Sneer

Got a link for the Fuck Buttons album?

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music_phantom13

It's depressing how few posts there have been in journals since I've been gone. I don't have time to look around the site right now but I'll be writing in here lots once I get my laptop in a week or two and I have free internet access back. For now, don't miss new Trouble Books album Gathered Tones. I just listened to one song and it doesn't disappoint after their first album. More to come after I've had a chance to actually listen to some shit.

Bulldog

Yeah, I haven't really bothered with mine for a while as I can't really think of anything particularly interesting to do with it anymore.

Good to see you back around these parts anyway. It's a good journal this - looking forward to your next post in it.

music_phantom13

Thanks Bulldog. Too bad I'm a lazy fuck and even with all the free time I have I still haven't been writing in here... I've decided that I am going to sit down today and come up with the full list of my 100 favorite albums and try it again for the second time. There's really not enough going on in journals anymore, and it's definitely one of the best parts of musicbanter. I need to contribute my part.

bubu

someone needs to revive it right? :P

dac

I've decided to download both of these at once. Fantastic write ups, my friend.

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music_phantom13

Thanks dac, haven't seen you around lately (mostly probably because I haven't been here). Hope you enjoy.

music_phantom13

I think that the first time I tried to do a top 100 list, I was not prepared in any way. Since first joining MB a while back, my music taste has changed drastically, mostly because I discovered sounds that I never knew existed before - thanks to everyone by the way, more than a few of these come from the MB community! I've finally discovered what my favorite sounds are, and gotten a better understanding of my musical taste. The albums on here are the ones that have been around a long time and stood the test of time, never getting boring or old to me. I did my best to get a fully ordered top 100 list, but of course things will always change around. This is more a rough estimate, though the top 25 are ordered perfectly. Some reviews might be short, depends on how inspired I am to write about the album. With that said, it's time for me to get started. And expect a lot of these to come up fast, I've been working on writing them for random albums from the list as I placed them so I have quite a few done already.


Carbon Leaf manages to create a near perfect blend of traditional Irish music, alternative rock, and folk on Echo Echo. The band uses lots of instruments, from guitar to mandolin to bagpipes to upright bass and ensures each is in perfect harmony. Each instrument plays an essential part in the feel of the songs, and the members of the band manage to come together in a way that is rarely found these days. Seeing them play live is a fantastic experience, they have a vibe and connection better than probably any band I've ever seen. The first half of the album or so is to my ears near perfect alternative rock done in a unique interesting way. There is some filler that keeps it so low on my list; Maybe Today goes on far longer than necessary, and I Know the Reason and Follow the Lady don't do too much for me. But The Boxer, Lonesome Pine, Mellow Tone, and Toy Soldiers are all specific standouts. And they do write some decent lyrics.


A delightful album of electronic indie pop from Sweden, back in 2007 Seabear rose to fame on the popularity of their song I Sing, I Swim. The Ghost That Carried Us Away is much more of the same. Intro Good Morning, Scarecrow begins with a strange medley of sounds until a cheery upbeat melody intrudes, giving a good idea of what’s to come. Cat Piano makes use of a harmonica to create a nice soothing melody, followed by Libraries, one of my favorites. I Sing, I Swim is indeed the standout track of the album, well deserving of the popularity it has attained. Owl Waltz, the following song, is a slower tempo song delivered over a softly strumming acoustic guitar. Throughout the album, the band makes use often of strings and background sounds like birds chirping. What helps to give their albums a unique, fuller feel is that they use a muted acoustic guitar strumming chords while a second acoustic plucks notes throughout. There’s really two main reasons I chose this over the myriad of other indie pop albums I could have picked. First is that I absolutely love the sound of ‘s voice, it’s pretty much the perfect delivery for their vocals and molds beautifully with their songs. The other is the feeling I get without fail every time I hear these songs. The music takes me back to childhood in a way, invoking a feeling of happy nostalgia. While I listen through the album, it brings back all sorts of good memories of old times. It’s one of the best pick me up albums for me. I don’t think I could possibly feel sad listening to it, even when I’m missing Jenna terribly I can turn it on and the simple soothing songs remind me of all the fun we had. I know a lot of you probably would never agree with having this in a top 100, and I know it’s not the best indie pop, but this is more of a personal choice than actually quality of music… if that makes any sense.


