Reviews by brndnnll

Titus Andronicus is a lot for me and it’s best in small doses. This was very long.

This is one of those albums that takes me to a very specific time and place. I have not listened to this much since it came out when I was a high school senior. It's wild how instantly recognizable and familiar so many of these songs are, they are imprinted in my head. I don't necessarily think this album is great, but really enjoyed it because it hit that nostalgia hard. Jenny Lewis still rules always and forever.

I was never a huge Elliott Smith fan but certainly really appreciated Figure 8. I moved to Portland, just under two months before he passed away, and it was certainly a big deal here when that happened. When this album came out a year later, it was also a big deal here, and I listened to it a lot as part of the local cultural zeitgeist. It's been probably 20 years since I have heard all of these songs, and it's been an interesting revisit. I still think this isn't my favorite album of his, and still think the production isn't my favorite, but some of these songs are undeniably excellent. Listened to this a bunch today and it was nostalgic for sure.

Honestly I am surprised this is not on the original list. Quintessential Björk.

I really only know Explosions In The Sky from the "Prince Avalance" soundtrack, which I love that movie and the music that goes with it. They seem like pretty tame and mellow atmospheric post rock. Chill as background music, but nothing overly groundbreaking. This was enjoyable for sure, and a totally reasonable selection for this list.

This music felt so much like it was just made for soundtrack/scores. It was fine, but mostly just felt like ambient background music. It's electronic pop chamber music at it's best I guess, but I don't know.

This was lovely. I would enjoy sitting through a live perfomance of this for sure. Malibu seems like a great ambient artist.

Not on streaming, but available to listen to for free without ads on bandcamp here: https://mmmmalibu.bandcamp.com/album/one-life-2

One of the better and more deserving albums on this that does actually belong on the main list.

Admirably, this is not on streaming, but you can listen to it ad-free on bandcamp here: https://godspeedyoublackemperor.bandcamp.com/album/f-a

It took me a couple of days to get around to listening to this, after reading abou tit, and parsing through the many different versions of this on streaming, I didn't have super high expectations. This is ambitious and super over the top, and I honestly loved it. Something that totally stands out on it's own and I'm happy to have been introduced to it.

Never thought I would listen to a whole Rammstein album, and listening to this pretty much confirmed why I thought that way about Rammstein.

This was so much better than I was expecting it to be. Much more a country vibe than I thought. Beach Country I guess?

Basic corny blues based 70s rock.

I enjoyed this. But it's inclusion further confounds my understanding of what this list is.

Alvvays is definitely pretty enjoyable modern indie shoe gaze. There are a lot of imitators out there, but they have been consistently doing it really well for a while now. This was a great listen.

Billie is the only current mega pop star that I think is a genuine artist. This album was great and is easily the best of this new bunch of albums added to the updated list.

Gentle, soft, mild, and inoffensive. Nothing here at all warranting inclusion on this list.

Adding new albums to this list that have been out for less than a year seems super suspect to me. I had brat a few days ago and understood it's inclusion more because it was such a big hit. However, I enjoyed this a lot more than brat. It's noisier and more abrasive and atmospheric, and it turns down the pop a bit. All of that being said, I think it's pretty premature to add it to this list so quickly.

Maybe the first of the newly added inclusions in the revised book that I really enjoyed. This is a solid album for sure.

This album's inclusion on the updated list is kind of the final straw in destroying the very little credibility and integrity that these list makers were clinging to. Sure, The Rolling Stones are legendary mega stars who occupy an important position in music history, but there is no reality that an album released in their 7th decade rises to the level of being essential listening material.

This album was fine, but come on, what are we doing here?

This feels like some kind of nu-metal pop revival. I don't know, feel like this is about as inessential as it gets.