Tag: My Favorite album

Phil Jacob: Out of necessity, I narrowed the field down to my favorite LA-centric album, in keeping with the theme of our new record Sunset on Sunset. And even then I was overwhelmed with so many gems, like Warren Zevon’s self-titled masterpiece and Love’s stunning Forever Changes. Both albums I would classify as obsessions, not to mention Beach Boys, Joni, Beefheart, and all the great punk and hip hop from that locale.

In the end, nothing captures my imagination of L.A. quite like Steely Dan’s Gaucho. It feels like a David Lynch film to my ears, a windy narrative careening towards total disaster. Donald Fagen’s voice brings to mind creeps you want to get as far away from as possible and yet their stories compel you to stay and captivate you with their underlying sadness. As usual with Steely Dan, beneath these lyrical dumpster fires there are some ridiculously slick disco beats, jazzy vamps, and flashy solos. Taken altogether, this juxtaposition of sleaze and cheese creates a friction that brings to mind Randy Newman’s storytelling, brought to its ultimate extreme.

Psychic Lines’ album Sunset on Sunset is out now. See instagram.com/psychic.lines for more info.  ❖

Mariel Loveland: To me, the best albums are albums that age with you. I think back to my childhood, begging my mom to drive me to the sort of suburban strip mall that was one of the few places teenagers could loiter away from our parents. Back then, the world seemed so big and our options were limited: we could throw rocks by the creek if the weather was nice, spend hours watching each other chain-smoke in the local diner, hang out in a basement that belonged to a friend whose overworked single mother was rarely home, or plant ourselves in Borders Books. We often chose the latter, spending our Saturday afternoons parsing through Nylon and NME, pulling out albums to sample on the in-store headphones.

It was there that I discovered Reconstruction Site by the Weakerthans. I was, at the time, on the precipice of adulthood. I had not yet experienced loss beyond burying a carnival goldfish in the backyard, but I was also an anxious child acutely aware of that eventuality. In many ways, the album (almost entirely themed around grief and illness) felt like a guidebook to the pain of adulthood, but it also served as an homage to the forgotten moments of youth — the speaking to siblings through heating vents or crawling around adult feet at family gatherings. 

In one of my earliest memories, I recall sitting at the dinner table with my family, hiding Flintstones vitamins under my napkin, and trying my best to ignore the sinking feeling in my gut. I didn’t know where it came from. Maybe it was the realization that we are separate from our loved ones and truly navigate life alone. Maybe it was a fear of the inevitability of time. I called it, in my limited vocabulary, growing up. I never heard anyone describe it until I listened to the title track:

His father laughed and talked on the long ride home
And his mother laughed and talked on the long ride home
And he thought about how everyone dies someday
And when tomorrow gets here where will yesterday be
And fell asleep in his brand-new winter coat

Throughout the years, I grew up alongside the album. In college, I’d stare at the sun peeking through the gray sky and recall “A New Name for Everything.” It felt like insurance that time doesn’t just take things away, it can also bring you clarity, understanding, and direction. 

When I entered the world as a working adult in the midst of a historic recession, I became a cat owner chained to my bed with sadness and unemployment. I wondered, does my cat feel like the cat did in “Plea from a Cat Named Virtute?” The thought was enough to pull me to the screen door and sit with her watching the birds chirp (especially because, by then, I knew how the story ended). Years later, I knelt on a dirty hospital floor and prayed over beeping machines like in “(Hospital Vespers).” The eventuality became the now.

Today, more than 20 years after the album’s release, I still find new meaning in the songs — especially in the sonnets hidden in the album’s interludes. I recently came across Pitchfork’s review, which said the album would be best relegated to “a smarmy Ivy League college radio show.” Perhaps there is a glimmer of truth in that because, as a girl who was once president of the high school poetry club (with the popularity to match that role), the album has always made me feel like less of an outsider. It always reflected the world back to me in the way I saw it. It’s one of the few albums I can say truly possesses a lifetime.  ❖

Best Ex’s With a Smile album is out now.

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Jagwar Twin: The truth is that I don’t have a favorite album and it’ll change from day to day. But if you asked me at the moment, the first thing that comes to my mind right now is Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers by Kendrick Lamar because I think Kendrick is saying things that need to be said in our culture. I think he’s one of the only people who isn’t afraid to just speak what he feels and do it in an artful and tasteful way. I’ve probably listened to that album 100 times.

