Number 8

8. Gas - Pop

I don't remember where or how I heard of this album and what's more - it took me years to even listen to the full thing and revel in how great it is. But it is great. There is nothing else much out there that sounds like it - even music in the often stagnant ambient subgenre of electronic music. Some tracks have a little beatpulse to them, most don't. Most sound like you're being transported through serene waterways or being transformed into dew on the ends of leaf tips. This is an album (much like all of Voigt's work) that takes time to get into, to appreciate. There's more to it than just being "pretty" - it is a dense work, one that will continue to reveal itself to me in many years to come.

1. "Untitled" - (5:13) ~ 9.0
   
2. "Untitled" - (8:38) ~ 9.0
   
3. "Untitled" - (7:27) ~ 9.6
   
4. "Untitled" - (9:31) ~ 9.1
   
5. "Untitled" - (10:52) ~ 8.8
   
6. "Untitled" - (9:24) ~ 9.2
   
7. "Untitled" - (14:37) ~ 9.7

Overall ~ 9.3 ~ ****

Number 9

9. Boards of Canada - In A Beautiful Place Out In The Country

Forget everything you ever thought was dull or ponderous about ambient music, as Boards of Canada return like Aeschylusian heroes -- unbound from a genre that often sounds like a washing machine begging for a swift kick. Pay attention, Radiohead. Boards of Canada traced a disturbed childhood in the arctic, austere Music Has the Right to Children, but here there's a slightly warmer feeling. More central, tweaked vocals add a new dimension to the "hard beats + bittersweet melodies" pattern of the past; songs like the gorgeous, ice-melting "Zoetrope" glide along on simple celestial glimmers without a single bassline in sight. It's as if the band is thawing out in preparation for something. Even when it's hard to tell what that might be. Tiny, exploratory decisions -- no matter. You'll likely want to crawl inside this EP's washing machine for a long, long time. - Allmusic

1. Kid For Today ~ 10.0
2. Amo Bishop Roden ~ 9.7
3. In A Beautiful Place Out In The Country ~ 9.2
4. Zoetrope ~ 8.5
Overall ~ 9.3 ~ ****

The Year 2000 in Music

The year 2000 was an amazing year for music. In my opinion some of the greatest albums ever recorded were released in 2000. Radiohead was coming off their critically-acclaimed masterpiece, OK Computer and many were intrigued how they would follow it up. In the end, 2000 would be regarded as the year of post-rock and ambient mastery.


10. Mum - Yesterday Was Dramatic Today Is Ok

It's hard to describe this album. Electronic, ambient, glitch, video game music. It might be all of these genres molded into one. The production is outstanding with very minimalistic beats and beeps casting their shadows on every track. Very Phillip Glass-ish. This is a very nostalgic sounding album. It's an album you would hear in your dreams as a young child. The opener, I'm 9 Today, and the closer, Slow Bicycle provide perfect symmetry for this album that flows seamlessly with no hiccups at all.

1. "I'm 9 Today" – 4:42 ~ 9.5
   
2. "Smell Memory" – 9:23 ~ 9.3
   
3. "There Is a Number of Small Things" – 6:32 ~ 9.4
   
4. "Random Summer" – 3:12 ~ 7.5
   
5. "Asleep on a Train" – 7:17 ~ 8.8
   
6. "Awake on a Train" – 9:23 ~ 9.0
   
7. "The Ballad of the Broken Birdie Records" – 5:25 ~ 9.3
   
8. "The Ballad of the Broken String" – 4:45 ~ 8.2
   
9. "Sunday Night Just Keeps on Rolling" – 8:10 ~ 8.0
   
10. "Slow Bicycle" – 8:47 ~ 9.5
    

Overall - 9.2 ~ ****

Top Albums by Years - Intro

In this series I will be talking about my favorite albums year by year. They will often be accompanied by photos, Youtube videos, etc. I love talking about music!

Hello world, I'm Sean (: I'm currently a college student here in Los Angeles, but will soon be leaving the area and transferring colleges. I'm a Environmental Science major who believes that we as humans, have a responsibility to take care and preserve the environment for future generations. On this blog I will mainly be talking about the thing I love most, music. On occasion I will also speak on other art forms like Films, and Photography. Enjoy everyone (: