A Tribe Called Quest - Low End Theory, 1991

I can credit ATCQ as being the first hip hop stuff I looked into behind Aesop Rock, and even now it has a wholly distinct atmosphere the likes of which I've never heard anywhere else. It's so incredibly mellow and urban, and the smoky jazz influence coupled with the cryptic darkness made for an instant favorite.

Lync - Remembering the Fireballs (Part 8), 1997

A compilation from this band who otherwise only have one studio album, and it's great, but this one holds my heart tighter. So many of these songs were instantly meshed into my being and now I can't imagine not knowing them. The sound of nostalgia is so strong even though I haven't known them as long as some other stuff on here, but that makes it even more amazing, that they can invoke feelings never felt with the warm lo-fi sounds of early post hardcore.

Absolutely wonderful.

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The Doors - Morrison Hotel, 1970

While I can't rightly choose a favorite Doors album, being that they're all pretty equal in my opinion, I can say this one was most important to me. I remember in sixth grade hurrying home from school before my dad got there so I could sneak this tape into the player and play Peace Frog at an unreasonable volume.

Still holds up and there's a handful of pretty underrated tracks that are simply awesome, Queen of the Highway, Land Ho, Ship of Fools

So was your dad cool? Or was he a ****? Cause at least his taste sounds cool. Is he worth an entry?

That's a complicated question

An entry in what?

Do you feel that your dad and especially his influence on your taste deserve an entry? Cause from what I gather he sounds like he has fascinating taste. Plenty of fascinating entries in this journal start with talking about how you got this or that album from him.

Well I mean, I dunno. Like an entire general rundown? I guess it could, though it's still covered in applicable album entries to some extent.

I could dedicate all kinds of posts to him but I'd probably start crying a lot



Melt-Banana - Cell-Scape, 2003

After listening to this album I don't think I could ever look at a guitar the same way again. And the whole thing is an absolute blast from the get go. Remorseless grind-j-pop-noise. I'm not sure exactly how, but the world would not be as cool without this in it.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...ance_album.jpg

Dead Can Dance - Dead Can Dance, 1984

My mom has given me much too, but her contributions to my musical mindset come from a darker realm with emphasis on industrial/post punk stuff, and a lot of general punk.

We had this on record and I've never forgotten that album cover. It's not my favorite DCD album since they expanded astronomically outward but it's a really cool and lovely sounding gothgaze.

Your parents are both crazy but at least they have cool taste.

they're fine

That's what I said.

The Mystery of the Yeti - The Mystery of the Yeti, 1996

A true classic portion of psybient history brought to us by some big boys of psy. Utterly ambient and meditative in not only music but concept as well. One of the most chilled out records out there and an essential for any trance fans. The atmosphere is otherworldly and often overpowers the psytrance aspect of the aural journey, ruled by spiritual field recordings and psychedelic electronics and hypnotics.

this is what it's about if you wanna know

they're not really crazy

Cop Shoot Cop - Release, 1994

I can't rightly mention just one CSC album as shaping my life, when they're all flooding with nostalgia. This one is their most accessible with horns and pianos and ****. The beginning of Ambulance Song is one of my earliest memories.



Cop Shoot Cop - White Noise, 1991

Another CD we had. Really great.

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Firewater - The Ponzi Scheme, 1998

After CSC my man Tod A formed Firewater, only furthering his status as a god tier songwriter in my eyes and among the musicians I admire most. Eventually they'd nail the world punk idea but this one is underdeveloped in that regard. Either way, some more early memories littered all over this album, lyrics I knew before I could even talk.

https://cps-static.rovicorp.com/3/JP...er=allrovi.com

Firewater - The Man on the Burning Tightrope, 2003

Dark Days is possibly my favorite Firewater track.



Firewater - The Golden Hour, 2008

Not as instrumental in the shaping of my life as the others being that it's more recent, this is still my favorite and the one I listen to most. It's the pinnacle of their sound, shedding the ambiguous identity of prior releases and maximizing the klezmer elements.

Between CSC and Firewater, I pretty much grew up with Tod telling it how it is. Almost feels like a personal friend.

*hug*

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Love and Rockets - Seventh Dream of Teenage Heaven, 1985

Coming from my mom's half of the collection, this was a stark contrast to Bauhaus, instead enveloping the ears in a light, lush, and psychedelic sea of coolness. It's just so nice to listen to, and I should know, I have a lot. It was one of the tapes I brought when my friend and I hitchhiked to Santa Barbara. We listened to it every night that week.

Cleric - Regressions, 2010

The debut album of Cleric was and still is unlike anything you may have heard before. It's such a bold statement, right off the bat they weren't ****ing around. It's pretty long and some material could be cut but it's hard to deny the obeliskness of Regressions. Combining noise/drone and mathcore is already a novel idea, but it's just not enough, too much and it's never enough. I've had it this since it came out but can't remember where from.

[b]Flipper - Gone Fishin, 1984[/youtube]

I listened to this before Generic Flipper and thusly it holds a more significant plot in my heart. It had me instantly with the Joy Division styled opener The Light, the Sound, the Rhythm, the Noise, always gonna be one of my favorite songs ever. Something about makes me wish it would never end.

*narrows eyes and puts hands on hips*

You been hanging out with that Chula boy?

what you don't think that looks cool

Shpongle - Are You Shpongled?, 1998

I'd claim this is my top electronic album ever. A lot going for it making it even more unique though Shpongle would get admittedly whackier afterward. It's definitely their chillest, which I appreciate. Heavy ambient vibes that morph seamlessly around a lot of eclectic influences. Absolutely enthralling piece of trance music with an atmosphere to match the cover.

