Electric City
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Reviews 135
Approval 95%

Soundoffs 127
News Articles 12
Band Edits + Tags 58
Album Edits 83

Album Ratings 746
Objectivity 75%

Last Active 11-12-21 3:34 pm
Joined 05-25-05

Review Comments 15,756

Average Rating: 3.60
Rating Variance: 0.74
Objectivity Score: 75%
(Fairly Balanced)

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5.0 classic
Animal Collective Feels
Bomb the Music Industry! Scrambles
Bomb the Music Industry! Vacation
Bon Iver For Emma, Forever Ago
Brand New The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me
You know how BallstotheWall always seemed like he was about to lose it on previous sputnikmusic soundoffs? Well, now he's lost it.
Broken Social Scene You Forgot It in People
Burial Untrue
Burial Kindred
be honest, who saw this coming?
Carly Rae Jepsen Emotion
Circle Takes the Square As the Roots Undo
8 songs of ridiculously charged emotion and passion blended into epic beauty and terrible ugliness to make the perfect amalgamation of the human experience known as life.
cLOUDDEAD cLOUDDEAD
DJ Sprinkles Midtown 120 Blues
Eric Whitacre Whitacre: Cloudburst
A perfect match to The Complete A Capella Works, Polyphony's take on the choral work of Eric Whitacre proves equally as gorgeous as the LDS choir's. Sometimes doing this with fuller arrangements (the climax of the title piece is absolutely breathtaking, whereas the LDS version was somewhat lacking), Polyphony have performed the composer's work beautifully. Their sopranos tend to be slightly overpowering of the lower sections, something the LDS choir avoids, but their interpretations of "When David Heard" and "Sleep" are just breathtaking. Superb stuff.
Flying Lotus Cosmogramma
Godspeed You! Black Emperor Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven
Godspeed You! Black Emperor F♯ A♯ ∞
A concept album, F#A# (infinity) is one of my favorite album for several reasons. Number 1: Nothing chills me more than the guitar/violin backing to the beginning of Dead Flag Blues. Number 2: Nothing makes me shake more than the climax of East Hastings. And Number 3: Nothing is as refreshing as Providence. From start to finish, Godspeed create such a hypnotizing atmosphere, it's hard to remember you're not in some apocalyptic futuristic state and actually in your room or the backseat of your car. No album has made me feel the feelings F#A# Infinity has made me feel, and though it may be musically behind Slow Riot and Lift Your Skinny Fists, it's so conceptually astounding, I find it impossible to grow tired of this record and it's intricacies.
Godspeed You! Black Emperor Slow Riot For New Zero Kanada
Godspeed You! Black Emperor F♯ A♯ ∞ [Vinyl]
GZA Liquid Swords
Interpol Turn on the Bright Lights
You'll be hard pressed to find a much better album than this one. Interpol's debut is both dark and bright, cleanly produced, and one of the most well-rounded albums around. It can have dance songs, dark songs, and instrumentals, all very emotion-invoking. The highlights are on the second half of the album, from epics "Stella Was A Diver..." and "The New". Paul Banks voice is like a forlorn traveler wandering the streets, and you can hear that distance in every song. The instrumentation is excellent, as Sam Fogarino proves himself as a percussionist, and Carlos D brings it on "Obstacle 1", "Untitled", and anything else on the album. Keep listening for "Leif Erikson", the best song on the album. A classic in every aspect, Turn On The Bright Lights is one of the greatest albums of all time.
Kayo Dot Choirs of the Eye
Les Rallizes Denudes '77 Live
Macintosh Plus Floral Shoppe
this is probably the best album of the modern age
mewithoutYou Brother, Sister
Miles Davis Kind of Blue
Neutral Milk Hotel In the Aeroplane Over the Sea
Pop Winds Earth To Friend
yeah sorry i sat on this for a year and didnt tell anyone but this is pretty fuckin good
Prefab Sprout Jordan: The Comeback
Radiohead Amnesiac
Radiohead Kid A
Whether it's the best Radiohead album or not is irrelevant because it's one of the best albums of the decade, so like it or else
Radiohead OK Computer
Sonic Youth Sister
Sunny Day Real Estate Diary
Talk Talk Laughing Stock
Genius isn't enough to describe this album. Undoubtedly one of the greatest albums ever assembled by mankind. The atmospheric quality of this record, mixed with the devlings into jazz, dissonance, and general avant-garde beauty make it one of the greatest things to listen to in any mood (except to get pumped up.) There's a nigh a thing on here to find fault in, as everything is crafted to perfection, including the beautiful voice of Mark Hollis, which is capable of sounding fragile and angry at the same time. The songs here are actual pieces of art as oppose to songs, which are formulaic. Each song here is at least 5 minutes of pure well thought out emotion. There are no highlights; everything is brilliant.
Talking Heads Remain in Light
The Dismemberment Plan Emergency & I
The Microphones The Glow Pt. 2
The Wrens The Meadowlands
This Heat Deceit
Titus Andronicus The Monitor
reminds me of what its like to believe in punk rock
Weezer Pinkerton
Women Public Strain

4.8 classic
Swans The Seer
4.8? psh, sputnik hype train blowin its load again, bet this is like a 3.5 at best lol lets try this shit holy mother of god

4.7 superb
Disasterpeace Fez OST
i want to live in this game and soundtrack
Kayo Dot Hubardo
thank fucking christ i was so sick of them sucking

4.6 superb
Animal Collective Ark
Animal Collective Strawberry Jam
Arcade Fire Funeral

