Got a link for the Fuck Buttons album?

It's depressing how few posts there have been in journals since I've been gone. I don't have time to look around the site right now but I'll be writing in here lots once I get my laptop in a week or two and I have free internet access back. For now, don't miss new Trouble Books album Gathered Tones. I just listened to one song and it doesn't disappoint after their first album. More to come after I've had a chance to actually listen to some shit.

Yeah, I haven't really bothered with mine for a while as I can't really think of anything particularly interesting to do with it anymore.

Good to see you back around these parts anyway. It's a good journal this - looking forward to your next post in it.

Thanks Bulldog. Too bad I'm a lazy fuck and even with all the free time I have I still haven't been writing in here... I've decided that I am going to sit down today and come up with the full list of my 100 favorite albums and try it again for the second time. There's really not enough going on in journals anymore, and it's definitely one of the best parts of musicbanter. I need to contribute my part.

someone needs to revive it right? :P

I've decided to download both of these at once. Fantastic write ups, my friend.

:) Thanks dac, haven't seen you around lately (mostly probably because I haven't been here). Hope you enjoy.

I think that the first time I tried to do a top 100 list, I was not prepared in any way. Since first joining MB a while back, my music taste has changed drastically, mostly because I discovered sounds that I never knew existed before - thanks to everyone by the way, more than a few of these come from the MB community! I've finally discovered what my favorite sounds are, and gotten a better understanding of my musical taste. The albums on here are the ones that have been around a long time and stood the test of time, never getting boring or old to me. I did my best to get a fully ordered top 100 list, but of course things will always change around. This is more a rough estimate, though the top 25 are ordered perfectly. Some reviews might be short, depends on how inspired I am to write about the album. With that said, it's time for me to get started. And expect a lot of these to come up fast, I've been working on writing them for random albums from the list as I placed them so I have quite a few done already.


Carbon Leaf manages to create a near perfect blend of traditional Irish music, alternative rock, and folk on Echo Echo. The band uses lots of instruments, from guitar to mandolin to bagpipes to upright bass and ensures each is in perfect harmony. Each instrument plays an essential part in the feel of the songs, and the members of the band manage to come together in a way that is rarely found these days. Seeing them play live is a fantastic experience, they have a vibe and connection better than probably any band I've ever seen. The first half of the album or so is to my ears near perfect alternative rock done in a unique interesting way. There is some filler that keeps it so low on my list; Maybe Today goes on far longer than necessary, and I Know the Reason and Follow the Lady don't do too much for me. But The Boxer, Lonesome Pine, Mellow Tone, and Toy Soldiers are all specific standouts. And they do write some decent lyrics.


A delightful album of electronic indie pop from Sweden, back in 2007 Seabear rose to fame on the popularity of their song I Sing, I Swim. The Ghost That Carried Us Away is much more of the same. Intro Good Morning, Scarecrow begins with a strange medley of sounds until a cheery upbeat melody intrudes, giving a good idea of what’s to come. Cat Piano makes use of a harmonica to create a nice soothing melody, followed by Libraries, one of my favorites. I Sing, I Swim is indeed the standout track of the album, well deserving of the popularity it has attained. Owl Waltz, the following song, is a slower tempo song delivered over a softly strumming acoustic guitar. Throughout the album, the band makes use often of strings and background sounds like birds chirping. What helps to give their albums a unique, fuller feel is that they use a muted acoustic guitar strumming chords while a second acoustic plucks notes throughout. There’s really two main reasons I chose this over the myriad of other indie pop albums I could have picked. First is that I absolutely love the sound of ‘s voice, it’s pretty much the perfect delivery for their vocals and molds beautifully with their songs. The other is the feeling I get without fail every time I hear these songs. The music takes me back to childhood in a way, invoking a feeling of happy nostalgia. While I listen through the album, it brings back all sorts of good memories of old times. It’s one of the best pick me up albums for me. I don’t think I could possibly feel sad listening to it, even when I’m missing Jenna terribly I can turn it on and the simple soothing songs remind me of all the fun we had. I know a lot of you probably would never agree with having this in a top 100, and I know it’s not the best indie pop, but this is more of a personal choice than actually quality of music… if that makes any sense.


