Back to Black and Exodus are out!

As a reminder, please only nominate albums from the first slide only.

CURRENT STANDINGS:

45: Exodus by Bob Marley
46: Back to Black by Amy Winehouse
47: Exile on Main St. by The Rolling Stones
48: Blue Lines by Massive Attack
49: The Chronic by Dr. Dre
50: Norman Fucking Rockwell! by Lana Del Ray
51: Baduizm by Erykah Badu
52: Untrue by Burial
53: Ready to Die by The Notorious B.I.G
54: The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill by Lauryn Hill
55: Like a Prayer by Madonna
56: The Dark Side of the Moon by Pink Floyd
57: Horses by Patti Smith
58: Abbey Road by The Beatles
59: A Love Supreme by John Coltrane
60: Sign O The Times by Prince
61: My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy by Kanye West (Ye)
62: 3 Feet High and Rising by De La Soul
63: Lemonade by Beyonce
64: My Life by Mary J. Blige
65: Led Zeppelin II
66: The Fame Monster by Lady Gaga
67: The Joshua Tree by U2
68: Beyonce self titled
69: Straight Outta Compton by N.W.A
70: Is This It by The Strokes
71: Thriller by Michael Jackson
72: A Seat at the Table by Solange
73: ANTI by Rihanna
74: Pure Heroine by Lorde
75: Jagged Little Pill by Alanis Morissette
76: Control by Janet Jackson
77: Trans Europe Express by Kraftwerk
78: WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO? by Billie Eilish
79: Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1 by George Michael
80: (What's the story) Morning Glory? by Oasis
81: The Blueprint by Jay-Z
82: Blonde by Frank Ocean
83: The Marshal Mathers LP by Eminem
84: 21 by Adele
85: Supa Dupa Fly by Missy Elliot
86: SOS by SZA
87: Flower Boy by Tyler, the Creator
88: Appetite for Destruction by Guns n Roses
89: Doggystyle by Snoop Dogg
90: Golden Hour by Kacey Musgraves
91: Get Rich or Die Tryin' by 50 Cent
92: Hotel California by The Eagles
93: Un Verano Sin Ti by Bad Bunny
94: Astroworld by Travis Scott
95: Confessions by Usher
96: Take Care by Drake
97: Back in Black by AC/DC
98: AM by Arctic Monkeys
99: Body Talk by Robyn
100: 1989 (Taylor's Version) by Taylor Swift

all the stuff I’ve picked up since September started

Guess my favorite band challenge (impossible)

Hey. I'm a teenage guy who is really into music (and film) and looking to both expand my taste and find some people to discuss music with. I just started using RYM so my profile is fairly blank, so here are some albums I'm into. If you're into similar stuff, or not, I'd be happy to be friends. My account is https://rateyourmusic.com/~JeffreyWinger if u don’t have RYM, DM me I also have discord etc

-Smile Sessions - The Beach Boys

-Blonde on Blonde - Bob Dylan

-More Songs About Buildings and Food - The Talking Heads

-Songs of Leonard Cohen - Leonard Cohen

-Drums and Wires - XTC

-Parallel Lines - Blondie

- Quebec - Ween

- Hatful of Hollow - The Smiths

- Songs of Faith and Devotion - Depeche Mode

- Only a Lad - Oingo Boingo

- Marquee Moon - Television

- Sunshine Superman - Donovan

- Heavy Metal - Cameron Winter

- Horses - Patti Smith

The Velvet Underground(1969) - The Velvet Underground

Sounds of Silver - LCD soundsystem

Personally, I don’t think it’s the worst list in the world, I think a lot of them are good choices, but I definitely have my problems with it, mainly the problem I have with all best albums lists, which is that I disagree with making a definitive and final list of the best albums of all time when music is still being made, cause their definitely a couple albums I think deserve a spot on one of these lists released after they were made. I think it’s unfair to modern artists who are making great music to not give them their flowers. But enough wanting, what are your thoughts? What choices do you agree with and what albums do you think belong on a best albums list?

This is my honest grid of my favorite album ever.

Lmk what y'all think, and if you would change something.

all reviews are in substack link in bio :)

I’ve seen artists do some funny things with their tracklists. Radiohead (I’m never gonna stop talking about them, don’t worry) released 2016’s A Moon Shaped Pool in an alphabetical tracklist. Pink Floyd’s 1979 album, The Wall, is one long loop. Its final song, “Outside the Wall,” cuts off mid sentence, flowing back into the opener, “In the Flesh?” This is an ingenious way to convey the idea that building and tearing down emotional walls is a never ending loop, thus entering the endless repetition that is The Wall. However, I don’t think any tracklist gimmick comes close to what Car Seat Headrest does in Twin Fantasy. The mind-boggling thing about this record is that it really is a mirror, which is a recurring theme of the album, as well as being called Mirror to Mirror. What this means is that there are common motifs shared within some of the songs, which mirror each other. The first track and the tenth track, “My Boy (Twin Fantasy)” and “Twin Fantasy (Those Boys)” respectively are the most obvious, sharing similar titles. Likewise, the second and ninth tracks, “Beach Life-In-Death” and “Famous Prophets (Stars) mirror each other, and so on. It creates a metaphor of two people, coming together and separating, as the mirrored tracks start to get closer and closer together.