4.5 superb
Animal Collective Sung Tongs
Unlike Vampire Weekend, the tracks here rarely have a saving grace.
Animal Collective Spirit They're Gone, Spirit They've Vanished
Animal Collective Merriweather Post Pavilion
Don't look now, but Merriweather Post Pavilion might just be Animal Collective's best album. MPP finds Animal Collective exercising the perfect amount of restraint in making their most consistent, easily accessible album. Grumpy fusspot purists who listened to (and actually enjoyed!) Sung Tongs and considered themselves Animal Collective experts might try to tell you that this is a bad thing, but they'd be wrong because the fact is: this album is fucking fun. In a way, Animal Collective has been heading towards this album ever since their rise in popularity. On MPP, they take the best parts of their last few albums- the duality of Sung Tongs, the heart of Feels, and the catchiness of Strawberry Jam- and combine them into a ridiculously fun 50 or so minutes. It's impossible to not get taken in by the glorious harmonies of "My Girls" (the part where it goes "OOHHHHH" might just be the best moment in music) or the beautiful purity of "Bluish." I could ramble on every track's merits, but to keep a long story short, Merriweather Post Pavilion is arguably the best record from a band with an already astounding catalogue. Let the argument for best band of the 00s begin.
Animal Collective Fall Be Kind
Ariadne Tsalal
At the Drive-In Relationship of Command
Bark Psychosis Hex
Beyonce Beyonce
Big Boi Sir Lucious Left Foot
blink-182 Blink-182
Bomb the Music Industry! Adults!!!: Smart!!! Shithammered!!! And Excited By Nothing!!!!!!!
Bon Iver 22, A Million
Brand New Deja Entendu
Brand New Daisy
You know how Jesse Lacey always seemed like he was about to lose it on previous Brand New albums? Well, now he's lost it. Daisy, the latest (and final?) studio album from the band neatly packages everything the band does well in a wonderfully new and different aesthetic. The sheen of Deja Entendu and The Devil and God are Raging Inside Me is replaced with messiness and danger. Daisy finds the group expanding into genres unfamiliar to them and potentially offputting to their fans (The first song is skramz influenced for fuck's sake), but Brand New remains artistically intact. The power and impressive ability to turn a simple song into an emotional ride is still there. The first wave of connections links Daisy to In Utero, and while stylistically the albums are generally different, the aura around each record feels similar. Daisy is purposefully alienating- dissonant when it could be harmonic, abrasive where it could be smooth, yet those looking for the emotional resonance that Jesse Lacey can deliver with an unhinged shout of a startingly immediate hook will not be disappointed. "Vices," "At the Bottom," "You Stole," "Sink," all feature some of Jesse's best vocal performances. rIn short, Brand New are still so c-c-c-controversial, but that's precisely why Daisy is the album you need to be listening to right now.
Brand New Science Fiction
Buddy Peace Wolf Diesel Mountain
Burial Rival Dealer
Carissa's Wierd Songs About Leaving
for fuck's sake, somebody throw a pie
Chance the Rapper Acid Rap
Cursive The Ugly Organ
Death Cab for Cutie Transatlanticism
DJ Shadow Endtroducing.....
dredg El Cielo
Elliott Smith Either/Or
Eluvium Copia
Eminem The Marshall Mathers LP
Eric Whitacre The Complete A Capella Works, 1991-2001
Foxing Dealer
Glassjaw Worship and Tribute
Gospel The Moon Is a Dead World
Grouper Dragging a Dead Deer Up a Hill
Henryk Gorecki Symphony No. 3, Op. 36
Hop Along Get Disowned
How to Dress Well Love Remains
How To Dress Well's Tom Krell warns us at the beginning: "There's nothing to really worry about, aside from being a little run down." He?s probably speaking ironically, since all of Love Remains carries the weight of being immensely run down, but what is Love Remains if not completely run down itself? It crackles and clips, pushing its lo-fi aesthetic to its alienating extreme, and yet it emerges vulnerable, like its collage of sound is held together by tape and Krell could effervesce into nothingness at any moment. It's not inviting, sporadically catchy, and technically a compilation of several How To Dress Well EPs released earlier this year, but it's vital listening. Because despite its defenses, despite its unwavering loneliness, there?s nothing to really worry about. Love Remains is an incredibly beautiful album.
Igor Stravinsky Le Sacre du Printemps
Jaga Jazzist What We Must
Janelle Monae The ArchAndroid
Japandroids Post-Nothing
Japandroids Celebration Rock
Jessie Ware Devotion
John Coltrane A Love Supreme
Joy Division Closer
Joyce Manor Joyce Manor
Justin Timberlake The 20/20 Experience
how dare justin timberlake write pop songs longer than 4 minutes just who exactly does he think he is entitled little bitch
Kamasi Washington The Epic
Kendrick Lamar good kid, m.A.A.d city
Kendrick Lamar To Pimp a Butterfly
Kreng The Summoner
Lights Out Asia Eyes Like Brontide
When Chris Schafer cries "Where is your God now? He isn't here..." on "Psiu! Puxa!" Lights Out Asia cements its position as one of 2008's most intriguing acts. The first three songs off their third studio album Eyes Like Brontide are all beautifully orchestrated electronica/post rock pieces in their own right, but that brief, glorious climax in the fourth announces their presence with a deafening resonance. On Eyes Like Bromtide, Lights Out Asia envelops their listeners in a cold dead place, and doesn't release until the final crescendo of "Six Points of Fire." You can't get more gay post rock descriptions, people. Seriously though, all homosexual metaphors aside, Eyes Like Brontide is an extremely entertaining, mesmerizing record. It very much plays to a specific atmosphere, isolating the listener in Lights Out Asia's reverb heavy drum machines and gorgeous piano lines. Chris Schafer's voice, when present, is incredibly strong and always heartbreaking, such as on the album's first full track, "Radars Over the Ghosts of Cherynobl," when one can feel the dejected cynicism in his voice. He alone makes Eyes Like Brontide an impressive release, but Lights Out Asia's consistency propels the record to the top of 2008's post rock heap. In Eyes Like Brontide, Lights Out Asia have created one of the most intense, beautiful, and dare-I-say epic post rock albums of the year. And with song titles like "If I Die, I Wish You A Horrible Death," how can you resist?
M83 Hurry Up, We're Dreaming
Madvillain Madvillainy
maudlin of the Well Bath
Max Richter The Blue Notebooks
Miles Davis Sketches of Spain
Miles Davis Bitches Brew
Mono Hymn to the Immortal Wind
If You Are There didn't convince you that Mono deserve a spot among post rock's upper echelon, Hymn to the Immortal Wind certainly will. In pretty much the pulverizing record released so far in 2009, Mono deliver seven gorgeously orchestrated gems bookended by the two best songs of their career, "Ashes in the Snow" and "Everlasting Light." It's sometimes dragged out by the sheer hugeness of it all, but Hymn To the Immortal Wind consistently amazes with beauty and heaviness while staying on the good side of pretentious.
Mount Eerie Sauna
Panda Bear Person Pitch
Prefab Sprout Swoon
Prefab Sprout Steve McQueen
Raekwon Only Built 4 Cuban Linx... Pt II
Red House Painters Red House Painters
Sed Non Satiata Le Ciel De Notre Enfance
Shabazz Palaces Black Up
Sigur Ros ( )
Sigur Ros Heima (DVD)
Sonic Youth Daydream Nation
Sonic Youth Evol
Steve Reich Music for 18 Musicians
Steve Reich Different Trains/Electric Counterpoint
Talk Talk Spirit of Eden
I am convinced that if the career of Talk Talk was parallel to the life of a human, Spirit of Eden would be the adolescence. Sandwiched between the simple pop rock of their early years and the arty maturity of their final record, Spirit of Eden shows Talk Talk's transition into the group that would make that legendary post rock album Laughing Stock. And it is a transition. On Spirit of Eden, Talk Talk explores the genre that would come to be known as post rock, with some admirable periods of ambience and dabbles in the deeper side of electronics, yet they're also unwilling to completely abandon their poppy sound, and the portions when they attempt to conserve their mainstream appeal come off sounding clumsy rather than listenable. Spirit of Eden is a strong effort from Talk Talk, but like teenagers, they at times sound awkward as they grow from childish pop to cultivated adult music.r
Talk Talk The Colour of Spring
The Antlers Hospice
The Avalanches Wildflower
The Dismemberment Plan Change
The Dodos Carrier
The Flashbulb Soundtrack to a Vacant Life
For me, the first word that comes to mind when listening to The Flashbulb's Soundtrack to a Vacant Life is Immense. Thirty some odd tracks of music ranging from hard rock, abrasive electronica, ambient soundscapes, drum solos, gorgeous piano ballads, spanish guitar suites, and whatever else The Flashbulb (aka Benn Jordan) decides to incorporate, Vacant Life commands attention, respect, and above all, admiration. As a bipolar individual, Jordan's album varies in emotions from dark to euphoric to frantic, all the while maintaining a feeling of fluidity. It helps that Jordan's musicianship is ace in all forays from percussion to guitar to electronics, as his expertise is apparent in tracks like "Steel for Pappa", "That Missing Week", and pretty much any other track off the record. Also, the amount of intricacies on this album is mind boggling. Jordan uses samples throughout Soundtrack to provide the key atmospheric element to several points in the record, the most obvious being the death-pondering theory in "Kirlian Voyager". From start to finish, Jordan delivers a record that needs to be heard, and since he pretty much asks you to pirate it (he torrented it himself), what's stopping you from picking it up? Soundtrack to a Vacant Life is an essential release for anyone who likes music.
The Hotelier Home, Like NoPlace Is There
The Knife Tomorrow, In a Year
The Men Leave Home
The Men Open Your Heart
tl;dr version: it is less noisy

but it is also good
The Men New Moon
The Microphones Mount Eerie
The National Alligator
The National High Violet
The fact that this isn't a disappointment in any way shape or form is amazing considering how astronomical my expectations were for this. Just saying.
The National Trouble Will Find Me
The Pogues If I Should Fall from Grace with God
The Tallest Man on Earth The Wild Hunt
The Zombies Odessey and Oracle
Theo Parrish First Floor
Titus Andronicus The Airing of Grievances
your life is over your life is over your life is over your life is over
Unwound Leaves Turn Inside You
Wilco Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
Women Women
WU LYF Go Tell Fire to the Mountain

4.3 superb
Chop God Beyonce (chopped and screwed)
Dead Bugs Of a Feather
Flying Lotus You're Dead!
Nirvana In Utero
Nmesh Dream Sequins

4.2 excellent
Future Islands In Evening Air
Janelle Monae The Electric Lady
Radiohead Hail to the Thief
RATKING So It Goes
Saint Pepsi Hit Vibes
it turns all your bad feelings into good feelings trust me you dont want no part of it
The Paper Chase Someday This Could All Be Yours Vol.1

4.1 excellent
Against Me! Transgender Dysphoria Blues
James Blake Overgrown
Sigur Ros Kveikur
i was listening to something but then the new sigur ros leaked and i forgot
The Flaming Lips The Terror
Yo La Tengo Fade

