Compact Disc Recommendations
I'll be posting a short album recommendation here each month. In order to stay within the constraints of this website, each album that is listed here was released between 1994-2006.
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—————————————— DEFTONES – WHITE PONY RELEASED: JUNE 2001 GENRE: ALT METAL FAV: “PINK MAGGIT” LISTEN: SPOTIFY ➜ |
What a fucking masterpiece this album is! I was vaguely familiar with Deftones because of the popularity of Minerva (and my many late nights spent watching music videos). But I didn't discover this album until a friend randomly put it on my iPod Classic sometime in college. Needless to say, it completely blew me away. Moody, heavy, sad, tremendously powerful stuff.
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——————————— WHITE BLOOD CELLS – WHITE STRIPES RELEASED: JULY 2001 GENRE: GARAGE ROCK FAV: “DEAD LEAVES AND THE...” LISTEN: SPOTIFY ➜ |
On most days, I'm very likely to tell you that the White Stripes are my favorite band of all time. This album holds a special place in my heart because it includes the first song I ever heard from them — Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground — which remains my favorite. My first time hearing it was on a mix CD from my sister, who mistakenly attributed the song to The Hives. I didn’t properly discover the White Stripes until Elephant was released a couple years later. Better late than never.
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——————————— MULE VARIATIONS – TOM WAITS RELEASED: APRIL 1999 GENRE: ROCK / EXPERIMENTAL FAV: “COME ON UP TO THE HOUSE” LISTEN: SPOTIFY ➜ |
Tom Waits is another artist who’s constantly in the running to be my favorite musician of all time. His voice and tendency to experiment are often divisive, but I think he’s a true genius and will listen to anything he puts out. This album has a great mix of traditional singer-songwriter ballads and weirdo trashcan beatboxed jams. It’s a sample platter of many different flavors of Tom Waits. Come On Up to the House is one of the best songs ever written — completely transcendent and beatuiful. While Cold Water has the best guitar tone I’ve ever heard. If you’re new to Tom Waits, this wouldn’t be a bad album to start with.
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—————————— PARADE OF CHAOS – ZAO RELEASED: JULY 2002 GENRE: METALCORE FAV: “PARADE OF CHAOS” LISTEN: YOUTUBE ➜ |
It’s hard to overstate the impact that Zao has had on my musical taste. They were largely responsible for getting me interested in more extreme music. And they’re one of the very few metalcore bands that hold up today. Parade of Chaos may not be their greatest album, but I have a ton of nostalgia for it. I vividly remember hearing Pirate’s Prayer for the first time and getting to the part that sounds like you’re going underwater. It feels a little gimmicky today, but it was the coolest thing I had ever heard at the time. Also, this album gets extra love for raising awareness about the West Memphis Three. Long live Zao.
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———————————— THE CODE IS RED – NAPALM DEATH RELEASED: APRIL 2005 GENRE: GRINDCORE FAV: “SILENCE IS DEAFENING” LISTEN: YOUTUBE ➜ |
Over the last couple of years I've become a really big fan of Napalm Death. I even had tickets to see them in 2020, but the show was cancelled due to the quarantine. I'm much more familiar with very early stuff and their more recent stuff — but I understand the late 90s/early 2000s was a dark period for the band, and this album marked a return to form. Regardless, the video for Silence is Deafening is truly wonderful. Barney is my favorite frontman in metal.
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———————————————— THE LONESOME (...) – MODEST MOUSE RELEASED: NOVEMBER 1997 GENRE: INDIE ROCK FAV: “HEART COOKS BRAIN” LISTEN: BANDCAMP ➜ |
The Lonesome Crowded West is in one of my favorite albums of all time. I was familiar with Modest Mouse in high school, but didn't discover this one until college when a friend, with much better taste in music than me, dumped it onto my iPod Classic (alongside several other great albums). It quickly became the soundtrack to that time of my life and the CD has been in my car for more than a decade now. It's hard to overstate how much this album means to me, so I'll stop rambling. But go check it out, if you haven't already.
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———————————————— AND THEN (...) – YO LA TENGO RELEASED: FEBRUARY 2000 GENRE: INDIE ROCK / DREAM POP FAV: “THE CRYING OF LOT G” LISTEN: SPOTIFY ➜ |
And Then the Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out sounds like nostalgia feels. Even though I first heard it decades after release, I felt like I had always known these songs. An amazing and mind-boggling feat. Also, The Crying of Lot G is the most accurate description of having a fight with a loved one I've encountered in all of art. Not melodramatic in any way, but so deeply emotional and real that it hurts.
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——————————————— VESPERTINE – BJÖRK RELEASED: AUGUST 2001 GENRE: ARTPOP FAV: “IT’S NOT UP TO YOU” LISTEN: BANDCAMP ➜ |
I've been a Björk fan for a long time, but mainly just listened to Debut and Post over and over. I've recently started branching out to her other albums, and this one may become my favorite. "If you wake up, and the day feels broken, just lean into the crack, and it will tremble ever so nicely. Notice, how it sparkles down there."
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———————————————— DUMMY – PORTISHEAD RELEASED: AUGUST 1994 GENRE: TRIP HOP FAV: “STRANGERS” LISTEN: SPOTIFY ➜ |
My favorite trip hop album. Moody, cinematic, and has so much texture that you can almost feel it. The genre-defining blend of musical influences paired with the haunting voice of Beth Gibbons is perfect for a cloudy day. An incredible vibe throughout, but Strangers blows me away every listen.
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———————————————— FIGURE 8 – ELLIOTT SMITH RELEASED: APRIL 2000 GENRE: INDIE ROCK FAV: “STUPIDITY TRIES” LISTEN: SPOTIFY ➜ |
This has been my go-to Fall album for a few years now. Feels great to drive around at night with this playing, maybe with the windows down and feeling the air get a bit colder. Basically every song on this thing is excellent. A great mix of poetic sadness and beautiful, often uplifting music.