Slint - Spiderland (1991)

I first listened to this album nearly a year ago, and since then I've only listened to it maybe half a dozen times. It wasn't until listening to it today that it finally hit me how genius this album is. Spiderland was released in 1991, but feels so ahead of its time. It was extremely influential to both the math rock and post-rock genres and is considered by many to be an indie rock classic.

My favourite song here is "Washer" which is the only song that grabbed me upon first listening. As an album associated with the post-rock genre, I expected it to sound more like the genre does today. Sad, reverb-drenched guitars, huge crescendos, the like. Instead, this sounds like nothing I've heard before. The vocals for the most part are spoken-word, with some fragile singing and even some semi-harsh vocals on "Nosferatu Man." The album also has a short running time of 39 minutes, which is also a plus for me. Sometimes the best albums are the ones that don't take an hour or more to make their point, leaving you wanting more.

Wow my reviews are long now.

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Tim Buckley - Starsailor (1970)

I know an album will become one of my favourites when I'm always in the mood to listen to it soon after discovering it. This is the case with Tim Buckley's Starsailor. From looking at the album cover, you'd expect a pretty laid-back, feel-good folk album from the 70s. Looks, however, can be deceiving.

From the first few seconds of the album you know it's going to be weird. Tim has a very unique voice that can sound haunting or batshit insane, but always beautiful. Songs like "Monterey" and "Jungle Fire" revolve around repeating guitar riffs mixed with frantic, jazz-like drumming. The title track is probably the weirdest thing here, a primarily vocal piece that sounds like something Can would do. The record's most famous song is "Song to the Siren" which you might recognize since it's been covered by many artists including This Mortal Coil and John Frusciante.

While more avant-garde than most singer/songwriter fare, Starsailor is an album that instantly grabbed me despite being much different than I expected. I still haven't heard Jeff Buckley's Grace yet, but when I do it will have this album by his dad to live up to.

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Animal Collective - Feels (2005)

The song the guys were playing at the bar on Monday was Banshee Beat, and it's actually my favourite song on here. This sounds totally different from MPP, I'm pretty sure there's no electronics here at all. It's definitely...weird, but I love it and you seem to like freak folk so let's give it a shot.

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Talk Talk - Laughing Stock (1991)

One of my all-time favourites. The whole album takes me places, but New Grass especially is one of the most beautiful songs I've ever heard.

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