Music

To Pimp a Butterfly - Kendrick Lamar

It’s a hip-hop album with a strong focus on themes of race in America and mental health. Lamar’s lyricism is incredible.

The instrumentation is equally great, drawing inspiration from jazz, funk, and soul.

Tool - Lateralus. It's an album best played from start to finish, and takes a very dynamic ride that I interpret as a ride through human consciousness, communication with others and ourselves.

Nick Drake - Pink Moon

Almost entirely ignored during his brief career and then promptly forgotten following his untimely death, Nick Drake's three full-length albums have only since gained wide recognition and praise in more recent decades. The final of these three albums, Pink Moon, is by far the finest of the trio.

Released in 1972, Pink Moon is more stripped back compared to Five Leaves Left and Bryter Layter, which feature full, lush arrangements of horns, strings, pianos, often with a jazzy twist. Meanwhile, Pink Moon is the result of two nights worth of recording featuring only Nick's voice and his expertly played acoustic guitar (plus a single overdubbing of a piano on the title tack). Nick's guitar playing is captivating, playing amongst incredibly bizarre tunings and alternating between complicated, classical finger picking, and slightly more reserved strumming and chords. Nick shows himself to be an incredibly talented player, owing to his classical training, and this style would go on to inspire other artists much further down the line, such as Sam Beam of Iron & Wine, or Robert Smith of The Cure, the band's name drawn from a line from one of Nick's songs.

Nick's singing is hushed and reserved, nearly breathless during some sections, as he weaves his way through the scant 28 minutes of the album's run time. This ethereal, almost ghost-like singing prevents him from overshadowing his guitar, while at the same time perfectly delivering his poetic writing. The lyricism is sublime and suits the more reserved arrangements of the songs, but is also incredibly personal and introspective, reflecting Nick's ongoing struggles during his life.

Struggling with depression and anxiety, Nick retreated into privacy following the album's release and meger sales, never doing a live show in support of it. He would die from an overdose of medication in 1976, aged 26. On his grave in Tanworth-in-Arden, his tombstone is inscribed with a line from the final song off of the album, From the Morning:

"And now we rise, and we are everywhere."

Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness

I don't even know where to start with this album.

The softer songs make heavy use of orchestral instruments. The strings add so much depth to all the tracks that feature them and make it seem like some classical soundtrack. Tonight Tonight and Galapagos are examples.

It also has some of their best heavy songs like Zero, Bullet With Butterfly Wings and Jellybelly.

There's definitely something for everyone on this album. Would definitely recommend you listen to Zero, 1979 and Tonight Tonight for an idea of the sounds. If you can get used to Corgans vocals you should love it.

The Album art itself is also fantastic.

Mezzanine - Massive Attack.

The album is incredible start to finish, every track genre defying. The production is phenomenal, from harder rock to softer ballads every track is a masterpiece.

The Stage - Avenged Sevenfold

It's a metal album with a pretty big departure from their normal sound (going from more traditional Heavy Metal to more Progressive Metal), and dropping a Single (the title track, The Stage) then the full album by surprise. It's their first conceptual album with a focus on where humanity is (in 2016), how we interact with each other, our progression with technology, and our place in the universe which is still very interesting and fun to unpack. The extended version includes their covers of songs they grew up with in Southern California, ranging from Spanish folk songs to Pink Floyd. It's fantastic to hear a band truly enjoy expanding their sound and creating music they want and seem to love.

Andrew Bird - Break It Yourself

I picked this up randomly because I liked the cover and ten years later he's still one of my all time favourite artists. I only recommended this album because it's the one I'm listening to right now, but all of his other stuff is just as good; though, his earlier stuff (Andrew Bird's Bowl of Fire) is more focused on folk music and I'm not into that all of the time.

Number of the Beast - Iron Maiden

Quick listen, just 8 songs and 40 minutes. Has probably my favorite closing song of any album. It's the album I used to convince my bluegrass and folk-loving dad that metal had more artistry than he was giving it credit for. Bruce Dickinson's voice is unreal.

The Mountain Goats- the Sunset Tree. It's a concept album, if you're a lyric person give it a listen. Regardless if it gets enough upvotes. Do yourself a favor, it's that good

Red (Taylor's Version) - Taylor Swift

It's hard for me to pick a favorite album because so many of hers have had an impact on me, but Red really is just that album!! It has a beautiful blend of genres (pop, rock, more electronic tracks, country) and it covers every aspect of love — the infatuation, the rose tinted glasses, the hurdles and triumphs and the eventual fallout. Not to mention All Too Well (10 Minute Version) just being an absolute masterpiece of emotional storytelling.

I choose Taylor's Version specifically because Red, in a way, is Taylor reclaiming herself from a troubled and not so great relationship (which she at the time perceived as normal) and so the parallel of her now also reclaiming her work just adds another layer to the mix.

My favorite is The Beatles Revolver.

