *checks tour dates* Not this year...

May 9, 2025 HL: "Going Away to College", "What's My Age Again", "All the Small Things", "Adam's Song", "Wendy Clear" blah, skate punk, no thanks. (35 minutes later) there is something to this skate punk First Blink-182 album, but doesn't really feel like it with how much I've heard the most famous tracks. The *less* famous tracks don't stray far from the formula, but I'd be shocked if they did. *throws 4 stars on the counter* Keep the change

May 10, 2025 HL: "Winning", "Fatal Flaw", "Silent Air", "New Dark Age" 3.5 at least The bright synth keeps it separate from the brooding tones of Joy Division and Seventeen Seconds-era Cure. Would fit in like a glove to the book's selection of early 80s material. Maybe one could have bumped Echo & the Bunnymen's debut in favour of this; after all, they'd still have two more albums in the list.

May 12, 2025 HL: “Skyscraper”, “Displacement”, “Benediction”, “Flowers and You” I generally don’t go out of my way to listen to this kind of stuff, i.e. melodic hardcore. But as someone who lost their mom to stage four cancer, I say here is an excuse to scream. Thanks for sharing

oh hey, not 1st listen In the wake of Kendrick Lamar's album Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers, he went on SNL to perform the song with "Father Time" with Sampha. That was the first time I was really aware of the latter artist, and led to me listening to his vast catalogue of... one studio album: Process (2017). I liked it well enough that I basically listened to Lahai the day of release, a stat this album shares in common with virtually no other (save Mr. Morale, funny enough). I've mused before how timing plays a big part in how I receive an album, and Lahai dropped not a moment too soon. Besides dealing with the lack of Sampha solo output for a few months before this second album released, it also helped that its jittery, spiritual tunes differed from the more grief-oriented Process just as I happened to be grieving in my own life. Sometimes I look for darker music to match my mood, but most of the time, contrast goes a long way. Sometimes, more optimistic music hits when I'm not feeling so optimistic. Additionally, I read Jonathan Livingston Seagull as a kid, and while I don't remember it super well, it is cool to see that story as a framing device for Sampha's own outlook on life. It's a small world, etc etc I get why the rating is a little low; ye seem to underrate other alt-soul artists such as Kelela, FKA Twigs and SZA, fellow 1001 Generator users. The electronic elements here switch from being ambient and serene to borderline overstimulating. Aside from "Only", there isn't even an obvious standout track (Process had the ballad "Like the Piano"). But like many albums I admire, the songs are stronger together than on their own, to the point that Lahai should be seen as a single 40 minute piece. (Watch me contradict myself by listing my own favourite songs below) In the year or so since I heard this last, a deluxe version came out; while they don't affect my overall rating, I do enjoy the four additional tracks as well. HL: "Spirit 2.0", "Dancing Circles", "Only", “Jonathan L. Seagull”, "Satellite Business 2.0" (bonus track), "Re-Entry" (bonus track) May 11, 2025

Not 1st listen The worst thing about hearing it that first time was being distracted by its placement on the RateYourMusic. I like it more than a lot of the 1990s section of the 1001, but #40? Of all time? 💿 Nothing could live up to that. Ah well- there are much more confusing-to-me placements on that chart than Souvlaki, and for what it’s worth, I think it’s a beautiful and well-put together album. HL: “Machine Gun”, “40 Days”, “Sing”, “When the Sun Hits”, “Dagger” May 13, 2025