My top 50 Albums of all time.

This one is fairly new to me, hence the lower rating, but I feel that the more time I have to ruminate with it the more I come to enjoy it. Car Seat Headrest is an indie folk rock inspired band that consists of random screams, toned down monologues and repeating the same haunting phrase 100 times. This album isn’t easy listening, I’d much prefer to call it large listening. A few trigger warnings of drug abuse and family trauma, all the fun stuff 😁

While Duckwrth made something far from perfect here, that's also where this album gets it's charm for me. Buttery rap that's produced with pop attractions in mind and made to be cohesive as glue. From front to back on this one you're gonna be having fun; and with that in mind this album shouldn't be taken too seriously because it only coordinates ideas around the simple things in life and gives you more reason to appreciate them.

An old one for me, it sounds stupid to say but this absolute freak of an artist got me through 2020 and I'm kind of saddened by the route Oliver Tree took as an artist because this album showed so much potential for an emo synth pop artist but then he was swallowed by quick success and spat out again just as quickly. If you ever catch me listening to this one... somethings probably going wrong.

Inside. I could write a whole essay but I'll refrain. Bo Burnham is a genius that much is undeniable, this album does better as a special with visuals and all. But with or without you can follow Bo losing his mind and insulting the state of the world, while stuck in his home during lockdowns in America. This album is genuinely hilarious but it is also so much more, it's introspective and explorative. This was damaging for Bo to make but a theme on this list does seem to be the cost of making art both mentally and physically.

Oracular Spectacular, is a crazy take on synth pop pioneered by a couple of college dropouts playing disco tech beats out of there dorm room. I thoroughly enjoy MGMT as a band but also as a listening experience, because there's always intricate things I'll notice even after the 10th time replaying one song. Weekend Wars is so catchy that it is still in my head and I have avoided hearing it for around 4 months now.

JID is such a gem man. The rapping is top tier and the cohesiveness as an album just pulls it up even further for me. Soul has consumed this record and I am not at all mad about it. If you ever needed to be spiritually revived with some heavy impact fast lyrics this ones got you covered. When I first listened to The Never Story I couldn't wait for the heights JID would reach to and boy did he reach for the🎵 Stars 🎵with this one.

Beach House are really one of a kind. Dream pop was coined as the genre they created and it really fits perfectly. Depression Cherry is best enjoyed lying under the stars on the comforting edge of tears. Instruments can demand so much emotion from you and this album proves that music is a universal language; by transcending all borders just to lull you into a sweet sadness. Space Song is life changing and I can't recommend it enough.

Stephen Sanchez in 2023 decided that he'd rather live in 1962 and did everything in his power to persuade you that's when he sang this record. And I don't hate it, in fact I vibe with it. If you like smooth old singing with a slight new twang to it then I recommend this one. There was a slight bit of TikTok fame that came along with Until I found You on this record, but I fear most listeners didn't go further than that and they missed out big time. 💃🍷

You ever wanted to dance? You ever wanted to feel like you can? Then my friend look no further then Jungle. Any Jungle album will do you good, I just have created a special bond to this one in particular. Volcano is another one of theirs which I would heavily recommend. It's all about positive vibes, with a mix of house and drum n bass that creates Jungle as we know it.

Real talk for a second… does anyone know what they’re saying? I genuinely haven’t figured out if they’re speaking English or not. Regardless it sounds amazing, relaxing and sweet. Kind of like the best acid trip a person could hope for, weird, psychedelic and magical 🧙‍♀️

This album is so unique, it explores soundscapes that I couldn't imagine with all the stimulus in the world. It's beautiful and so heart breaking at the same time. The lead singers raw emotional vocals and his solemn story make the album a 'cry in the shower' kind of album. If you even think you might enjoy indie folk music then I implore you to give this album a chance, front to back, in a comfy quiet place. With the best headphones you can get your hands on.

Sadness and hope bottled up and chugged down. Mac DeMarco is a genius songwriter who has such a humble genuine vibe about him that you can't help but be relaxed. This Old Dog is such a fine tuned well oiled machine of an album that combines beautiful acoustic guitar with simple looped melodies and soft spoken singing. It gets me, chances are it'll get you too. "Why should people care about Mac Demarco?" "You don't have to, but if you feel like it."

It's only 5 songs how can it be 44 minutes long? Shhhh, just listen. Wish You Were Here explores the tragic and manipulated life of the previous lead singer of Pink Floyd, Syd Barrett. How he was born into the machine of the music industry and planted to be an icon, then watered with drugs and guitars, then just as quickly as his success came it also drowned him. LSD can be inspiring but it can also be tragic. Shine On You Crazy Diamond!

If You Wait (Deluxe) is most definitely my favourite ballad; pure singing supported by low instruments; album that I've ever heard. This album deserves so much more recognition then I feel like it got. The vocals are out of this world beautiful with the lead singer Hannah Reid having incredible range delivering low notes at a heavy tone as well as high notes that seem to coast on and on. Sights and Wasting My Young Years are my favourite songs but there isn't a single skip here.

