Before getting stuck in to the user generated albums, I am going to define the scoring criteria I will use. In applying it, I'll be guided mainly by gut reaction. I might factor in some context on occasion, but largely it will just be how much I like the album and the the degree to which it connects with me.
5-MASTERPIECE
(4.5-exceptional)
4-GREAT
(3.5-very good)
3-GOOD
(2.5-average)
2-POOR
(1.5 very poor)
1-BAD
(0.5 awful)
I Need to Start a Garden, by Haley Heynderickx
A cool singer songwriter album. Minimal modern folky instrumentation, an emotive, sad and dreamy vocal with intriguing lyrics. Slightly reminiscent of Joni Mitchell and really quite lovely.
Rating: 3.5
Playlist track: Oom Sha La La
Date listened: 16/07/24
Gentle and proggy. Meandering and intricate, but accessible and engaging. I really liked this.
Rating: 3.5
Playlist track: Flight of the Ibis
Date listened: 17/07/24
A miserablist gungey indie concept album album about a relationship going wrong. Objectively quite good but didn't really grab me.
Rating: 3
Playlist track: Penetration
Date listened: 18/07/24
Ska punk plus a wide mix of genres, it's not really my thing but has good energy and some catchy melodies and hooks. Ahead of it's time in 1996 and possibly paving the way for the rock/rap crossover of the early 00s? Like many records or the CD era, it's about 20 mins too long, but that's forgiveable.
It's really sad that the singer didn't live to see the release and huge success of this album.
Rating: 3
Playlist track: What I Got
Date listened: 19/07/24
This was a challenge. It will be some people's favourite album, which I respect, but I personally couldn't get anything out of it and am not sure that most of it is even music.
Rating: 1
Playlist track: It's Okay to Cry
Date listened: 20/07/24
Queen + Beach Boys + Beatles x 1990s = Jellyfish. To be fair, it's a very listenable equation with lovely pop melodies and harmonies.
Rating: 3.5
Playlist track: Sabrina, Paste and Plato
Date listened: 21/07/24
This is one of the funniest albums I've ever heard. It stops just short of being a parody, but the band must have known what they were doing with the stupid lyrics and vampiric tone of the vocals.
Overall, the kitsch Halloween 'spoooooooky and ghoooooouulish' vibe (mwah ha ha ha ha ha haaaaaaa) is quite fun and the music is pretty accessible. It's a bit long and very, very silly. Although I basically had a fun time listening to it, it's really not very good.
Rating: 2
Playlist track: Set Me on Fire
Date listened: 22/07/24
Phish appear to be proficient musicians, and the crowd seemed to be enjoying the performances, but this did nothing for me. Lots of long, meandering jams as intros and outros to not very memorable songs.
As an example, 4 minutes into 'You Enjoy Myself' I was starting to get bored of the track, only to discover it had another 17 minutes left to run.
Fair play if you enjoy the musicianship, but as a musically-challenged person with things to do, this was not for me.
Rating: 1.5
Playlist track: Bouncing Around the Room
Date listened: 23/07/24
Early 90s west coast punk. Energetic, catchy and pre-dates the more annoying tendencies of the genre.
Rating: 3
Playlist track: American Jesus
Date listened: 24/07/24
I love 'Illinois' from the main list. This is excellent too.
A lot more sparse and mellow than 'Illinois', with intensely personal (rather than fantastical) themes, this tells raw and specific stories of Stevens' complex relationship with his mother, who Stevens saw only intermittently through her life. It's focus is his grief at her death, and the self-destructive behaviours (mirroring his mother's) that Stevens' grief inspired.
Not an easy or comfortable listen, the record takes several listens to reveal its dark beauty. It hits peak sadness on 'Fourth of July', which closes Side 1 and recites a deathbed conversation between Stevens and his mother, tenderly revealing unconditional love and forgiveness.
The way the album describes thoughts, ideas, emotions, and events without directly speaking of them is a work of poetic genius and elevates Stevens' songwriting.
Rating: 4.5
Playlist track: Should Have Known Better
Date listened: 29/07/24
This probably suffered from being generated a day after Sufjan Stevens' 'Carrie and Lowell'. Whilst it's fine for what it is, it appears to lack the poetry or authenticity that might engage me more and encourage me to listen again or to find out more about it.
Rating: 2.5
Playlist track: Somewhere Far Away From Home
Date listened: 30/07/24
It's a rare treat to find an album with a twist. Up to five minutes into the fourth track, 'The Sound of War', this is a really nice straight singer songwriter album. Then the listener is hit by a three minute sound collage, followed by the ambient spoken word title track. It stays brilliantly weird from there.
Atmospheric soundscapes form the basis or context of the remaining songs and enhance the emotional heft of the record, making a fascinating and affecting listen. The sounds wash over the listener, bringing them into the album's world.
A triumph of ambition, creativeness and sequencing. I can only see the record getting even more interesting with further listens.
Rating: 4.5
Playlist track: Noone Believes in Love Anymore
Date listened: 30/07/24
Very much not the GOAT.
Rating: 1.5
Playlist track: Mouth Breather
Date listened: 28/07/24
Post-punk, about 30 years after post-punk. Does that make it post-post-punk?
Rating: 2
Playlist track: Husbands
Date listened: 29/07/24
On dirait Bondé Maison francais. C'est bien!
Rating: 3.5
Playlist track: Rêver mieux
Date listened: 01/08/24
Disco funk jazz. Yeah!
Rating: 3.5
Playlist track: Runaway
Date listened: 02/08/24
I feel like I must be missing something, but I just don't get it. I also found the Mothers of Invention records to be amongst my least favourite on the main list. Like those, this just comes across to me as someone trying too hard to be deliberately zany. Always a joke that just isn't funny.
Sorry, Frank. It's not you, it's me.