Revolver is, IMO, the best transitional album - the songs are all approachable, yet remain experimental. The execution is polished.

While many will say that Sgt Pepper is the Beatles’ best album, over the years I found myself leaning more toward Revolver. Pepper is a great concept album, but there are only a few memorable songs. Most people have heard the majority of Revolver at some point in their life.

So if I were to pick one album that represented the Beatles at their height as a pop music band, it would be Revolver.

Alt-J An awesome wave - it really is considered as a whole in its creation. There are interludes, dips & swells in the energy, and a whole journey of sonically related songs which keep introducing new variations and sounds.

Sufjan Stevens the BQE - another album that really should be enjoyed as a whole journey, it follows the daily commute of so many along the Brooklyn Queens Expressway in NYC. It wanders from orchestral to electronic noise, and is a wonderful album to put on for a slow Sunday morning.

Janelle Monae - The ArchAndroid

Cyborg woman defies her programming and falls in love with human man, thereby becoming a government target, and as chase ensues, she ascends to messianic status. But if you want, ignore the delicate lyricism and allegorical social commentary and focus on a stream of delicious melodies, meticulous arrangements, and effortless genre-hopping between funk, neo-soul, pastoral folk, theatrical orchestra, bossa nova... It's an album that begs to be loved.

Good Kid, maad City by Kendrick Lamar. It's a concept album that tells a non-linear coming of age story. It's a nice throwback to 90s west coast hip hop and the message behind the concept is powerful and relatable to anyone who has ever lived in low income neighbourhoods. Pretty much every thing this man has made is gold but GKMC is the one that impacted me most.

Trouble Will Find Me by The National

Probably my favorite album of all time. It's a very down tempo album with a lot of introspection and lyrics I really connected with the first time I listened to it.

NOFX - War on Errorism

I used to listen to it and enjoy it when I was in high school. And since then my tastes in music matured a lot, as I'm not into punk rock that much anymore. But this particular album I always come back to: it is a high-octane gem, every song is special in its own way and none of them seem banal or predictable.
The lyrics, mostly satyrical, strike a good balance between meaningfulness and straigh fun, between anger and cheer

Genesis - Selling England By The Pound.

For me, this is the finest album ever made. Beautiful written clever, witty lyrics. Superb musicianship.

On the other place someone asked what album could be described as the quintessential 'English' album.

I would describe it: England, 1973.

not sure what kind of genres you are into, but for hip-hop I’ll recommend “illmatic” by Nas

my GOAT in the rap game, the best lyricist and storyteller

I didn’t live in NYC during the 80s/90s but the way he paints a picture with his words makes me feel like I’m really there experiencing it all

here’s a video with the lyrics to the opening song NY State of Mind

there can be quite a bit of slang or inside references used in hip-hop, so for anyone who feels overwhelmed when trying to parse the meaning of some lyrics I’d recommend looking up the songs on genius.com which always has great explanations and breakdowns

(explicit lyrics warning)

https://youtu.be/vni9Gt6CIXc

https://genius.com/albums/Nas/Illmatic

The Kinks, Preservation Act 1 & 2

The Kinks modernized rock, progressing through similar phases as The Beatles, they became increasingly experimental, taking on many different genres and instruments. I believe that The Beatles and many others learned different avenues to expand their sound from listening to The Kinks. Preservation Act 1 & 2 were a exposition into the realm of rock opera. It touches upon super modern and relevant concepts, such as crooked politicians, gentrification, getting old, censorship, etc. It plays out like a story, so please take the time to listen to the albums in order and not skip around. It is a master class of diverse rhythm and harmony. Any one of the songs on each album can get stuck in your head for days. In my mind, every song including the intro is a hit. If you like the album and want to listen to other ones by them, I would also recommend The Village Green Preservation Society, Schoolboys in Disgrace, Muswell Hillbillies, Everybody’s in Showbiz, Misfits, and Lola Versus Powerman and the Moneygoround, Part One. What’s so interesting about The Kinks is you can ask someone else what their favorite albums are and they may list totally different ones by them from what I listed because they were so versatile across several decades, but I like these the best.

Divers by Joanna Newsom. I could've picked about ten different albums as my all time best, but you said you liked great lyrics and this album has them. The basic question of the album is 'How is love possible when death is inevitable?' and Newsom spends forty minutes giving various answers to that question, drawing on Percy Shelley, James Joyce and Albert Einstein, among others.

If that sounds more like an essay than an album, that's because you need the music, too, to fully appreciate what Newsom does. The lyrics aren't arbitrary; they always speak to the lyrics and vice-versa. This includes fairly obvious audio-verbal puns, as when she hits a sustained chord on the piano as she sings the word 'sustains', and also more recondite use of motifs and key changes that complement the complex lyrical ideas that she's exploring. The upshot is that I think you'd know this album was about love and loss even if you didn't understand a word of the lyrics.

IGOR by Tyler, the Creator.