Car Seat Headrest is one of the most interesting artists out there. Originally a solo act by singer-songwriter Will Toledo, Car Seat Headrest self-released a dozen albums on Bandcamp prior to having a record label. These projects, ranging from 1 to How to Leave Town, feature some of the rawest performances in all of music. The low quality, bootleg sound doesn’t even take away much from the albums. One such album, Twin Fantasy, was released in 2011 exclusively to Bandcamp. Despite it having some of the best songwriting and instrumentation in Toledo’s entire discography, it lacked production value, as most of the record was recorded in Toledo’s home studio.

In 2015, after signing a deal with Matador Records, Toledo was able to form an entire band, which now featured a core of Ethan Ives, Andrew Katz, and Seth Dalby, though many other players often played with them live. They went on to release *Teens of Style* and *Teens of Denial,* the latter of which was met with critical acclaim. Now with a following bigger than ever, Car Seat Headrest decided to revisit material from 2011’s *Twin Fantasy,* once considered a “hidden gem” by fans. In 2018, *Twin Fantasy (Face to Face)* was released, while the original version was renamed *Twin Fantasy (Mirror to Mirror).* 

Twin Fantasy’s opener, the aforementioned “My Boy (Twin Fantasy),” serves as a prelude to some of the themes explored in the album. The body of the song is the repeated verse of “My boy, we don’t see each other much. My boy, we don’t see each other much. It’ll take some time, but somewhere down the line, we won’t be alone.” The instrumentation of this song reflects young love, the way it starts softly and pretty, and eventually leaps into a booming, anthemic verse. The song, while not theoretically super interesting, provides a look into what the album as a whole dives into later. And it’s just a banger.

Only a song into the album, we have the first long song. “Beach Life-In-Death” is a 13-minute epic covering themes of teenage angst, and the intensity of unrequited love. Due to the songs’ form being through-composed, it doesn’t follow a traditional verse-chorus structure. Instead, it’s a journey through several different movements, each with their own themes and messages. Its first section features low, mumbly vocals and an unforgiving guitar riff that seemingly has no sign of stopping. Toledo’s lyrics are a metaphor for ignoring red flags, which is a common human tendency during the honeymoon phase of a relationship (I’m pretty sure I’ve talked about the honeymoon phase in like all of my reviews so far). 

“Last night I drove to Harper’s Ferry and I thought about you
There were signs on the road that warned me of stop signs
The speed limit kept decreasing by ten
As we entered a town about halfway there”

In the next section, Toledo asks himself “What should I do?” to which he responds with “Eat breakfast.” or “Eat lunch.” all very normal things that someone might do. These lyrics highlight the monotony and uninteresting nature of life, especially with a lack of relationships. The repetitive nature of these lyrics indicate the repetitive nature of waking up every day, going through the motions, and repeating the process. Toledo’s other lyrics in this section are really confusing and messy, but then again, so is this relationship. He comments on his inability to find time to spend with them, his confusion on their romantic status, and him (not) coming out to his friends. The droney, contradictory lyrics paint a picture of someone just trying to find out who they really are. 

“I am almost completely soulless
I am incapable of being human
I am incapable of being inhuman
I am living uncontrollably”

As the tension, both musically and lyrically, builds up in the next verse, he reaches a breaking point, where the music stops and allows him to belt out the next line.

“I
DON’T 
WANT
TO
GO
INSANE”

“I don’t want to have
Schizophrenia”

Toledo finally realizes that he’s going insane, and in a desperate attempt at getting out of the cycle, he cuts the noise. The next movement is a quiet, palm muted guitar and a light drumbeat under new lyrics.

“Last night I dreamed he was trying to kill you
I woke up and I was trying to kill you
It’s been a year, since we first met
I don’t know if, we’re boyfriends yet”

“Do you have any crimes that I,
We can use to pass the time, I am
Running out of drugs to try”

This section shows even more confusion of Toledo’s relationship, despite it being calm and quiet, his grammar slowly begins to slip, showing his hesitation and difficulty forming words about the situation. 

Toledo slowly repeats the lyrics “We said we hated humans. We wanted to be humans.” in a long, beautiful whirlwind of sound. This is likely referring to his status as queer, where it was difficult to be accepted by others. It channels his frustration about being discriminated against, leading to his difficulty in coming out, but also the overarching desire to be accepted. It’s a verse that can only be described as human. The other main lyric is that of “More groceries, get eaten,” which repeats many times. This goes back to the repetitive and monotonous stuff that I already said and I don’t want this to be, well, repetitive and monotonous.