4.0 excellent
*shels Plains Of The Purple Buffalo
Mountainous climaxes
Epic cymbal crashes
You know this shit is
Fuckin' lugubrious
.L.W.H. The Tape Hiss Hooligan
90 Day Men To Everybody
A City Safe From Sea Throw Me Through Walls
If we still had staff picks, I'd be picking this shit all day. Awesome, catchy as fuuuck post hardcore that John Hanson might review but probably won't. So much goodness here. Solid 4, required listening, etc. Don't you kids all go nuts over bands you only find on sputnikmusic?
A Sunny Day in Glasgow Ashes Grammar
A Sunny Day in Glasgow Sea When Absent
A Winged Victory for the Sullen A Winged Victory for the Sullen
Akercocke Words That Go Unspoken...
Alcest Écailles De Lune
Algernon Cadwallader Parrot Flies
Alvin Band Rainbow Road
Alvvays Alvvays
Andy Stott Passed Me By
Dark atmosphere! Accessibility! Beats that go BSHHHHHHHHHHH BM KAH AHAHAHAHAH and samples that occasionally pop up to add the ever important human element. Strong listen straight through, highly recommended, blah blah blah just listen to "Execution" if you don't believe me.
Andy Stott Luxury Problems
Animal Collective Prospect Hummer
Animal Collective ODDSAC
Ariana Grande Yours Truly
Ariana Grande Dangerous Woman
Atlas Sound Logos
So Bradford Cox made a pretty damn good album then approached Channing Freeman to be on the cover
Beau Navire Hours
Belle and Sebastian If You're Feeling Sinister
Ben Folds Rockin' The Suburbs
Bjork Biophilia
blink-182 Enema Of The State
Blithe Field Face Always Towards the Sun
Boards of Canada Music Has the Right to Children
Bon Iver Blood Bank
Braids Native Speaker
Brand New Fight Off Your Demons (The Demos)
Brian Eno Ambient 1: Music For Airports
Buffalo Blackfoot I Don't Mind
Burial and Four Tet Moth/Wolf Cub
Cake Fashion Nugget
Captain Murphy Duality
Chad VanGaalen Diaper Island
Charizma and Peanut Butter Wolf Big Shots
Chuck Person Chuck Person's Eccojams Vol. 1
BE REEEEEEAL IT DOESN'T MATTER ANYWAAAAAAAAAAAAAY
Circle Takes the Square Rites of Initiation
City of Caterpillar City of Caterpillar
Clint Mansell, Kronos Quartet and Mogwai The Fountain
Coldplay A Rush of Blood to the Head
Coldplay Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends
Everyone's guilty pleasure got a lot less embarrassing to like on this, their fourth and best record, but now Chris Martin wants to go and fuck it all up. Months after the release of the beautiful, inferably celebratory Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends, Martin commented that the band should break up after they turn 33. If that were to happen, the world would lose a band finally hitting its stride. The Brian Eno-produced Viva La Vida is a powerful, ballad-less tour de force from Coldplay, complete with exuberance, charm, and the heart they?ve been feigning for years.
Converge Jane Doe
Converge Axe to Fall
Cousin Brian First
Cursive Domestica
Cymbals Eat Guitars Lenses Alien
Daft Punk Tron: Legacy
Daitro Laisser Vivre Les Squelettes
Daitro Y
Daitro/Sed Non Satiata Split
2008's best split LP comes from an unsurprising source. As Sputnikmusic critic Ryan Flatley put it, Daitro and Sed Non Satiata are two of France's most respected emo acts, and they like to do splits. So not only was the existence of this eight song split from les hommes de France expected, its high quality was expected as well. Both Daitro and Sed Non Satiata are in top form here, both working to their respective strengths. Sed Non Satiata's side proves the more consistent, with slow burning post rock tinged epics, while Daitro bring their fair share of highlights with ‘Nous Ne Participons Pas Tous ?a M? Utopie’ and ‘Un Fl? Pour Un Autre.’ Two awesome bands just keep doing their thang, and 2008's top split earns its title.
Dangers Messy, Isn't It?
Only kingsoby1 would think this is average. Don't be like him.
Das Racist Relax
Dead Kennedys Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables
Deakin Sleep Cycle
Death From Above 1979 You're a Woman, I'm a Machine
Deerhunter Microcastle
Deerhunter Halcyon Digest
Deltron 3030 Deltron 3030
Do Make Say Think Other Truths
Donnie Trumpet and The Social Experiment Surf
Dr. Octagon Dr. Octagonecologyst
Earl Sweatshirt EARL
Elder (USA-PA) Reflect
Eminem The Slim Shady LP
Farewell Republic Burn the Boats
Farrah Abraham My Teenage Dream Ended
Film School alwaysnever
Fleet Foxes Helplessness Blues
Fountains of Wayne Welcome Interstate Managers
Four Tet There is Love in You
Frank Ocean Nostalgia, Ultra.
Frank Ocean channel ORANGE
Glassjaw Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Silence
Glassjaw Coloring Book
Godspeed You! Black Emperor 'Allelujah! Don't Bend! Ascend!
Gonjasufi A Sufi and a Killer
Gorillaz Plastic Beach
Green Day Dookie
Green Day Insomniac
Green Day American Idiot
To be quite honest, this album wasn't terrible. I listened to this album when American Idiot was the only single, and to be honest, I loved the album after that. I got sick of Boulevard like the rest of you, but for the love of God, the unwarranted flack this album carries along with it. It's rarely political, there's a loose storyline, but most importantly the songs are good. Letterbomb, Homecoming, Whatsername, and the title track each stand out as very good songs. While it may not be complicated, as it stands, which is an album of punky pop songs, it serves it's purpose perfectly.
Have a Nice Life Deathconsciousness
For all the jocking Deathconsciousness has gotten here at sputnik, you'd be forgiven if you went into it expecting the perfect album. It's not; the middle simply goes on too long with a few very uninteresting parts. But there are four moments on Deathconsciousness that make it worth every minute: when the vocals come up at the end of "A Quick One...", the dejected sigh of "Arrowheads" on "Bloodhail," when the bass floods "I Don't Love," and all of "Earthmover." Deathconsciousness is remarkably well put-together conceptually, and this is coming from someone who doesn't know jack about Antiochus or whatever. The aura of this album is one of fuzzy, repressed isolation, and Have A Nice play to it with outstanding results. Epic, occasionally beautiful, and overlong, Deathconsciousness is admittedly a mixed bag, but it rewards the patient listener. So curl up in the backseat, close your eyes, and lose yourself in one of 2008's most awe-inspiring releases.
Hieroglyphics Full Circle
Iceage New Brigade
Go to an Iceage show, get beat up, email them a photograph of the evidence, and they’ll put your bloody face online. Nice reward of sorts for supporting their furious, fuck-all skronk. Same kind of ethos on record; New Brigade is confrontational, violent, with vocals delivered like swear words, guitars choked, made to shriek, drums punching like boxers’ fists, on repeat to smiles marred by bleeding gums. Not the temperament that promises jams, but New Brigade bursts with them. Album’s defined by its sawblade hooks; “Remember,” “Broken Bone,” “Eyes,” “Never Return” come to mind but they’re all good, interchangeable even. Not in a boring way either; 24 minutes is not long enough to earn complaints. This is monochromaticism in the best way; a “changeup” track would be bullshit. Iceage get in, kill it before it dies of natural causes, and move on to the next song, similarly fated. But “White Rune” is the big one, 2:30 of a pulsating bass drum that goes from bludgeon to full anthem around its third eight. Song really has no right to be as catchy as it is- it’s just fast and loud, no real melody to the thing- but it’s your microcosm for New Brigade: no tricks, no shit, just twelve fuck yes uppercuts to the face. And you’ll wanna dance, occasionally.
Interpol Antics
James Blake James Blake
Jeff Mangum Live at Jittery Joe's
Released a year before Mangum's masterpiece In the Aeroplane Over the Sea, Live at Jittery Joe's shows Jeff Mangum at his most lovable, and that's saying something. His inimitable voice carries naively on his studio records, with a child-like simplicity so innocent, that many times I've just wanted to hunt him down and hug him (no homo, naturally). Live, Jeff performs with even more cuddly initmacy, nervously noodling on his guitar, stuttering through personal stories between songs, and asking for requests. Despite his apparent lack of confidence in his work, Live At Jittery Joe's is a killer performance from Mangum, flipping between past, present, and future Neutral Milk Hotel tracks (and a bitchin' Phil Spector cover) seamlessly, en route to a disc essential for anyone enamored with the legendary indie-folk icon.
Joanna Newsom Have One on Me
Jonny Greenwood There Will Be Blood OST
Joyce Manor Never Hungover Again
Justin Timberlake FutureSex/LoveSounds
K-S.H.E. Routes Not Roots
Kanye West Late Registration
katie dey asdfasdf
Kayo Dot Dowsing Anemone With Copper Tongue
Kerouac Cold and Distant, Not Loving
Kidcrash Jokes
King Crimson Red
King Krule 6 Feet Beneath the Moon
Kiss Kiss Reality Vs. The Optimist
Kiss Kiss The Meek Shall Inherit What's Left
Ko Otani Shadow of the Colossus: Roar of the Earth
Kreng L'Autopsie Phenomenale De Dieu
There's something really, really unnerving about Kreng. His first official release, L'Autopsie Phenomenale De Dieu, can be considered a masterpiece, a chore, or just creepy as all hell. The most likely reactions will probably be the first and third choices. Kreng is an ambient artist who experiments in jazz and classical while interspersing devastatingly unsettling samples between tense and dark music. Kreng's willingness to allow silence and static to create a definitive atmosphere recalls Godspeed You! Black Emperor circa F#A# (Infinity), and Kreng's expert use of melodies and dissonance is as impressive as it is disturbing. It's a record that needs to be heard for itself, preferably while alone in a dark, quiet room. For one of those "transport-you-to-another-place" records, L'Autopsie Phenomenale De Dieu should fit the bill perfectly.
La Dispute Somewhere at the Bottom of the River Between Vega and Altair
Laura Radio Swan is Down
LCD Soundsystem Sound of Silver
LCD Soundsystem This Is Happening
letlive. Fake History
Lovelock Burning Feeling
Low Long Division
Mark Northfield Ascendant
Ever wondered what a Sondheim musical from his darker years would sound like if it was recorded by an indie pianist and some buds? Well, wait no longer! An album that’s almost unsettling in its classical bend, Ascendant features some terrific vocal performances from a variety of singers and some marvelously crafted tunes, with arguably the most beautiful of the year in “Zero.” This albums stark, sparse, and a little flat, but Northfield’s gift for composition makes it all work in the end. At its conclusion, Ascendant leaves a distinct feeling of “…what?” But figuring out that confusion makes it worth the while.
maudlin of the Well Part the Second
Max Richter Memoryhouse
Max Richter Infra
Mew No More Stories
mewithoutYou A to B: Life
mewithoutYou It's All Crazy! It's All False! It's All A Dream! It's Alright!
Michael Jackson Thriller
Mono You Are There
Mono / World's End Girlfriend Palmless Prayer / Mass Murder Refrain
Mount Eerie Ocean Roar
Moving Mountains Pneuma
But this time it's different
I swear to god
The sun's exploding within my arms
And it's getting warmer
And I can see that the sun
Is truly in love with me