Rating: 1
Playlist track: Uncle Remus
Date listened: 02/08/24
A 2010s classic. A synthy psychedelic pop rock album with a MONSTER opening track and a handful of other bangers. The theme of relationship breakup runs throughout and the lyrics are pretty on-the-nose for the most part.
The record gets enjoyably weird in places, especially on 'Past Life' which includes a distorted spoken word story and a layered, ethereal chorus. It's very Flaming Lipsy, which is perhaps why I like it.
Geat album, excellent pick.
Rating: 4
Playlist track: Let It Happen
Date listened: 03/08/24
The user generated album list has been far more enlightening and thought provoking than I had imagined. This album is the perfect example. My initial reaction is that this is absolutely awful, and it is impossible to see how anyone could possibly like it. But lots and lots of people do, and someone clearly thinks it's brilliant.
Knowing that of all the albums that have ever been recorded, this has been picked by a person who has spent the last 3+ years doing the same thing I have somehow makes it harder to dismiss the album just as 'bad'. Instead it makes me think about how different people appreciate music. What could it be about this album that people respect or enjoy, and why don't I like it?
The musicianship seems to be good, the songs complex and the bass slaps, so perhaps musicians would appreciate it on a technical level. I have no musical talent, so just don't hear the technical things in songs that musical people might do. Also, while it's not my humour it is going for funny, and must hit with some people. Overall, though, I think the crux of the issue is that I tend to respond to records that make me feel something, or have something to say about society, the world, or the human condition that I can relate to. This is pure fantasy escapism, which just isn't my thing, but is loved my many others.
Overall, although I hated it, I'm glad I've heard it. Thanks for the selector for the pick. May I never hear a Primus album ever again.
Rating: 1
Playlist track: Jerry Was a Race Car Driver
Date listened: 04/08/24
Quintessentially British tales of life and society. Some really excellent songs.
Rating: 3.5
Playlist track: Don't Marry Her
Date listened: 05/08/24
Objectively quite good, but not a record or band I have been able to feel a connection with.
Rating: 3
Playlist track: Helicopter
Date listened: 06/08/24
Innovative synth pop with crashing drums and Russ Mael's powerful falsetto. The sound of Queen covering the Pet Shop Boys. Typically idiosyncratic, heaps of fun and well ahead of it's time in 1979.
Rating: 5
Playlist track: The Number One Song In Heaven
Date listened: 07/08/24
An eclectic, complex, Latin American rock, pop, jazz, folk album. An hour long, but plenty of twists and turns to keep it high energy and interesting. Not something I would have listened to without this list, but I really enjoyed it and would absolutely revisit.
Rating: 4.5
Playlist track: La ingrata
Date listened: 08/08/24
An extremely nautical album, with loads of slightly odd things going on. Amongst the weirdness there are moments of genuine beauty, not least the strings and soaring vocals on the opening track. One can't help but respect the creativity and commitment to the concept.
Rating: 3.5
Playlist track: A Salty Dog
Date listened: 09/08/24
This record only really does one thing, to the extent that songs are pretty difficult to distinguish from one another. The one thing is quite pleasant and accessible 2010s/20s rock music, so is not unenjoyable.
Rating: 2.5
Playlist track: Robot Stop
Date listened: 10/08/24
Initially I had a positive reaction to this. A tight live band playing rock 'n' roll music is pretty easy to enjoy.
Whilst I'm sure this is a good example of Bruce and the E-Street band at the height of their live power, there is just so much of it.
Two hours of mid-tempo rockers, which have a point of view but don't really speak to me, sung competently but with very limited range just got way, way too much by the half way point. The brass freak outs also get really grating after you've heard the first five.
Rating: 2
Playlist track: Born to Run
Date listened: 11/08/24 to 15/08/24
I'm not sure I "liked" this, or if it's "good", but I certainly enjoyed it as an hour of well produced, eclectic, early 2000s electronic pop.
Rating: 3.5
Playlist track: Astounded
Date listened: 20/08/24
Korn's debut album and a better record than their album on the main list. A good pick 👍.
Rating: 3.5
Playlist track: Blind
Date listened: 20/08/24
A very enjoyable and incredibly pleasant 2010s indie folk album.
Rating: 3.5
Playlist track: Cleopatera
Date listened: 20/08/24
Dark, broody, pagan, scandi vibes. Like walking through a misty forest at dusk, with woodland elves lurking. Super cool.
Rating: 4
Playlist track: Herr Holkin
Date listened: 21/08/24
A little ray of bouncy Iberian sunshine and good times. Great fun!
Rating: 3.5
Playlist track: Visite nuestro bar
Date listened: 22/08/24
80s hair metal lives on down under. This is nothing particularly special but was a fun listen. The run of enjoyable albums continues.
Rating: 3.5
Playlist track: Game of Fools
Date listened: 22/08/24
Blink 182's attempt to be mature and deep. It's ok, with a few nice highlights, but in the main it doesn't really suit them.
Rating: 2.5
Playlist track: I Miss You
Date listened: 22/08/24
This brings my run of fun/enjoyable albums crashing to an end. A concept album about hitchhiking in a dream. It's a load of old bollards.
Rating: 1
Playlist track: 5:01AM (The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking)
Date listened: 22/08/24
Lay this slab of soulful southern rock on me. Reminiscent of early St. Paul and the Broken Bones. I like it.
Rating: 4
Playlist track: Goodbye Carolina
Date listened: 23/08/24
I was a little old for this when it came out, but enjoyed catching up today. Emo rock or punk pop aren't really my thing, but this is decent. Apparently it's a concept album.
Rating: 3.5
Playlist track: Welcome to the Black Parade
Date listened: 28/08/24
A nice easy listening 80s-esque electro pop album. Nice songs and stories. A very pleasant 40 minutes.
Rating: 3.5
Playlist track: Stranger's Kiss
Date listened: 28/08/24
The highest rated user generated album. I really, really tried to get into this. I listened a few times, I waited for and listened to the '1001 Album Complaints' episode in order to learn about the album's context and why it's considered a classic.
