Music I generally recommend

By /

This post lists music albums that I consider worth listening to,  all of which fall somewhere between a 7/10 and 9/10 rating. See here for a list of my all-time favourite music albums.

A

  • Aaron Parks – Little Big (2018)
  • Aaron Parks – Little Big II: Dreams of a Mechanical Man (2020)
  • Akira Yamaoka [山岡晃] – Silent Hill (1999)
  • Akira Yamaoka [山岡晃] – Silent Hill 4 (2004)
  • A Tribe Called Quest – The Low End Theory (1991)
  • A Tribe Called Quest – Midnight Marauders (1993)
  • Alain Goraguer – Fantastic Planet [La Planète sauvage] (1973)
  • Ali Farka Touré & Toumani Diabaté – In The Heart Of The Moon (2005)
  • Ali Farka Touré & Toumani Diabaté – Ali and Toumani (2009)

B

  • The Beat Konducta – Vol. 1-2 Movie Scenes (2006)
  • The Beat Konducta – Vol. 3-4 India (2007)
  • The Beat Konducta – Vol. 5-6 Dil Cosby & Dil Withers Suite (2009)
  • Bill Evans – Everybody Digs Bill Evans (1958)
  • Bill Evans – Portrait in Jazz (1959)
  • Bill Evans – Explorations (1961)
  • Bill Evans – Moon Beams (1962)
  • Bill Evans – At Shelly’s Manne-Hole, Hollywood, California (1963)
  • Bill Martin Septet – Over to You- Live at Hanover Hall (2021)
  • Bic Runga – Anthology (2012)
  • Boards of Canada – Geogaddi (2002)

C

  • Cannonball Adderley & John Coltrane – Cannonball & Coltrane (1959)
  • Carole King – Tapestry (1971)
  • Cat Stevens – The Very Best Of Cat Stevens
  • Cocteau Twins – Treasure (1984)
  • Cocteau Twins – Heaven or Las Vegas (1990)
  • Common – Like Water for Chocolate (2000)
  • Common – Be (2005)
  • Crowded House – Recurring Dream (1996)
  • The Cure – Pornography (2005)

D

  • Daft Punk – Random Access Memories (2013)
  • Danger Doom – The Mouse and the Mask (2005)
  • D’Angelo – Brown Sugar (1995)
  • Darryl Reeves – The Dillaquarium Mixtape (2013)
  • The Dave Brubeck Quartet – Time Out (1959)
  • David Bowie – Hunky Dory (1971)
  • David Bowie – The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars (1972)
  • David Bowie – Blackstar (2016)
  • Digable Planets – Reachin’ (A New Refutation of Time and Space) (1993)
  • DJ Rashad – Double Cup (2013)
  • DJ Shadow – Entroducing (1996)
  • DJ Sprinkles – Pastime paradise (2004)
  • DJ Sprinkles – Where Dancefloors Stand Still (2013)
  • DJ Sprinkles – Queerifications & Ruins (2013)
  • DJ Sprinkles – Skylax House Explosion (2021)

E

  • Ensemble Signal, Bradley Lubman – Steve Reich: Music for 18 Musicians (2015)
  • Elliott Smith – Roman Candle (1994)
  • Erykah Badu – Baduizm (1997)
  • Elliott Smith – XO (1998)
  • Erykah Badu – Mama’s Gun (2000)
  • Erykah Badu – Worldwide Underground (2003)
  • Elliott Smith – From A Basement On The Hill (2004)
  • Erykah Badu – New Amerykah Part One: 4th World War (2008)
  • Earl Swearshirt – Doris (2013)
  • Earl Swearshirt – I Don’t Like Shit, I Don’t Go Outside (2015)

F

  • Fishmans [フィッシュマンズ] – Something in the Air [空中キャンプ ] (1996)
  • Fishmans [フィッシュマンズ] – Long Season (1996)
  • Fishmans [フィッシュマンズ] – Uchu Nippon Setagaya [宇宙 日本 世田谷] (1997)
  • Freddie Gibbs & Madlib – Piñata (2014)
  • Freddie Gibbs & Madlib – Bandana (2019)

G

  • Gaelle – Transient (2004)
  • Glenn Gould – The Goldberg Variations (2007)
  • Godspeed You! Black Emperor – Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven (2000)

H

  • Have a Nice Life – Deathconsciousness (2008)
  • Home Brew – Home Brew (2012)

I

  • Isaac Hayes – Hot Buttered Soul (1969)

J

  • The Jac – Walking Spirits (2021)
  • Jeff Wayne – Jeff Wayne’s Musical Version of The War of the Worlds
  • John Coltrane – Blue Train (1958)
  • John Coltrane – Olé Coltrane (1961)
  • John Coltrane – Impressions (1963)
  • John Coltrane – The Stardust Session (1963)
  • Joni Mitchell – Ladies Of The Canyon (1970)
  • Joni Mitchell – Hejira (1976)
  • Jaylib – Champion Sound (2003)
  • Jeremy Soule – The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind (2002)
  • Jeremy Soule – The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (2006)
  • Jeremy Soule – The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (2011)