if you don't think this is awesome yet, you need to listen again
My Bloody Valentine Loveless
Neutral Bling Hotel In My G4 Over Da Sea
THIS IS SO FUCKING AWESOME EAT MY DICK 50 CHARACTERS
Nirvana MTV Unplugged in New York
Nmesh Nu.wav Hallucinations
OFWGKTA Radical
OutKast Stankonia
OutKast Aquemini
Owen Pallett Heartland
Panda Bear Tomboy
Pantha Du Prince Black Noise
Pavement Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain
pg.99 Document #8
pg.99 Document #5
pg.lost It's Not Me, It's You!
Philip Glass Glassworks
My introduction to Philip Glass was a snippet of the score from the wildly influential film Koyaaniqatsi (I think that's how you spell it). After that I was intrigued. The album I found in a shop in Brattleboro, Vermont, was Glassworks. As far as music I've heard goes, this isn't like anything. It sounds very much like a film score in some parts, a la The Illusionist. The style is very repetetive, deeply rooted in minimalism; the genre he helped to create. The opening song ("Opening", lol) is a brilliant acoustic piano pattern that repeats for 6 minutes, yet subtley remains interesting throughout. This isn't the case for all the songs, as one song refuses to do anything ("Facades"), while another, "Floe", insists on doing too much. However, both songs have a counterpart ("Islands" and "Rubric", respectively) that achieves beautifully what the other couldn't. You gotta have the patience of a Venus Flytrap to sit through the epic repetition, but if you do, the payoff's worth it.
Phosphorescent Pride
Pop Winds The Turquoise
Pop. 1280 The Horror
Power Animal Exorcism
Prefab Sprout From Langley Park To Memphis
Radiohead The Bends
Ricky Eat Acid Three Love Songs
Rise Against Siren Song of the Counter Culture
Mainstream punk at it's finest, Rise Against's 3rd album Siren Song Of The Counterculture could easily be considered a modern punk classic. Edgy, hard, unrelentingly, unabashedly loud music. The vocals are harsh and delivered with ridiculously intense, as if every word sung by Tim is cutting his vocal chords and he's proud of it. Songs such as "Give It All" and "State of the Union" are fantastic anthemic protests, and the unexpectedly touching Swing Life Away is awesome. No song is truly weak, and the unrelenting speed of the album makes for some of the best mosh music this side of Metal.
Rufus Wainwright Want One
S. Carey All We Grow
Sed Non Satiata Sed Non Satiata
Sepalcure Sepalcure
Shuggie Otis Inspiration Information
Skylar Spence Prom King
Slint Spiderland
Slowdive Souvlaki
Spires (USA) Flowers And Fireworks
For all intents and purposes, Flowers and Fireworks is the type of record sputnik should eat up. It's magnificent entry into skramz, longer than the average record, but just as consistent and solid. On Flowers and Fireworks, Spires are exciting, methodical, and mesmerizing all at once. Sure, a general homogeneity hangs over the record, but if that is the record’s most egregious flaw, then Flowers and Fireworks must be heralded as a success, for it takes a band in a stagnant genre offering something mostly unoriginal, and yet on almost every level, it works. Here’s to hoping Spires stick around, because if there’s one thing emo doesn’t need, it’s another promising act calling it quits after their first record.
Spokes People Like People Like You
Before this year started, if you were to ask me "What do you think will be your favorite post rock album of 2008?" I never would have thought that my answer would be Spokes' People Like People Like You. Why should it be? 2008 promised albums from post rock staples like Mogwai and A Silver Mount Zion. Even after I'd heard the album and the year progressed, I didn't think Spokes would hold it's place against the epic grandeur of Pg. Lost or the chilled, fresh vibe of My Education. Yet here I am, 9 months into the year, and still People Like People Like You continues to impress. It's not all that different from its contemporaries: cymbals swell, most of the tracks are instrumental (with two beautiful exceptions), but what sets it apart is how invariably warm this record is. People Like People Like You seeps with blissful contentment through sweeping violins, charmingly sweet melodies, and occasionally, achingly wistful vocals. It's refreshingly short and masterfully executed, with the production getting everything it can out of such expertly crafted songs. It's criminal how little hype this has received from sputnik when it's a record that truly deserves it.
St. Vincent St. Vincent
Stag Hare Black Medicine Music
Drums, synths, and happiness join together to make Black Medicine Music, an addictive entry from Arizona based solo artist Stag Hare. Awash in the type of warmth consistent with Panda Bear, Black Medicine Music is remarkably catchy and simple; each song hypnotizes with a pulsing rhythm and trance-inducing drone while enveloping the listener in a blanket of subtle melodies and effects. The charm on this record can come from sources as out there as wild harmonica and incoherent mumbling to something as beautifully simple as fuzzy electric guitar, but nothing feels out of place. In fact, despite intimidating song lengths, Black Medicine Music never feels drawn out or "freaky." The album's mesmerizing quality is masterfully executed, and on tracks like "Oz," twelve minutes of gorgeous fuzzy guitar lines and drone still leaves a craving for more. Black Medicine Music has so far been a buried gem that deserves a chance, so whip out the awesome headphones, crank the bass, and get taken away by this ambient triumph.
Stag Hare Sandpaintings
Stag Hare Spirit Canoes
'nother stag hare album, 'nother 4
Stag Hare Angel Tech
Steinski What Does It All Mean?
Sufjan Stevens Illinois
Sufjan Stevens Seven Swans
Sufjan Stevens All Delighted People
Sufjan Stevens The Age of Adz
GDandBlinkfan76: if i see one more perosn say something about sufjan stevens not fucking aroundri am going to stop posting forever
Sunny Day Real Estate How It Feels To Be Something On
Surfer Blood Astro Coast
Swarms Old Raves End
The Ascent of Everest How Lonely Sits the City
How Lonely Sits the City is one of those albums where the whole is less than the sum of its parts. Spoken word samples and doomtastic strings of Godspeed? Check. Sweet vocals reminiscent of Do Make Say Think and Sigur Ros? Check. Disgustingly long novellas for song titles? Unfortunately, yes. But while all these things are fine and dandy, The Ascent of Everest sounds just a bit too latched on to their contemporaries to say anything of real relevance. This isn't to say the album isn't a great post rock record. There's chill-inducing crescendos and cymbal smashing all around, and each of How Lonely's five tracks has some element to give it merit. The absolute standout is "A Threnody," which poignantly uses an excerpt from Mario Cuomo's speech at the 1984 Democratic National Convention to devastating effect.

