Articles Index
Definitive Albums: Royal Trux 'Twin Infinitives' (1990)
Styling themselves on the Velvet Underground, Royal Trux were dopehead provocateurs out to radically recontextualize rock's tired form.
Joanna Newsom 'Have One On Me'
The warbling harpist's ambitious triple album cements her status as the most important artist of the 21st century.
Definitive Albums: Jim O'Rourke 'Eureka' (1999)
Synthesizing orchestral pop with bluegrass guitar and experimental sonics, O'Rourke fashioned a resplendent suite of strange, sweet songs.
Definitive Albums: Slowdive 'Souvlaki' (1993)
The second album for the bashful shoegazers has aged gracefully.
Best Coast 'The Only Place'
In moving from lo-fi to hi-fi, Bethany Cosentino loses a little of Best Coast's charms in the process.
Definitive Albums: The Smiths 'The Smiths' (1984)
Matching Morrissey's mopey lyricism to Johnny Marr's evergreen jangle, The Smiths' founded an infinitely-influential sound on their debut.
Definitive Albums: Mercury Rev 'Deserter's Songs' (1998)
Drugged-out noiseniks Mercury Rev made a breakout transformation into orchestral fable-tellers on their fourth LP.
Definitive Albums: M. Ward 'The Transfiguration of Vincent' (2003)
Ward's timeless third LP is a set of hushed devotionals for a departed friend.
Definitive Albums: Gilberto Gil 'Gilberto Gil' (1968)
The Brazilian establishment was so provoked by Gilberto Gil's mix of Bossa Nova with psychedelia and Afro-Brazilian folk that he was jailed for subversion.
Spiritualized 'Songs in A&E'
Jason Pierce's first album after a near-death bout with pneumonia is an inauspicious, familiar-feeling comeback.
Trailer Trash Tracys 'Ester'
Trailer Trash Tracys' music is every bit as good as their band name is bad.
Definitive Albums: Anne Briggs 'The Time Has Come' (1971)
Anne Briggs' raw, honest, intensely beautiful voice shines on this work of poignant, pure folksinging.
M. Ward 'A Wasteland Companion'
M. Ward's seventh LP is a solid, worthy --if patchy-- effort that doesn't measure up to past triumphs.
Grimes 'Visions'
The third Grimes LP finds Claire Boucher exploring bright new realms of genre-transcending electronic pop.
Perfume Genius 'Put Your Back N 2 It'
Mike Hadreas' second Perfume Genius LP courts controversy quietly, beautifully, and slyly.
Definitive Albums: Arthur Russell 'World of Echo' (1986)
The only LP Russell ever released in his lifetime is a collection of sketches blessed by a peculiar magic.
Definitive Albums: Yoko Ono 'Yoko Ono/Plastic Ono Band' (1970)
The debut album from the eternally-maligned artist was a radical journey into an avant-garde future.
Definitive Albums: Kate Bush 'The Kick Inside' (1978)
Kate Bush's grand, resplendent debut was a work of uncommon ambition and artistry for a teen prodigy.
Definitive Albums: Mogwai 'Young Team' (1997)
On their debut LP, Mogwai's quiet/loud formula sounds staggering in its blockheaded simplicity.
Chairlift 'Something'
After a patchy, pastichey first LP, Chairlift's much-better second finds Caroline Polachek as its undoubted star.
Sharon Van Etten 'Tramp'
Sharon Van Etten's third LP loses the intimacy as it paints a broader, bolder canvas.
Definitive Albums: Magazine 'Real Life' (1978)
When Howard Devoto left the fledgling Buzzcocks to form Magazine, the post-punk movement kicked off in earnest.
Definitive Albums: Panda Bear 'Person Pitch' (2007)
Panda Bear's third solo album found Animal Collective's sentimental sage in search of a depression-curing "good time."
Definitive Albums: Life Without Buildings 'Any Other City' (2001)
Life Without Buildings' quirky post-punk was maligned in its day, but they years have been kind.
Cloud Nothings 'Attack On Memory'
Cloud Nothings' second record is more menacing and angular, but it's just a different stripe of '90s revivalism.