https://daydreamsociety.bandcamp.com/album/the-blinding
My most recent album only coming in at fifth? Damn. But yeah there are elements of this that don't work quite as well as some of the other albums that are upcoming. I think the state of my life and mindset are important for the quality of the albums I put out, and this album just wasn't quite as inspired as some of the others coming up. There are obviously tracks here I find it to be really great all throughout, but at the same time I can't pinpoint a "standout" which is strange. This album kind of bleeds together for me and even I have trouble differentiating some of the tracks (and I'm the one that made it!!). Anyway the title of this album refers to the dramatic change my life recently took: I finally moved out of the underground apartment that I felt so trapped in at college into a new place. "The Blinding" kind of describes how it feels going from such a dark place into a new, brighter place in the real world and in my life. As a result the tracks here are a combination of hesitant and triumphant, with some seriously optimistic hope for the future sprinkled in.

https://daydreamsociety.bandcamp.com/album/for-now
I'd say this is my best "super depressed YorkeDaddy" album. This one was heavily influenced by the work of Sylvia Plath, a poet you should all probably know about...and if you don't, look her up and do some reading, fool. Anyway this album is about suicide and the events leading up to it. Some dark subject matter, for sure, but it's definitely something that was fascinating me during that period of time. I'm not saying I was considering it as a viable option for myself, but the thought of it just really inspired me musically which is why we get this album. The final track abruptly cuts off after a couple minutes of happy-sounding ambient to try and simulate the euphoria one feels right before they actually die. The tracks leading up to it are a combination of drug-fueled weirdness like "Outer Wave" and dark, introspective meandering like "Floating in the In-Between", which by the way is still the longest track I've ever made to date, and is also perhaps my best atmospheric track as well. Overall I think this album was the turning point where I started to really feel confident in my Daydream Society music, like I was actually making something REALLY good and that I should stick with it.

https://daydreamsociety.bandcamp.com/album/avulsion
Another album that's really hard for me to listen to. This is a culmination of the thoughts I was having upon separating from my ex of over 5 years. When you start dating someone at age 16 and make it all the way to 21...that's just such a gigantically important portion of your life. There's so many crucial things about me that developed during that period, so how do you represent such an experience musically? I don't know, but I think I did a damn fine job. This is definitely a dark, moody album, but there are bits and pieces that sound quite hopeful as well. I think it's a very cold, wintery feeling album too...which might just be because I made it during the winter time but I really think the sound of it pushes that feel too. Not every track is perfect, but I'd still almost call the album as a whole perfect because I don't think I could have expressed what I was feeling then in any other reasonable way.

https://cloudcover1.bandcamp.com/album/frownland
Sure I'm biased, but to me this is a really, really ****ing good indie rock record, and if you're interested in that genre you really have to give this a shot. It's nothing like my Daydream Society work, but I really can't say enough how awesome this album is to me. It's kind of a recreation of dystopian novels like 1984 but with some little twists from us. Cool little details like vocoders being the bad guys and stuff make this such a fun listen for me, and there's so many great details that make it worthy of second and third listens. I really can't believe Schuyler and I managed to make this, it's truly a special album. You can hear a lot more about the creation of this album in a journal I made leading up to its release back in 2013, check it out here if you're interested:
http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...sterpiece.html

https://daydreamsociety.bandcamp.com/album/daze-end
I don't think I will ever make an album more important to me. I think I basically nailed every detail of it. The last two years of college were seriously hell for me, feeling trapped and unhappy with the state of basically everything going on around me. A relationship I knew was not going to last, a social life that was stagnant as a result of it, a general unease with the future...all of these things lead to a crippling depression that I wasn't sure I'd ever get out of. This album describes the process of finally getting over it. The sound clips of people talking help tell the story, but the music itself is what really conveys the experience. I slaved over every note, making sure there wasn't a second on this album that was wasted. I can't even count how many times I wrote and rewrote these tracks, unsatisfied with the how the emotions were being portrayed. Musically I think these songs are just great, with some grand highlights like "Brink" and "Fixated" providing not only immense emotional depth but also epic crescendos and beautiful melodies. I can't rave about this one enough, if you like my music and haven't heard this album yet it should be near the top of your list.