Psychic

Psychic is the debut album of Darkside (the duo Nicolas Jaar, who I already knew, and Dave Harrington). It's a good dark and atmospheric album in some songs are ambient soundscapes, other a bit more uptempo with vocals. Highlights are "Golden Arrow", "Freaks Go Home" and "Paper Trails".

DARKSIDE is one of those elusive projects...I always really want to love it but it never quite gets above a "huh interesting" for me. 3/5

Hey, I quite like this. It's a bit like Kerala Dust but maybe not quite as refined. Reading up- looks like this preceded Kerala Dust by a few years. Tracks. I like it.

I was really into this one. Ambient-adjacent, and hit a real sweet spot of making good background music, and also rewarding close listening. Rounding up the 4.5

3.5

Now this I haven’t encountered in some time. Thick grooves to get submerged in

Hyvä elektrolevy! 4/5

Electronic. Curioso.

this was… nice… kind of really forgettable, but I guess I enjoyed it idk, felt too filler, like I kinda forgot what I heard as soon as it was over this obviously has its audience, but it’s just not really my thing - 7/10

in a psychic world, "darkside" opens gates to odd reflections of light A short addition to my haiku up there: when I played the CD edition of this album at home, I was in awe with the quality of the sound on it. I don't have a stellar Hi-Fi system, you see, and yet all the frequencies *slapped*, from the bass to the highest ones. So kudos to that anonymous user for having me digging my old copy of that Darkside LP, so that I can realize how great it sounds at last. ---- 3.5/5 for the purposes of this list of essential albums, rounded up to 4. 8.5/10 for more general purposes (5 + 3.5) ---- Number of albums from the original list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 465 Albums from the original list I *might* include in mine later on: 288 Albums from the original list I won't include in mine: 336 ---- Number of albums from the users list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 60 Albums from the users list I *might* select for mine later on: 80 (including this one) Albums from the users list I won't select for mine: 146 ---- Emile... Ma propre balise temporelle... Tu trouveras mes trois dernières réponses sous les albums d'Eric B. & Rakim, Shpongle et Ookla The Mok

Dark ambient music with some points of lightness.

Very low key and chill beats. Listened to this twice, it worked much better on a late-autumn after dark dog walk than it did sitting in my windowless office at 2pm.

Nice groove to this largely instrumental electronic album. Nice for sitting alone in the dark.

8/10. This was cool

Really enjoyed this, one of the best electronic albums I’ve heard in a while, very atmospheric and layered. One I’ll keep coming back to.

Rating: 8/10 Best songs: Golden arrow, Paper trails, Metatron

The kind of thing I would have loved at the time.

Would have like something other than the more modern production but otherwise it’s pretty cool

A bit too sterile/clinical for one's taste, too much like a video game or streaming soundtrack of a dystopian thriller (or maybe this was the original template for same), though decently engaging (esp first cut) and pretty deeply chill/contemplative at times. The problem with going all atmoshpheric is the sense of static, of never arriving, not actually developing beyond vibe/mode/feel, and so vaguely amusical in a way. The Fleetwood Mac comps seem a stretch; the Pink Floyd ones very much less so. This will get some play time in ambient times of days. So thanks recommender.

June 5, 2026 HL: "Golden Arrow", "The Only Shrine I've Seen" First time listening to Jaar. First time listening to Harrington. A mix of ambient electronica and psych-rock that sometimes hits the spot. In my opinion it peaks with "Golden Arrow", its mammoth opening track, but the rest of the album is decent enough

I can understand why people like it, but I don't have the patience.

I know Paper Trails well, not really heard anything else until now. It's good, at least decent enough background music with some coffee and late night convo. Not sure I'll reach for this again.

It was enjoyable enough.

This album did get better on second listen, but I don't think I can give it enough time to fully emerge myself in it. I know the legacy of this album and how highly regarded it is, but it didn't click for me (yet) Will give this another try soon

Electronica music is and has always been boring background music to me. This had its moments, but I ultimately forget every bit of it a minute after is passes. I’ll give it that it’s one of the better albums I’ve ever heard of the genre. 3/5

Opening track is too sparse to pull me in. I like the later tracks more but overall this is just fine.

Música electrónica. Ni fu ni fa.

Atmospheric ambient-ish album with some rock thrown into the mix. Not the most memorable thing ever, but it's pretty good.

a truly good and interesting full work that i don’t think would work nearly as well song by song. the album flows very well but no songs were actually GREAT. probably high 3

Vibey

A bit of psychedelic, ambient electronic music. Nothing too interesting in this one.

