Superpowerless - Dump

Critics complain about the inconsistencies in recording techniques on this album, but what never falters is the intimacy and patience with which the songs are wrought. I was amazed to find out that as many as six songs on the disc are covers, they are so well chosen and executed. Calmly and courageously inspired, this the rarest kind of listening experience.

Apple O’ - Deerhoof

Deerhoof are so relentlessly creative they remind me of a puppy running around a farmyard. All of their albums are so packed and varied it’s hard to single one out but this one has the greatest range in mood and feel and provides the biggest payoff for your attention. I think driving fast to music is pretty foolhardy, but once I caught myself doing close to 95 m.p.h. on I-90 once just because L’amour Stories came on the car stereo; that song is pure exhiliration.

The Queen Of Mean - DQE

Grace Braun’s voice scares some people which is a shame because her soul is made of white light. Perfect pitch is superfluous when caught up in the rapture of life. This album could have been written by a Shaker eldress instructed to create the perfect rockabilly album. Through toil all things are possible.

Featuring “Birds” - Quasi

Janet Weiss whales the shit out of those drums here, which is great because I’ve never been able to fully embrace the Sleater-Kinney sound. The crunchy organ on this is tight and tasty and the clean piano songs work where so many of Billy Joel’s and Ben Folds’ don’t. Even though the woeful post-ironic tone to the lyrics gets a little played out, they are creative and true, plus I am such a sucker for the boy-girl vocal harmonizing. This is melodic rock songwriting at its finest.

Continued Story / Hi, How Are You? - Daniel Johnston

These inventive songs convey hope through existential pain in a way that makes your own life seem manageable. Horrible sound quality prevails, but the genius melodies shine through. I can never get over the snippet of relationship heard on ‘Running Water Revisited’ where the tape runs through several takes of Daniel coaching a kid on ad-libbing over his guitar playing.

Ed’s Redeeming Qualities - Ed’s Redeeming Qualities

Recorded in kitchens and living rooms on a boom box, the Lo-fi-ness sounds like shit, but if you got caught up in that you would totally miss the point. This eight song homemade cassette changed my life.

One Foot In the Grave - Beck

Before the big budgets and brand name producers arrived to secure Beck’s genre-hopping sample-crazed crown, this album shows the true genius songwriter skillfully flatpicking his thrift store guitar. Stephen Malkmus also writes freeverse lyrics and they come off as snobby and affected and fail to make an emotional connection with me. Beck’s heart and vision are firmly intact here despite his brain possibly scrambled by drugs.

Voice Brother And Sister - Summer Hymns

I still am waiting for the lyrics to all sink in, but the depth of arrangements make the required repeated listentings worth it. This is the album I put on when I have the flu so bad that I can’t pick my head up off the pillow, I want to tear my eyes out and replace them with ice cubes, my hair aches and I can’t stand the world. This music is still able to get to me and take me away.

The Willis Files - Unbunny

The occaisionally goofy lyrics help diffuse the spot-on emotional musing here. You might not even notice all the churnings about sexual confusion, inadequacy and shyness if you never looked under the veneer of superheroes and freakshows. This is a great litmus test album. I’ll put this on for new acquaintances and if they can get past the “midget juggling pieces of cheese” line I know it’ll be worth the effort to get to know them better.

Maxi German Rave Blast Hits 3 - Bodenstandig 2000

Listnening to this is like arriving late to a party in your hometown that has been raging on a street you never knew existed. If you’re into German art students hacking 8-bit computing devices to sequence spastic pop songs, then this one’s for you. There’s MIDI, there’s acappella beatboxing, sound collage, sampling, it’s all good. Only a couple of songs are in English, but it doesn’t matter, fun music ist allgemeinhin. Kabelfreaks unite!