Some of my favorite records.

Egg
"Polite Force"
(Deram)

Black Sabbath
"Paranoid"
(Warner)

Amazing prog from 1971.

Is anything heavier than this?

Nick Drake
"Pink Moon"
(Island)

Earth
"2"
(Sub Pop)

One of the only records where actual emotion was captured on tape as well as the sounds. One of the most beautiful records ever made.

This record is the reason I make music.

JOAO GILBERTO
"Joao Gilberto"
(Verve)

Public Enemy
"Fear of a Black Planet"
(Def Jam)

The only times I've cried in the past 10 years are when Gwen and I have listened to this record, and when we saw Joao perform. All human beings should know this recording.

I'm still wondering what happened to hip hop after this record. It's been over 10 years since it's release and there has been no equal. The music on this record is, dare I say, musical. Something that has been forgotten in most modern hip hop records. Could you even think about listening to an instrumental Wu-Tang record??? Always intelligent considering Chuck D, never too serious because of Flavor Flav, and the unmatched production of Terminator X and the Bomb Squad.

Pinebender
"Things Are About to Get Weird"
(Ohio Gold)

Frank Sinatra
"In the Wee Small Hours"
(Capitol)

One of the most under appreciated records of the last 10 years. Heavy, Heavy, Heavy pop music. The only band I have ever heard that can achieve such weight and still carry such a feeling of sadness instead of anger. The production is amazing, including some of the best sounding guitars ever recorded.

I never took old blue eyes seriously until I heard this record. Instead of just rereleasing singles together on a 12" record, Frank decided he wanted to make a collection of songs that all went together as a whole. Viola, the concept album via 1955. Depressing, dark and the definition of what an orchestra is supposed to sound like.

Slint
"Spiderland"
(Touch and Go)

TAJ MAHALL TRAVELERS "1974"
(Sony Japan)

Mandatory Entry. This will really date myself, but this was the first record that changed my definition of music. The feeling that you just heard something entirely new. This happens to me less and less, but there is always the first time. The record that created ten thousand bands.

HEAV-Y drone. Every time. There are a few great bootlegs of theirs out there as well.

Talk Talk
"Laughing Stock"
(Verve)

ZZ Top
"Tejas"
(Warner)

Probably my favorite record for the past few years. When I was turned on to this record I was instructed to lay down with all the lights off, and listen to the entire record. I will suggest the same to you.

I purchased this record from a basement shop accross the street from the Alamo. On it's first spin you realise you can already sing along. Check out the breakdown on "It's Only Love".

Sleep
"Jerusalem"
(Rise Above)

This 52 min. epic song is the "White Album" of stoner rock.

Best Records of Late

2001

U.S. Maple "Acre Thrills"
Jim O'Rourke "Insignificance"
Fennesz "Endless Summer"
Nerves "World of Gold"
Lightning Bolt "Ride the Skies"
Vincent Gallo "When"
Tim Barnes "All Acoustics"
Plunderphonics "69-96"

2002

Wilco "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot"
Sonic Youth "Murray Street"
High On Fire "Surrounded By Theves"
Flaming Lips "the Soft Bulletin" LP
Beck "Sea Change"
Christopher Tree "At the Cathedral of St. John The Devine"
Pelican "S/T"
A-Frames "S/T"
Kevin Drumm "Sheer Hellish Miasma"
Phill Niblock "G2,44+ / x2"
Comets On Fire "Field Recordings From The Sun"

2003

US Maple "Purple on Time."
Grand Ulena "Gateway To Dignity"
AZITA "Enantiodromia"
TV on the Radio "Young Liars"
Sleep "Dopesmoker"
Kevin Drumm "Land of Lurches"
Vandermark 5 "Airports for Light"
Brown Company 12" EP
Growing "The Sky's Run Into The Sea"
Loose Fur "S/T"

2004

Sonic Youth "Sonic Nurse"
Fantomas "Delirivm Cordia"
Wilco "A Ghost is Born"
Textual "Hindsight Sunglasses"
Sunn 0))) "White2"
Wolf Eyes "Burned Mind" & "Lost Sockets"
Rob Mazurek "Music for Shattered Light Box And 7 Posters"
DNA "DNA on DNA"
Pinback "Summer in Abaddon"
Growing "The Soul of the Rainbow and the Harmony of Light"
Joćo Gilberto "Joćo Gilberto in Tokyo"

2005

Devin Davis "Lonely People of the World Unite!"
Fleshpress "III - The Art of Losing All"
Earth "Hex (Or Printing in the Infernal Method)"
Lichens "The Psychic Nature of Being"
Jim O'Rourke "Mizu No Nai Umi"
Six Organs Of Admittance "School Of The Flower"

2006

Wolf Eyes "Human Animal"
The Zoo Wheel "First Born, Grand Days"
Growing "Color Wheel"
Loose Fur "Born Again in the USA"
Joanna Newsom "Ys"
Cat Power "The Greatest"
Dead Machines "Futures"
Bird Show "Lightning Ghost"
Liars "Drum's Not Dead"
Drone Records"A Selection Of Drones Past: Singles 1993-2000"

2007

Leslie Keffer "Feels Like Frenching"
Cloudland Canyon - Lichens "Exterminating Angel"
Stars of the Lid "Harmony in Ultraviolet"
Magik Markers "Boss"
Justice "Cross"
Battles "Mirrored"
Yeah Yeah Yeahs "IsIs"
Sonic Youth "Daydream Nation" -reissue-
Jorge Ben "Forca Bruta" -reissue-

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