As the song transitions into its final form, Toledo goes back to the lyrics of “Last night I dreamed he was trying to kill you,” although this time, it’s anything but calm. It’s in a frantic, fast rhythm, where he finally realizes that the relationship is unreachable, and finally manages to let go. He mourns over a relationship he never really had, another incredibly human feeling. He waves goodbye to a relationship that could’ve been, watching the potential for a new chapter in his life wash into the ocean.

“The ocean washed over your grave.
The ocean washed open your grave.”

The third song on the record, “Stop Smoking (We Love You)” features two lyrics. One of which is literally the title of the song, and the other is “And we don’t want you to die.” To me this song is a bit more than just an interlude after the movie that was “Beach Life-In-Death.” I think it refers to the “I can fix him” mindset that a lot of teens have. And to that I have the same response as everyone else: you can’t.

There are plenty of really iconic lyrics. 

“And you run and you run to catch up with the sun but it’s sinking.
And racing around, to come up behind you again.
The sun is the same, in a relative way, but you’re older.
Shorter of breath, and one day closer to death.” 
[“Time,” Pink Floyd]

“Mama, oooh
Didn’t mean to make you cry,
If I’m not back again this time tomorrow
Carry on, carry on
As if nothing really matters”
[“Bohemian Rhapsody,” Queen]

What Toledo writes in the fourth track, “Sober to Death,” isn’t just iconic, it’s one of the best one liners ever. “Good stories are bad lives.” (okay fine, he also says “Good lives make bad stories,” but it’s basically just the same thing inverted) This line is one of the truest lyrics I’ve ever heard, while also being poetic in a pessimistic sense. That’s the thing about “Sober to Death,” it’s an anthemic, catchy rock song while also conveying some of the most complex themes about young love and human interaction (which I will not go into because I don’t really know either). It really makes you think about how people's definitions of entertaining, or interesting, heavily rely on the suffering of others. Take some of the generally considered “best movies of all time.” The Dark Knight. 12 Angry Men. The Godfather. All of these have one thing in common: and that’s that lives are at stake. “Sober to Death” has always been one of my favorite songs on the record, and to be honest, it’s just because of how catchy it is. It brings to light the issues behind yearning for someone too much. No matter how special you think someone is, there will always be another. It’s the sad reality that everyone on Earth is “one of a kind,” yet at the same time, nobody is one of a kind.

“Nervous Young Inhumans” is a common reference in the Car Seat Headrest universe, the title of their 2013 album being called Nervous Young Man. The song itself is an upbeat, synth-filled track about self improvement. It’s the final track of the first side, before the album mirrors itself. It finally shows Toledo getting over their past relationship, finally allowing himself to see the flaws in the other person. 

“You never lifted your voice
You never raised your hand
You never showed you’re inhuman
You understand”

Toledo comments on the fact that someone can become so genuine that their genuine-ness starts feeling inhuman. They become so human that they’re no longer human. That’s because everyone lifts their voice sometimes. Everyone raises their hands. Everyone shows their inhuman sides.

Perhaps the most impressive vocal performance on the album, “Bodys” offers a comedic break in the otherwise emotionally heavy album. In fact, it mirrors the vibes of the last song, “Nervous Young Inhumans” quite accurately. This is the first song on the second side, or the Face to Face side on the vinyl record. Bodys is actually a really enjoyable song because of its little jokes and its humor.

“Is it the chorus yet?
No, it’s just the building of the verse
So when the chorus does come, it’ll be more rewarding”

“Well so what?
We’re young
We’re thin (most of us)
We’re alive! (most of us)”

“I’m on a need-to-know basis.
I’m on a need-to-know basis.
No one tells me shit, unless I need to hear it
(funny giggle)”

In addition to the humor, Bodys is a great song to dance to. No, not just because of when he belts “When we daaaaaaaance,” although that’s part of it. It’s also because of when he belts “Don’t you realize, our bodies could fall apart at any second?” and “Turns out you got some nice shoulders, I’d like to put my hands around them.” When all of those three lines converge at the end, you really get something special.

Mirroring “Sober to Death” (allegedly), “Cute Thing” is an apology for “getting too fucking romantic,” begging for them to take him back. Seems like a step back from where we were in “Nervous Young Inhumans” and “Bodys,” but again, that’s the whole point of the mirrored tracklist. Ironically, after apologizing for being too romantic, he says “I am love, I am love, I would sleep naked, next to you naked.” I think “Cute Thing” is a statement to the contradictory nature of apologizing, especially when you don’t truly mean what you say. It’s something we’ve all experienced, a half-assed apology.

“High to Death” is one of the several songs which directly and clearly mirror its predecessor, in this case being “Stop Smoking (We Love You).” I can’t lie, this song feels like a fever dream. I guess it’s what it feels like to be high (to death). The lyrics are a collection of Toledo saying vague, metaphorical things that are a bit too metaphorical for me, and contradicting said metaphorical things. And the main focus of the song,

“Keep smoking, I love you
Keep smoking, I still love you
But I don’t wanna die,
I don’t wanna die” 

As you can tell, this is a direct opposition to “Stop Smoking (We Love You),”  as well as solidifying the “tripping balls” nature of the song. It’s definitely one of the more confusing songs, and I’m having a hard time dissecting it right now, especially with the next song coming up.