For a post rock novice, this is a great starting point for the genre, as it's less (musically) pretentious than Godspeed and less intimidating than Sigur Ros circa ( ), but to the post rock aficionado, How Lonely Sits The City is fairly ho hum. I still recommend it though, because all in all, this is a pretty damn solid record.
The Avalanches Since I Left You
The Beach Boys Pet Sounds
The Beatles Revolver
The Beatles Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
The Cranberries No Need to Argue
The Dodos Visiter
The Dodos No Color
The Front Bottoms The Front Bottoms
The Knife Silent Shout
The Knife Shaking the Habitual
The Men Immaculada
The National Boxer
The Roots Rising Down
The Smashing Pumpkins Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness
The State Lottery When the Night Comes
The Strokes Is This It
The Walkmen Lisbon
The Weeknd House of Balloons
The Who Tommy
Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra Born Into Trouble As the Sparks Fly Upward
Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra This Is Our Punk-Rock, Thee Rusted Satellites Gather and Sing
On This Is Our Punk Rock, A Silver Mount Zion create an epic album led by the raw vocals of Efrim Menuck. Each song has it's moments that make it stellar, from the choir introduction to the opening track to the "Everybody Hurts" spinoff that closes the record. In a genre that is supposedly dying, ASMZ put a fresh spin on post rock, with this album being an original, enjoyable listen.
Third Eye Blind Third Eye Blind
Tigers Jaw Tigers Jaw
Toby Driver In the L..L..Library Loft
Todd Terje It's Album Time
Touche Amore/La Dispute Searching for a Pulse/The Worth of the World
Trophy Scars Bad Luck
Trophy Scars Never Born, Never Dead
TV on the Radio Dear Science
Tyler, the Creator Bastard
Vessels White Fields and Open Devices
Post rock with beautiful vocals and asymmetrical time signatures? Count me in! Vessels' White Fields and Open Devices is an impressive debut from the british quintet, boasting ten tracks of scorching instrumentals, pop songs, and piano ballads. No song on the album is weak, and no two songs on the record find their merit with the same tricks, making White Fields an extremely well rounded and rewarding listen. It's chock full of gems: "A Hundred Times in Every Direction" and "Yuki" use the delicately gorgeous voice of Tom Evans to create heartwrenching tracks, whereas instrumental burners "Altered Beast" and "An Idle Brain and the Devil's Workshop" are excellently crafted post rock tunes that cut the crap and get to the point for 7 minutes. White Fields and Open Devices is a long record, but it's definitely worth it, so just get it. I mean, how often do you come across a ten song post rock record with no skippable tracks?
Wait What the notorious xx
Weezer Weezer
Why? Alopecia
Wolves in the Throne Room Two Hunters
Wu-Tang Clan Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)
Yamantaka // Sonic Titan YT//ST
Yndi Halda Enjoy Eternal Bliss EP
You Blew It! Grow Up, Dude

3.9 excellent
Iceage You're Nothing
Nam Le Nam Le
might be the only post-hardcore i listen to from 2013 and I'm totally okay with that http://namle.bandcamp.com/releases
Swans To Be Kind

3.8 excellent
Deafheaven Sunbather
Factory Floor Factory Floor
Friendzone DX
Radiohead In Rainbows
With In Rainbows, Radiohead have accomplished an atmosphere that many have never thought possible for them: Fun. Starting with three straight tracks that genuinely rock- The jovial bounce of "15 Step", the low-fi distortion of "Bodysnatchers", and the slow groove of "Nude"-, In Rainbows makes Radiohead sound almost playful. Radiohead's sound here is far smaller than on any record they've put out before; The quiet feel found on tracks like "Weird Fishes/Arpeggi" or "Faust Arp" dominates the whole of the album. This works most of the time, but on songs like "House of Cards" and "Reckoner", the minimalism leads to loose bolts on the otherwise tightly constructed In Rainbows. The second disc (or is it bonus disc?) is stronger than the wandering first, flipping between the hardest rockers ("Up on the Ladder", "Down is the New Up") and the softest ballads ("Last Flowers", "Go Slowly") seamlessly. It's unfortunate they didn't release the second disc at the same time as the first, as the lovely "4 Minute Warning" sums up In Rainbows better than the loopily aimless "Videotape": Relaxed, occasionally powerful, and above all, accessible. I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the revolutionary "pay your own price" distribution tactic that Radiohead used that turned the music industry on its side, but that doesn't mean Radiohead put any less effort into the record. In Rainbows is a solid, human sounding album from a band that hasn't sounded human in over a decade. r
Radiohead The King of Limbs
Sun Kil Moon Ghosts of the Great Highway

3.7 great
DIIV Oshin
HAIM Days Are Gone
Superchunk I Hate Music
The Men Tomorrow's Hits
Tyler, the Creator Wolf
this is way more fun to listen to than goblin, if less trainwreck-style compelling