After all that, I still have very little to say about it. It's good and it's quite melodic, but I just don't get any feels. Perhaps if I had been at High School in America in the 90s I'd have nostalgia, but without personal context, it just seems 'fine'.
Rating: 3
Playlist track: Buddy Holly
Date listened: 03/10/24
18 short and quirky guitar pop songs. Individually each song is at worst amusing, but together it's a bit much (even though at 47 minutes then album is a 'good length').
Rating: 3
Playlist track: Old Pine Box
Date listened: 29/08/24
Mild 1960s psychedelia. Meh.
Rating: 2.5
Playlist track: Flames
Date listened: 29/08/24
I quite enjoyed this hip hop album. Like many of the genre, I'm not a fan of the skits. The music is eclectic and cool, though, and the skits can be skipped.
Rating: 3.5
Playlist track: High
Date listened: 29/08/24
A super-energetic Hispanic rock album. Bouncy, buoyant, brilliant fun.
Rating: 3.5
Playlist track: Pachuco
Date listened: 03/09/24
As a child, there was a family of massive Status Quo fans that lived around the corner from us. Being mean school kids in the 1990s the Quo loving brother and sister were teased for having musical tastes outside of the boy band, and girl band norm. Really the joke was on us, as they experienced rock'n'roll shows at a young age, which must have been really exciting.
Rating: 2
Playlist track: Don't Waste My Time
Date listened: 03/09/24
Catchy, well written songs, but I feel like I've heard enough new wave albums to last me a lifetime. -0.5 for referring to U.F.Os and 'youfohs' like my Dad.
Rating: 2.5
Playlist track: Local Girls
Date listened: 03/09/24
Indie folk rock. Heavier than some of its mid 2000s contemporaries. I really like it.
Funeral Dress, the song, is just Teenage Kicks, isn't it?
Rating: 4
Playlist track: Airborne
Date listened: 04/09/24
Dub reggae. The first half much stronger than the second.
Rating: 2.5
Playlist track: Zion's Blood
Date listened: 04/09/24
Dark and unsettling. It probably has artistic merit, but I hated listening to it. The couple of orchestral instrumental pieces are the only tolerable tracks.
Rating: 1
Playlist track: The Overture from Pigdom Come
Date listened: 04/09/24
Extremely lo-fi garage rock. I know it's not supposed to be pleasant to listen, but I had a bad time and not really in an interesting or thought provoking way, unfortunately.
Rating: 1
Playlist track: Squealer
Date listened: 04/09/24
Atmospheric post rock. Three 20-odd minute tracks that meander through your soul.
Rating: 3.5
Playlist track: The Dead Flag Blues
Date listened: 04/09/24
Another B-52s album, which is pretty similar to the other one on the list, in all honesty. However, I liked the previous one and I like this too. It is maybe a little more melodic and a little less ferocious.
Rating: 3.5
Playlist track: Private Idaho
Date listened: 04/09/24
Spanish spoken word proggy rock. Niche.
Rating: 2.5
Playlist track: Rojitas
Date listened: 05/09/24
Oh, yay! A live album from a no-mark punk band, recorded more than 30 years after the genre ceased to be relevant. What an inspired pick!*
A calculated attempt to be exciting and edgy that achieves the polar opposite. Musically, despite the try-hard energy, this just sounds tired and out-of-date. And that's before you even get to the vocals, which are an embarrassing parody of Johnny Rotten.
Both annoying and dismally boring all at once (let's call it bornoying), this is an objectively awful record with no redeeming features. An utterly pointless waste of an hour of my life.
Rating: 0
Playlist track: Toe Cutter Thumb Buster
Date listened: 06/09/24
*By the way, I was being sarcastic.
Gentle instrumental electronic krautrock that gives off a great sense of movement. Sounds like a 90s computer game.
Rating: 3
Playlist track: HeiBe Lippen
Date listened: 09/09/24
Other than having a mix of Japanese and English language vocals I couldn't find anything interesting about this generic, mid paced, samey, pop album.
Rating: 1.5
Playlist track: COLORS
Date listened: 09/09/24
How was I previously unaware of LaBelle, and how was this not on the main list? This is a brilliant and influential pop soul record from 1974, but sounds like it could have been recorded in the 2000s.
It contains the original (and best) recording of Lady Marmalade, and it really doesn't sound all that different to the 1998 All Saints and 2001 Moulin Rouge! A perfect illustration of how ahead of it's time and influential it must have been.
Rating: 4.5
Playlist track: Lady Marmalade
Date listened: 09/09/24
Chilled out electronic indie music. It's super dreamy and relaxing, but occasionally an intriguing lyric or piece of instrumentation pulls your consciousness in.
I'd never heard this record before but have just listened on loop three times. A lovely vibe. I really like it.
Rating: 4.5
Playlist track: Sleeping In
Date listened: 10/09/24
French death metal with operatic singing and accordions. Interesting but largely unlistenable.
Rating: 2
Playlist track: Cheval
Date listened: 12/09/24
The final third of this album is possibly the most I have enjoyed a hip hop album. A really great, cool, relaxed handful of tracks that showcases the tone and timbre of the vocals, which are lovely. It's a shame that the preceding 12 or 13 tracks are not up to the same standard or as well suited to the vocal style.
Rating: 2.5
Playlist track: Pink Toes
Date listened: 12/09/24
Another theatrical hip hop album. This one is characterised by an Avalanches style mix of samples forming sound collages evocative of a classic superhero movie. It was good, but wore a little thin by the end.
Rating: 2.5
Playlist track: Rhinestone Cowboy
Date listened: 19/09/24
It's a ballsy move for a MOR soft rock album to have an opening track titled 'Suspicious Minds'.