You said you like good storytelling and nice lyrics. Well, this album has that in spades and also sounds amazingly! It's about a love triangle mainly but touches on other things as well. Not exactly my favourite album but one of my favourites and if you like storytelling and hip hop at least a bit, you may really like this album!

Compro - skee mask.

He took this off Spotify in protest so you may have to find it on band camp. This album feels like its from a totally different world in the best way. It's "ambient breakbeat" I guess, but those two genres are a bit at odds with one another. The drums, synth, and sound design are all spectacular, but it's tough to talk about because it all sounds so alien even if it's familiar. I'd recommend this album for a gray day in the city.

Immunity - Jon Hopkins

Another favorite, this has tech-house beats I think but also some beautiful ambient sound design. It' s supposed to follow the night of going out clubbing behind a haze of drugs. It definitely nails the psychedelic energy and has moments of intensity as well as relaxed beauty. I like to work to this one.

Bang Bang by Dispatch.

This album has a lot of great tracks with their own stories to tell, and any time a song from this album comes up on shuffle it captures my attention.

The General is probably the biggest song on the album. It's an anti-war protest song, but it approaches the subject from a more redemptive angle that I think we could all stand to hear a little more of these days.

Bandits of the Acoustic Revolution - A Call To Arms

Its an EP not an album but it's probably my single favourite record even if it is essentially just Streetlight Manifesto, one of my favourite band, covering of their own songs.

If you don't know much about Streetlight you should absolutely check them out as well as while it's easy to say they're a ska punk band they take a lot of inflance from folk music. And leaning into that side of their song writing is what the EP is playing with to the point you can almost feel these are the original/traditional version of songs their main band did covers of.

They're also just generally fantastic lyrical and musical story tellers and this EP brings all that into a perfect 20 minutes or so.

My favorite music changes with the seasons, but one album I keep coming back to is the self-titled album from Elephant Tree. I love that it's very heavy and doomy, yet melodic and paired with clear vocals and vocal harmonies. The juxtaposition of these elements just does it for me.

Lyrically, it's not high poetry but there some good lines on the album. Especially on the fourth track (Circles), which is quite sparse in its musical composition, and the following track Aphotic Blues - which show their heavier, doomier side. The album never fails to bring me joy.

And because I can't resist adding bonus recommendations:

If lyrics matter more to you, and if the above is too doomy for your ears, I'd recommend All Them Witches - either Sleeping Through The War, or Nothing As The Ideal . Some of the best lyrical writing in modern rock music to my ears. Great music, great voice, give it a listen.

Bewitcher, Cursed be Thy Kingdom. It's blackened speed metal, but it seems to transcend this narrow genre for me. You've got 80s style metal guitars, vocals that are more spoken than they are growled or shouted, and blues/rock influences. Plus a really good ear for song writing, especially the "Valley of the Ravens," which opens you might expect, but breaks down into this kind of emotional, bluesy solo in the middle. It tells the tale of a witch burned at the stake who vows to return, very metal stuff, but the story is pretty coherent.

The second track, When Death Returns, has some great lines for me. Lots of metal imagery, but you can tell it's still actually about something.

"There's Hellhound on my trail, / so i've got to keep moving, / yesterday gets faster and faster"

It's got short atmospheric tracks as well, but nothing to prententious, just some downtuned acoustic guitar. Plus it ends in a blistering cover of "Sign of the Wolf," a very classic track from Pentagram, which is an important band in the doom/heavy metal scene. Very catchy too.

Swans - Soundtracks for the Blind

This album sums up 20 years of Swans's first incarnation in a double disc that's part melancholic wall-of-noise drone rock, part found-sounds ambient soundscape, and just a little bit of callback to the aggressive noise that they started with. Taught me to enjoy not-purely-electronic music again, after several years as a fairly pretentious experimental/IDM head. There are lyrics, but much of the storytelling is between and behind the lyrics, not in them.

Death Note: The Musical

Need I say more?

There’s No Leaving Now - The Tallest Man on Earth

Imagine if Bob Dylan became 10x the guitar player but his lyrics were less accessible.

Frank Turner - Love, Ire & Song

Frank is a similar age to me, from the next town up the motorway, so lyrically Love, Ire & Song talks to me about things I mostly understand. When he sings 'Once I was young and crass enough to care' I know exactly what he means. On 'Photosynthesis' he sings "I won't sit down, I won't shut up, and most of all I will not grow up" and I get that too, with every fibre of my being.

Musically, it's folk-punk through the prism of the hardcore band he was in before going solo. It's energetic when it needs to be, melancholy when it needs to be, and hopeful even when things feel hopeless. It's an album I can't listen to once. It's two or three times, or not at all.

What helped to cement my love of this album was seeing him play it live in a sweatbox of a pub somewhere in Nottingham with 200 other people, crammed in with apparently little regard to fire safety regulations. The crowd knew all the lyrics and sang them with gusto. For one night only we were all in Frank's band, and it was glorious.

I'll have to check it out. Obviously a man of taste