So, if you’ve followed this blog from last year, I try and listen to at least 100 albums I’ve never listened to before. I didn’t have time to break down my feelings on each one so I decided to break them up into ten articles as I get through them. So, here are the first ten.

1. Charli XCX- Brat

I’ve never been to the club but I feel like this is what it would feel like. Fun, upbeat, sexy, but with a certain sadness when you get into the dark corners and the lights start to dim at the end of the night. Charli brings the attitude along with her talent on every song. The only reason I don’t remember the songs better than I do is because I listened to this on New Year’s Day after a wild night of making tacos and going to bed early. A solid album.

2. Jeff Buckley- Grace

A classic album and for a reason. There’s nothing but heartfelt vulnerability here and of course, the career defining cover of Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah. They talk about fidelity and ideal ways to listen to albums. I feel like the way I’m supposed to listen to this album is while I’m comforting Jeff Buckley and he’s singing into a microphone on my chest while he cries.

3. Simon and Garfunkel- Bridge Over Troubled Water

Look at these two nerds that sing like angels. This is a well worn sweater of an album with finger picking that sounds like a mountain stream and vocal harmonies that would make the Beach Boys envious. The two are masters and this is them at the height of their power.

4. Beth May- Sunday Scaries

I knew Beth May from her work with Dungeons and Daddies and checked out her poetry book, The Immortal Soul Salvage-Yard. I listened to that album because I knew that I wanted to hear the poetry as Beth thought it should be. These poems are expert wordplay on top of heartbreaking topics such as womanhood and mental health and how the two intertwine and both cause damage.

5. and 6. Sebadoh- Bakesale and Secret EP

I was out for a walk and listened to these two back to back. The first bakesale was released in 1994 and is just some good solid 90s grunge-y rock. Great riffs and arrangements all the way through. Nearly twenty years later we get the Secret EP that shows that the band has grown and embraced modern influences but still has that grunge ethos along for the ride. Good to hear just some normal guitar rock.

7. Bjork- Debut

Okay this one has to come with a disclaimer. I really liked it. But I’m a bit weird and Bjork’s very weird and we kind of clicked that way. It’s a really good album. But it’s really weird. Just give it a shot. Please. Do it for Bjork.

8. Garbage- Not Your Kind of People

Shirley Manson is going to go down as one of the most underrated singers of our generation. She has consistently put out solid work with Garbage. She embraces the outsider but unlike others who use that as a reason to be turn away from the mainstream, she stands in defiance of it. She truly doesn’t sound like she gives a shit about me. The eponymous song tells me that’s exactly it. Synth rock/pop for those that love good music.

9. Beck- The Information

Fuck. I really wanted to like this album. Both when it first came out and now. Age didn’t help it. The thing is that if this was any other band, it would be amazing. But this is Beck. Odelay. Sea Change. Guero. Midnite Vultures. Mutations. All of them, solid, solid albums. So, that’s why this one left me kind of cold. Sorry, buddy. You’re still my favorite, Beck.

10. The Hives- Barely Legal

Do you like bratty punk rock? Do you like fun songs? Do you like bands playing as fast as they can? That’s what this album is. It’s the intro to what would eventually be an amazing run of albums.