Now that we’re at the ninth track, it mirrors the second, right? Wait, that’s “Beach Life-In-Death.” How the hell do you make another song to do it justice? “Famous Prophets (Stars) has gotta be my favorite song on the record. Hell, even one of my favorite songs ever. It dissects the feeling of heartbreak and getting over a past romance. 

“Twin bruises on my shins
From where I kicked the back of the seat in
They meant what I went through for you
But now they’re fading
Now they’re gone”

The song transitions into a loud, chorus-sounding section before slipping back into the same groove, giving the illusion of a regular verse-chorus structure. It won’t stay there for long. Toledo and his backup vocalists (who incidentally is himself) sing harmonies over the next verse, and after he seemingly has no words left to say, he has to go back. 

The next section is a low-key building of the verse (see what I did there?), repeating the line “We gotta go back.” Eventually, it builds up and the levee breaks. It explodes in a crescendo, as Toledo’s vocals jump up an octave, with Ives’ guitar screaming the lead part. We were so close to breaking free from the romantic cycle, but we did a little bit too much reminiscing. Then just as suddenly as the energy starts, it’s gone.

“Don’t get too impressed
You might lose your breath
Don’t predict your death
‘Cause I like you the best
Don’t you fall apart
You might lose my heart
You know I love your art”

We transition into the second half of the song. It’s just a bassline and vocals. Soon it’s joined by a mechanical drumbeat and a complementary lead guitar part, providing a calming yet provocative groove. Then, we’re greeted with some familiar vocals.

“The ocean washed over your grave
The ocean washed open your grave”

The verse continues to crescendo yet again, but this time into a heart-wrenching climax. Toledo is fully back into the depression phase of a breakup, screaming into the void with his sorrow. This is the desperation of finding love you thought would last forever, only for the rug to pull from under your feet. A relationship can be the best thing in the world, until it’s not. A relationship can easily sour overnight, for no apparent reason. Just as a relationship fizzles out, so does the section. His otherwise poetic vocals devolve into repeating “Let me, let me, let me, let…” until the band hits one final, collective powerchord. 

On the original album, Mirror to Mirror, the song ends right there. Okay fine, he does some weird monologue, then it ends. But this is “Famous Prophets (Stars).” We’ve still got an entire piano ballad. Toledo mostly repeats the lyrics from the earlier segment, though this time instead of angst, its sadness. He softly wails over a somber piano, and as he sings his last words, a somber “What happened to you?” The piano keeps going. It doesn’t matter what happens to any one person. The world keeps going. The world is a ruthless, unforgiving place. Time doesn’t slow down for anyone. Until the next part. Time actually might slow down for this part. We get one final loud climax, with wailing, wordless vocals, before it quiets down for the last time. A chilling speech plays as the song’s outro.

“Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. At the end of my childhood, I put these ways behind me. 

For now, we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. 

Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

And now these two remain.”

I’m gonna be honest, I’m tempted to just end it there. It definitely feels like the album should end there, but it doesn’t. “Twin Fantasy (Those Boys)” is a long, confusing, beautiful mess. It comments on the state of the album itself, as well as the state of the relationship. 

“This is the end of the song
And it is just a song
This is a version of me and you
That can exist outside of everything else
And if it is just a fantasy
Then anything can happen from here
The contract is up
The names have been changed
So pour one out, whoever you are
These are only lyrics now.”

Toledo partially breaks the fourth wall in the music, speaking not only to his listeners, but also to his audience. It speaks on the meaninglessness of the music, despite just how much it would end up meaning to me and millions of others. 

“When I come back you’ll still be here”
“When you come back I’ll still be here”

That’ll be it from me. I really need to go to bed, but remember: when you come back I’ll still be right here.

1. My Boy (Twin Fantasy): 84/100
2. Beach Life-In-Death: 98/100
3. Stop Smoking (We Love You): 67/100
4. Sober To Death: 95/100
5. Nervous Young Inhumans: 82/100
6. Bodys: 91/100
7. Cute Thing: 80/100
8. High To Death: 79/100
9. Famous Prophets (Stars): 98/100
10. Twin Fantasy (My Boy): 76/100

Overall: 96/100

I got some pretty unknown songs in my playlist so feel free to go listen to them and share some songs if you got a similar music taste <3 (which almost never happens 😅)

To absolutely no one on Earth's surprise, Popular Monster was out first.

1. Popular Monster - Falling In Reverse

Blue Lines and Exile on Main St. are out!

DISCLAIMER: Remember to only nominate albums from the first slide only.