3.6 great
Kayo Dot Gamma Knife
Nothing Guilty of Everything

3.5 great
Animal Collective People
Animal Collective Campfire Songs
Animal Collective Water Curses
Animal Collective Centipede Hz
listening to this as it was streaming was special fuckin experience
Animalsound In the Forests of the United States
With production heavy on reverb and a passionate howl that echoes earnestly at every chorus, Jones creates an atmosphere perfectly in tune with his record's title. Nothing but guitar and tambourine accompany Jones, and he places himself utterly alone, singing his soul for only the surrounding wildlife to hear. Not to say he sounds particularly happy about this; on the contrary, the setting of In the Forests of the United States suggests complete and total isolation. From this context, Jones delivers an album of songs directly from his comfort zone, and though Jones never deviates from his beaten path musically, his In the Forests of the United States is a pretty darn good record.
Arcade Fire Neon Bible
Archy Marshall A New Place 2 Drown
As Tall As Lions You Can't Take It With You
Avey Tare Down There
Balam Acab Wander/Wonder
Baths Cerulean
so close to a 5, this shit's gettin perilous
blink-182 Dude Ranch
Blue Sky Black Death Late Night Cinema
Bon Iver Bon Iver, Bon Iver
2011's been full of pretty, good albums from yesterday's heroes. But who's gonna step up, rmake good on their name, and release the masterpiece? Not Bon Iver; goregeous, even moving rat times, but I suspect there's a reason they (note the 'they;' did you know people other rthan Justin Vernon are in the band? I forgot) released the lyrics early. I'm trying to find rsomething to latch on to, and I get these pretty melodies that make me want to love this, rtruly, but I don't. Throw me a bone here, Justin. What are you saying?
Broken Social Scene Forgiveness Rock Record
Brother/Ghost Black Ice
Circa Survive Blue Sky Noise
Clint Mansell and Kronos Quartet Requiem for a Dream
clipping. CLPPNG
Cloud Nothings Attack on Memory
Cults Cults
CunninLynguists Oneirology
Cursive Mama, I'm Swollen
Cymbals Eat Guitars Why There Are Mountains
Cynic Traced in Air
Daft Punk Random Access Memories
Dan Deacon Bromst
Good. Even Nick Greer likes it. It'd be better if he hated it though.
Danny Brown XXX
Dark Time Sunshine Vessel
Death Cab for Cutie Narrow Stairs
Do Make Say Think You, You're a History in Rust
Eminem The Eminem Show
Explosions in the Sky The Earth Is Not a Cold Dead Place
This album is the most post rock of all the post rock albums ever created which is both good and bad
Fang Island Fang Island
it's a good thing there are whoa-ohs in this it definitely would not be as good without the whoa-ohs
Far At Night We Live
Fleet Foxes Fleet Foxes
fun. Aim and Ignite
It's pretty obvious that I think this is the worst thing ever and no one should listen to it 3.5/5
Future Islands On the Water
Future Islands Singles
Gallows (UK) Grey Britain
George Clanton 100% Electronica
Ghastly City Sleep Ghastly City Sleep
Glassjaw Our Color Green (The Singles)
Gold Panda Lucky Shiner
Green Day International Superhits
Green Day Nimrod
Green Day Kerplunk
Gregor Samsa 55:12
Gregor Samsa Rest
Grizzly Bear Veckatimest
Hecq Mare Nostrum
Hercules and Love Affair Hercules and Love Affair
Not so much disco for the modern era as it is disco in the modern era, Hercules and Love Affair is Andrew Butler pretty much having a blast creating some of the catchiest music around. Sure to incite the occasional spasmodic Caucasian hump-dance, Hercules and Love Affair runs from start to finish unabashedly in groove-heaven, pimped out with horns, octave hopping bass-lines, and uhn-tiss-kaht-tiss beats out the wazoo. Featuring the more than capable voices of Antony (of "& the Johnsons" fame), solo siren Nomi, and seductive Kim Ann, Butler's record sports ten consistently charming tracks that prove monstrously entertaining. The opening quintet is absolutely dynamite, with tracks like "Hercules' Theme" and "Blind" providing quality dance music with more hooks than you can shake a stick at, and though the second half drags a bit, it doesn't lessen the overall value of the record. An extremely enjoyable effort.
hitide.lotide The Forest
Holy Other With U
Hop Along Painted Shut
HRVRD The Inevitable And I
Iselia Life From Dead Limbs
Jaga Jazzist One-Armed Bandit
Japanese Breakfast Psychopomp
Jeff Buckley Grace
Jeff Rosenstock We Cool?
Jimmy Eat World Bleed American
Jonny Greenwood Bodysong
Jonsi Go
Kanye West 808s and Heartbreak
Kanye West My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
Kids and Explosions Shit Computer
Lady Gaga The Fame Monster
how the fuck can anyone classify this as avant-garde
Lana Del Rey Ultraviolence
wait a minute this might be everything she should've been from the beginning
Laura Stevenson Sit Resist
and the Zooey Deschanel Award for Convincing Scores of Lovesick Post-Adolescents that They
Have a Chance With Her and Should Therefore Overrate Her goes too....
Lights Out Asia In The Days Of Jupiter
Manchester Orchestra Mean Everything to Nothing
Meanwhile, Back in Communist Russia Indian Ink
Mesa Verde The Old Road
mewithoutYou Ten Stories
Mutyumu Il y a
My Chemical Romance Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge
Nada Surf You Know Who You Are
New Found Glory Sticks and Stones
Nine Inch Nails The Downward Spiral
Nirvana Nevermind
Nirvana Nirvana
Ohana Dead Beat
P.O.S Never Better
Passion Pit Manners
Phantom Planet Phantom Planet
Phosphorescent Here's To Taking It Easy
Prawn You Can Just Leave It All
Primus Sailing the Seas of Cheese
Radiohead COM LAG (2plus2isfive)
Radiohead Airbag/How Am I Driving?
Regina Spektor Far
Awesome stuff, but lets face it, sometimes she gets irritating. Not enough to detract too much from a light collection of songs though
Ride Nowhere
sgt. Stylus Fantasticus
Shangrala This Is How We Communicate
Sigur Ros Agætis byrjun
Sigur Ros Med Sud i Eyrum vid Spilum Endalaust
The album whose name was the biggest pain in the ass to type this year also turned out to be one of the biggest surprises. Sigur Ros drop the funeral marches and pick up the acoustic guitars on this unexpected turn from a band trying to remain relevant in what's considered by many an irrelevant genre. 'Gobbledigook' announces the change triumphantly with pounding drums, hand claps and lalalas that more closely resemble Animal Collective, than say, Explosions in the Sky. The change works wonderfully for a few tracks, before Sigur Ros prove they're still among the best at what they do: epic post rock. 'Festival' and 'Ara Batur' are two of their best tracks in a long time, the latter decked out with a gloriously over-the-top orchestra and choir. It'll be interesting to see where Sigur Ros go from here. This album leaves their avenues completely open.
Silversun Pickups Carnavas
Snowman The Horse, the Rat and the Swan
Soundtrack (Film) Rent
Soundtrack (Film) South Park (Original Soundtrack)
Spokes Everyone I Ever Met
Star Slinger Volume 1
Straylight Run Straylight Run
Taking Back Sunday Where You Want To Be
Television Marquee Moon
The Antlers Burst Apart
The Appleseed Cast Sagarmatha
The Dillinger Escape Plan Option Paralysis
The Dodos Time to Die
While no one will consider Time to Die a bad album, it certainly is an album that will incite ponderous thoughts of what could have been. This could have been Feels to Visiter's Sung Tongs; the follow up to a breakthrough record that propels the band to superstar status by expanding on the good of the previous record while eliminating the bad. Instead we get The Dodos' cliffnotes. Time To Die is a pop rock less-freak-than-folk record that despite being consistently solid, lacks the oomph that made The Dodos a special act in the first place. Everything sounds so in-check; the melodies are generally orthodox, the drumming (while always peppy) is generally tame, and- the worst crime of all- there is no risk to the project. So while the album will give its jollies and be an impressive release and all that, it's the untapped potential that will be most memorable from Time to Die.
The Envy Corps Dwell
Dwell is a slick collection of anthems from Iowa indie-poppers Envy Corps. The hype's already begun to hit these guys, with comparisons to Radiohead and Modest Mouse already pigeon-holing them, but don't be fooled; Dwell is a record that stands on its own, taking the best work from its contemporaries and incorporating it into eleven tracks of euphoric bliss. Look out for tracks like "Story Problem" and "Sylvia (The Beekeeper)", as they're quite liable to stick in your head for days and look out for The Envy Corps, because they've made an album that should be listened to.
The Flashbulb Arboreal
The Gaslight Anthem The '59 Sound
The Horrible Crowes Elsie
The Roots How I Got Over
The Samuel Jackson Five Goodbye Melody Mountain
The Smiths The Queen Is Dead
Hate to be the black sheep here, but I don't see what the big deal is about this album. Is it solid? Sure. The title track is definitely rocking and one of my favorite indie rock songs. But the rest of the album, while remaining good, doesn't have anything great. "There is a Light that Never Goes Out" is beautiful, but other than that and the title track, this isn't anything special.
The Soft Moon The Soft Moon
The Strokes First Impressions of Earth
The White Stripes Elephant
Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra He Has Left Us Alone But Shafts of Light Sometimes Grace the Corner of Our
Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra 13 Blues for Thirteen Moons
With their 5th album, A Silver Mount Zion hint that their new material will be rockier, more fun, and more bitchin than ever before. Though they don't consistently deliver on that front, 13 Blues for Thirteen Moons rocks pretty damn hard for a post rock record. Though Efrim Menuck's voice is getting worse as he thinks it's getting better, the record still serves up its fair share of moments such as the dynamite "1,000,000 Died To Make This Sound" and the gorgeous "Blindblindblind". Thanks to intricate orchestrations, choral arrangements, and some overall slick tunes, 13 Blues For Thirteen Moons might just be ASMZ's best release. Just maybe.
Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra Kollaps Tradixionales
If Mono is like Waior- traditional, wordy, somewhat pretentious and divisive- and Do Make Say Think is like StreetlightRock- chill, consistent, generally solid all around- then Thee Silver Mount Zion Memorial Orchestra is like BallstotheWall- eccentric, loud, a little bit out there, but definitely unlike anything else you'll come in contact with in this context. Kollaps Tradixionales is another Silver Mount Zion release chock full of their idiosyncracies, including Efrim Menuck's bleating, unutterably pretentious song titles and structures, and a kind of "fuck convention, I'll do what I want" atmosphere to it that makes it fun to listen to as an alternative to what everybody else is doing in post rock.
Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra Fuck Off Get Free We Pour Light on Everything
Thom Yorke Tomorrow's Modern Boxes
Thrice The Alchemy Index Vols. III & IV
Thy Catafalque Roka Hasa Radio
Title Fight Hyperview
Trophy Scars Darkness, Oh Hell
Trophy Scars Holy Vacants
absolutely thrilled to give this, another record from a band that has had a wonderful career releasing some of the best 3.5s you'll ever hear, a 3.5.
Tyler, the Creator Goblin
United Nations United Nations
Volcano Choir Unmap
Weezer Everything Will Be Alright in the End
triumphalist
Yonlu A Society In Which No Tear is Shed...
It?s unfortunate that a substantial amount of people will get into Yonlu primarily because he killed himself at the age of sixteen. If history is any indication, the buildup for his only record, A Society In Which No Tear Is Shed Is Incredibly Mediocre, will only be astronomically heightened with the infamous ?posthumous? tag that turns mediocre albums into intriguing ones and great albums into legends. Still, with Yonlu (aka Vinicius Gageiro Marques), it?s practically impossible to talk about A Society In Which No Tear Is Shed without mentioning his imminent suicide. The record is drenched with a stark loneliness and melancholy that defines Marques? work and foreshadows his fate. Toying with every style from Elliott Smith aping doubled-vocals folk to breakbeat techno, Yonlu creates an impressively diverse work with the kind of shit-to-the-wind mentality and experimental approach one would expect from a well-listened teenager. Cross that with his exceptional ability to articulate emotional turmoil and the results speak for themselves. A Society in which No Tear Is Shed Is Incredibly Mediocre is a sprawling and yet unmistakably unified collection of intensely personal songs by a gifted artist cut down before he even approached his prime.
Yuck Yuck
Something tells me this must be what growing up in the 90s was like
Zelienople The World Is A House On Fire

