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Neutral Milk Hotel - IN THE AEROPLANE OVER THE SEA
Surreal, melodic fuzz-folk that rips with energy - easily one of 1998's best
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Pavement - SLANTED AND ENCHANTED
This poppy, noisy, skewed lo-fi masterpiece was the blueprint for damn near every record in the 90's
Pere Ubu - TERMINAL TOWER
Weird-ass music never sounded so compelling
Lee 'Scratch' Perry - ARKOLOGY
The master of dub creates seductive, ganja-soaked jungle psychedelia
Pink Floyd - THE PIPER AT THE GATES OF DAWN
Sesame Street on too much acid
Pixies - SURFER ROSA
Black Francis bought me a soda and tried to molest me in the parking lot
The Pogues - IF I SHOULD FALL FROM GRACE WITH GOD
Traditional Irish music played with punk fervor
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Radiohead - OK COMPUTER
Like an oddly beautiful soundtrack to 1984's dystopia, this album deserves all the praise it has received, and more
The Raincoats - THE RAINCOATS
This feminist-fronted post-punk album is unique, shockingly gorgeous, and one of the finest unsung masterpieces of all time. I'm not kidding about this.
Otis Redding - THE DICTIONARY OF SOUL
The God of Southern soul puts out an album as essential as your fridge
Lou Reed - NEW YORK
The street poet gets pissed
R.E.M. - MURMUR
Creepy like kudzu, this muted masterpiece from the little college band that could heralded a new direction for rock and roll
Little Richard - THE GEORGIA PEACH
An absolutely essential compilation from the King Queen of rock and roll
The Roots - THINGS FALL APART
The future of hip-hop is now
Otis Rush - COBRA RECORDINGS: 1956-1958
Harrowing electric blues that Robert Johnson would have sold his soul for twice to hear
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The Sea and Cake - THE SEA AND CAKE
Caribbean rhythms, skewed jazz guitar and an odd take on pop makes for a smooth fusion
Silver Jews - AMERICAN WATER
In 1984/I was hospitalized for approaching perfection
Nina Simone - THE BLUES
The only singer who could possibly kick Aretha Franklin's ass
Sly and the Family Stone - ANTHOLOGY
A perfect introduction to Sly's heady blend of positivity, cynicism, funk, pop and psychedelia
Sonic Youth - WASHING MACHINE
Perhaps the finest, most mature, focused, and certainly the funniest album from the kids who reinvented noise
The Sonics - PSYCHOSONIC
You thought punk was born in the 70's? Guess again.
Spiritualized - LADIES AND GENTLEMEN WE ARE FLOATING IN SPACE
Take this album and call me in the morning
Spoon - A SERIES OF SNEAKS
The best Pixies album since Surfer Rosa
Bruce Springsteen - NEBRASKA
Funny how they call the champion of the working class "The Boss" - this stark, bleak album is as moving as anything he's ever done
Squirrel Bait - SKAG HEAVEN
Smart, intense, Replacements-styled melodic thrash
Stereolab - TRANSIENT RANDOM-NOISE BURSTS WITH ANNOUNCEMENTS
Brilliant, noisy drone pop from one of the 90's best, most influential bands
The Stooges - FUN HOUSE
Grab the Skippy and get primal with Iggy
Suicide - SUICIDE
1977 electro-synthesized performance art sooths like the hum of high-tension wires; meet the band which fathered Stereolab, Cabaret Voltaire, Throbbing Gristle and more
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Talking Heads - REMAIN IN LIGHT
Nervous Caucasian funk and tasty electronic bloops
Thee Headcoats - HEAVEN'S TO MURGATROYD, EVEN! IT'S THEE HEADCOATS (ALREADY)
Feral garage rock for those quiet evenings at home
Them - THE STORY OF THEM FEATURING VAN MORRISON
Criminally obscure, this is among the toughest electric R&B ever waxed. Mick and Keith who?
This American Life - LIES, SISSIES AND FIASCOES
Journalism as High Drama; meet the best radio show in the US of A
Throwing Muses - THE REAL RAMONA
Compelling, insistently catchy noise-pop with interestingly skewed songwriting
Tindersticks - TINDERSTICKS
Moody and melancholy like Leonard Cohen on Valium, this is sublime chamber-pop
The Trashmen - SURFIN' BIRD
Primal, manic surf-rock from the mid 60's; contains one of the finest slices of rock absurdity ever served
A Tribe Called Quest - THE LOW END THEORY
Literate, smooth and jazzy, this is arguably hip-hop's finest moment
Big Joe Turner - BOSS OF THE BLUES
Lung bustin blues and a crack jazz band make for some killer tracks
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Uncle Tupelo - ANODYNE
Disgusted with slick, rhinestone-studded Country? These kids keep it real with a contemporary take on Country's gritty roots
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Various Artists - BLUE BREAK BEATS, VOL. 1
The cream of 70's funky jazz, the source point for hip-hop's breaks - as melodically satisfying as bop and as booty shaking as James Brown
The Velvet Underground - THE VELVET UNDERGROUND AND NICO America's most influential band. Period.
Violent Femmes - VIOLENT FEMMES
Acoustic heroin-pop for the kids
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Tom Waits - BONE MACHINE
Despair and millennial rage, German art-carnival stomps and growling poetry
Tom Waits - MULE VARIATIONS
Hop on Tom's Mule and take a surrural trip
Walt Mink - EL PRODUCTO
Vigorous punk-pop, with a refreshing emphasis on the latter
Wire - PINK FLAG
Intelligent art-house punk with no frills
Stevie Wonder - INNERVISIONS
Gospel soul and fiery electrofunk on this Wonder-ous album
The World Famous Beat Junkies - VOL. 1, DJ BABU
DJ's rise like the phoenix to save hip-hop from itself with stunning turntable wizardry and satisfying grooves
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X - LOS ANGELES/WILD GIFT
Blue suede punk
Yo La Tengo - PAINFUL
One of those impossibly rare, magical albums that does nothing but get better the more you listen
Yo La Tengo - I CAN HEAR THE HEART BEATING AS ONE
The kings of indie rock deliver a true masterpiece
Young Marble Giants - COLOSSAL YOUTH
Fabulously funky minimalist pop masterpiece
Neil Young - AFTER THE GOLD RUSH
Pained, lovely melancholy from the restless genius with a child's voice
Tom Ze - FABRICATION DEFECT
Brazil's funniest musical terrorist makes the weirdest beauty you've never heard
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