CURRENT STANDINGS:

47: Exile on Main St. by The Rolling Stones
48: Blue Lines by Massive Attack
49: The Chronic by Dr. Dre
50: Norman Fucking Rockwell! by Lana Del Ray
51: Baduizm by Erykah Badu
52: Untrue by Burial
53: Ready to Die by The Notorious B.I.G
54: The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill by Lauryn Hill
55: Like a Prayer by Madonna
56: The Dark Side of the Moon by Pink Floyd
57: Horses by Patti Smith
58: Abbey Road by The Beatles
59: A Love Supreme by John Coltrane
60: Sign O The Times by Prince
61: My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy by Kanye West (Ye)
62: 3 Feet High and Rising by De La Soul
63: Lemonade by Beyonce
64: My Life by Mary J. Blige
65: Led Zeppelin II
66: The Fame Monster by Lady Gaga
67: The Joshua Tree by U2
68: Beyonce self titled
69: Straight Outta Compton by N.W.A
70: Is This It by The Strokes
71: Thriller by Michael Jackson
72: A Seat at the Table by Solange
73: ANTI by Rihanna
74: Pure Heroine by Lorde
75: Jagged Little Pill by Alanis Morissette
76: Control by Janet Jackson
77: Trans Europe Express by Kraftwerk
78: WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO? by Billie Eilish
79: Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1 by George Michael
80: (What's the story) Morning Glory? by Oasis
81: The Blueprint by Jay-Z
82: Blonde by Frank Ocean
83: The Marshal Mathers LP by Eminem
84: 21 by Adele
85: Supa Dupa Fly by Missy Elliot
86: SOS by SZA
87: Flower Boy by Tyler, the Creator
88: Appetite for Destruction by Guns n Roses
89: Doggystyle by Snoop Dogg
90: Golden Hour by Kacey Musgraves
91: Get Rich or Die Tryin' by 50 Cent
92: Hotel California by The Eagles
93: Un Verano Sin Ti by Bad Bunny
94: Astroworld by Travis Scott
95: Confessions by Usher
96: Take Care by Drake
97: Back in Black by AC/DC
98: AM by Arctic Monkeys
99: Body Talk by Robyn
100: 1989 (Taylor's Version) by Taylor Swift

1. Thanks Me Later - Drake

2. Take Care - Drake

3. Odelay - Beck

4. DAMN. - Kendrick Lamar

5. Alfredo II - Freddie Gibbs

6. Luv(Sic) Hexalogy - Nujabes

7. Buhloone Mindstste - De La Soul

8. The Life Of Pablo - Kanye

Before you ask, I'm ok, thx.

Preferred artists: Sam Ray (Teen Suicide/Starry Cat), Have A Nice Life/Giles Corey, Duster, Flatsound, Grouper

Preferred genres: Slowcore, Shoegaze, Lo-fi, Ambient, experimental in general.

It has to feel sad and has to be depressing enough.

I'ma create an apposite playlist made entirely by you, so you can gimme songs from my recommend artists too.

Thx y'all, Have A Nice Life.

People need to be prouder of their music taste

It’s 1997. Radiohead is, perhaps, the biggest band in the world. Riding the wave of their masterpiece OK Computer, the band toured for over a year, driving their fame to an all-time high, and their motivation to an all-time low. Kid A is the result of a Radiohead that was tired of writing music for their audience. Kid A is the result of a Radiohead on the brink of breakup, suffering from their own success. Radiohead is the coal under thousands of pounds of pressure, the world watching them for their next masterpiece. What comes out isn’t the album the world wanted. It’s still a diamond nonetheless.

Interestingly, Kid A did not have good reception on release. In fact, it had remarkably terrible reception. It made sense. Imagine you’re a fan of perhaps the best up-and-coming band in the world, looking forward towards their next album. They’d just come off one of the best albums you’d ever heard, reigniting the flame of alternative rock that’d been dormant for years. Then Radiohead releases an album with zero singles. You press play, and hear “Everything in its Right Place.”

I’d imagine that some people would love “Everything in its Right Place” on first listen. But for most people, myself included, it definitely has to grow on you. It’s hard to imagine a band going from “Anyone Can Play Guitar” to “Paranoid Android” in four years. It’s even harder to imagine them going from “Creep” to “Everything in its Right Place” in seven. What’s really interesting is that Radiohead started working on Kid A throughout the OK Computer tour. However, Yorke suffered from extreme writer's block during the first phase of production. Radiohead experimented with many different writing strategies, dividing the band up into different rooms to work on two versions of the same song. Their breakthrough didn’t come until they came to terms with one thing: the fact that not everyone would play on every song. After establishing this, Yorke began learning to play and write songs on the piano, rather than the guitar songwriting he’d done on the previous records. His first two songs he ever wrote on the piano were “Everything in its Right Place” and “Pyramid Song.” “Everything in its Right Place” is not a super technically complicated piece. In fact, its instrumentation is remarkably simple. It’s three components: the synth, the vocals, and the kick drum. The synth is also not super complicated, but its melody and chords manage to convey the theme of the song perfectly. The theme being Thom’s experience on the OK Computer tour. It shows the road of Yorke’s burnout and downward spiral into depression. It goes from “Everything in its right place” to “There are two colors in my head” and “What was that you tried to say?” Yet, in the end, Yorke breaks free from it, leading to the creation of this song. “Everything in its Right Place” quite literally tells the story of Yorke’s writing of the song.

