My first of the user-submitted albums! This was a really good way to kick things off, with a fun album by a band I had never heard of The songs cover a really wide range of territory - stylistically and lyrically - and are consistently witty and defy expectations. The performances remind me quite a lot of The Magnetic Fields and similar artists, but the sheer variety on this does see them carve out their own niche within that sarcastic folk space. A good time!

Man, in a weird and maybe counterintuitive way I feel like I would have enjoyed this more if it was someone other than Chet The tunes are smooth as hell, with some incredible musicians (including the iconic Evans/Chambers/Jones rhythm section) playing remarkably lovely jazz, and Baker’s trumpet playing is truly wonderful. But once you’ve heard the beautiful 1954 album Chet Baker Sings, it’s not that easy to listen to a Chet Baker album where he doesn’t

This was a pretty lovely discovery. A very soulful kind of country album with eclectic vocals and a vintage style that never felt too over the top and still managed to sound fresh and inspired

I really enjoyed this when it first came out and it was one of my favourite albums of 2023. Spirit 2.0 is a truly beautiful song and the production on the whole album is pristine and fantastic. Unfortunately the songwriting just didn’t really hit for me, and on the relisten I just found it all a bit samey. Would definitely recommend checking out the deluxe version, as those four bonus tracks do elevate it, but yeah - a slightly underwhelming revisit for the standard album

This was an interesting one. Swedish folk with an electronic twist. The first couple of songs were lively and pounding, and while they were fun I thought that style was going to get repetitive quite quickly. I was very pleasantly surprised then when the album suddenly started going into darker territory, with the electronics adding to this eerie soundscape rather than block rocking beats. Something very different and definitely worth checking out

One of the most innovative hip-hop albums of all time. Madlib’s production is remarkable, the supervillain concept is really fun and perfectly executed, and Doom’s rhyme schemes, delivery and lyrics are second to none. Possibly the biggest snub from the original 1001 albums list

Another really fun discovery. Kind of an Andrew Bird vibe, or a less extravagant Father John Misty. Very lovely and well arranged singer songwriter tunes

A fantastic homage to 70s funk with a massive Parliament/Funkadelic and Sly and the Family Stone influence. It’s spacy and groovy and Glover is at his most electric all over this. A massive switch up from the hip-hop and pop bangers of his earlier albums, this is just straight up stank. The first half is incredible, especially the epic opener Me and Your Mama and the massive single Redbone, but the album does kind of drop off in the second half. A couple of songs near the end are a bit forgettable, and the closing track Stand Tall has a perfect hook that just drowns in its overbearing effects and unconvincing key changes. That first half though, god damn

Didn’t really get on with this one. Decent indie rock that reminded me a bit of Pixies if they just did the soft bits of their soft-loud dynamic. Nothing stood out to me much