Quadeca, Quadiki, Qounka. Depression never got so depressing as this one. Ben created a concept album that delivers the tale of him as a ghost lamenting and regretting different aspects of his life, while also missing what he had so much. The album goes from how he died all the way to what he does as a ghost and then to what he dreams about and who he cries for. I'm glad he recovered from this one and I too have had to recover but I'm so content with that experience.

This album found me in such an unusual time and place, it's a genre of Christian Rock that I never thought I'd enjoy by an Australian band that I didn't think I'd like much either. But regardless I added it to my albums and gave it one listen. Then two, then three and then all of a sudden it was inspiring and fast paced. It was beautiful and so geared towards anyone but me; but I loved it, it's philosophical and religious. And it sounds weird but I wouldn't have it any other way. If you want to rush towards humanism and appreciation then give it a go!

Shoutout my sister for getting me on to this one. Florence and her Machine can make some incredibly powerful moving songs and though I have individual favourites that can be found on other projects this album holds an unbeatable lineup of powerful cult like songs that demonstrate triumph for Florence and all she's overcome and all she wants to explore. Seeing this live definitely helped my appreciation of her ability to sing, and I mean sing! Indie folk pop (I know there's a lot of it on this list, I obviously enjoy it.)

I debated the placement of this album for a long time but eventually after a few re-listens I realised that it had to fall just below Favourite Worst Nightmare. AM is a feat of music don't get me wrong and it deserves its flowers whole heartedly. It's slow and seductive with every forceful pluck on the guitar drawing you closer in. A crooner version of Alex Turner comes alive in this album and in full swing fashion he sweeps you along, less like a broom and more like a personalised vacuum cleaner.

Another win for sad British people in the arts. This is my favourite Arctic Monkeys record by a slim margin. The more grainy raw sound of the production is more appealing to me for some reason. And you can't go wrong with some British rock that's fast paced and unapologetic. Not a skip on this project, not now, not never. "Cause I crumble completely when you cry!"

Each song on this album resonates with a different kind of trauma. All of the same sound but of different meanings. Folk pop songs that are purely enjoyable all throughout the album. A few tear jerkers and a lot of nostalgia was packed into this long lasting project that got updated over the course of 3 whole years. Noah Kahan deserved every bit of recognition he got for Stick Season because it really is wonderful. If you like the country and grew up in a small town it'll hit you in the feels.

MF DOOM the master of the microphone 🎤 A title that he earned through tirelessly spitting bars while consciously avoiding logic. Funky is, for lack of a more impactful word, what I would call this album. It also tells a story, one with general depth and a compelling main character. The master of all villains is back and all you have to be afraid of is his jazz influenced flow and active apathy to the world around him. And just remember ALL CAPS when you spell the man's name.

Indie at it's finest. Melophobia much to the distress of the name comes at you screaming sweet lullabies and just as quickly as it enters it also leaves. Only being just more than half an hour this record punches you in the face with innovative sounds and then bolts it down the street into a crowd of other Indie albums leaving you sieving through looking for it. This album much like Favourite Worst Nightmare departs with bang of tears. "You can drive all night. Looking for answers in the pouring rain"

In Rainbows was released the year I was born, 2007. That actually doesn't have any relevance to me or the album I just wanted to say that. Radiohead decided to pick up the pace a little and and then immediately drop it back down, it doesn't follow much of a story, it doesn't promise anything crazy innovative and it doesn't demand a certain feeling or review. But at the same time it does all of those things. Radiohead are unpredictable and difficult to explain but this is nothing short of genius. Listen to it if you have the time and you might dance and you'll probably cry.

Scandinavians never got so experimental with music. That's a lie they've done some crazy stuff in the arts. Bjönk bonked my brain with this bollocks. She has such a voice and the way she flows between melodies and then dives on top of them is awe inspiring. It's a powerful record that can't truly be categorized or ranked but gosh dammit I'm going to try. I really can't speak on what the genre of this music is. Unfortunately all I can tell you is to listen to Unravel and be overwhelmed with an influx of sound.

Kendrick has earned his staple as the best rapper pushing the game right now. I won't pretend to relate to everything he explains on this album but on a basic primal level it resonates with me, LOVE, LUST, PRIDE and FEAR. The production had genuine passion on this record and it sparks drive in me whenever I listen to it. Therefore it's great when I need to get shit done and I put this through my headphones and take a few deep breaths as BLOOD plays and then start buzzing and get it done.

Straight vibes! Well... I can't speak for how queer the vibes are, but regardless these vibes whether up or down are fucking beautiful. Pop music never sounded poppier. Dominic Fike was always going to go places and this album just cements some of the places he's already been. This album will instantly bring up the smiles and make you feel even just a little bit happier. While showing hardship this album mainly shows triumph.

The blues were revived with this one. The Black Keys is just two white middle aged men but don't be fooled by there lack lustre description they have struck gold on this album many times over. With just some guitar, drums and singing these two have made magic. The rough un-processed feeling on a lot of these songs is part of the reason they keep drawing me back in; the other part of that reason is how catchy they are and how much they'll get stuck in your head.

