My Favorite 25 (And More) Favorite Albums From 1996 to 2021 (part 1)
Recently Pitchfork, probably the most influential music reviewing website, conducted their Pitchfork’s 25th Anniversary People’s List poll. They asked the voters their 25 most favorite albums released between 1996 and 2021. I thought this would be a very fun exercise to organize many of my favorite music albums in one place, and see how musically ignorant am I compared to the Internet!
As the number of albums that I considered my favorites exceeded 25, I figured that I would vote for the lesser-known artists on the poll because the other artists would have an army of fans readies to make multiple accounts to duplicate votes for them anyway! 1 album per artist also sounded like a good rule, otherwise, the list would be dominated by my all-time favorite artist’s discography (spoiler alert, it’s Aphex Twin). Also, video game soundtrack counts as I listen to them A LOT, and consider them extremely underrated as a very valid form of musical expression.
This endeavor will be divided into 2 articles:
- The first article, this one, will provide the list of artists that I’d have voted if their fanbases were not as big as the bank account in my dreams. They are usually both critically acclaimed and adored by music lovers, especially in the West (which I think is the most prominent demographic of this poll). And for good reason: they are fantastic artists. I will list my favorite albums from each of them.
- The second article lists 25 albums that I actually submitted to Pitchfork. It could be an album from a popular artist but was not as well-known, or even a not that obscure album that I just badly wanted it to win a place. It could be an excellent album from an amazing artist that should get more recognition. But seriously, I suspect that most of my 25 picks won’t appear in the final results, especially the game soundtracks. I’d be pleasantly surprised to see even just a few of them in the final 200 albums list.
So with that out of the way, here is the list of artists that I didn’t vote for because there’s no need to!
1.Radiohead.
What else to say about possibly the greatest band of the last 25 years? Listening to OK Computer from start to finish at the age of 22 was a revelation moment for me: it finally convinced me that an album was the best form of music consumption, and there’s so much more great music out there outside of my little radio. Kid A, of course, was my gateway to electronic music in general, especially reading about how Thom Yorke was such a massive Aphex Twin’s simp that he convinced the entire band to give up their guitars for the synthesizers. Incredible discography that you can literally start from anywhere.
Favorite albums: OK Computer (the strongest contender for number 1 in the final list), Kid A (second strongest!), Amnesiac (as good as Kid A), In Rainbows (probably also in the top 10!).
2.Kanye West
Best hip-hop producer ever. He might not be a GOAT rapper, he might not even write all of his verses, and he might be a complete asshole IRL. Doesn’t matter, he’s the artist that made hip hop sounds fun musically to me. For me, music is more important than lyrics, and I agree with Aphex Twin when he said that, in the end, it’s all sound waves and frequencies coming into our brains and make us feel something. That’s why I can enjoy instrumental music and music in languages that I don’t understand but struggle with genres and artists that are too focused on lyricism (huge respect to Bob Dylan, but I’d take the Beatles over him any day!).
Favorite albums: 808s & Heartbreak (super underrated, Kayne was in the dark depressing R & B game long before Drake and The Weeknd!), My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (could be in top 10?), Yeezus (my personal favorite of his, banger from start to finish!)
3.Kendrick Lamar
Best hip-hop rapper ever. 2Pac can rest in peace as he has an incredible heir that can turn all topics into poetry, from the most mundane, even superficial braggadocio to the most complex and sensitive matters. His flow is just unmatchable, his wordplays are unbelievably smart, and he does both introspection and out-tropection incredibly well, addressing and many times combining personal with social issues. His album’s productions are always on point too, as they perfectly complement the messages that he conveys in the lyrics. And speaking about messages, Kendrick is probably one of those very few artists that actually try to change the world for the better through music. Huge respect.
Favorite albums: Section.80 (this “mixtape” is better than most rappers’ studio albums!), good kid, m.A.A.d city (most replay value, incredible cinematic storytelling and production, top 20?), To Pimp a Butterfly (most lyrically impressive album ever, goddamn that poetry magic trick!, possibly a top 10 contender)
4.SOPHIE
While I only got into her very recently, she’s an instant favorite: weird-ass but super delicious sound design, quirky and catchy AF pop melodies, and many times packed full of emotions that feel very personal. Her death was definitely a big tragedy, as I’d love to see her dig even deeper, similar to artists like Björk, FKA Twigs, and Arca.