“Mother I Sober” from that album made me cry the first I heard it. Like, bawled. I don’t know if any other song has ever done that to me. “United in Grief” is also incredible. The production is insane and it takes you on a journey, but it’s really the lyrics for me. The song talks about who we are and where we come from through his own, personal lens, but we all have the same story. It’s the same source I try to tap into with my music, like on my new single “Bad Feeling (Oompa Loompa),” just from a different angle — Kendrick is more direct with his message. I like to paint in abstraction with my words.

 Another album I really love is Ariana Grande’s Eternal Sunshine. It’s everything I love about pop music at the highest level. Not only does it have great melodies, great production, and great vocal performance, but her lyrics on this one are different. She’s saying so much about the human condition and exploring the heart and the mind. There are really deep concepts disguised as catchy pop songs and that’s my favorite kind of music. The title track “Eternal Sunshine” is my favorite. 

Jagwar Twin’s “Bad Feeling (Oompa Loompa)” single is out now.

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Tom Kanach: Selecting just one record that has significantly impacted my life feels totally impossible, as there are hundreds of records that I cannot live without. Among my personal favorites are Radiohead’s OK Computer, The Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds, Elliot Smith’s Figure 8, Wilco’s Summer Teeth, the Zombies’ Odessey and Oracle, the Beatles’ Revolver, the Dead Boys’ Young, Loud and Snotty, and the Rolling Stones’ Exile on Main Street.

Seeing these records all listed together, I realized that they share a common thread. They each have continuity, presenting a synchronized theme and atmosphere. Each song lives within a specific mood or topic, rendering these albums cohesive journeys rather than just a collections of the band’s best songs amassed over time. While there’s nothing wrong with the latter approach, these albums, with their thematic unity, resonate with me in a unique way.

Each song is a perfectly placed piece of the puzzle, seemingly penned during a singular manic session, that captures a snapshot of the artist’s experiences or emotions, compelling them to unleash a torrent of creative expression. 

For me, the pinnacle of thematic albums is John Lennon’s Plastic Ono Band. Unlike many concept albums, Lennon’s work offers a raw, unfiltered glimpse into his inner struggles during its creation. Its honesty is striking, devoid of elaborate metaphors or fictional narratives. Upon my initial listen, I was struck by its sincere vulnerability, with the sparse music perfectly mirroring Lennon’s emotional journey. It was John ripped open for inspection. 

Learning that John Lennon, the only person that I ever idolized and who symbolized musical perfection to me, was grappling with life’s challenges was both surprising and comforting. It made me feel less alone and inspired me to embrace honesty in my own creative endeavors.

In extending my gratitude to John Lennon for offering this candid glimpse into his world, I acknowledge the invaluable gift of authenticity he imparted to the younger me, as well as countless others, toward the pursuit of truth in their craft.  ❖

Kanak’s On the Outside EP is out now.

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Flamingosis: One of the best R&B/Funk albums from front to back. What You Won’t Do For Love is obviously the biggest hit, but every track on this is a bop. Soulful, catchy, groovy, and heartfelt all the way through. There’s a reason why so many other artists like 2Pac, Common, J Dilla, Biggie, etc. have sampled his melodic work.  I also sampled it on my own tune “Down For The Third Time” on my Pleasure Palette album. RIP to Bobby Caldwell, one of the greatest ever.  

[In addition,] I listened to Reality Testing by Lone when I was still in college and it changed my outlook and perspective on making beats forever. The whole project blends hip-hop instrumentals and house music together into a wonderful hybrid that no one else was really doing at the time. The drums, sampling and synthesizer soundscapes are ethereal, compelling and will make your head nod instinctively.  

Vanilla’s Soft Focus is one of, if not the, best hip-hop instrumental album of all time for me. Vanilla has been a prominent name in the SoundCloud/Bandcamp world from pretty much the very beginning when those websites formed. And for very good reason. The dude just has a gift for making great beats. From the selection of samples, to the chops and the drums, and to the arrangement and cohesiveness of tying all the tracks together. It’s a really flawless project.

Flamingosis’ “Nebula Gazer” single is out now.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gru4IfbKlfU

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A.R. The Mermaid: Jazmine Sullivan Heaux Tales is my fav album!!

This album used to put me in a Great Space Mentally!

Her voice is so soothing and the fact that her voice is raspy like mine — made me love my voice even more!

Plus, I love R&B of course — that album is Top Tier No Cap!

A.R. The Mermaid’s “Watt We Doingg” is out now.

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