Radiohead – Kid A (2000)

Grandaddy – The Sophtware Slump (2000)

Lard – 70′s Rock Must Die (2000)

Dictators – D.F.F.D. (2001)

Air – 10,000 Hz Legend (2001)

Clinic – Internal Wrangler (2001)

Wilco – Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (2002)

Deerhoof – Reveille (2002)

The Donnas – Spend The Night (2002)

Fiery Furnaces – Gallowsbird’s Bark (2003)

Brian Wilson – Smile (2004)

Arcade Fire – Funeral (2004)

The Sadies – Favourite Colours (2004)

Franz Ferdinand – Franz Ferdinand (2004)

Sufjan Stevens – Illinoise (2005)

Thom Yorke – The Eraser (2006)

Six Organs of Admittance (2006)

Arctic Monkeys – Whatever People Say I Am That’s What I’m Not (2006)

Radiohead – In Rainbows (2007)

Patti Smith – Twelve (2007)

Flight of the Conchords – Flight of the Conchords (2008)

Fleet Foxes – ” (2008)

Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros – Up From Below (2009)

Mumford & Sons – Sigh No More (2010)

oso – Harm Reduction (2010)

1990

Mike Oldfield – Amarok

Jane’s Addiction – Ritual de lo Habitual

Lard – Last Temptation of Reid

House of Large Sizes – Heat Miser

David Borden – The Continuing Story of Counterpoint, Parts 1-4+

Megadeth – Rust In Peace

1991

My Bloody Valentine – Loveless

Slint – Spiderland

Nirvana – Nevermind

Pearl Jam – Ten

Red Hot Chili Peppers – Blood Sugar Sex Magic

1992

Stereolab – Peng

Rage Against The Machine – Rage Against The Machine

PJ Harvey – Dry

1993

Nirvana – In Utero

Liz Phair – Exile in Guyville

The Flaming Lips – Transmissions from the The Satellite Heart

Suede – Suede

The Smashing Pumpkins – Siamese Dream

1994

Elektric Music – Esperanto

1995

Radiohead – The Bends

Royal Trux – Thank You

Wilco – A.M.

1996

Olivia Tremor Control – Music from the Unrealized Film Script, Dusk at Cubist Castle

Tortoise – Millions Now Living Will Never Die

1997

Radiohead – OK Computer

Prodigy – The Fat of the Land

1998

Neutral Milk Hotel – In the Aeroplane Over the Sea

1999

Bonnie “Prince” Billy – I See A Darkness

Dead Kennedys – Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables

X – Los Angeles

Talking Heads – Remain in Light

Feelies – Crazy Rhythms

Public Image Ltd. – Second Edition

Holger Czukay – Movies

Joy Division – Closer

Suicide – The Second Album

The Pretenders – The Pretenders

Daryl Hall – Sacred Songs

1981

King Crimson – Discipline

X – Wild Gift

Rush – Moving Pictures

Brian Eno/David Byrne – My Life in the Bush of Ghosts

Nick Mason – Fictitious Sports

The Raincoats – Odyshape

Glenn Branca – The Ascension

Leo Kottke – Guitar Music

1982

Laurie Anderson – Big Science

Lou Reed – The Blue Mask

The Dream Syndicate – The Days of Wine and Roses

Descendents – Milo Goes to College

1983

Violent Femmes – Violent Femmes

New Order – Power, Corruption & Lies

Rolling Stones – Undercover

Terry Riley – Descending Moonshine Dervishes

1984

Husker Du – Zen Arcade

The Minutemen – Double Nickels on the Dime

Jean Michel Jarre – Zoolook

Univers Zero – Uzed

Replacements – Let It Be

Laurie Anderson – United States Live

Meat Puppets – II

Metallica – Ride the Lightning

The Raincoats – Moving

1985

Meat Puppets – Up On the Sun

The Fall – This Nation’s Saving Grace

Marillion – Misplaced Childhood

Ryuichi Sakamoto – Esperanto

Yngwie Malmsteen – Marching Out

Butthole Surfers – Psychic…Powerless…Another Man’s Sac

Plasticland – Plasticland

1986

Firehose – Ragin’, Full-On

1987

Dinosaur Jr. – You’re Living All Over Me

Killdozer – 12 Point Buck

1988

Jane’s Addiction – Nothing’s Shocking

Sonic Youth – Daydream Nation

Lard – Power Of Lard [EP]

1989

Indigo Girls – Indigo Girls

Beastie Boys – Paul’s Boutique

Philip Glass – Solo Piano

Albums – remember those? No, not necessarily vinyl – I prefer CDs. But I’m talking about a well thought-out and well put-together set of songs by a single artist or group. This is an evolving list of albums that I recommend you check out. These are the “best of the best” – it’s a bit of a cop out to just say “everything by Bob Dylan”, etc. They are ranked (somewhat roughly) within the year of release. If you have a recommendation, let me know!

1975

Brian Eno – Another Green World

Mike Oldfield – Ommadawn

Pink Floyd – Wish You Were Here

Magma – Live

The Dictators – Go Girl Crazy!