Weakling - Dead as Dreams, 2000

My favorite black metal album hands down. Every single black metalism is executed to perfection. It's grandiose, hypnotic, progressive, atmospheric, melancholic, triumphant, blistering and huge. Ought to be the black metal archetype.

Two Lone Swordsmen - From the Double Gone Chapel, 2004

So obviously I was gonna listen to this when I saw that name, and I did and something special happened. This isn't very representative of their body of work, mostly ambient IDM up until this album, and it's also not my favorite but I still cherish it. This goes into damp post punk territory combined with the atmospherics of their earlier work and a dubby dance punk sensibility. The bassline in this particular track is one of my best friends.

Vault Dweller - Messenger of Doom, 2009

Didn't even know about Dystopia before I fell in love with Vault Dweller's apocalyptically grooving sludge metal.

Stars of the Lid - The Tired Sounds of Stars of the Lid, 2001

no word short of heavenly can describe this album. Everything about this is aural magic, and perplexingly intense as if constructed by angels. It won't take you to a new world, but rather paint itself over the canvas of the real world, where two elements synergize together and remind you that this is what's real, and that it is beautiful.

I can't listen to it very often. This album is like an event.

Amorphis - The Karelian Isthmus, 1992

I don't care what anyone says cuz this album is SO sick. It's not hated, not at all, but really underappreciated especially within the Amorphis discography, written off as plain old death metal. But people are retarded and it's one most kick ass albums out there.

Masonna - Spectrum Ripper, 1997

The first noise album I listened to in full and a good idea of this particular chaotic brand. Contrary to popular belief my life does not revolve around noise and I really don't listen to it all that often, but I like generic stuff like this when it's spastic and relentless with the timbres somehow making it sound all over the place when it's also still monotonous.

Gas - Pop, 2000

And now this one is the first ambient album I listened to in full. It's shimmering and lush and sounds like the album cover.

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Melvins - Stoner Witch, 1994

My favorite metal album from one of my favorite metal bands. This album cover has occupied a small plot of my brainspace for as long as I can remember, and the metal music held therein has had residence alongside it. Genres fluctuate in this metal album which is always a cool thing that happens in metal. Metal tracks like Revolve raised me like parents. Great metal album for fans of metal.

What a whiny bitch talking about an awesome album.

straight out of left field

John Zorn - The Gift, 2001

I remember heavily listening to this without even really being a John Zorn fan. Magically enough improvisational easy listening exotic jazz emanates.



John Zorn - The Big Gundown, 1985

The Gift was a staple of my listening but at some point came the idea to actually check out John Zorn's works who in turn became my first jazz hero and starting with this one the vast scrolls of the Zorniverse unraveled before my ears. It's his version of the Morricone soundtrack.



John Zorn - Spy vs. Spy, 1989

Spy vs Spy followed as did the extremity not yet explored fully. It's another rendition, this time Ornette Coleman, but now it's completely brutalized.

Spy vs Spy was the first one I heard outside of Bungle's debut and Naked City. Calamatous and awesome album full of great players.

Melvins - Houdini, 1993

I'm saying a lot redundant things but this is yet another album cover I cherish. Musically it's among their definitive and most celebrated albums, and the pinnacle of their early offering of grunge infused sludge metal. Nostalgia cuts deep from the first handful of tracks, namely Night Goat and Lizzy. Here they utilize strong dynamic contrast and heavy doom, a distinct quality.



Stoner Witch, 1994

Experimentation became very prevalent with this album, signaling the dawn of a new era. Dynamics on point like never before, with subdued blues inspired bits infused with some of the meatiest riffs the world has to offer. At the Stake is a prime contender for heaviest song ever.



Honky, 1997

At this point ambiance and atmosphere had been given more strength, and furthered the dynamic mastery of the Melvins ever eclectic delivery. Minimalism and that grew to a notable quality, with thin passages of dark and distant soundscapes. Mombius Hibachi and Lovely Butterfly were two choice cuts of my dad, and are quite bombastic.



The Bootlicker, 1999

Here we are with another menacingly mesmerizing endeavor. Let it All Be is a track that I'm outrageously enamored with, a long, minimalistic, subtly, repetitive yet ever changing skeleton of music.



Freak Puke, 2012

Dark horse pick from modern Melvins. I listened to this a lot when it came out. It grabbed me in a way I don't quite understand. Metal is nearly absent in a traditional sense, but something about the elements bring it out. This one's one of their most mellow and nonabrasive, featuring Trevor Dunn on standup bass, which really brought an indescribable atmosphere and style.

Insanely ****ing cool.

And this is absolutely the hypest ****ing rock song of the 90s. When a sludge/hardcore/punk/metal song makes me want to dance like an epileptic you know it's something special.

yeah it's the best song ever written

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Malevolent Creation - Joe Black, 1996

I think this compilation is kinda whack but my dad was always raving about it, which I find odd with the industrial remixes that I wouldn't think are his thing. Maybe it's just because we had the tape.

https://www.metal-archives.com/images/1/0/4/2/1042.jpg

Malevolent Creation - Eternal, 1995

Then again we also had this tape but he didn't hold it in as high regard. It's alright.

Bolt Thrower - The Peel Sessions 1988–90, 1991

Posting in this journal is really making me realize how prevalent cassettes were in my formative years. We just always had cooler tapes than CDs.