Behold Secret Kingdom just rocks. It’s definitely not for everyone, and you’ll probably be able to tell in the first minute or two of the first song whether you’ll be able to enjoy it. The music is noisy experimental psychedelic rock with strangely sung, nearly chanted, echoing vocals finding their way into the mesh, not too prevalent but clearly audible (not like, for example, Loveless, where the vocals are almost completely covered by walls of sound). They also use a lot of strange electronic sounds that remind me of Melt-Banana but at a much slower tempo. This one’s really hard to describe, but I’ll just end by saying that Raccoo-oo-oon uses elements of free jazz, electronic, noise, psychedelic rock, jam, and more than a few other genres to blow your mind in a very interesting way. Expect to be worn out by the end of the album trying to keep up just listening. Also, I am ashamed to admit that this is the only Racoo-oo-oon album I've heard; I've been told I really need to listen to several others that could be even better.

Good that you're getting started with your list - I've been looking forward to this. Nice start as well - three albums I've never heard of, which can;t be a bad thing eh. It'll be cool to see how this evolves over time, so best of luck with the whole thing eh.

Also, if you've got a link to that Carbon Leaf album we can be friends forever :D

Yellow Swans are an experimental noise band that make some crazy, glitchy, very staticy music to melt your mind. The album’s only four songs but clocks in at about 50 minutes and every minute is ****ing crazy. The last song, Drowning in Paradise, is probably my favorite experimental song. I’m not even really sure how to describe any of their music any better, just check it out if you’re into noise it all. And turn it the **** up.


Circle Jerks are probably my favorite hardcore punk band. And yeah, I'm putting in a double album. The songs are short, funny, and basically just what you would expect from a group of teenage punks calling themselves the Circle Jerks. With songs like I Just Want Some Skank, World Up My Ass, and Question Authority, it’s really just the type of “**** you all” music that’s great to listen to at times, where the band (though they may not be the most skilled) really just have fun with their music.They may not be the best out there, but I grew up on this album… it was my real introduction to hardcore, in fact I was listening to this album before I even knew who Black Flag was.


I’ve heard some bad things about this album, but I’m not going to lie… I find it really really fun to listen to. I suppose you could call it a concept album about an island in the South Pacific, but it’s really basically a sound collage of lots of interesting simple tropical sounds looped and played over each other. It’s very minimal, but if you listen to it as a whole album and keep in mind what it is, it’s incredibly rewarding. It has a strange spiritual quality to it. There’re 22 tracks on the album, and they cover all sorts of sound. Desert Rose has a catchy glitch drum beat with a very simple melody that creates a very dreamy, ethereal feel. Free Guys By the Sea uses a flutes and several other instruments to create a sound that reminds me of being at a laid back, tribal ceremony on a beach somewhere. Mirror Friends has all sorts of things going on at once, and creates a somewhat trippy feel with a very simple tribal drum beat holding everything together. My Are Singing uses some sort of string instrument (I don’t think it’s a guitar…) and a few vocal samples and drum sounds to create an amazingly conventional sounding pop song (as close as I can imagine them getting). I Keep Waiting For Earthquakes is similar, it’s amazing how Lucky Dragons can blend together a collage of sounds to create a danceable catchy pop song. Realistic Rhythm, in some strange way, almost reminds me of trip hop in a tropical island way I can’t even hope to convey in words. Wooden Cave Loop and closer track Very 2 remind me a lot of earlier Animal Collective (Here Comes the Indian and Hollinndagain days). Overall not something to be missed, but definitely hit or miss… most people don’t seem to like it so much.

This thread has my attention. Great write ups broseph.

I already know I’m getting **** for this one. I realized making this list, in my eyes The Cure were never able to top this album as a whole. This album, as far as I’m concerned, marks the real birth of gothic rock. The songs are pleasantly dark, minimal, and beautiful, and have a way of pulling you in. While I do enjoy Pornography and Faith, there’s something about this one that just clicks with me. It’s like Robert Smith is seeing through the complexities of life and telling it honestly exactly as it is, and the music matches that concept perfectly. As far as I’m concerned, this is The Cure as they were meant to be. Music that is strangely pleasant and withdrawn while pulling you spiraling down into the gloomy, lonely world of The Cure. It just feels unbelievably real to me, I’m not to sure how to put the feeling I get when I hear it into words. If you’re feeling depressed and nothing can cheer you up, throw this bitch on. It can’t fail to be perfect.