Patti Smith – Horses

Shakti – Shakti With John McLaughlin

Neil Young – Tonight’s the Night

Neu! – Neu! ’75

Chris Bell – I Am The Cosmos

Kraftwerk – Radio-Activity

Van Der Graaf Generator – Godbluff

Jethro Tull – Minstrel in the Gallery

Budgie – Bandolier

Elton John – Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy

1976

Jean Michel Jarre – Oxygene

The Modern Lovers – The Modern Lovers

David Bowie – Station to Station

La Dusseldorf – La Dusseldorf

801 – Live

The Ramones – The Ramones

The Alan Parsons Project – Tales of Mystery and Imagination

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1977

Sex Pistols – Never Mind the Bollocks

Wire – Pink Flag

Television – Marquee Moon

David Bowie – Low

Pink Floyd – Animals

The Damned – Damned, Damned, Damned

Richard Hell and the Voidoids – Blank Generation

The Clash – The Clash

Iggy Pop – Lust for Life

The Stranglers – No More Heroes

Suicide – Suicide

Hawkwind – Quark, Strangeness and Charm

The Stranglers – Rattus Norvegicus

Tim Blake – Crystal Machine

1978

The Rutles – The Rutles

Siouxsie and the Banshees – The Scream

X-Ray Spex – Germ Free Adolescents

Kraftwerk – The Man-Machine

Brian Eno – Music For Airports

Buzzcocks – Another Music in a Different Kitchen

Jay Ferguson – Thunder Island

La Dusseldorf – Viva

Johnny Thunders – So Alone

Jean Michel Jarre – Equinoxe

Kate Bush – Kick Inside

Plastic People of the Universe – Egon Bondy’s Happy Heart Club Banned

This Heat – This Heat

The Rezillos – Can’t Stand the Rezillos

1979

Pink Floyd – The Wall

Robert Fripp – Exposure

The Clash – London Calling

Joy Division – Unknown Pleasures

The Damned – Machine Gun Ettiquette

Gang of Four – Entertainment!

The B-52′s – The B-52′s

Buzzcocks – Singles Going Steady

1970

Miles Davis – A Tribute to Jack Johnson

The Move – Shazam

Spirit – Twelve Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus

The Velvet Underground – Loaded

John Lennon – Plastic Ono Band

The Stooges – Fun House

The Beatles – Let It Be

The Who – Live at Leeds

Jethro Tull – Benefit

John Cale – Vintage Violence

Syd Barrett – The Madcap Laughs

John McLaughlin – Devotion

Can – Tago Mago

Grateful Dead – American Beauty

George Harrison – All Things Must Pass

Kris Kristofferson – Kristofferson

Emitt Rhodes – “

The Kinks – Lola vs. the Powerman & the Money-Go-Round, Pt. 1

Pink Floyd – Atom Heart Mother

Van Der Graaf Generator – H to He, Who Am the Only One

Grateful Dead – Workingman’s Dead

Magma – Magma

Nick Drake – Bryter Layter

Popol Vuh – Affenstunde

Tangerine Dream – Electronic Meditation

Yes – Time and a Word

Led Zeppelin – III

Syd Barrett – Barrett

Tim Buckley – Starsailor

1971

Led Zeppelin – IV

Jethro Tull – Aqualung

John Cale – Church of Anthrax

Funkadelic – Maggot Brain

Eugene McDaniels – Headless Heroes of the Apocalypse

Flower Travellin’ Band – Satori

Van Der Graaf Generator – Pawn Hearts

David Bowie – Hunky Dory

Serge Gainsbourg – Histoire de Melody Nelson

Roy Harper – Stormcock

Genesis – Nursery Cryme

The Who – Who’s Next

Brainticket – Cottonwoodhill

Pink Fairies – Neverneverland

Kevin Ayers – Whatevershebringswesing

T. Rex – Electric Warrior

Leo Kottke – 6- and 12- String Guitar

Rolling Stones – Sticky Fingers

Kraftwerk – 1

Faust – Faust

Leo Kottke – Mudlark

Ash Ra Tempel – Ash Ra Tempel

TONTO’s Expanding Head Band – Zero Time

1972

David Bowie – Ziggy Stardust

Faust – So Far

Big Star – #1 Record

Jethro Tull – Thick as a Brick

Matching Mole – Matching Mole

Aphrodite’s Child – 666

Lou Reed – Transformer

Wendy Carlos – A Clockwork Orange

Yes – Fragile

Budgie – Squawk

Mahavishnu Orchestra – Birds of Fire

Lou Reed – Lou Reed

Can – Ege Bamyasi

T. Rex – The Slider

Deep Purple – Machine Head

Miles Davis – On the Corner

Black Sabbath – Paranoid

Roxy Music – Roxy Music

Neu! – Neu!