An album that defies genre convention. Is it a rock album? Psychedelic? Ambient or electronic? Either way, DARKSIDE manages to captivate in ways not often explored. Sound tumbles around like a pair of shoes in a clothes dryer, only to follow the wind up through the exhaust vent and out into the vast world, following threads that never seem to fully resolve. I have a theory that some albums exist moreso as auditory experiences rather than a collection of songs. Rumors by Fleetwood Mac? Those are a bunch of songs. Really good songs, but they're distinct and they have structure and they start and end quite cleanly. They do all the things you would expect from a music album. Psychic? This is an auditory experience. It mediates on certain ideas of sound and flow from one to the next with barely any specific points to be touched on. Sure, this album is divided into tracks which you might consider to be songs, but I found Psychic to be a lot more loose and hypnotic than that. Neat stuff. CONTENDER FOR THE LIST: DARKSIDE has yet to really make a name for themselves outside of more niche circles, so I don't think so.

Some chill electronic that played while I listened

It's taken me a while to get my head around this album, and I'm not sure why. At first it sounded like a lot of random ideas thrown together. But I've listened to it a few times, and the more I listen to it, the more I have been digging it. It's low-key electronica, which shouldn't work for me. But there is a distinct difference between the tracks, unlike some electronica I have heard through this site. Top tracks: "Golden Arrow," "The Only Shrine I've Seen," "Freak Go Home"

More background music. Nothing really stood out to me, other than sometimes the songs sounded really electronica (Golden Arrow, Freak Go Home) and sometimes the songs sounded more indie rock (Heart, Paper Trails). Didn't hate it, didn't love it.

Quite nice

It's fine. My personal rating: 3/5 My rating relative to the list: 3/5 Should this have been included on the original list? No.

It's alright. Like a lot of this type of music, it sort of goes in one ear and out the other. 3 stars.

Not sure I quite got this. I liked it OK but it didn't exactly feel like music you sit down and listen to. It felt like the part of the soundtrack where the guy drives silently across country at night, or the closing credits of a noir anime. Moderately perplexed.

Música electrónica. Ni fu ni fa.

After reviewing more than 1,000 albums, we all start writing reviews in our heads and preparing vote within the first two minutes. I was so happy to be wrong once I made it to the third song because I had such a negative reaction to the first two, which had boring electronic noises paired with jarring vocals. "Paper Trails" has a blues vibe that I'm obsessed with! "Heart" is rock/electronic with really good beats, and the vocals weren't too harsh. I didn't enjoy the rest of the album, but gosh DARKSIDE did something right in the middle of the album. Unfortunately, I just don't think it's enough for a 3.

This album didn't really do much for me, unfortunately. I found it to be interesting, but ultimately not memorable. I really liked the vocal layers and the overall vibe of "Paper Trails"; I wish more of the album had been in this style. And as I have alluded to in other reviews, I love a good song title, and "Freak, Go Home" sounds like it came directly out of my vocabulary.

En su mayor parte música melódica, con variedad de instrumentación. Relajada, un tanto de chill-out. Consistente, pero sin nada destacable. Me deja con la sensación de que podía haber sido algo más.

Not my kind of music. A bit too broody and long.

Instrumental industrial with some beats. Annoying keys. Not a winner.

Not enough here for me to enjoy, I needed more.

Pleasant but nothing special

I get what this LP was going for, it just takes too long to hit its stride to make a mark. The back half comes alive with deep synths and immersive production, but the sparse, atmospheric padding at the start kills a good deal of the momentum this would have had otherwise.

meh

Another electronic album that my ears just don’t understand the significance. This seems to me like a Jungle album that was partially finished. It has some catchy beats but just feels unfinished. Like it could have a little bit more added to it and some vocals and it would be a pretty cool album. 4.6/10

Backing tracks, which might sound OK once they're finished.

Dark and atmospheric, ok for a dark fall morning drive to work, but not really my cup of tea otherwise. Was samey and boring after a few tracks.

Not my jam. I can see how people may enjoy this album, but the inherent conceit and mellowness bored me.

Always partial to a bit of electronica

Just a bunch of computer generated sounds pasted into song-length clips.

Mercifully short

Died of boredom before anything happened.... Favorite songs: Sitra (simply because it's a shorter song....) Least favorite songs: this whole shitty album 1/5

Blah