Rating: 2.5
Playlist track: Who Listens to the Radio
Date listened: 19/09/24
Apparently a concept album telling the story of a man that willingly checks in to a post-war mental hospital. Probably is. No reason to disbelieve Wikipedia. To me it sounded like a cross between the soundtrack to a spaghetti western and the 2021 Eurovision entry of a former Soviet nation.
There's something unsettling about the album cover, but in a really naff way.
Rating: 2.5
Playlist track: KGB
Date listened: 18/09/24
A folky rock opera with three different vocalists, each playing a different character. I enjoyed listening and would like to revisit to pay more attention to the story.
Rating: 4
Playlist track: The Hazards of Love 4 (The Drowned)
Date listened: 20/09/24
For an album considered by many to be one of the list's GLARING OMISSIONS, I was a little underwhelmed. It's a lo-fi indie album, and I thought it was fine. No, I thought it was good. But I was expecting BIG things and it just didn't really grab me.
Rating: 3
Playlist track: Neutral Milk Hotel
Date listened: 20/09/24
"Modern" music (6 years old is super modern to me). Really nice, cool, listenable. Reminiscent of Tame Impala. A Welsh indie band. Very enjoyable.
Rating: 4.5
Playlist track: Jerry
Date listened: 23/09/24
Recorded between 1925 and 1930, these tracks are almost 100 years old. The crackle of the recordings give away their age and enhance the atmosphere created by the sad trumpet.
The perfect accompaniment to a rainy day in the office, looking out at water pooling on the flat, asphalt roof.
Rating: 3.5
Playlist track: Weary Blues
Date listened: 23/09/24
An eclectic mix of backing tracks, which are quite cool and rock quite hard in places. It's largely ruined, though, by the irritating rapping and dullard lyrics about what a top chap Kano believes himself to be and the excellent qualities he considers that he has.
Rating: 2
Playlist track: I Don't Know Why
Date listened: 23/09/24
This album is BLOATED. Every song is between 5 and 9 minutes long. It includes pan pies. The Augustus Gloop of country rock. It's just too much.
Rating: 2
Playlist track: Don't Drink the Water
Date listened: 23/09/24
A 37 minute visit to a wonderland of boogie.
Rating: 4
Playlist track: Boogie Wonderland
Date listened: 24/09/24
If it was an instrumental it would be a really good post-punk record, but I just can't get past the vocal.
Blur (confidence is a preference for the habitual voyeur of what is known as...) x Partridge (ders more to Oireland, dan dis) = This record.
Rating: 2
Playlist track: Too Real
Date listened: 25/09/24
The second best indie rock album called Phantom Power.
Rating: 3.5
Playlist track: Bobcaygeon
Date listened: 25/09/24
Pleasant indie singer songwriter fare. But of a chilled Jack Johnson vibe in places.
Rating: 3
Playlist track: The Heart of Life
Date listened: 26/09/24
Another nice, chilled, indie folk album. This stands out a bit from the crowd in it's niceness.
Rating: 3.5
Playlist track: I And Love And You
Date listened: 26/09/24
It may be partly due to outside factors, but I thought that beyond the first two tracks of this 2014 jazz funk album it was self indulgent twaddle.
Rating: 1.5
Playlist track: Shofukan
Date listened: 27/09/24
Lo-fi folksy singer songwriter album. Not for me.
Rating: 2
Playlist track: Queen Elvis
Date listened: 01/10/24
A lot heavier on atmosphere and lighter on heavy than I would have anticipated.
Rating: 2.5
Playlist track: Forty Six & 2
Date listened: 01/10/24
To adapt the John Lennon quote: avant-garde is German for bullsh*t.
Rating: 1
Playlist track: Archangels Thunderbird
Date listened: 01/10/24
An artist and album I wasn't familiar with, and the album cover didn't leave me optimistic that I'd enjoy it. However, this was a pleasant surprise. Really good 80s rock, without too much of the cheesiness.
Rating: 3.5
Playlist track: The Stroke
Date listened: 02/10/24
Well made 80s pop. Nice voice.
Rating: 3
Playlist track: Foolish Beat
Date listened: 04/10/24
2017 post punk with gloomy vocals.
Rating: 1.5
Playlist track: Caitriona
Date listened: 04/10/24
Only 19/48 minutes of this album is available on Spotify. This is about as much as I need to hear to make a judgement that this is perfectly adequate rock music.
Rating: 2.5
Playlist track: Dream All Day
Date listened: 04/10/24
Fair play to Arctic Monkeys for radically changing their sound. With the lounge music stylings and lyrics such as "quantitative easing" it is difficult to avoid an impression that Alex Turner is doing a parody of his own voice.
Rating: 3.5
Playlist track: Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino
Date listened: 05/10/24
Quirky, tongue in cheek singer songwriter album. Kinda funny in places, but the overriding feeling was one of naffness.
Rating: 2
Playlist track: Emily
Date listened: 07/10/24
I remember seeing Switchfoot perform 'Dare You to Move' at a TV chat show recording. Jamie Lee Curtis was a guest.
Even that nothing of an anecdote is far more interesting than this album.
Rating: 1.5
Playlist track: Dare You to Move
Date listened: 07/10/24
Nope. Not for me.
Rating: 1.5
Playlist track: Satellite Business 2.0
Date listened: 08/10/24
A lovely, weird, creative, sad bunch of harmonies and ambient music fed through an electronic filter.
This is great and came at just the right time to feel sad to.
Rating: 5
Playlist track: 666 ʇ
Date listened: 09/10/24
80s rock. It hasn't aged well. Not much in the way of memorable hooks or melodies, and the guitar tone sounds really thin.
Rating: 2
Playlist track: Need You Tonight
Date listened: 10/10/24
Wow, what an album cover! Rob has a bold look and that mix of fonts is quite something. As for the record, it is very classic, soft classic rock.
Rating: 2.5
Playlist track:
Date listened: 11/10/24
Decent 80s pop. Wouldn't It Be Good is a banger.
Rating: 2.5
Playlist track: Wouldn't It Be Good
Date listened: 14/10/24
Big overwrought indie rock.