3.3 great
Alcest Shelter
Have a Nice Life The Unnatural World
I'm really glad you're all excited, that's so nice!!

3.2 good
The Dismemberment Plan Uncanney Valley

3.0 good
Amplive Rainydayz Remixes
Andrew Bird Noble Beast
Andrew Lloyd Webber Jesus Christ Superstar: Original Cast
Arcade Fire The Suburbs
Beach Slang Cheap Thrills On A Dead End Street
Brandi Carlile The Story
As far as girl-with-guitar artists go, you could do a lot worse than Brandi Carlile. He second album, The Story, is pretty good quality-wise, and her songwriting, though sometimes a bit on the generic side, is above average when compared to her contemporaries. She absolutely nails harmony on songs like "Cannonball", and on more uptempo tracks like "Have You Ever", she dips into corny, but granted she brings the listener right in with her. Her voice is terrific, ranging from a songstress's weary southern hum, to flawless falsetto, to a lovely passionate, agressive vocal style. Her album doesn't match her live prowess, but it's still good to chill to when you're sick of avant garde deep music.
Brian Eno Another Green World
Camera Obscura My Maudlin Career
There are three kinds of 3 ratings. The first is when you acknowledge an album is good but don't really listen to it (see: overrated). The second is when you think the album's ok and listen to it sometimes. The third is when the album isn't your bag at all and you'll probably get sick of it in a week but right now it's all you're listening to. This is the third.
Cars & Trains The Roots, The Leaves
Chevelle Wonder What's Next
Circa Survive Juturna
Circle Takes the Square Decompositions: Volume Number One
Cocteau Twins Treasure
Danny Brown Old
dredg The Pariah, The Parrot, The Delusion
I'm pretty sure this is not as good as everyone says it is and I hate when that happens so I will listen to this a lot and my opinion will stay the same then I will be very pissed because I wasted my time.
Editors The Back Room
El Guincho Alegranza!
Despite sounding clunky on paper and getting pegged as "The Spanish Person Pitch," Alegranza! stands as a completely singular work. Somewhere between maddening and hypnotizing, El Guincho's album achieves a remarkably strong blend between being something familiar and being something unlike anything before it. Using heavily repeated grooves and minimalist composition, Alegranza! makes for an intriguing listen, at least. There are several moments on Alegranza! that invoke a “Hey, that sounds kind of like (so and so),” but before the similarity becomes a knockoff, El Guincho takes off in a completely different direction, making the album both heavily influenced and completely unique at the same time. With Alegranza!, El Guincho takes what could have been a disaster and forms one of the most peculiar, inimitable records of the year. Chow down
Eluvium Similes
Emancipator Safe In The Steep Cliffs
Franz Ferdinand Tonight: Franz Ferdinand
Friendly Fires Friendly Fires
Gifts From Enola From Fathoms
Girl Talk Feed the Animals
Like a joke that's funny the first two times before everyone starts ruining it.
Girls Album
Glissando With Our Arms Wide Open We March Towards...
God Is an Astronaut All Is Violent, All Is Bright
Green Day 1039/Smoothed Out Slappy Hours
Green Day 39/Smooth
Have a Nice Life Time of Land
Her Name Is Calla The Heritage
Interpol El Pintor
John Maus We Must Become the Pitiless Censors of Ourselves
Joy Division Unknown Pleasures
Joy Division Permanent
Another posthumous Joy Division record, Permanent is fairly straightforward, the equivalent to a greatest hits, save for the fact Joy Division had one hit. That song was so popular, it appears twice on this record. "Love Will Tell Us Apart" is a pretty simple pop song fo rJoy Division, and it's a highlight, though not twice. Other highlights include Transmission, Atmosphere, Dead Souls, and Twenty Four Hours. The middle of the record is some of the better tracks off of Unknown Pleasures and the weaker ones of Closer, save for Twenty Four Hours. Overall fairly weak, but not a bad compilation. You're better off getting the albums.
Kasabian Kasabian
Keepaway Baby Style
Lady Gaga The Fame
Linkin Park Hybrid Theory
Little Kid Logic Songs
Lostprophets Start Something
M.I.A. Maya
Male Bonding Nothing Hurts
Massive Attack Mezzanine
Moving Mountains Foreword
My Chemical Romance Life on the Murder Scene
My Chemical Romance The Black Parade
My Education Bad Vibrations
Naked City Naked City
New Rivals Fire For Effect EP
Nine Inch Nails The Slip
Nirvana Bleach
Nirvana Live! Tonight! Sold Out!!
P.O.D. Satellite
Paavoharju Laulu Laakson Kukista
pg.lost In Never Out
Pianos Become the Teeth Old Pride
Protest the Hero Fortress
Radiohead The Astoria London Live (DVD)
Ramones Loud, Fast Ramones - Their Toughest Hits
Red Hot Chili Peppers By the Way
Red Hot Chili Peppers Californication
Red Hot Chili Peppers Greatest Hits
Red Hot Chili Peppers Blood Sugar Sex Magik
Russian Circles Station
Saxon Shore The Exquisite Death of Saxon Shore
Straylight Run Prepare To Be Wrong
Sum 41 All Killer No Filler
Sun Airway Soft Fall
Sun Kil Moon April
Sunny Day Real Estate Live
System of a Down Toxicity
System of a Down Mezmerize
Taking Back Sunday Tell All Your Friends
Taking Back Sunday Louder Now
Taking Back Sunday New Again
New Again is an ironic title for this album considering it sounds just like everything Taking Back Sunday's put out since Where You Want to Be. Same pits, same thrills, same general consistency without being all that special save for a couple songs. Adam Lazzara still sings about girls and the songs all have that early 00s powerpop edge that's defined Taking Back Sunday for their entire careers. Is this a bad thing? No, New Again is the type of record that provides earnest enjoyment in its familiarity and wordy choruses. They might consider themselves "new again," but this current Taking Back Sunday are comfortably holding down pop punk with the same old tricks.
Teen Suicide It's the Big Joyous Celebration..
The Afghan Whigs Gentlemen
The Ascent of Everest From This Vantage
The Beatles Abbey Road
The Drums Summertime!
The Fratellis Costello Music
The Lonely Island Incredibad
The Offspring Greatest Hits
The Strokes Room on Fire
The Trophy Fire A Lifetime in the Middle of the Ocean
The Velvet Underground The Velvet Underground & Nico
The Weeknd Echoes of Silence
well house of balloons grew on me eventually
Thom Yorke The Eraser
Thrice The Alchemy Index Vols. I & II
Thrice Beggars
Up-C Down-C Left-C Right-C ABC + Start Embers
We Only Said We Only Said
Why? Eskimo Snow
Yeasayer Odd Blood
Zola Jesus Conatus

2.7 average
Arcade Fire Reflektor

2.5 average
AFI Sing the Sorrow
AJJ Knife Man
Animal Collective Painting With
Bayside Bayside
This album is little more than bland pop punk. The vocals are some of the most boring performances I've ever heard, and their so called post-punk influence appears in a couple of song's vocal melodies. Overall a boring album with a few nice songs here and there (Devotion and Desire is very very good), but nothing here should make you want to buy this album.
blink-182 Neighborhoods
Blue October Foiled
Canyons of Static The Disappearance
canyon-noun
a deep valley with steep sides, often with a stream flowing through it. See: Giant Hole

static- adjective
noting or pertaining to atmospheric electricity interfering with radar, radio, the sending and receiving of wireless messages. See: White noise.

