"Let's just forget everything said and everything we did"

The mascots of midwest emo for very good reason. The album is timeless, each word and twinkly chord ringing just as true as when I first heard it. A simple attentive feature that I adore is every title being the last lyric of the song (barring instrumentals). It carries itself strangely confidently, still aching all the while in muted form, a distillation of melancholy and reflection. A genre defining classic deserving of ... read more

"And I wanna be forgotten, when I'm gone without a trace"

Sunset Overdrive, one of my favourite games ever, introduced me to this album, the epitome of garage rock (produced entirely in GarageBand). I feel the consistency and lack of variation in sound ends up reinforcing the album rather than hindering it, it feels very concrete in its intentions, it possesses a strong identity. Nostalgia, of course, is a driving factor in my adoration, but it stands on its own two feet very ... read more

"Controlled epithet, backwards bayonet, how can you expect me to sing"

A frighteningly gorgeous, grinding halt. You succumb to the density of this album and are left dependent on it. I listened to this most during the loneliest time of my life, it may well have worsened my state, but I grew so fond of its crushing. An invasive grit exists ingrained in the marrow of this stray animal, it a promise of depravation, an invitation to revel in the slough. It a succubus defiled, defiled and ... read more

""I'm dying." "Is it blissful?" "It's like a dream.""

My first listen saw daybreak as it came to a close, a memory I hold dear. The face of blackgaze is deservedly appointed, this is the pinnacle of what it can do, how it can overtake you. It sounds like drowning, an informal baptism of sorts. You can almost feel the heat pulse from it, the scorching sensation absolving you of any prior or forthcoming wrongdoing. Its unrelentingly larger than ... read more

"Today I move in jagged lines, I just wanna waste my time"

An album that really does feel drenched in sun. The ambient cuts here are so expressive and soothing, and in the vocal driven tracks her voice perfectly accentuates the airy guitar and surreal tone swarming and swallowing you whole. This is something so special, Buch has incredible talent and potential, she deserves to be more widely known.

Favourites: Clearing, Big Sun, Dust Beam
Least Favourites: N/A

"Her hand outstretched, a nod, she beckons, I'd like to see her smile"

Just leaves you in awe. Very similar to the thoughts I gave its sister album from the same year (I see them combined almost as a double LP). Lovingly crafted shoegaze that feels true to itself and fresh.

Favourites: Pale Blue Dot (지구 혹은 천국), Dream II: 저울
Least Favourites: N/A

"In the sigh of the night, I confide, I don’t trust when you say you dream big"

With something as saturated as shoegaze, it's become a rarity to find something that connects with me, but this and its sister album execute all I love about the genre in a truly mesmerising way. The dream-pop elements fit perfectly in the landscape this envelops you in, stirring a sort of haze that's difficult to withdraw from. I could live in this forever. Adore the album cover too, very ... read more

"What will hold you when the dance is through? Put your back against the wall"

Pour mon bébé écureuil, pour toujours et même au-delà, je te dois tout.

This is the ringing of first love, this was the first band we had as ours. Every song here reminds me of a different moment with you. RKS created a heartbreakingly gorgeous record here, the lyricism is wonderful, the span of different sounds and atmospheres ensure no moment uninteresting, this is a ... read more

"Where are you sleeping this weekend? Is there a chance that you'll be too cold?"

The best midwest screamo has to offer. Merchant Ships were short-lived as a band, but in the 2 years they existed, they created the most raw and honest collection of tracks I've ever heard. This authenticity of just a couple friends in a basement with shitty production can't be manufactured or replicated anywhere else. I have heard cleaner music, more developed music, more skillful music, ... read more

"The only path to love is touch"

Not as strong as "PDLIF", but a great sibling to it.

"Send it off from here and free your mind"

The sense of hope is infectious.

"Up with your turret, aren't we just terrified?"

Almost suffocatingly serene, means a lot to me.

"That secret that we know, that we don't know how to tell"

"Blood Bank" is a great bridge from "For Emma" to their self-titled, its soft and gentle, somewhat of a fire pit beneath conversation. The live version of the title track is phenomenal, and one of their best, and "Woods" lays the groundwork of what later became "Still" by Volcano Choir, one of my favourites from Vernon's many side projects. I do wish this was a full project ... read more

"It's a shoreline, and its half speed, it's a cruel world, and its time"

Simply, BSS struck twice. There is no 3-song-run that competes with "Ibi Dreams Of Pavement", "7/4 (Shoreline)" and "Finish Your Collapse". It isn't even close. Their prior release gave way to a defining of my late adolescence, and this stood to cement it.

While I think "YFIIP" functions better as an album experience, this is almost a greatest hit ... read more

"But maybe you can still make a man from me, here on Speyside quay"

The SABLE section here grew on me immensely, particularly "SPEYSIDE" which really hits the mark in evoking the "For Emma" atmosphere. The fABLE side of the album is the most uplifting we've seen Vernon and co thus far, with soaring, optimistic tracks that bathe in Summer hue. It is also the most "pop" Bon Iver has sounded.

At first, I was skeptical of the change in tone, some of ... read more

"Well, angel, morning Sivanna, well, ain't been gone too far"

I have a detailed analysis of each track under each of the singles that present further thoughts, and the meaning I've drawn from this album :)
(https://www.albumoftheyear.org/user/abbayedecreteil/list/522710/bon-iver-i-i-analysis/)

"i,i" is an extension of "22, A Million", just as their self-titled was to "For Emma". Each are pairs of siblings in my mind, operating on the same ... read more

"I ain't living in the dark no more, it's not a promise, I'm just gonna call it"

The follow up to "For Emma" somehow manages to continue the momentum set alone in that cabin, expanding the sound palette in a way that feels true and natural. Even the added aspect of a full band feels right in the aftermath of the debut. He isn't alone anymore. The writing remains my favourite aspect, though the instruments across this album are unbelievably well ... read more

"And he's dangling my keys, he even fakes a toss, whatever could it be that has brought me to this loss?"

Bon Iver's debut is one of the best indie folk albums of all time. The weight of isolation, the weight of winter itself has never been captured clearer than it has been here. Remarkable writing conveys all that Vernon intends, and it sits comfortably atop such cold yet welcoming guitar. This is a man reckoning with who he even is and will be, raw emotion floods every ... read more

What angels emit when you get too close, I think.

My favourite ambient/drone album ever. Not many words are of much use in discussing this, it would be a disservice to even try. This is religion distilled to its purest components, a constant that exists soulbound with incredible force and draw, something I am indebted to in most ways imaginable. Truly, we are lucky to have stumbled into sound, moreso that some have mastered its capture and its nurturing.

This is kicking and breathing and ... read more

"Take me down, down through this, kill the white within the bliss,
here is a waiting room that wants to save your life"

The most homely album I've ever heard. I feel as if it has always been a part of me, every song was so familiar on the first listen. This album is dynamic and permanently writhing in youth, it is alive and fearless and open and unfailing. The care that pours from each of these tracks, the warm and welcoming tone that they offer is addicting. It's as if ... read more