Rating: 2.5
Playlist track: Wouldn't It Be Good
Date listened: 16/10/24
There is nothing even remotely interesting about this dull and generally quite bad electronic indie album.
It's absolute paste.
Rating: 1
Playlist track: Look at the Sky
Date listened: 16/10/24
A perfect ambient classical evocation of the Icelandic landscape.
Rating: 3.5
Playlist track: Ég Heyrði Allt Án Þess Að Hlusta
Date listened: 16/10/24
Idiosyncratic, eclectic indie pop. I thought I'd like this more than I did. Mildly disappointed.
Rating: 2
Playlist track: Cousins
Date listened: 16/10/24
A Swedish folk duo comprising two sisters. Really lovely, atmospheric, evocative, contemplative story telling, with a slightly sad vibe and great harmonies. Very scandi. My first reaction is I really, really, like it.
Rating: 4.5
Playlist track: Emmylou
Date listened: 16/09/24
It's interesting to hear an album by one of the biggest artists on the planets and get a feeling of what the kids are currently down with. It's much weirder and more arty than I'd imagined, but something about it is still quite bland. Very of it's time and difficult to see anything beyond Blinding Lights being remembered in 10 years time, but as a fully fledged old guy, I don't think I'm supposed to get it.
Blinding Lights has over 4 billion streams on Spotify. Crazy numbers.
Rating: 2.5
Playlist track: Blinding Lights
Date listened: 29/09/24
I sometimes don't mind a lo-fi album, but this just sounds super sludgy and badly recorded. It's like listening to Dinosaur Jr. through a potato.
Rating: 1.5
Playlist track: Stars
Date listened: 29/09/24
Short and quiet. Very 2021.
Rating: 2.5
Playlist track: Stay Alive
Date listened: 29/09/24
A mish mash of genres and styles, perhaps designed to be consumed in 30 seconds bursts on Tic Toc. 10 tracks and been and gone in 27 minutes. Excellent for the attention spanily challenged.
Rating: 2.5
Playlist track: Hollywood Baby
Date listened: 30/09/24
Without doubt the best Belgian electronica album I've heard to date.
Rating: 2.5
Playlist track: Moules Frites
Date listened: 31/09/24
Super lo-fi. Recorded by one man and a boom box. It works really well for the quirky yarns.
Rating: 3.5
Playlist track: The Best Ever Death Metal Band in Denton
Date listened: 31/09/24
Good to have dub reggae represented. Pleasant to have on in the background.
Rating: 3
Playlist track: King Tubby Meets Rockers Uptown
Date listened: 31/09/24
I find most country music a bit lame in general, and this is particularly weak.
Rating: 1.5
Playlist track: Makin' Music for Money
Date listened: 04/11/24
Quite nice indie
Rating: 3
Playlist track: A Lack of Color
Date listened: 04/11/24
Ambient meditatvie relaxation music. Not a patch on the Om nommy nom song.
Rating: 1
Playlist track: Pop1
Date listened: 04/11/24
A fusion of Australian aboriginal traditional with classical orchestral. Interesting and relaxing.
Rating: 3
Playlist track:Waak (Crow) in E-Flat Major
Date listened: 04/11/24
A Springsteen rock vibe early on evolves into slower, string-laden songs as the album progresses. The journey through the album as it becomes increasingly introspective and lush helps it hold the attention and justifies it's length, making it an unexpected treat.
Rating: 4.5
Playlist track: Let Me Down Easy
Date listened: 08/11/24
Shouty vocals over fairly heavy but a bit poppy music. Not for me.
Rating: 1.5
Playlist track: Accidents
Date listened: 08/11/24
I'm not really sure what this is, which isn't always a bad thing, but on this occasion I didn't like it much. Ambienty, poppy nothingness.
Rating: 2
Playlist track: Running Up That Hill
Date listened: 11/11/24
Unusual, odd, and atmospheric, although also a bit Scatman John in places.
Rating: 2.5
Playlist track: Rob The Prez-O,-Dent
Date listened: 14/11/24
Loss is full of catchy melodies and 'everything but the kitchen sink' instrumentation and arrangements. It delivers grandiose, yet home-made sounding, songs with overarching themes of finding peace and place in an increasingly homogenous and consumerist world. It's jam-packed with sounds that shouldn't necessarily go together, but it works.
Colin MacIntyre could have made this into a nice acoustic singer songwriter album, but I'm glad he went for something bigger and more interesting. I love the ambition and lack of compromise in creating his vision.
Amongst the sea of nu-metal dross in the early 2000s, this drew me in and has held up as one of my favourite albums to this day. I love at least something about every song on the record.
PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCER: a bit of a ploddy opener, but I like the PA system sounds that run through it and the "high speed trainline" section after the false ending that bridges to the next track.
WATCHING XANADU: glistening pop perfection and energy (and theremin!).
INSTEAD: A song basically saying 'be true to yourself', which felt important in my late teens and early 20s. The first outing of the Mull Historical Society Children's Choir and I love the counter melodies in the outro.
I TRIED: Perhaps a little let down by the chorus, but the verses and, in particular, the opening 90 seconds as the song builds up, are brilliant.
THIS IS NOT WHO WE WERE: Comparatively less going on in this one, but I detected a steel drum in the mix and it throws the listener a dummy with the rave intro and outro. Catchy as heck.
BARCODE BYPASS: Globalisation and corporatisation told through the eyes of a local shop keeper and dog walker on a remote Scottish Island. Bit of an epic.
ONLY I: I love how this starts out defeated ("only I know how hard I try to get nowhere", "little old life I ain't trying no more") but builds to a massive and defiant crescendo, complete with horns and return of the children's choir ("I'm not afraid of anyone"). It makes me feel about 10 foot tall.
ANIMAL CANNABUS: Another song about being yourself and making your own way that meant a lot to me 20+ years ago. It's also drenched in theremin and an absolute banger. Love this song.