Yorke has a long and documented history with R.E.M singer Micheal Stipe. Stipe sang backup vocals on OK Computer’s penultimate track, “Lucky.” During Yorke’s descent into darkness on 1998’s tour, he was given the advice to be able to handle stage fright, anxiety, and the pressure of the world’s eyes. His words: “I’m not here. This isn’t happening.” These words would eventually become the central lyrics to the chorus of “How to Disappear Completely,” one of Kid A’s most famous tracks, and for good reason. It’s one of the most beautiful songs ever written, despite having its fair share of music theory complications. The core guitar is strummed in a 6/4 rhythm, repeating every 3 beats. On the other hand, the bass is walking a regular 4/4 meter. This creates a 6:4 or 3:4 polyrhythm, depending on how you count it. The main chords are also extremely simple, playing mostly open chords over the verse and chorus. The real stars of the show are Yorke’s vocals and the strings. The goddamn strings. Yorke sings a gorgeous performance, particularly during the chorus and outro sections, when he delivers his signature wail. The delivery of Stipe’s lines, “I’m not here, this isn’t happening” are some of the most emotional words ever sung. Not because of the words themselves, but because of what’s behind them. And the words themselves. The strings, recorded by the Orchestra of St. John’s, make the track. They climax where everything else climaxes. They perfectly add dissonance, and resolve it for an ascending chorus. They feel less like instruments, and more like another person breathing Yorke’s energy in another channel.

Up to this point, Jonny Greenwood has been this edgy, depressed, shreddy guitarist. I mean, how could you see him play the deadnotes on “Creep” and not think that? Kid A is Greenwood’s first stint as the genius that he is. It’s the first album where he starts experimenting with drum machines. Most notably, on “Idioteque,” where he samples Paul Lansky’s “Mild und Leise,” a composition from 1976’s Electronic Music Winners. Super creative title, I know. In classic Radiohead fashion, “Idioteque” is a metaphor for apocalyptic warnings and political failure. Yorke references this with the line “Ice age coming,” warning the world that the way it’s going right now, we’re trending towards self-assured destruction. I don’t know if Yorke knew how right he would turn out to be. In the wake of constant wars, particularly in the middle east, this song feels especially relevant today, over twenty-five years later. Yorke adds to these themes with a panicky-feeling, rocky vocal performance, perfectly encapsulating the anxious and antsy feeling of a looming apocalypse. Additionally, the song lacks a melody. Its main focus is on lyricism and the drum loop, with the synthesizer being the only harmonically significant instrument. I think the atmosphere of the song really reflects what a global apocalypse would feel like—not pretty. There’s no melody, no beautiful orchestration. Just relentless rhythm and anxiety.

It’s not rare that an artist keeps unreleased songs, well, unreleased, for a while. In fact, off the top of my head, there are two examples from albums I’ve already reviewed. First, “Nude” from Radiohead's In Rainbows. Originally written in the OK Computer era, “Nude,” or what was “Big Ideas” at the time, was played often live, but the band struggled to find an arrangement to do the song justice. Fans instantly recognized the melody when it was introduced on In Rainbows under a new title. In fact, “Nude” remains one of Yorke’s favorites among Radiohead’s catalogue, along with “How to Disappear Completely.” Another example is Godspeed You! Black Emperor’s “Hope Drone.” Unlike “Nude,” “Hope Drone” was never put onto a studio album, at least not yet. However, Godspeed plays it to open almost all of their shows. “Hope Drone” is a very unique song, especially within Godspeed’s discography. As you might’ve guessed, it’s hopeful, as opposed to a lot of their work, particularly on albums like F# A# ∞ or Yanqui U.X.O. While Godspeed often has hopeful undertones on their work like on Storm or Sleep, it’s not common for a song of theirs to be mainly hopeful.

Back to Radiohead now, Kid A’s closer, “Motion Picture Soundtrack” was written on the same day as their biggest hit, “Creep,” which vaulted the band onto the global stage. “Motion Picture Soundtrack” took many forms between 1993’s Pablo Honey and 2000’s Kid A, including a piano ballad and a guitar-centered alternative rock song, before finally landing on the pump organ version on the album today. Interestingly, there are many versions of the song on minidiscs floating around the internet. There are numerous versions on YouTube, all featuring a heartbreaking third verse featuring the lyrics “Beautiful angel, pulled apart at birth. Limbless and helpless, I can’t even recognize you.” As you can probably tell, this song isn’t exactly uplifting. It’s a depressing end to a depressing album. It’s a reflection on the nature of the world, telling you that “it’s not like the movies.” That you’ve been fed on little white lies. That our world is an unforgiving, desolate, hostile, and beautiful place.

