THE OBJECTIVE UNWAVERING TESTAMENT OF THE BEST ALBUMS EVER CREATED!!!!!!!!!!
(2024 edition)
10: Fox Confessor Brings the Flood by Neko Case
GENRE: chamber country pop
i didnt realize how much i loved this album til i decided to blindly arrange all my favorite albums from highest to lowest. and here it is in the top 10, wow!
country music is a style of music that i have a really spiritual connection with. my heart belongs in the midwest; i was raised in kansas city and my old man would often play in various country rock and bluegrass bands around the city. memories of being a dumb kid sitting on a picnic blanket at the side of the railroad tracks watching my dad and aunt on stage playing the decemberists or whatever and wishing so bad that i was at home watching angry video game nerd. i kinda hated that shit at the time haha, i liked weezer and green day and i hate both those bands now. but the rich country sound pervaded my subconcious!
problem is: a lot of that shit still doesn't fully resonate with me? popping in drive-by truckers or lucinda williams still leaves me unsatisfied. when ur a kid, all the sights and sounds of the world are so beautiful and colorful in a way you don't really appreciate at that age, so a lot of this music doesn't really scratch the itch that i want it to.
enter neko case who i got into i'd say about a year ago, and my love has only grown ever since! this album of hers particularly has stuck with me, altho deep red bells is really wonderful too! the production is so perfect and the arrangements are so vibrant and wonderful. it's complex in every sense: the musicianship, the melodies, the lyrics. it seizes the pastoral beauty of the midwest so fucking vividly! it also stylistically embraces the aesthetics of country music and roots americana while still being really adventurous in the song structures. every song swells with so much love and heart, its magnificent.
neko case herself is such a great personality too! her lyrics def touch on those lonesome bluesy stylings on the country singer-songwriters but with a contemporary spin. like this style of music feels so distant and of another time, but really it's so deeply human and universal and neko case really embodies that i think. and her voice is simply beautiful oh my god. so mighty, and it can be as harrowing as it can be upbeat for the more energetic worship number "john saw the number".
i think if you aren't big on country but the style and aesthetics really fascinate you, neko case is like THE broad to gander. she was huge for me in that way!
4.5 stars
9: Instruments Disorder by The Gerogerigegege
GENRE: HARSH NOISE HARDCORE PUNK
YEA YOU KNOW IT'S CRAZY. I THINK I WAS TALKING TO MY INTERNET PAL ANDOR WHO SAID SOMETHING LIKE "I HAVE GEROGERIGEGEGE SO I DON'T REALLY HAVE ANY REASON TO LISTEN TO ANY OTHER NOISE" AND THEY'RE BASICALLY COMPLETELY RIGHT. I'VE COME ACROSS SO MUCH NOISE IN MY DAY, I FEEL LIKE I'M PRETTY DAMN WELL VERSED IN THE GENRE, MAYBE MORE SO THAN MOST OTHER GENRES. I'VE EVEN LISTENED TO HIJOKAIDAN WHICH IS WHERE GEROGERIGEGEGE BASICALLY GOT THEIR WHOLE SHTICK FROM RIGHT? AND TRUST ME I FUCKING LOVE HIJOKAIDAN BUT EVEN STILL I GOTTA AGREE, NOBODY DOES IT LIKE JUNTARO YAMANOUCHI.
GEROGERIGEGEGE AT THE TIME OF INSTRUMENTS DISORDER HAVE BEEN DOING THIS WHOLE GIMMICK FOR A WHILE. THEY (USUALLY YAMANOUCHI) SHOUT A SONG TITLE, THEN 1234, THEN SMASH ALL THE INSTRUMENTS RANDOMLY FOR 10 SECONDS. REPEAT. AN ITS GREAT!!! IT NEVER FUCKING FAILS. THIS ISN'T ALL THEY DO BUT ITS CERTAINLY WHAT THEY'RE KNOWN FOR AND THEY HAVE A FEW RECORDS WHEREIN THEY DO THIS FOR THE ENTIRE RUNTIME. BUT OUT OF ALL OF THEM, I WOULD SAY INSTRUMENTS DISORDER BLOWS THE REST AWAY. OTHER ALBUMS OF THIS CATEGORY LIKE TOKYO ANAL DYNAMITE OR YELLOW TRANSH BAZOOKA HAVE PRETTY SHOTTY AUDIO QUALITY WHICH NO DOUBT CAN ADD TO THE EXPERIENCE. HOWEVER, THE STUDIO SOUND OF THIS RECORD REALLY DOES IT WONDERS! IT'S SO MULTIFACETED IN IT'S NOISE AND ALL THE INSTRUMENTS HAVE THEIR OWN DISTINCT VOICE AS OPPOSED TO THE COCOPHONY OF CLIPPED AUDIO THAT THE AFOREMENTIONED RECORDS TRANSFORM INTO.
THE DRUMMER IS MAGNIFICENT ON THIS SHIT TOO. HE'S THE GUY THAT WAS IN RUINS AND IS PROBABLY TIED FOR MY FAVORITE DRUMMER EVER WITH THE DEERHOOF DRUMMER. YAMANOUCHI'S VOICE IS SO CONFIDENT AND GREAT IN THIS TOO, DEF A BIT MORE RESERVED THAN SMTH LIKE TOKYO ANAL DYNAMITE, BUT STILL SO MANY DISTINCT MOMENTS ON THIS. THE WORDS ARE FAR LESS DISCERNABLE AND THEY REALLY JUST BLEND INTO THE WALLS IN A COOL WAY. ALSO, THE NOISE BEING DONE WITH TRADITIONAL ROCK INSTRUMENTS JUST FILLS IT WITH SO MUCH MORE ENERGY TO ME THAN STANDARD FEEDBACK LOOPS, THE RAWNESS AND ANGER FEELS SO MUCH MORE TANGIBLE TO ME THAT WAY.
YOU KNOW WHAT YOU'RE GETTING FROM THIS THING WITHIN THE FIRST 5 SECONDS AND THAT KINDA SHIT IS GREAT FOR ME! WHENEVER I'M ANXIOUS, NOISE MUSIC HELPS ME CONCENTRATE MY ANXIETY INTO A WONDERFUL LITTLE EXPRESSIVE CONSTRUCTIVE PLACE. WHEN IT'S HARD TO DO CHORES BECAUSE OF AUTISM, I'LL CRANK INSTRUMENTS DISORDER AND BLAST THROUGH THAT SHIT. THIS RECORD HAS BEEN WITH ME FOR PROBABLY A WHOLE ASS DECADE AT THIS POINT, AND IT'S NEVER LOST IT'S EDGE. THE BEST NOISE, PERIOD.
5 stars
8: Songs About Fucking by Big Black
GENRE: blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah.
blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah.
4.5 stars
7: The Velvet Underground & Nico by The Velvet Underground & Nico
GENRE: blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah.
blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah.
4.5 stars
6: Rat Saw God by Wednesday
GENRE: blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah.
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5 stars
5: Now, More Charm and More Tender by P.E.E.
GENRE: blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah.
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4.5 stars
4: Miracle Research Center Staff by P.E.E.
GENRE: blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah.
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5 stars
3: Bouquet of Traffic Lights by The New & Very Welcome
GENRE: blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah.
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5 stars
2: Half Cut by Bluetile Lounge
GENRE: blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah.
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5 stars
1: Moenai Hai by The Gerogerigegege
GENRE: blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah.
blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah.
5 stars