Pretty much the problem with canyonsofstatic's debut record The Disappearance: It's big and grand and doesn't say anything of significance. There's not much to say about The Disappearance, which is perhaps its greatest flaw. I could just say "epic post rock that's not really that epic" and chances are you would know exactly what this sounds like. Canyonsofstatic have potential, and with time could flesh out into something truly remarkable, but right now, they're simply another interesting looking name in a sea of bands that sound good by themselves, average in context.
Caspian Tertia
Dirty Projectors Bitte Orca
DJ Gyngyvytus Skeet Spirit: A Crunk Tribute to Radiohead
Whatever you're expecting from Skeet Spirit is likely exactly what you're going to get. DJ Gyngyvytus' formula to this devilish concoction runs as follows: Take some of Radiohead's greatest hits from the pre-Hail to the Thief era, put a two-step beat behind it, and add gratuitous amounts of monosyllabic questions and answers ("WHAT?" "YEAH!"), et voila: a two and a half minute bastardization of the original track that barely shares any melodic similarity to the Radiohead song said bastardization is based off of. The result? A "tribute" that's as polarizing as it is ridiculous. Hearing "We don't give a ***, y'all pussy like bitches" over something vaguely reminiscent of "Street Spirit" is enough to bring any Radiohead purist to tears, but discovering one's inner Lil' Jon to a "Paranoid Android" remix? Hell, regardless of the shoddy quality, Skeet Spirit is something that demands to be heard.
Envy Recitation
Extra Life Secular Works
Fall Out Boy From Under the Cork Tree
You can look at From Under the Cork Tree in two ways. The good thing is that its the defenition of emo pop punk. The bad thing is that it's emo pop punk. Like Nevermind to grunge, From Under The Cork Tree is the defining album of a dying genre, but it's also quite crappy and banal. Not worth your time.
Fennesz Black Sea
Frickin A Big Egos... No Ideas
Goo Goo Dolls Dizzy Up The Girl
Green Day Warning
Green Day Bullet In A Bible
Guns N' Roses Appetite for Destruction
Harvey Milk Life... The Best Game in Town
Interpol Remix EP
Interpol The Black EP
Interpol Our Love to Admire
Unfortunately, this is another dud from one trick pony and apparently one hit wonder Interpol. As Antics was the album got them noticed by major labels, Our Love To Admire sticks to the same formula to a T. There are some fine moments, such as the orchestral and hypnotizing Pioneer to the Falls, but most of the tracks on Our Love To Admire are reminiscent of the forgettable tracks off Antics, and there's not much worth repeating. With jagged guitars, surprisingly minimal basswork, and Paul Banks' more and more sheeplike voice, Our Love To Admire is a safe record; but not a good one.
Jay-Z and Kanye West Watch the Throne
Jonsi and Alex Riceboy Sleeps
Kayo Dot Blue Lambency Downward
KT Tunstall Eye To The Telescope
Lana Del Rey Born to Die
sam feldman accusing sputnikers of being too high to like something now ive seen everything
Linkin Park Meteora
Mac DeMarco Salad Days
"take a nap"- this album
Max Richter 24 Postcards in Full Colour
Moving Mountains Waves
Muse Black Holes & Revelations
New Found Glory From the Screen to Your Stereo
NSYNC No Strings Attached
Pharrell Williams G I R L
Pink M!ssundaztood
Radiohead Pablo Honey
Sex Pistols Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols
Snowing Fuck Your Emotional Bullshit
stellastarr* Civilized
Sugarcult Palm Trees And Power Lines
Switchfoot The Beautiful Letdown
System of a Down Hypnotize
The Jesus and Mary Chain Psychocandy
The Killers Hot Fuss
The Menzingers On the Impossible Past
Thirty Seconds to Mars A Beautiful Lie
Weezer The Red Album
Yeah Yeah Yeahs Show Your Bones

2.2 poor
Ariana Grande My Everything

2.0 poor
Ace of Base The Sign
Beach Slang The Things We Do to Find People Who Feel
Codeine Frigid Stars
Coldplay X&Y
DragonForce Inhuman Rampage
Eminem Encore
From First to Last Heroine
Girl Talk All Day
Green Day Shenanigans
Green Day 21st Century Breakdown
21st Century Breakdown expands upon American Idiot in almost every way imaginable. It?s bigger, more ambitious, and somehow more conceptually vague/ridiculous than American Idiot (seriously). This time around, Green Day discard anything resembling subtlety, which is not to say that subtlety was ever their forte. It is to say, however, that listening to 21st Century Breakdown in its entirety is an experience comparable to masturbating multiple times in succession. Every corner of the album is laden with production gimmicks and song constructions that make it clear that Green Day wanted to make 21st Century Breakdown the most epic experience ever ever ever and to their credit, there sure are anthems abound in these eighteen tracks of driving power chords and soaring harmonies. But rhyming ?fighting for? and ?dying for? can only be inspiring so many times before sounding trite, and 21st Century Breakdown spirals out of control in its own heroic glory and never regains focus, thus ending with a product that Green Day couldn?t afford to produce: an average record.
HIM Dark Light
Interpol Interpol
Kanye West The Life of Pablo
Kayo Dot Coyote
more noodly bullshit at least this time there are some beatz
New Found Glory Nothing Gold Can Stay
Panic! at the Disco A Fever You Can't Sweat Out
R. Kelly Trapped In The Closet (Chapters 1-12)
Straylight Run Un Mas Dos
Oh, how far Straylight Run has fallen. Since their promising albeit at-times-generic self titled debut, they've descended into obscurity, with the Un Mas Dos EP offering no hope of resurgence. The only reason to get this is to hear what the group sounds like without the dynamic Michelle Nolan, and the results aren't pretty. Minus their most interesting performer, Straylight Run sound directionless and almost comical, caught somewhere between elite indie rock and emotional pop-punk without the pros of either. The generic soft-verse, louder-chorus weighs down Un Mas Dos till it can't recover, despite the nice bridge they play in every song. John Nolan's lyrics are particularly disappointing, especially on the faux political "Ten Ton Shoes," which makes no statement of any significance. Straylight Run are circling the drain, and if a follow up of Un Mas Dos continues in the same vein, don't be surprised if you never hear from them again.
Switches Lay Down the Law
The Killers Sam's Town
The Killers Day & Age
The Smashing Pumpkins Zeitgeist
The Used In Love and Death
The Warriors War Is Hell
Weezer Raditude
Yeah Yeah Yeahs It's Blitz!
More like It's Glitz! Karen O and those two other guys drop the acoustic folk/rock and start doing cheesey dance pop. Results are predictably bad.

1.5 very poor
Ashlee Simpson Autobiography
Ben Lee The Rebirth of Venus
Britney Spears Greatest Hits: My Prerogative
Creed Human Clay
Eminem Recovery
Julian Plenti Julian Plenti is... Skyscraper
Linkin Park Minutes to Midnight
Primitive Radio Gods Rocket
An overall awful album. It has 1 terrific song in "Broken Phone Booth", but the rest is a hodgepodge of crap from the 80's and 90's. O'Connor's lyrics are awful, and his consistently angry tone holds less and less merit as his songs get worse and worse. Don't buy it, just download "Broken Phone Booth".
Simple Plan No Pads, No Helmets... Just Balls
Taking Back Sunday Taking Back Sunday

1.0 awful
Atreyu Suicide Notes and Butterfly Kisses
Black Kids Partie Traumatic
Good Charlotte The Chronicles of Life and Death
Green Day ¡UNO!
Hawthorne Heights The Silence in Black and White
Hawthorne Heights If Only You Were Lonely
Kanye West Yeezus
Ken, I grew up in Dublin. I love Dublin. If i grew up on a farm, and was retarded, Yeezus might impress me, but I didn't, so it doesn't.
Kid Cudi Speedin' Bullet 2 Heaven
more like pursuit of crappiness
Lindsay Lohan A Little More Personal (Raw)
New Found Glory Catalyst
Pussycat Dolls PCD
Simple Plan Still Not Getting Any...
Sun Kil Moon Benji
fuck. this.
The Click Five Greetings from Imrie House
Weezer Make Believe
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