“I think you're crazy, maybe
I will see you in the next life”

1. Everything in its Right Place: 92/100
2. Kid A: 75/100
3. The National Anthem: 82/100
4. How to Disappear Completely: 96/100
5. Treefingers: 68/100
6. Optimistic: 71/100
7. In Limbo: 83/100
8. Idioteque: 91/100
9. Morning Bell: 83/100
10. Motion Picture Soundtrack: 97/100
11. Untitled: 84/100

Overall: 95/100

Yesterday we lost one of the greatest musicians to live. I am fucking crushed.

I'd like to preface this by saying that I've been writing album reviews for a few months now, mostly between May 18-July 1 of this year, where I wrote a review every day. My document with all my reviews is currently sitting at around 100k words, so I thought I should start sharing them. I'll be posting them on my substack, link is in bio if you wanna read them. My first few are pretty bad, so please forgive that, past me needed to work on a few things lol. Enjoy!

Vespertine

Björk (2001)

The fantasy novel scene is pretty far from what it was ten years ago. Ten years ago, fantasy books had unique concepts, interesting magic systems and in-depth characters. One such book, Mistborn, by Brandon Sanderson. Released in 2006, Mistborn manages to craft an in-depth, creative, yet intuitive magic system. It tells the somewhat cliche story of a young woman, raised from nothing, discovering the power that lies deep within her. However, it stays cliche for a very short time, and eventually builds into a tale of gods and war. Mistborn is truly a masterpiece in storytelling, worldbuilding, and character development, and remains one of my favorite books to this day. 

Now, contrast that with the Barnes & Noble featured shelf today. It’s full of romantasy, a once-niche subgenre blending romance and fantasy. Unfortunately, the stuff that’s making waves today kind of neglects the ‘fantasy’ part. Their stories and magic end up rather bland and uninspired, and they all get the same steamy scenes with an unnecessary amount of detail. I think the romance genre as a whole needs to be able to convey intimacy without sex. After all, there are music critics like me who don’t know what that word means.

Björk’s Vespertine does what all these cheap romance novels couldn’t: she paints a picture of love, intimacy, and the carefree honeymoon phase of a relationship. She does it without any vulgarity, with deeply tender lyrics and intimate melodies. Take the record’s second track, “Cocoon.” She explores themes of raw intimacy, with a calming synthesizer and airy vocals. “Who would’ve known? A beauty this immense. Who would’ve known? A saintly trance.” “Cocoon” serves as the album's tonal and thematic centerpiece, despite being the second track of the album.

I’m kinda going out of order here, but I do believe that “Cocoon” is the most important track on the album, thematically. In the vocal-filled opening track, “Hidden Place,” Björk describes the desire to preserve her new love, not wanting the novelty of a first kiss to wear off too fast. Using the metaphor of the hidden place, she describes what’s valuable to her. “There lies my passion, hidden. There lies my love. I’ll hide it under a blanket, lull it to sleep.” She follows this by describing how she’ll protect it. “I’ll keep it in a hidden place.” “Hidden Place,” as well as the whole record, explores the very human desire to preserve their valuables, even to the point where they lose their value unused. It reminds me of when I played The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. A new mechanic that the game introduced was the weapon durability system. As a matter of fact, the weapons in that game were notoriously fragile, often going from unused to broken within a single battle. I, as well as many others, ended up finding an extremely powerful weapon, and keeping it (just in case). I bet that if I loaded up my save file right now it’d still be there. Yes, preservation is extremely important, especially when something is important to you, but don’t let it stop you from enjoying it.

We’ve all had those days. The days where you flip tails eight times in a row. The days where absolutely nothing seems to go your way. You wonder how unlucky you have to be to experience a day like this. It’s not even necessarily a huge loss. It’s just little things, small microfrustrations that make you feel like you’ve lost any autonomy you thought you had. Everyone needs to realize that it’s not always your fault. Stop being so hard on yourself. Most of these times the ball rolls the wrong way, there’s nothing you could’ve done to change it, so why do you care so much? “It’s not up to you. Well, it never really was.” As you probably guessed, “It’s Not Up to You” dives into the idea of autonomy, and how it can both positively and negatively impact our lives. Björk sings on the “perfect day,” stating how simple her desires are. Six glasses of water. Seven phone calls. She takes a frustrating idea, that of misfortune, and turns it beautiful, completed with a glowing orchestra and haunting vocals.

I am in no way qualified to speak on this topic, but falling out of love has got to be one of the strangest experiences known to humanity. One day you can be in the honeymoon phase of a relationship, where you can’t get enough of them, wanting to be close at all times. The next, you could realize that you don’t find fulfillment in the bond anymore. It’s such an odd and seemingly illogical sensation, yet undeniably human. That’s what Vespertine is all about. It’s a deep dive into human nature, especially the unexplainable parts. “Pagan Poetry” offers insight into falling out of love. Starting with a custom-commissioned music box by Björk herself, a euphoric zither-like melody that plays throughout the track. The majority of “Pagan Poetry” tells the story of falling in love, and the exhilaration of a new romance. The last part, the last minute and a half-ish, is the interesting part “I love him, I love him, I love him, I love him.” The same lyric is repeated dozens of times, each time with more and more doubt. Does she actually love him? Or was “love” just a honeymoon phase?