STRANGEWAYS INSIDE: beautifully conveys imagery of two people in a moment. Another highlight.
MULL HISTORICAL SOCIETY: Yes, I want to join. Arriba!
PAPER HOUSES: Back to the theme of the difficulty being your true self in an increasingly homogenised society. The song ends with a ferry announcer reporting arrival back at Oban terminal, leaving Mull behind and heading back to the wider, globalised world.
I love this album. It's unique, idiosyncratic, and ambitious. It still connects with my world view, and makes me feel both comforted and ready to take on the world.
Consider me a lifetime member.
Rating: 5
Playlist track: Animal Cannabus
Date listened: 06/12/24
Super chilled Canadian indie with electro elements. Like a more ambient Generation Z St Etienne.
Rating: 3.5
Playlist track: Oncle Jazz
Date listened: 14/11/24
Prog usually leaves me cold, but despite being be big, dramatic and theatrical, this has undeniable heart. It connects, builds and it soars. Thanks for the recommendation!
Rating: 4.5
Playlist track: Hand Cannot Erase
Date listened: 15/11/24
Excellent, sombre singer songwriter album. Songs start tiny, often with just acoustic guitar and vocals and then build, sometimes becoming massive, particularly the operatic closing minute of the album's final track, Eskimo. Volcano another highlight and I knew Cannonball off the radio. Really nice.
Rating: 4
Playlist track: Cannonball
Date listened: 20/11/24
Very, very funky, but mainly in the sense of a bad smell.
Rating: 1.5
Playlist track: Retrosexy
Date listened: 19/11/24
2005 Kylie-lite pop. Catchy, dancy, easy. Nothing to dislike here.
Rating: 3
Playlist track: Funny How
Date listened: 19/11/24
World Of Echo? More like World Of Boring 80s Ambient Electonica.
Rating: 1.5
Playlist track: See-Through
Date listened: 21/11/24
Prog-dad-rock.
Rating: 2
Playlist track: Kayleigh
Date listened: 22/11/24
The musical equivalent of American Pie 3. Purile, unfunny, and objectively bad.
Also, totally lacking in edge. Just so, so predictable and dull.
Rating: 1
Playlist track: All the Small Things
Date listened: 16/11/24
Like Springsteen for millennial teenyboppers.
Rating: 3
Playlist track: Stuck Between Stations
Date listened: 25/11/24
1970s prog. I always associated the APP with Nicholas Parsons. Turns out it has nothing to do with him.
Rating: 2.5
Playlist track: The Raven
Date listened: 25/11/24
A lovely singer songwriter album from an artist I'd never heard of. Soothing and beautiful. It seems there was a lot of great music being made in 2006 that passed me by.
Rating: 4.5
Playlist track: Girl In The War
Date listened: 26/11/24
I really couldn't get into this until Scientist in the second half of the album. The overblown saga of that track unlocked it for me. The final track, Masseuse, is similarly epic and also features a children's choir. Outside of those two, there was little to draw me in, but an interesting (more than enjoyable) addition nonetheless.
Rating: 2.5
Playlist track: Scientist
Date listened: 26/11/24
An interesting inclusion because of the story (demos leaked in 2013 and officially released almost unchanged in 2019) that may say something about the music business at the time. However, it sounds like what it is - a bunch of unfinished homemade R'nB and pop demos.
Rating: 2
Playlist track: Jasmine - Demo
Date listened: 26/11/24
I bought this album when I was a teenager but didn't give it enough of a chance. It was more lo-fi than the I was used to and my brother teased me for listening to it. God knows why. It was certainly a bit rich coming from someone that used to play The Thong Song on repeat.
Packed full of catchy electro pop rock songs, this is pretty good. I prefer it to their eponymous debut.
Rating: 3.5
Playlist track: When I Grow Up
Date listened: 18/11/24
It seems I have a natural affinity with Canadian gentle indie with themes of death. I really liked most of this. Only criticism is that it doesn't really justify it's length. Cut out the weakest third and it would be great.
Rating: 3.5
Playlist track: Your Ex-Lover Is Dead
Date listened: 26/11/24
Densely packed lyrics that tell fantastical and humdrum tales of idiosyncratic characters and events. The funniest album on either list by quite a long way.
Rating: 4
Playlist track: Grown-Ups
Date listened: 27/11/24
I guess the melodies are nice enough, but even for a poppy country record this is particularly safe and insipid.
Rating: 2
Playlist track: The Bug
Date listened: 28/11/24
Varied and atmospheric hip hop. Would listen to this over the other Childish Gambino album on the list any day.
Rating: 3
Playlist track: Redbone
Date listened: 28/11/24
So, Mogwai are a post-rock band that makes lengthy guitar-based instrumental pieces. Huh. I had assumed they were another 90s indie band. This is more interesting than I had assumed, but not really my thing. That said, it has lovely textures.
Rating: 2.5
Playlist track: Mogwai Fear Satan
Date listened: 29/11/24
Ploddy guitar pop music.
Rating: 1.5
Playlist track: Christobel
Date listened: 29/11/24
Hip hop from. Seems basically fine and obviously better than 50 Cent etc. but not interesting for me.
Rating: 2
Playlist track: Rap Snitch Knishes
Date listened: 29/11/24
Duran Duran + urgency x Sting = this.
Rating: 3
Playlist track: Just Another Day
Date listened: 30/11/24
The Corteeners debut from the indie landfill era. Holds up a lot better than some of their contemporaries at the time, but still fairly generic for the most part.
Rating: 2.5
Playlist track: Not Nineteen Forever
Date listened: 01/12/24
Pioneers of the early 2000s emo movement. This is a slab of catchy alt rock with nice melodies and harmonies. The 42 year old me likes it a lot more than the 19 year old me did.
Rating: 4
Playlist track: The Middle
Date listened: 02/12/24
Chilled out, soulful, pleasant.
