This is easily one of Steely Dan's best albums, and it has a very unique place in their discography. Made after Katy Lied but before Aja, it was right in the transitional period where they were really beginning to grasp the style of studio perfection and incomparable jazz-rock songwriting. It has some elements of seriously boisterous rock & roll, like Larry Carlton's absolutely legendary solo on "Kid Charlemagne" and his playing throughout "Don't Take Me ... read more

This is a stunningly produced album. I absolutely agree with the popular sentiment that this is one of, if not THE best sounding album ever recorded. The meticulousness with which this album is crafted is unbelievable, and this, along with Aja, is one of the very few truly perfect albums I've ever heard. Aja has been one of my favorite albums of all time for years and years, but in my opinion this now sits right up there with it.

The drum tracks on this album (besides the WENDEL tracks, ... read more

An absolutely fantastic, entrancing, nearly perfect mixtape that single-handedly made me fall in love with the modern sound of UK rap.

FAVORITE TRACKS: “4 Raws”; “LV Sandals”; “5am”; “Phantom”; “Mist”; “Tartan”

Absolutely fantastic and enrapturing songwriting complemented by soft and gentle production; a fantastic showcase of how far Cameron Winter has come.

FAVORITE TRACKS: “Vines”; “Take It With You”

An incredible album-length EP that, while scatterbrained and slightly unfocused, delivers some of Sufjan Stevens’ strongest and most jaw-dropping songwriting and production in his entire catalogue.

FAVORITE TRACKS: “All Delighted People (Original Version)”; “All Delighted People (Classic Rock Version)”; “Djohariah”

A seriously impressive outing by a fully-formed and wonderfully experimental band. Cameron Winter’s vocals are fantastic and lend themselves extremely well to the music, and some of the timbral and songwriting ideas showcased on this album are unlike any I’ve heard before.

FAVORITE TRACKS: “Getting Killed”; “Taxes”

Ridiculously good. Possibly the best ambient album ever made; even removed from nostalgia (which I most certainly have a lot of), this album is absolutely fantastic and its production is mind-blowing considering the time in which and the resources with which it was made.

FAVORITE TRACKS: "Alpha"; "Moog City 2"; "Aria Math"; "Taswell"; "Dreiton"; "The End"; "Intro"

This album is flabbergastingly good and has very, very quickly become one of my favorite albums ever made. It's not perfect, and there are some noticeable flaws in the tracklist (mainly tracks 6 & 7), but its highlights are jaw-dropping examples of indie songwriting perfected. "Love Takes Miles" is probably in my top 10 favorite songs ever already.

FAVORITE TRACKS: "Nausicaä (Love Will Be Revealed)"; "Love Takes Miles"; "Cancer of the ... read more

This album alone has at least 3 of my favorite beats ever made, by anyone, and it acts as a compendium of sorts for one of the most legendary careers in hip-hop history. Dilla's production is always masterful, often awe-inspiring and, at moments, melancholy and touching.

FAVORITE TRACKS: "Workinonit"; "Stop"; "The Diff'rence"; "Time: The Donut of the Heart"; "Don't Cry"; "U-Love"

It's certainly imperfect, but its rough-around-the-edges production is undeniably wonderful and the songwriting Jeff Mangum showcases on this is incredibly impressive. A definitive essential in 90's indie.

FAVORITE TRACKS: "In the Aeroplane Over the Sea"; "Holland, 1945"; "Oh Comely"; "Two-Headed Boy Pt. Two"

Somehow even better than Either/Or, which is one of my favorite singer-songwriter albums ever made. This album's production is simply sublime and seriously subverted my expectations coming from his earlier albums. Definitely, in my opinion, Smith's best.

FAVORITE TRACKS: "Sweet Adeline"; "Waltz, No. 2 (XO)" [one of my favorite songs ever]; "Independence Day"; "Bottle Up and Explode!"

A tremendously moving and invigorating masterpiece that seriously rivals Steven's best albums from the last 20 years. An unbelievable feat for someone more than two decades into the career of one of the greatest solo artists in music history (and my personal favorite artist of all time.)

FAVORITE TRACKS: "Goodbye Evergreen"; "Everything That Rises"; "So You Are Tired"; "Shit Talk"

A heartbreaking, deeply personal album about loss and grieving. This has quickly become one of my all-time favorites, and even though I've never experienced most of what created this album, it still feels so meaningful to me.

FAVORITE TRACKS: "Death with Dignity"; "Should Have Known Better"; "Fourth of July"; "John My Beloved"

I was only able to get through about half of this. I absolutely loved Vanisher, which was my introduction to Quadeca, so I decided to listen to this today. I, however, am currently on vacation, and this album is so soulcrushingly depressing that it is literally physically sickening to me (which has never happened before, even though I’ve listened to and loved arguably sadder music.) The music itself, though, is of course absolutely phenomenal, and sonically I love what I’ve heard so ... read more

No album in almost three years (specifically, since Ants From Up There) has come anywhere close to reaching the utter perfection and euphoric, magnificent highs that this record achieves. I've seriously just been constantly waiting for an *insanely* good album to come out for the past couple years that is easily AOTY, and this absolutely shattered my expectations.

EDIT: average rating below 90 i’m going to crash out

FAVORITE TRACKS: "GODSTAINED"; "MONDAY"; ... read more

I guess I love minimalism now. Simply entrancing.

FAVORITE TRACKS: "Pulse - Sections I - IV"; "Sections V - X - Pulse"

A great, emotional return to form for The Flashbulb, but a bit too short and not quite as intricate as his past releases. The more I listen to it, however, the more I like it, and it really is a fantastic record that has a perfect place in his discography. So many of these tracks are just super fun and whimsical, unlike any others he's made. If one thing sticks out to me, it's that I can really feel the love put into this album throughout, and I only look forwards to future ... read more

Absolutely masterful, haunting minimal neoclassical.

FAVORITE TRACKS: "Broken Chords Can Sing a Little"; "Sit in the Middle of Three Galloping Dogs"; "Stumble Then Rise on Some Awkward Morning"; "13 Angels Standing Guard 'Round the Side of Your Bed"

How do I feel about this album? Well, presuming it’s not the side effects of the cocaine, I’m thinking that it must be love.

FAVORITE TRACKS: All, but especially the first two

This album is absolutely infectious, just bursting with whimsy and creativity every single second. A fantastic specimen of electronic-infused Jazz Fusion.

FAVORITE TRACKS: “Métropole”; “Velours”; “Le Bleury”