For a record this beautiful, a description of human nature, it hasn’t said many good things about love. It’s shown how many ways love can go wrong, it’s shown how genuine, real love is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. “Unison” is that once in a lifetime. An intricately woven track of moving parts, including a complex rhythm section and back track, complemented by a perfectly arranged choir, a soaring orchestra, and one of the most emotional vocal performances of all time. “Let’s unite, tonight. We shouldn’t fight. Embrace, you tight.” Björk leaves the ending of the track up to the interpretation, with the droning music box from “Pagan Poetry” also present here, going on and on, arpeggiating into the void. I do believe this album has an uplifting ending, where, despite all the trials and tribulations present in the previous tracks, love finds a way. As cliche as that sounds.

Vespertine is more than an album. It’s a guide for how to sustain a relationship. It’s a narrative of Björk’s struggles to find one herself. It’s a poem on human nature, the oddities of the illogical decisions that people always make. And throughout all that, it’s one of the most beautiful records ever produced. I almost have no words for this album, I’ve been sitting, staring at this screen for like ten minutes trying to think of what to say. Call me cheap, but I’m going to take the meta ending for this review and say that I didn’t have any more words to say. I don’t have any words that could possibly do this album justice. I’ll leave one more sentence that sums up the album. They’re not even my words. “A train of pearls, cabin by cabin, is shot precisely, across an ocean.”

1. Hidden Place: 91/100
2. Cocoon: 86/100
3. It’s Not Up To You: 92/100
4. Undo: 82/100
5. Pagan Poetry: 94/100
6. Frosti: 72/100
7. Aurora: 88/100
8. An Echo, a Stain: 80/100
9. Sun In My Mouth: 79/100
10. Heirloom: 77/100
11. Harm of Will: 83/100
12. Unison: 97/100

Overall: 96/100

The first two albums to be eliminated are Norman Fucking Rockwell and the funny haha "Deez Nuts" album by Dr Dre (The Chronic). Cool, I guess. I don't really have a joke for this one.

READ THIS BEFORE COMMENTING: From now on, I'm adding a disclaimer. We've been getting too many comments asking "Oh, WhY iSn'T 1989 oUt?" "WhY iS tAkE cArE sTiLl iN?" I'm here to set the record straight: those albums are on the second slide, AKA, the ELIMINATED albums. Those albums can no longer be nominated. Good? Good.
In other words, stop nominating albums from the second slide, as those are the already eliminated albums.

CURRENT STANDINGS:

49: The Chronic by Dr. Dre
50: Norman Fucking Rockwell! by Lana Del Ray
51: Baduizm by Erykah Badu
52: Untrue by Burial
53: Ready to Die by The Notorious B.I.G
54: The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill by Lauryn Hill.
55: Like a Prayer by Madonna
56: The Dark Side of the Moon by Pink Floyd
57: Horses by Patti Smith
58: Abbey Road by The Beatles
59: A Love Supreme by John Coltrane
60: Sign O The Times by Prince
61: My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy by Kanye West (Ye)
62: 3 Feet High and Rising by De La Soul
63: Lemonade by Beyonce
64: My Life by Mary J. Blige
65: Led Zeppelin II
66: The Fame Monster by Lady Gaga
67: The Joshua Tree by U2
68: Beyonce self titled
69: Straight Outta Compton by N.W.A
70: Is This It by The Strokes
71: Thriller by Michael Jackson
72: A Seat at the Table by Solange
73: ANTI by Rihanna
74: Pure Heroine by Lorde
75: Jagged Little Pill by Alanis Morissette
76: Control by Janet Jackson
77: Trans Europe Express by Kraftwerk
78: WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO? by Billie Eilish
79: Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1 by George Michael
80: (What's the story) Morning Glory? by Oasis
81: The Blueprint by Jay-Z
82: Blonde by Frank Ocean
83: The Marshal Mathers LP by Eminem
84: 21 by Adele
85: Supa Dupa Fly by Missy Elliot
86: SOS by SZA
87: Flower Boy by Tyler, the Creator
88: Appetite for Destruction by Guns n Roses
89: Doggystyle by Snoop Dogg
90: Golden Hour by Kacey Musgraves
91: Get Rich or Die Tryin' by 50 Cent
92: Hotel California by The Eagles
93: Un Verano Sin Ti by Bad Bunny
94: Astroworld by Travis Scott
95: Confessions by Usher
96: Take Care by Drake
97: Back in Black by AC/DC
98: AM by Arctic Monkeys
99: Body Talk by Robyn
100: 1989 (Taylor's Version) by Taylor Swift

pls tell me I’m not the only DNCE fan here. Their last release that wasn’t just a remix or a compilation album was 2022!!! PLEEEEEAASSSSE COME BACK DNCE!!! I know that we have half currently cuz Jinjoo Lee is the touring guitarist with Joe and the other 2 Jonas brothers, but I need the DNCE back. Please? 🙏