K

  • Katamari Fortissimo Damacy (2004)
  • King Crimson – Red (1974)
  • Kendrick Lamar – Section.80 (2011)
  • Kendrick Lamar – untitled unmastered (2016)
  • Kendrick Lamar – Damn (2017)
  • khana rung thawi – hae sot dontri phuen ban nong ko, vols. 8 & 9 (2000)
  • King Gizzard The Lizard Wizard – Nonagon Infinity (2016)

L

  • Leonard Cohen – Live In London (2009)1
  • Lil Ugly Mane – THREE SIDED TAPE VOLUME TWO (2013)
  • Lil Ugly Mane – Oblivion Access (2015)
  • Lil Ugly Mane – Volcanic Bird Enemy and the Voiced Concern (2021)
  • Little Simz – Sometimes I Might Be Introvert (2021)

M

  • Madlib – Shades Of Blue (2003)
  • Madlib – Rock Konducta (2013)
  • Madlib – Sound Ancestors (2021)
  • Maxwell – Urban Hang Suite (1996)
  • Maxwell – Embrya (1998)
  • Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs – Marty Robbins (1959)
  • Mike Oldfield – Ommadawn (1975)
  • Momoko Kikuchi [菊池桃子] – Adventure (1986)
  • Massive Attack – Blue Lines (1991)
  • Massive Attack – Protection (1993)
  • Melody’s Echo Chamber – Bon Voyage (2018)
  • MF DOOM – Operation Doomsday (1999)
  • MF Doom – Born Like This (2009)
  • Mgła – Age of Excuse (2019)
  • MGMT – Congratulations (2010)
  • Miles Davis – Birth of the Cool (1957)
  • Mos Def – Black On Both Sides (1999)
  • Mos Def – The Ecstatic (2009)
  • My Chemical Romance – The Black Parade (2006)

N

  • Nick Drake – Five Leaves Left (1969)
  • Nina Simone – Little Girl Blue (1959)
  • Nina Simone – I Put A Spell On You (1965)
  • Nina Simone – Wild Is The Wind (1966)
  • Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan – Shahbaaz (1991)

O

  • Oh Sees – Orc (2017)

P

  • @Peace – @Peace (2011)
  • @Peace – @Peace and the Plutonian Noise Symphony (2011)
  • Peter Gabriel – Passion (1989)
  • The Pharcyde – Bizarre Ride II the Pharcyde (1998)
  • The Pharcyde – Labcabincalifornia
  • Pink Floyd – Animals (1977)
  • Pink Floyd – The Wall (1982)
  • Portishead – Third (2008)

Q

  • Quasimoto – Yessir Whatever (2013)

R

  • Radiohead – The Bends (1995)
  • Radiohead – Amnesiac (2001)
  • Radiohead – Hail to the Thief (2003)
  • Radiohead – A Moon Shaped Pool (2016)

S

  • Shawn Kemp – Trick Dice (2008)
  • Slum Village – Fantastic. Vol. 2 (2000)
  • Stan Getz & Joao Gilberto – Getz / Gilberto (1963)
  • Stevie Wonder – Innervisions (1973)
  • Sufjan Stevens – Illinois (2005)
  • Syd Matters – Someday We Will Foresee Obstacles (2005)

T

  • Taeko Ohnuki [大貫妙子] – Sunshower (1977)
  • Taeko Ohnuki [大貫妙子] – Mignonne (1978)
  • Tame Impala – InnerSpeaker (2010)
  • Tame Impala – Lonerism (2012)
  • Tame Impala – Currents (2015)
  • Takako Mamiya – Love Trip (2012)
  • Tatsuro Yamashita [山下達郎] – For You (1982)
  • Tibetan Incantations – The Meditative Sound of Buddhist Chants (1998)
  • Toumani Diabate with Ballake Sissoko – New Ancient Strings (1997)
  • Toumani Diabaté – The Mandé Variations (2008)
  • Tracy Chapman – Tracy Chapman (1988)
  • Tricky – Maxinquaye (1995)

U

V

  • Vashti Bunyan – Just Another Diamond Day (1970)
  • The Velvet Underground – The Velvet Underground & Nico (1967)
  • Vince Guaraldi Trio – A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965)
  • Vivaldi – The Four Seasons

W

  • Weyes Blood – Titanic Rising (2019)

X

  • XTC – Skylarking (1986)

Y

  • Yoshiko Sai [佐井好子] – Mangekyō [萬花鏡] (1975)
  • Yoshiko Sai [佐井好子] – Taiji no Yume [胎児の夢] (1977)

Z

  1. Shortly before he passed, I got to see Leonard perform live in Christchurch, New Zealand. ↩︎
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