How do you smoke that much and sound that good? It's a mystery. It's the kind of album that gives me nostalgia even though I've only known of its existence for around 2 years. This alternative album feels like a perfect temperature night swim in a pool found on the top of a hotel in the city. You know what I mean? It's ahead of its time and made itself at home in our time. The production holds up, the vocals hold up, it's just a profound necessity.

I never thought such fine art could come from the previous Lil Yachty but I suppose he left that man behind and re-invented with Let's Start Here. I love a Psychedelic Rock album and the pure feelings it draws from within me. Go stupid, go crazy with this one, smoke a pipe and yell at a dog. Y o u k n o w t h e f e e l i n g? 😵‍💫 (I would like to clarify I don't do drugs nor encourage them.)

My second favourite Mac album but an entirely different experience to Swimming. Watching Movies with the Sound Off is a surreal listing journey and was really a massive evolution for Mac and how he interacted with music as a medium. Objects in the Mirror is my favourite song of this album but they're all good for their own reasons. It's fun when you listen to the playful nature of a College dropout living his best life, and then all of a sudden without warning it's sad because his best life got cut short.

Queer Indie at a peak of some crazy galactic mountain out there. Rainbow Kitten Surprise everybody give it up! 👏👏 This album is beautiful and tragic exploring themes of losing friends and family as well as seeking acceptance for sexuality in homophobic places. I've sat with this album so many times and re-discovered every song a thousand times and it never disappoints. If you like anything I've talked about thus far I encourage you to give this one a listen.

An experimental rhythm and blues mix. Lahai, is somewhat fittingly an album that picks you up and places you in the clouds. You get floated through Sampha's visions and passion, it surrounds you with how much he loves philosophy and thinking about life. Thinking so much his thoughts got damaged. I think really trying to understand all the concepts explored in this album made me a better person or at least expanded my moral compass and challenged my take on empathy. The mind is incredible.

IGOR! 😈 Bitch I'm IGOR! Love is a fragile thing and nothing communicates that better than IGOR. It's Tyler the Creators best work in my opinion and the craftmanship is nothing short of genius combined with hard work. I used to blast this album in my headphones while biking around the suburbs at night and in my opinion that's where it really shines with no lights to distract from the fireworks in your ears. IGOR'S THEME sets the tone of the album beautifully and then it just continues to deliver with bass boosted heartbreak.

I didn't know my head could oscillate like that until I let this album enter the cortical convolutions of my brain. It's a master piece. Perfectly crafted and curated. Kevin Parker for better or for worse couldn't make a better piece of art if he tried. Everybody knows the vibe of this album, even if they don't know it yet they've heard a song from Currents before. "There is a world out there and it's calling my name, And it's calling yours, girl it's calling yours too."

The Dark Side of the Moon is psychedelic for its sound scape and use of electrical mixing and mastering. However the album is also psychotic for what it attempts and aims to achieve, the more you listen the more it becomes lunacy because you realise it has achieved what it set out for. A sound that no one could replicate and a raw feeling that no one could understand in words, only in emotion. This album introduced me to Pink Floyd and the capabilities of sad British people in the arts. Truly wonderous.

Daft Punk are such an influential band that have forever changed the genre of electronic music as we know it. This album in particular showcased all the different ways that they have learnt to conduct and compose with synths, sampling and sound. Along with being a brilliant magnum opus this album also is a grand goodbye for the band and in the best way possible leaves me wanting more from them. Robotic French men have a way with instruments. Giorgio we love you!

Oh, it hurts my soul and persuades my tear ducts. And I can't help but love it for that. I cried just thinking about it while I wrote this. It's a cry for help in its purest form, it's reminiscing on things that could have been; it's acceptance of the way things are, it's sad to see another day go by with nothing having changed. I miss Frank Ocean even though I don't know the guy. He touched our souls so delicately and politely. It is beautiful for the fact that he made it because he had to, he had to share his trauma and crushing grief with the world because he couldn't hold onto it by himself. This album healed a part of me and broke another so it needed to be on this list.

How surreal. This album changed music forever and how I perceive it. For me Radiohead are amazing for their sounds and jarring use of electrical guitar along with other instruments. Ok Computer is a crazy combination of different songs that spark contrast throughout the whole album and yet it manages to remain one whole piece of work. Karma Police is a personal favourite on this album right next to Climbing up the Walls. Definitely something everyone should listen to.

"Welcome to the world of the Plastic Beach" Snoop Dogg said it best. This album is a world of oddities and uncanniness told through immaculately crafted songs. If this Plastic Beach did exist I'd love to spend a day there, and see all the sights. Such as: the empire ant colony, the rhinestone factories, the superfast jellyfish, King Neptune's water breathers and the glitter freeze. A story that has to be experienced at least once and will most definitely get you hooked for another listen, if not for how good it is, then for how confusing it is.

Mac my boy, what did they do to you? Mac Miller has saved my life more times then I can count. This music is everything to my soul. My absolute favourite of all time. Rest in peace, may those parties in heaven leave you feeling free. "These are my wings" Yes, yes they are man and you had every right to use them. Fly High!