Favorite albums: Oil of Every Pearl’s Un-Insides (wonky club music at its best)
5.The National
Out of the many indie rock bands out there, the National is the band that hit me the strongest. Melancholy is the name of the game here: almost all of their songs aim to create this mood in the listeners. Sure, you could argue that it makes the band’s sound a little bit monotonous, and I admit that compared to many other artists that I love, that is true (even in their later more electronic-driven albums). But what they do, they do it amazingly well, and melancholy is probably the mood that I love to be immersed in the most when listening to music!
Favorite albums: High Violet (their best, probably in top 50), Trouble Will Find Me (another mellow masterpiece)
6.Portishead
The best of “trip-hope”. In my eyes (or rather ears), this trip-hop genre is like the feminine counterpart to the very masculine hip hop genre, as they usually feature very feminine sounding lead vocal (doesn’t mean it’s always a female singer). It’s a shame the genre kinda died down in the late 90s/early 2000s, and to hear great trip-hop music you actually need to go to some Japanese video game soundtrack for this. Akira Yamaoka and his soundtrack for the Silent Hill series from the third game forward feature many amazing trip-hop songs! Back to Portishead, along with Massive Attack, they were considered the crowning achievement of the genre. And again, like SOPHIE, I’m a huge fan of this kind of music: experimental, weird electronic instrumental married with amazing vocal singing.
Favorite albums: Dummy (Fucking classic), Third (My favorite from theirs, incredibly dark and experimental electronic music. Top 50? A side note, I can see that The Weeknd has pretty good taste because he sampled the incredible song Machine Gun from this album in his also incredible song Belong to The World!)
7.Burial
I kicked myself in the butt so hard for not discovering this sadly late artist’s music earlier. Like The National above, he focused almost entirely on creating one singular mood: melancholy, but with electronic instrumental and distorted vocal samples. While in general, I’m not that big of a fan of big-name EDM (electronic dance music) and all of its subgenres, Burial proves that genre just means a bunch of conventions, you can create the most authentic and humane art in even the most commercialized genre, in this case dubstep.
Favorite albums: Burial (unfairly overshadowed by its little brother!), Untrue (incredible emotional electronic music, top 50?)
8.Death Grips
These guys are here simply for only 1 album: their earth-shattering debut The Money Store. I don’t really connect that much to the rest of their discography, as later they sound too experimental and chaotic without the killer rhythm and melodies of their debut. Their experimental style kinda stays in a very samey-ish way too, making all of the songs sound the same. This is my biggest gripe with a lot of so-called “experimental” music: after you get their core “gimmick”, they actually don’t sound so novel and creative anymore, in fact now all songs follow the same formula (looking at you late Autechre!). Regardless, The Money Store was amazing at making abrasive and chaotic hip hop still sound catchy as hell!
Favorite albums: The Money Store (top 50?)
9.Fishmans
Same with Death Grips, these guys are here for 1 album: their absolute best and most ambitious Long Season. They always make the same kind of cozy summer dream-pop music, and in this album, they reached the peak of their passion, their endearingness, and sometimes even their spiritualities. While they are artists coming from Asia, I know that the pretty badly named “weeb” scene has been booming so much in this 21st century, so I’m confident that this album will appear in the final list!
Favorite albums: Long Season (it’s a reach, but I have a feeling it might reach the top 30! and possibly will be the highest voted non-Western album)
10.Sweet Trip
Another artist that satisfies my “experimental electronic pop” itch. While their most recent album A Tiny House, In Secret Speeches, Polar Equals, which was just released earlier this year in May 2021, was a little bit bloated and inconsistent for my taste, the rest of their discography is full of treasure troves! They are one of the peaks of indie-pop.
Favorite albums: Velocity : Design : Comfort (their best, top 50?), You Will Never Know Why (equally as good as the previous one!)
That’s it for the artists that I didn’t vote for because of my huge trust in my fellow Internet users! In the second article, link will be here it’s available, I will go over all of the 25 albums that I actually voted for, and that’s where the more hipster, more passionate side of my music taste shows!