<3 Elliott Smith means a hella lot to me. I'm always sus when people say "this artist got me through a hard time" but it was very much the case that this guy was the soundtrack to some pretty sad times in my life - you know that bit in High Fidelity where John Cusack speculates about whether letting kids have access to all this sad music is safe? I feel like if I had a kid and they came home with an Elliott Smith record I'd worry similarly. The latter albums also mean a lot to me - figure 8 and XO have a lot more multitracking and complex arrangements, which works for my imagination. The final album, From A Basement On The Hill, is so utterly devastating that I can barely listen to it. One of my all time faves, and an easy 5-star for me. A beautiful, singular songwriter. Standout track - between the bars, I think it has to be, but I also wanna point to rose parade, because people always remember Elliott Smith for the sad ones, but actually the best ones make you feel strangely happy

absolutely incredible, one of the most delicious albums - also one where you get used to hearing the samples all over the place so there's a certain 'huh?' quality to it last bongo in belgium - who would have thought I'd be playing air guitar to a bongo track? what's even the deal here? who made this record? what had they eaten? can I have some of it?

shame spotify links you to the remaster by default. the curse of the spotify remasters! lowkey wish it was 2 rather than 3, but I'll take what I can get also, it turns out the first led zep album came out 50 years ago, which is really strange and incredible to me for some reason

Man, I wish I'd been switched on to music when this album came out (and not, like, 3 years old) because I reckon I would have felt like I'd just discovered the cold hard heavy truth of the universe, and it would have absolutely fucked me up in the best of ways.

starts with some bongos - strong, you love to see it exciting to see this in the rotation cos I love Gaucho and Pretzel Logic, but I don't know this album at all that said, I ended up last night in a pub in West Green listening to a jazz 3-piece and now I'm feeling very recptive to this sort of vibe Brooklyn Owes A Charmer is a standout track for me - feeling cheerful but also a lil bit melancholy on a rainy morning also, that cover! there's a chunky dude with a tiny naked woman on his back! there's a mouth with a giant gummy worm. It's right on the boundary between 60s pyschadelics and 80s horrible colours and framing, and I love it https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jazz_(design) I think overall this is unlikely to become my favourite Steely Dan record - I just put Gaucho on and I'm straightaway like 'yes this is the smooth vibe for me'

Finally, reprive from the curse of the Spotify remasters! This is easy for me, grew up on this album. I love it. People used to dunk on Simo and G-funk for being twee, but after two decades of Mumford and Sons and Sigur Ross I find it much easier to situate these two dorks in some kind of post-psychedelic what-were-our-roots-again, maybe-sometimes-ringo-was-right tradition, like Harvey Nillson. Also, my Anna once went to a Halloween party as this album cover - she wore Paul's clothes and made a cutout of Art's head to wear like a headband. It was great. Happy memory (I went as Animals, with battersea headpiece and tiny pig on a wire). standout track - only living boy in new york

STARTS WITH BONGOS OK HERE WE GO first album we've had so far that I've got really no context for - dunno who or what Sade is ah, so it's some smooooth R&B the most-listened track on spotify is Your Love Is King, with like 100m more listens than the rest in the album, but it leaves me pretty cold. I much prefer the tracks before and after. overall though doesn't really do much for me

short songs good pop they're america's foremost punk band, which tells me that punk and america are not related songs are popcorn hey ho ok

<3 Elliott Smith means a hella lot to me. I'm always sus when people say "this artist got me through a hard time" but it was very much the case that this guy was the soundtrack to some pretty sad times in my life - you know that bit in High Fidelity where John Cusack speculates about whether letting kids have access to all this sad music is safe? I feel like if I had a kid and they came home with an Elliott Smith record I'd worry similarly. The latter albums also mean a lot to me - figure 8 and XO have a lot more multitracking and complex arrangements, which works for my imagination. The final album, From A Basement On The Hill, is so utterly devastating that I can barely listen to it. One of my all time faves, and an easy 5-star for me. A beautiful, singular songwriter. Standout track - between the bars, I think it has to be, but I also wanna point to rose parade, because people always remember Elliott Smith for the sad ones, but actually the best ones make you feel strangely happy

eh, didn't really do anything for me

I would like to listen to this again

it's no Nevermind. Four stars.

Whistled a wicked air guitar solo to the breakdown in Sunrise, felt great. Anyone else do that thing of improvising little lead lines by whistling? I don't really know what sort of music this is - new wave, maybe? I feel like if I say 'oh cool it's like if vaporwave had lyrics and pop song structures' but I feel like that's ass-backwards.

Easy 5 stars My dad got me this on the weekend it came out - he happened to be in the UK and thought I'd like it. I think that these days, this is basically my foundational definition of 'what an album ought to be'. As far as I'm concerned, all other music is basically Elephant, with added bells and whistles. There's just so much charisma! It's like Jack and Meg can make a song out of anything. If they had a guitar with one string and a single broken drum, they could make a banging rock and roll track and fill in any gaps with sheer force of personality. His later work, after he left the white stripes, was never as good, and the problem was always something to do with overindulgence. Even the later albums, with their overdubs and weird organs, lack the energy of this one. It's perfect - the height of their career, the high watermark of rock music in the 2000s. Best songs - the air near my fingers, the hardest button to button, ball and biscuit (which is maybe the greatest guitar track of all time) I get nervous when she comes around, when she comes around, when she comes around I get nervous when she comes around, when she comes around, when she comes around

love janelle, she's queen