Rating: 2.5
Playlist track: Wanna Be on Your Mind
Date listened: 02/12/24
Pleasant but it only does one thing. 80 minutes is too long to do one brilliant things, let alone one quite nice thing.
Rating: 2.5
Playlist track: Simulation Swarm
Date listened: 02/12/24
Soothing and calming, but without resorting to ambient, bing and nature noises. I liked it.
Rating: 3.5
Playlist track: People Everywhere (Still Alive)
Date listened: 02/12/24
Seeking to do exactly the same thing as Jagged Little Pill, but really, really badly. Whilst JLP comes across as full of real and righteous anger, this just feels like faux self pitty. This was also recorded and realised the year after JLP was a smash hit, so (rightly or wrongly) can be perceived as a vibe-chasing cash-in. The main reason I don't like it though is that the songs are a bit rubbish and really, really annoying.
Rating: 1.5
Playlist track: Untouchable Face
Date listened: 03/12/24
A cacophony of Dutch funk, rock, metal, jazz and pop. Catchy in places but there's too much of it, in terms of both variety and length. It grinds you down.
Rating: 2
Playlist track: Stronger Than Ajax/Save Da Day
Date listened: 05/12/24
Fun bass jazz. A great way to have 28 joyful minutes.
Rating: 4.5
Playlist track: Ladyfingers
Date listened: 04/12/24
Relaxing jazz trumpet. An nice but mournful way to spend 42 minutes.
Rating: 3.5
Playlist track: How High the Moon
Date listened: 04/12/24
If you're really good at something that is really bad, does that make you the best or the worst? Freestylers are really good at making awful music.
Rating: 1.5
Playlist track:
Date listened: 05/12/24
The Mali music scene seems cool.
Rating: 3.5
Playlist track: Madan
Date listened: 05/12/24
Somewhere between a quirky musical and pop rock record. Definite Sparks vibes. A lot of fun!
Rating: 4
Playlist track: Good Day
Date listened: 06/12/24
I usually dislike ska punk, but enjoyed this. The emphasis is on the ska, rather than the punk, until the vocal kicks in. Reckon I'd REALY like an instumental version of this.
Rating: 3
Playlist track: Down, Down, Down to Mephisto's Cafe.
Date listened: 09/12/24
Early emo that sounds like it was played under water.
Rating: 1.5
Playlist track: In Circles
Date listened: 09/12/24
Generic American shouty rock music.
Rating: 2
Playlist track: Touché Amoré
Date listened: 09/12/24
Pleasant enough 1993 alternative rock. It feels a bit grungy, but that could just be the lead singer's Eddie Vedder impression. It does pose the age old question of how many 'M's in Mmm?
Rating: 2
Playlist track: Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm
Date listened: 10/12/24
You could say that all The War On Drugs songs sound the same and take a long time to not really go anywhere. Or you could say they have a signature sound that is all vibe.
I personally love to sit in each TWOD song for 7 or so minutes and let it wash over me like a soothing geothermally heated creek.
This album is a little more mellow than Lost In Dream (on the main list), but no less enjoyable. TWOD are one of my favourite discoveries of this project.
Rating: 4.5
Playlist track: Pain
Date listened: 11/12/24
Technically good but does nothing for me perhaps it's too perfect.
Rating: 2.5
Playlist track: Pigs On The Wing1
Date listened: 12/12/24
There must be a modern folk revival that passed me by as there is a lot of 2020s folk on the user list. This is more interesting than most of it's contemporaries on the list and gets good when it gets big and textured.
Rating: 3.5
Playlist track: Inkpot Gods
Date listened: 13/12/24
One of the biggest selling albums of all time, and a really interesting pick. A bit odd that this wasn't in the main list, given it's success, influence and arguably it's representation of the peak of the CD era.
Being in the UK, I'd never heard this 1997 North American edition before. It's so country! The 1998 International edition has a purely pop sound with the country elements almost completely stripped away. A 1999 International edition reissue goes even further down the commercial road, featuring radio and dance mixes of some tracks. You can't accuse Shania of not knowing her markets, and if world domination was the objective of the increasingly poppy packages, 40 million record sales say it was mission successful.
Being used to the International mixes, it's at first a little weird to hear massive pop radio hits as wry country songs. This is most striking on 'That Don't Impress Me Much'. After a few listens to this original version it feels more authentic, appealing and makes the UK Dance mix (that was all over the radio in 1999) feel very cheesy.
It's really interesting to hear the original artistic intent of something that anyone born in the 80s will be so familiar with, but in a different form. The theme of female empowerment also feels more potent and striking given the subject matter that country songs often cover.
Rating: 3
Playlist track: That Don't Impress Me Much
Date listened: 15/12/24
Loved this. The dreamiest of indie dream pop. I could sit in this vibe forever.
Rating: 5
Playlist track: Sunflower
Date listened: 15/12/24
Another cool album from Mali. This one features Manu Chao. It's nice and chilled.
Rating: 2.5
Playlist track: Senegal Fast Food
Date listened: 16/12/24
A folk album that is elevated from being quite nice to cool and intriguing by Greg Brown's Tom Waits-esque vocals popping up on a handful of tracks.
Rating: 3.5
Playlist track: Hey, Little Songbird
Date listened: 17/12/24
There was a time when I listened to quite a lot of metal, some of it with shouty vocals. Whilst I still think the first Kvelertak album is a banger, I'm not really sure what happened, as angry noisy music isn't really me.
Having said that, this is quite listenable and melodic in the main, even with all the shouting.
Rating: 3
Playlist track: Self Revolution
Date listened: 18/12/24
Catchy, catchy, catchy. And saucy.
Super graphic ultra modern pop perfection.
Rating: 4.5
Playlist track: HOT TO GO!
Date listened: 19/12/24
"The album is the fourth part in a six-act story. The story follows the conclusion of Act III: Life and Death, in which the protagonist assumes the identity of his deceased half-brother..."
