When picking these albums out, I decided on a definition of "best" that bows to the subjectiveness of that idea: I could add anything to the list that I either thought was one of the "the best" or simply "my favorite". A few albums that were "my favorite" but not necessarily "the best" were left off of the list, mostly because 75 is a nice number.
Also, for those who remember the previous list, I've chosen to follow some more stringent rules for this one in the name of eclecticism, namely:
1. only one album per artist
2. one "disc" per multi-"disc" album, and
3. as before, "best of" and "live" compilations are allowed in lieu of studio albums.
I am looking forward to your shocked claims of exclusion.
In "iTunes alphabetical" order by artist:
Andrew Bird, “The Mysterious Production of Eggs”
Animal Collective, “Feels”
Apostle of Hustle, “National Anthem of Nowhere”
Arcade Fire, “Funeral”
The Beastie Boys, “Paul’s Boutique”
The Beatles, “Revolver”
Beck, “Mutations”
Bjork, “Post”
Black Flag, “Damaged”
Blur, “Blur”
Bob Dylan, “Blood on the Tracks”
Broken Social Scene, “Broken Social Scene”
Cat Stevens, “Tea For The Tillerman”
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, “Clap Your Hands Say Yeah”
The Clash, “London Calling”
The Cure, “Staring At The Sea”
Daft Punk, “Homework”
David Bowie, “Ziggy Stardust”
The Decemberists, “Her Majesty The Decemberists”
Dirty Projectors, “Bitte Orca”
The Fiery Furnaces, “Gallowsbird’s Bark”
The Flaming Lips, “The Soft Bulletin”
Grizzly Bear, “Veckatimest”
Guided by Voices, “Human Amusements at Hourly Rates”
Iron & Wine, “Our Endless Numbered Days”
The Jam, “The Sound of The Jam”
Joy Division, “Closer”
LCD Soundsystem, “Sound of Silver”
Les Savy Fav, “Inches”
Lou Reed, “Transformer”
The Magnetic Fields, “69 Love Songs” (Disc 1)
Mclusky, “Mclusky Do Dallas”
Michael Jackson, “Thriller”
Modest Mouse, “The Lonesome Crowded West”
Neko Case, “Middle Cyclone”
Neutral Milk Hotel, “In The Aeroplane Over The Sea”
Nirvana, “In Utero”
Of Montreal, “Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer?”
Operation Ivy, “Energy”
Os Mutantes, “Everything Is Possible”
Paul Simon, “Graceland”
Pavement, “Wowee Zowee”
Pink Floyd, “Dark Side of the Moon”
Pixies, “Doolittle”
Police, “Greatest Hits”
The Postal Service, “Give Up”
Public Enemy, “Fear of a Black Planet”
Pulp, “Different Class”
R.E.M., “Reckoning”
Radiohead, “In Rainbows”
Robyn Hitchcock, “Storefront Hitchcock”
Silver Jews, “American Water”
Sonic Youth, “Dirty”
Spoon, “Girls Can Tell”
Squeeze, “Singles, 45s, and Under”
Stereolab, “Emperor Tomato Ketchup”
Stevie Wonder, “Innervisions”
The Strokes, “Is This It?”
Sufjan Stevens, “Illinoise”
Talking Heads, “The Name of This Band is Talking Heads”
Ted Leo & The Pharmacists, “Hearts of Oak”
Television, “Marquee Moon”
Tom Waits, “Mule Variations”
Tune-Yards, “Bird-Brains”
U2, “Achtung Baby”
Vampire Weekend, “Vampire Weekend”
Van Morrison, “Astral Weeks”
Velvet Underground, “VU & Nico”
Violent Femmes, “Violent Femmes”
Weezer, “Pinkerton”
The White Stripes, “Elephant”
Wilco, “Summerteeth”
The Wrens, “The Meadowlands”
XTC, “Drums and Wires”
Yo La Tengo, “I Can Hear The Heart Beating As One”
As a special "bonus" for anyone caring enough to read this far, here is another list. This is a playlist I made to demonstrate how Blur owes a huge artistic debt to XTC. It's organized in pairs of songs which sound alike to me. In each case, the Blur song comes first, the better to notice the similarities when you hear the antecedent.
1. Blur, Stereotypes, from "The Great Escape"
2. XTC, Respectable Street, from "Black Sea"
3. Blur, Pressure on Julian, from "Modern Life is Rubbish"
4. XTC, Making Plans For Nigel, from "Drums and Wires"
5. Blur, Jubilee, from "Parklife"
6. XTC, Battery Brides (Andy Paints Brian), from "Go 2"
7. Blur, Theme From Retro, from "Blur"
8. XTC, Life is Good in the Greenhouse, from "Go 2"
9. Blur, Tracy Jacks, from "Parklife"
10. XTC, Love At First Sight, from "Black Sea"
11. Blur, Chinese Bombs, from "Blur"
12. XTC, Cross Wires, from "White Music"
The list only has 12 items right now because I am still working on it. As I hear new connections during casual iPod listening, I will add them. Suggestions are welcome, lol.
As a special "bonus" for anyone caring enough to read this far, here is another list. This is a playlist I made to demonstrate how Blur owes a huge artistic debt to XTC. It's organized in pairs of songs which sound alike to me. In each case, the Blur song comes first, the better to notice the similarities when you hear the antecedent.
1. Blur, Stereotypes, from "The Great Escape"
2. XTC, Respectable Street, from "Black Sea"
3. Blur, Pressure on Julian, from "Modern Life is Rubbish"
4. XTC, Making Plans For Nigel, from "Drums and Wires"
5. Blur, Jubilee, from "Parklife"
6. XTC, Battery Brides (Andy Paints Brian), from "Go 2"
7. Blur, Theme From Retro, from "Blur"
8. XTC, Life is Good in the Greenhouse, from "Go 2"
9. Blur, Tracy Jacks, from "Parklife"
10. XTC, Love At First Sight, from "Black Sea"
11. Blur, Chinese Bombs, from "Blur"
12. XTC, Cross Wires, from "White Music"
The list only has 12 items right now because I am still working on it. As I hear new connections during casual iPod listening, I will add them. Suggestions are welcome, lol.
