ruins

grouper

2014

this is an album that has gotten me through the worst times in my life. these songs are so sparse they barely exist. they don't end they fall apart completely. there's nothing else that quite embodies desolation and grief. batshit that this was all recorded on an analog 4 track.

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here in the pitch

jessica pratt

2024

none of these songs overstay their welcome. this album is so concise its masterful. this album sounds like a sunny daydream heard from the next room over. and jessica pratt's voice is one of a kind.

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Heaven or Las Vegas

Cocteau Twins

1990

I remember the summer that I fell in love with this album. to me it's the soundtrack of wonder. the sonic textures are iconic, liz fraser's voice is unbelievable as always, and the songwriting is tight and concise. There's not a single song on this record that I havent listened to 100+ times.

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Mambo!

Yma sumac

1954

will there ever be another singer like Yma sumac? did you know that the low vocals on "gopher" are her too? she hits close to five octaves in that song if I remember right. her voice was a wonder of the natural world.

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dummy

portishead

1994

it's insane to me that this is a debut album. how did portishead start out fully formed and so perfectly stamped? nothing comes close to dummy, and it will never age. this record just makes me feel so cool and mysterious.

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strange mercy

st. vincent

2011

controversial opinion maybe but this is the best st. vincent record. her riffs are insane and they are the focal point of the record. that and the songwriting perfectly splits the difference between precisely charted and off the rails bonkers.

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baduizm

erykah badu

1997

whenever i'm spinning out, whenever i don't know what to do, whenever i need to calm down and get my head right, this is the album i go to. erykah knows how to carry a song just right. i've spent so much time with this album i know almost every ad lib.

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tramp

sharon van etten

2012

i wish i knew how sharon van etten gets her vocal harmonies to have the quality they do. it's my favorite aspect of her music. that and her sharp dissection of heartbreak and longing.

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reading, writing and arithmetic

the sundays

1990

this record soundtracked my first heartbreak, so maybe i'm biased, but this record is important to almost everyone i bring it up to. whenever you find this record, it'll hit you. it's catchy, striking, comforting, and emotionally relatable. what more could you want?

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