Nick Drake – Pink Moon

Cluster II

Van Dyke Parks – Discover America

1973

Pink Floyd – The Dark Side of the Moon

Mike Oldfield – Tubular Bells

Lou Reed – Berlin

King Crimson – Larks’ Tongues in Aspic

Jethro Tull – A Passion Play

Robert Fripp and Brian Eno – No Pussyfooting

Hawkwind – Space Ritual

Gong – Flying Teapot

Todd Rundgren – A Wizard/A True Star

The Who – Quadrophenia

Magma – Mekanik Destruktiw Kommandoh

The Stooges – Raw Power

Genesis – Selling England by the Pound

Faust – Faust IV

Vangelis – Earth

John Martyn – Solid Air

The Cosmic Jokers – The Cosmic Jokers

Faust – The Faust Tapes

Led Zeppelin – Houses of the Holy

Kevin Ayers – Bananamour

Rick Wakeman – The Six Wives of Henry VIII

Mother Mallard’s Portable Masterpiece Company – “

Gong – Angel’s Egg

Shaun Harris – Shaun Harris

1974

King Crimson – Red

Robert Wyatt – Rock Bottom

Peter Hammill – In Camera

Bob Dylan – Blood on the Tracks

Yes – Relayer

Jorma Kaukonen – Quah

Harmonia – Musik Von Harmonia

Roxy Music – Country Life

Yahowha 13 – I’m Gonna Take You Home

Utopia – Todd Rundgren’s Utopia

Big Star – Radio City

Miles Davis – Dark Magus

Yahowha 13 – Penetration: An Aquarian Symphony

Be Bop Deluxe – Axe Victim

Popol Vuh – Einsjager & Siebenjager

Brian Eno – Here Come the Warm Jets

Gong – You

Jackson Browne – Late for the Sky

Magma – Kohntarkosz

Father Yod and the Spirit of ’76 – Contraction

Glen Campbell – Reunion: The Songs of Jimmy Webb

Albums – remember those? No, not necessarily vinyl – I prefer CDs. But I’m talking about a well thought-out and well put-together set of songs by a single artist or group. This is an evolving list of albums that I recommend you check out. These are the “best of the best” – it’s a bit of a cop out to just say “everything by Bob Dylan”, etc. They are ranked (somewhat roughly) within the year of release. If you have a recommendation, let me know!

pre-1967

Moondog [Prestige] (1956)

Miles Davis – Kind of Blue (1959)

The Beatles – Help! (1965)

Bob Dylan – Bringing It All Back Home (1965)

The Byrds – Turn! Turn! Turn! (1965)

The Beatles – Revolver (1966)

1967

Velvet Underground & Nico

One of the most influential blah-blah-blah

Jimi Hendrix – Are You Experienced?

Jimi Hendrix is the ultimate guitar hero blah-blah-blah

The Doors – The Doors

Pink Floyd – The Piper at the Gates of Dawn

Cream – Disraeli Gears

Jimi Hendrix – Axis: Bold as Love

Velvet Underground – White Light/White Heat

Nico – Chelsea Girl

Country Joe and the Fish – Electric Music for Mind and Body

Love – Forever Changes

The Beatles – Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band

Jefferson Airplane – Surrealistic Pillow

The Beatles – Magical Mystery Tour

Moby Grape – Moby Grape

Bob Dylan – John Wesley Harding

Vanilla Fudge – Vanilla Fudge

Jefferson Airplane – After Bathing at Baxter’s

Captain Beefheart – Safe as Milk

Kaleidoscope [UK] – Tangerine Dream

1968

The Beatles – White Album

Jimi Hendrix – Electric Ladyland

The Kinks – The Village Green Preservation Society

Leonard Cohen – Songs of Leonard Cohen

Pink Floyd – A Saucerful of Secrets

Wendy Carlos – Switched On Bach

United States of America – United States of America

Traffic – Traffic

The Crazy World of Arthur Brown

Taj Mahal – The Natch’l Blues

Cream – Wheels of Fire

The Soft Machine – Volume One

Jefferson Airplane – Crown of Creation

Van Morrison – Astral Weeks

Silver Apples – Silver Apples

The Electric Prunes – Mass in F Minor

Dr. John – Gris-Gris

The Electric Prunes – Release of an Oath

1969

The Beatles – Abbey Road

The Velvet Underground – The Velvet Underground

Frank Zappa – Hot Rats

The Who – Tommy

Miles Davis – In a Silent Way

Fairport Convention – Liege & Lief

King Crimson – In the Court of the Crimson King

The Kinks – Arthur

Fairport Convention – Unhalfbricking

Sly and the Family Stone – Stand

Led Zeppelin – II

Van Der Graaf Generator – The Least We Can Do Is Wave to Each Other

The Stooges – The Stooges

Led Zeppelin – I

Can – Monster Movie

Crosby, Stills & Nash – Crosby, Stills & Nash

Terry Riley – Rainbow in Curved Air

Kevin Ayers – Joy of a Toy

The Soft Machine – Volume Two

Jefferson Airplane – Volunteers

Alice Cooper – Pretties For You

Nick Drake – Five Leaves Left

Joe Byrd and the Field Hippies – The American Metaphysical Circus

Euphoria – Gift from Euphoria

The Flying Burrito Brothers – The Gilded Palace of Sin

Kaleidoscope [US] – Incredible!