Behold Secret Kingdom just rocks. It’s definitely not for everyone, and you’ll probably be able to tell in the first minute or two of the first song whether you’ll be able to enjoy it. The music is noisy experimental psychedelic rock with strangely sung, nearly chanted, echoing vocals finding their way into the mesh, not too prevalent but clearly audible (not like, for example, Loveless, where the vocals are almost completely covered by walls of sound). They also use a lot of strange electronic sounds that remind me of Melt-Banana but at a much slower tempo. This one’s really hard to describe, but I’ll just end by saying that Raccoo-oo-oon uses elements of free jazz, electronic, noise, psychedelic rock, jam, and more than a few other genres to blow your mind in a very interesting way. Expect to be worn out by the end of the album trying to keep up just listening. Also, I am ashamed to admit that this is the only Racoo-oo-oon album I've heard; I've been told I really need to listen to several others that could be even better.

Bulldog

Good that you're getting started with your list - I've been looking forward to this. Nice start as well - three albums I've never heard of, which can;t be a bad thing eh. It'll be cool to see how this evolves over time, so best of luck with the whole thing eh.

Also, if you've got a link to that Carbon Leaf album we can be friends forever

music_phantom13

Yellow Swans are an experimental noise band that make some crazy, glitchy, very staticy music to melt your mind. The album’s only four songs but clocks in at about 50 minutes and every minute is ****ing crazy. The last song, Drowning in Paradise, is probably my favorite experimental song. I’m not even really sure how to describe any of their music any better, just check it out if you’re into noise it all. And turn it the **** up.


Circle Jerks are probably my favorite hardcore punk band. And yeah, I'm putting in a double album. The songs are short, funny, and basically just what you would expect from a group of teenage punks calling themselves the Circle Jerks. With songs like I Just Want Some Skank, World Up My Ass, and Question Authority, it’s really just the type of “**** you all” music that’s great to listen to at times, where the band (though they may not be the most skilled) really just have fun with their music.They may not be the best out there, but I grew up on this album… it was my real introduction to hardcore, in fact I was listening to this album before I even knew who Black Flag was.


I’ve heard some bad things about this album, but I’m not going to lie… I find it really really fun to listen to. I suppose you could call it a concept album about an island in the South Pacific, but it’s really basically a sound collage of lots of interesting simple tropical sounds looped and played over each other. It’s very minimal, but if you listen to it as a whole album and keep in mind what it is, it’s incredibly rewarding. It has a strange spiritual quality to it. There’re 22 tracks on the album, and they cover all sorts of sound. Desert Rose has a catchy glitch drum beat with a very simple melody that creates a very dreamy, ethereal feel. Free Guys By the Sea uses a flutes and several other instruments to create a sound that reminds me of being at a laid back, tribal ceremony on a beach somewhere. Mirror Friends has all sorts of things going on at once, and creates a somewhat trippy feel with a very simple tribal drum beat holding everything together. My Are Singing uses some sort of string instrument (I don’t think it’s a guitar…) and a few vocal samples and drum sounds to create an amazingly conventional sounding pop song (as close as I can imagine them getting). I Keep Waiting For Earthquakes is similar, it’s amazing how Lucky Dragons can blend together a collage of sounds to create a danceable catchy pop song. Realistic Rhythm, in some strange way, almost reminds me of trip hop in a tropical island way I can’t even hope to convey in words. Wooden Cave Loop and closer track Very 2 remind me a lot of earlier Animal Collective (Here Comes the Indian and Hollinndagain days). Overall not something to be missed, but definitely hit or miss… most people don’t seem to like it so much.