The Coathangers are an all girl lo-fi indie rock band with a punk attitude that play some ****ing awesome music. They remind me a lot of The Pixies if the Pixies songs weren’t so well produced and if they played even crazier than they do. This album’s been growing on me like crazy lately, probably should have been in my top albums of 09. The first song Toomerhead (not counting the 5 second intro) has a catchy piano line played behind a simple guitar riff and a somewhat haunting vocal backing, and when the chorus comes in they kick up the distortion and rock out. Time Passing is a very, very lo-fi recording with some wicked guitar that creates a perfect atmosphere for the band. Bury Me makes perfect use of ___’s yelping, energetic voice with a very catchy beat and some background tambourines playing along. Pussywillow is one of my favorites, using just single guitar notes, a very primitive bass line, and a few other instruments to create a very dark, catchy song. Sonic You probably is some sort of tribute to Sonic Youth, but it sounds very shoegazey to me; the vocals are very dreamy and carry you away. Check it out, definitely one of my favorite lo-fi releases.

This is a great-looking list, and it's already given me a few more albums I'd never have heard of otherwise to look for (speaking of which, if I run into a proverbial brick wall with those, I'll give you a call!). Keep up the good work eh.

I completely gave up on this. And it must be finished!!! New **** coming through... After 4 months of time to get much better acquainted with my music, my list changed a bit, and I'm working on reorganizing it right now. Hopefully I'll get some done this weekend since I have a lot of free time.

Ah, American Football. This is pretty much the perfect break up album, I know it's extremely cliche but I can't imagine a better album to throw on after a tough break up. The album has a nostalgic, depressing sound that feels like the end of something great that simply ended. The guitar provides an excellent picked melody throughout, and some songs feature a trumpet that really solidifies the sound of the album. It's a mellow, laid back album with a sometimes jazzy sound. Mike Kinsella's lyrics are fantastic, and he sings with such serious emotion you'll immediately means every word he sings. The vocals are relatively sparsely placed, allowing the music to speak for itself for the majority of the album. The mix is also well produced so that the vocals don't distract from the rest of the song, blending in perfectly so that each instrument has it's own place in the songs. When the tempo speeds up in songs like I'll See You When We're Both Not So Emotional, you'll hear the band shine at it's best in my opinion. But in each song the tempos are constantly changing, and despite being a relatively calm and relaxing album it won't let you lose interest, providing plenty of variation to keep one actively listening. My only complaint - the bass is relatively simple, often playing a single note repetitively. But regardless, American Football still crafted a mellow masterpiece with this album, and it's a consistently emotional and well produced album throughout.


I know it's somewhat odd to have a mash up in my favorite albums, but it deserves it's spot, and as such I'm putting it here. DJ N-Wee, whoever he is, created one of the best mash up albums I've ever heard. Using sometimes full sections of Pavement's songs and other times simply chopped up and dissected pieces, he creates an even better back to Jay-Z's lyrics than the beats of The Black Album itself, in my opinion. The songs go in order, so it's each track of The Black Album mixed with the corresponding song on Slanted & Enchanted. The man must be a genius, he creates some seriously impressive beats and backing tracks out of an indie rock masterpiece. The album has got a seriously impressive flow to it, molding together perfectly. There's really not much else to say here, you need to hear it to believe it. I guess a lot of people hate it from the little bit of stuff about it I found on the web trying to find out who DJ N-Wee is, but I ****ing love it. What More Can I Sing, Zurich Your Shoulder, Loretta Clarity, and 99 Problems Here are the highlights of the album in my opinion. I know mash ups like this can get annoying but I really loved this one.

An Albatross return with some brutal, rhythmic noise rock a la heavily distorted thudding guitar riff, almost circus like synth, and drums. This may sound like an impossible combination, but the band pulls it off fantastically, with the guitars providing pure noise shredding bliss over strange running synth melodies that will rock your world and melt your mind. This is the kind of music you need an 11 on your speakers for. The bass chugs along at hyperspeed, the synth pumps out melodies under the guitar that keep the songs sounding at least somewhat melodic (for the most part), and the guitar just shreds along for complete sonic bliss, sometimes playing discernible rhythms and melodies but just as often simply scratching and shredding all over the bridge to create a massive wall of sound that will kick you across the room and leave your heart pumping and adrenalin flowing. Add in the demonic screams of indecipherable lyrics, and make all of these sounds about the same importance to the mix, and you have Blessphemy, another ass-kicking, decimating release from one of my favorite noise rock bands always doing their own thing, An Albatross.


