[Phylum]

Beach Boys - Pet Sounds

Duh. Not much I need to say about this one. Really awesome music, and a timeless classic.


Van Dyke Parks - Songs Cycled

It's really hard for me to not fill this list with VDP's discography. The guy has more musical talent in his pinky finger alone than most professional musicians. This collection of songs is him at his finest, being musically accessible while still keeping his intricate style. It's a fairly eclectic album, but it still stands up as an entire work.

e: Example songs from this album:




Sufjan Stevens - Age of Adz

I struggled to not put Illinoise here, but on the whole Adz is just a more complete experience for me. I'll never forget the first time I heard this album. The songs are powerful, eerie and meaningful. It has an excellent pace, and every song hits right where it should. It takes you on a huge journey, and by the end of Impossible Soul I always feel like lying down for a while while the melancholy washes away. This album actually makes me feel physically weak.


Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon

Goddamnit I'm conforming to the norm.


Violent Femmes - Violent Femmes

I fucking love these guys, and this album is probably their best. It's 3 guys in a studio performing songs they love. It's simple and gritty in a way that their later stuff isn't. The songwriting doesn't compare to the rest of my list, but the performance is world class. Gordon Gano has a really weird voice, but it's perfect for the songs (which he wrote, unsurprisingly). For people who maybe haven't heard this, it's the album that Blister in the Sun comes from.


Sufjan Stevens again - Silver and Gold

I tried really hard to not repeat artists in my list, or include Classical shit that none of you care about, but this is probably one of the most special musical anythings in my life right now. Every year my friends and I get excited about the point when we can safely listen to/sing christmas songs without feeling weird. Every year we sit around and talk about songs on this album, and what we like more or less than the last year. It's entertaining, easy to sing along, easy to talk about and just a heap of fun. It's the perfect representation of why I love music.


e: Actually, replace the Femmes with The Wings - Venus and Mars. That's fucking fantastic.