Volume four of a six part prog-rock concept album series telling a seemingly convoluted story wouldn't usually be my kind of thing, and put me off listening to it for most of the day.
What an error - it's great! I'd need an active listen to pick up on the story, but it sounds super lush. It is obviously theatrical, but stays the right side of corny. I love the way the music rises and falls, and ebbs and flows as (presumably) events occur.
Rating: 4.5
Playlist track: Waves
Date listened: 20/12/24
I don't really understand what this is for or in what circumstance one would listen to it.
Rating: 1.5
Playlist track: Glory-Fake-Nation
Date listened: 21/12/24
Hey Tim.
Hey Jim.
I've got an idea for our next record.
Oh yeah? What's that then?
Let's take every idea we've ever had and play them all at the same time.
Won't that just sound like a big mess?
Well, yes. But it would be *supposed* to sound like a big mess. We'll have achieved our artistic intent. People would have to respect it.
Are you sure, Jim?
Yes, Tim. Also, it should be a double album.
But won't that mean that the good bits get lost in a sea of random dross and massively irritate anyone who listens to it?
Artistic intent, Tim. Artistic intent.
Fine. Whatever.
Rating: 1
Playlist track: Fiery Gun Hand
Date listened: 22/12/24
An excellent ornithological album cover with a lovely picture of an egret. The music is generic, dirgy, American heavy rock. Not to my taste.
Rating: 1.5
Playlist track: Midlife Crisis
Date listened: 23/12/24
That was absolutely some rock music.
A pleasant and unchallenging, easy listening record.
Rating: 3.5
Playlist track: Folding Stars
Date listened: 07/01/25
Un album de rock progressif, avec des éléments classiques. En français.
C'est bof.
Rating: 2.5
Playlist track: L'exil
Date listened: 07/01/25
An amalgamation of the most annoying elements of 90s alternative rock and grunge.
Rating: 1.5
Playlist track: X-French Tee Shirt
Date listened: 07/01/25
Early 80s post punk. Must have been pretty influential at the time and stands up well today.
Rating: 3
Playlist track: Winning
Date listened: 03/03/25
Alternates between pretty piano ballads elevated by Amos' brilliant voice and messier, livelier numbers.
Very cool and very interesting.
Rating: 4.5
Playlist track: Cornflake Girl
Date listened: 03/03/25
2015 EDM. Super commercial, super successful. Not really my thing. RIP.
Rating: 2
Playlist track: Waiting for Love
Date listened: 03/03/25
Pretty standard normal punk. I don't think this is anywhere near as edgy as they think it is.
Rating: 2
Playlist track: 6L GTR
Date listened: 03/03/25
I've started to become weary of the user recommended albums and have stopped listening to them, in the main. This, however, piqued my interest as something I wanted to hear. It was as expected and didn't disappoint. A great, brooding indie rock album.
Rating: 4
Playlist track: Fake Empire
Date listened: 23/01/25
Punk music is often so much more listenable with a female vocalist.
Rating: 3
Playlist track: Ripe
Date listened: 04/04/25
The great thing about the user generated list is that nothing bad will happen if I don't listen to the whole album before I die. I was therefore able to listen to a bit, skip forward some, and repeat until it became clear that, although these may be talented musicians, a 75 minute live record of improvised psychedelic funk just isn't my jam (fnar, fnar).
Rating: 2
Playlist track: Ghostbusters
Date listened: 04/04/25
Well perhaps it is deja vu.
The great thing about the user generated list is that nothing bad will happen if I don't listen to the whole album before I die. I was therefore able to listen to a bit, skip forward some, and repeat until it became clear that, although these may be talented musicians, a 78 minute live record of improvised funk just isn't my jam (fnar, fnar).
Rating: 3
Playlist track: My First Car
Date listened: 04/04/25
Unexpectedly shouty. Not really my thing.
Rating: 2
Playlist track: Pash Rash
Date listened: 04/03/25
I wasn't much expecting to enjoy this jazz infused avante garde metal album, but it's a really cool piece of vibe. Mostly chilled with nice crunch in places.
Rating: 3.5
Playlist track: Marathon
Date listened: 08/05/25
Another 80s new wave rock album. This one is super catchy and poppy. Fun, fun, fun.
Rating: 3.5
Playlist track: Sister Moon
Date listened: 09/05/25
I thought this sounds like some fairly insipid Phil Collins music, and it transpires he was heavily involved in the project, playing drums and backing vocals.
Rating: 2
Playlist track: Grace and Danger
Date listened: 09/05/25
This sounded very, very modern. Quite catchy and funny.
Rating: 3/5
Playlist track: Girl, so confusing
Date listened: 27/02/25
Up there with anything The Cure have ever recorded. Lovely, atmospheric, excellent.
Stunning that a band approaching their sixth decade still have the creative juices to make auch a quality 15th album.
Rating: 5/5
Playlist track: Alone
Date listened: 24/02/25
Extremely competent soulful classic rock live.
Rating: 2.5/5
Playlist track: The Letter
Date listened: 24/02/25
With so many Bjork albums on the list, this seems a glaring omission. It's the best of the bunch. Whilst typically creative and interesting, it is also very enjoyable to just listen to without having to 'work' to get below the surface.
Rating: 4.5/5
Playlist track: Jóga
Date listened: 04/03/25
A cool concept album collaboration between two singer songwriters. Sufjan Stevens and Angelo De Augustine stayed in a cabin for a month, watched movies and wrote and recorded songs inspired by what they'd watched. The result is a lovely, breezy and etherial album. Really folky in places, but listen carefully and there's some interesting Sufjanny instrumentation going on in the background. The stand-out track is 'Back to Oz', which is top-tier Sufjan. Nothing else reaches those heights, but there are some lovely other tracks, including the two songs credited solely to Stevens. A really nice addition to the the Sufjan discography and great to hear him back in singer songwriter mode.