The music of Spiritualized is definitely something special. The songs start off as something simple and beautiful, usually utilizing an organ, dreamy vocals, and some jangly drum beats. Some of the songs could almost be hymns one would hear in church for the first little bit. But as they move on, each song grows into something special. Then the distorted guitars come in, spacey and loud and forceful but never aggressive or abrasive, giving the song a kick into action as the band begins to rock out and can knockyou on your ass at times if you don't know what's coming. To me, the songs are beautiful and powerful, capable of taking away any stress I may have and then lifting my mood until I'm feeling relaxed and content. Never boring, never too harsh, Spiritualized hit the perfect balance of wall of sound guitars and simplicity. With a stellar collection of songs, including a kick ass version of Take Good Care Of It and a cover of Spacemen 3's Walk With Jesus, I'd give anything to have been at this concert. The band are much wilder and louder live than in their studio recordings, but still manage to hold things together very well. I'd highly recommend this album to anyone that likes shoegaze or space rock, or just calming music in general that's up for something with a bit more liveliness to it.

Time for some free jazz/no wave type stuff. No Pain For Cakes is, as far as the Lounge Lizards are concerned, a rather accessible album and a great place to start if you're put off by the insanity that is their self titled album (though I love that as well). The no wave craziness is still here, but in much smaller doses and with much more of a discernible melody. The title track showcases the feel of the album well after their previous works, introducing a much more straight jazzy feel but with a nice break in the middle where things still get a bit chaotic. The title track incorporates bongo drums, a syncopated horn section and violin melody, and oddly sad romantic feeling trumpet and violin solos, before moving into a latin jazz sound for a minute or so. My Clowns On Fire is again a chaotic free jazz work, albeit with a very constant and apparent beat. Carry Me Out has a very ragtime feel to it with a nice bit of Lounge Lizards touch, and Bob and Nico flows smooth and slow. Cue For Passion consists of only a piano playing a somewhat dissonant, heavy repeated chord progression with a trumpet soloing over top. Album closer Where Were You is a chill groove with John Lurie talking a bit about how the band works. Overall a very strong jazz oriented no wave album that adds a bit of structure and mellowness to what a lot of no wave bands of the time were making. It also has probably my favorite album cover of any album.

Yep, for those of you who haven't realized it yet, I'm a huge sucker for indie pop. Especially when it's done right, and Melpo Mene definitely do just that. Holes is a very mellow, laid back album with Erik Mattiason's terrific, soft smooth voice just as important as the music. And he can really sing. The music has a folky feel to it, with lots of finger picked acoustic guitar, and he displays a bit of an electronica influence as well. A jazzy feel runs through most of the album as well. It's gauranteed to relax you and calm you down as much as any downtempo album I've heard. Sadly, Melpo Mene doesn't seem to be very popular anywhere despite the fact that it deserves just as much attention as Stars or Belle & Sebastian, in my mind. Check it out when you're in the mood for something relaxing and usually very upbeat (a few songs, like Lady, have a bit of a depressing feel).

Also, I'm writing shorter reviews from now on. I really want to actually finish this damn thing.

Ah, good old hardcore punk. When the band finally discovered Henry Rollins for a lead singer, something clicked, and this album was the first outcome. Definitely one of the best things to come out of California in the punk scene, Black Flag created an album that was not just comical or anti-establishment like a lot of their peers. The songs talk about fear and anger at not being able to control what's happening in the world around you, and songs like Six Pack seem to advocate the idea that being a fat lazy alcoholic isn't the way to live your life. Of course there is fun to be had in songs like T.V. Party, and on first listen the record does seem to focus on rebellion and drinking and funny inappropriate lyrics. Gregg Ginn's guitar is also as important to the album as Henry Rollins vocals, and the album seems to speak as much truth today as it did to punks in the early 80s. Not much more to say, you've all probably heard this one before.

The Boats' Songs By The Sea is a beautiful, slightly depressing, lo-fi masterpiece. The album opener, Lessley, consists of a very simple guitar part, just a slide up and down an acoustic string and an occassional note, a very simple keyboard melody, and two female vocalists (or maybe one recorded twice, I have no idea) singing. The result is a somewhat fractured sounding but gorgeous song that sets the tone very well for the rest of the album. It's Not Your Fault It's How Air Works then begins with a very catchy echoey synth line, and a very few extra sounds going on that blend into the background. The songs have definite repitition, for example in And There Are Stars That Fell From The Sky the main sound prevalent throughout the song is what sounds like a hammer being gently tapped on some metal, but the melodies come in and fill the empty space around the sound. The Boats real strong point is their ability to layer a very few collection of sounds together so that certain things fade into the background or become more prevalent, while still leaving plenty of space and emptiness in their songs. They usually utilize a drone of some sort in the back but it is very, very quiet and simply provides a background ambience for their sounds to weave in and out of, like waves crashing in on the beach, hence the album name I would imagine (All Thumbs and Thumbs actually has recordings of waves on a beach). Overall, the album has a feeling of loneliness and comfortable depression (if that
makes any sense) and The Boats manage to make a record that encapsulates the idea of Songs by the Sea in my mind perfectly.

I was listening to some shuffle and a song came on that inspired me to write something in this journal. I didn't feel like doing a sample today and wanted to ramble on about something. I thought I'd use this song to explain why music is so integral to my life.

Music gives me something that I haven't found anywhere else. I can be an obssessive and bipolar person when it comes to the things that interest me. It's a problem that I can't avoid right now as I try to decide what I want to major in. I see some people that have a goal from a young age, that simply know what they do, and realize I'm nothing like that. I might be completely fascinated with electronics one day, building all sorts of various electronic devices, learning to design schematics. Then like a switch I can become bored with it and move on to, say, learning to program, teaching myself multiple languages at the same time and write dozens of programs before that starts to bore me. It's hell trying to figure out what I want to do with my life.

But if there's one thing that I haven't lost, it's a love of music. The songs blasting out of my speakers drive my life, they're my constant companion. Music can get me pumped or calm me down, inspire introspection or encourage socializing, cheer me up or be my miserable companion. Some songs are just fun to listen to, some make me think about the world differently, some provide an emotional output. Whatever I need, music has the answer, and it always has. This song explains the power that it can have in my life, and why I'll never get bored with music.

The song is:



In the Aeroplane Over the Sea is one of my favorite albums. And while I enjoy all of the songs, this in one in particular is very important to me.

I've changed a lot these days after the military and some growing up and whatnot, but once upon a time I wasn't the motivated, optimistic person that I am today.

I was 18 in the grips of a full blown addiction, and my group of best friends was torn apart when several passed away and several received hefty jail sentences. My anchor in life was a girl I had grown up with, that I hit it off with immediately when I moved at the age of 9, and that after years of flitting around the idea had finally started dating the year before. She gave a meaning to my life and a reason to live when nothing else could.

NMH was her favorite band and one of my favorites, and after losing several friends we turned to this song for its upbeat attitude combined with the lyrics. It was played practically every day and made some sense of life.

Sadly I came home one evening and found her, she had overdosed and didn't make it, and at the time I didn't think I would ever get over it. Of course life goes on, and now more than five years later I'm doing fairly well for my self. But this song is still like the friend that I can talk to when I'm lonely or thinking about her. It was a very horrifying experience and I've never met anyone that can completely relate, so it's hard to talk to people about. Holland, 1945 understands. While it might sound stupid to you, the music reminds me that she's up there somewhere watching me still.

I doubt if everyone can relate to this entirely, but I think most people on here probably have songs that move them in a similar way. Something connected to an old memory, nostalgic, of a particularly happy time. For a short time it lets you relive those memories, in a way something like a picture never can. And that's part of why I love music, and am sure that I'll never grow bored with it or move on to a silent life - I dread the thought.

Sorry for the probably somewhat depressing post, I'm doing fine these days and not looking for pity or anything. Just thought I'd share a bit about my connection with music through this song and consider one of the amazing aspects of music.