Lingua Ignota - All Bitches Die (2017)
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Just a titanic, ruinous, masterpiece of an album. The lyrics about domestic violence, sexual abuse, Biblical judgement and apocalyptic vengeance are literally stunning. And the lyrics are matched and even exceded by Kristin Hayter's vocals and musicianship. She transitions from black metal screeches over death industrial electronics to glass-shattering operatic crescendos to genuinely blissful, gentle piano liturgies. It's not fun to listen to, but if I had to pick a "best" album I've ever heard, this would be it. Hayter is currently the most talented, most original and impactful musician I know of. Her whole discography is a masterpiece but this one stands out to me. I cannot sing its praises enough.
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Glacially slow drone music with field recordings that, despite the record's icy theme, sounds incredibly warm and peaceful.
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Lovely glitchy indie/folktronica. One of my lesser-known all time personal favorites. Sounds like beams of sunlight and houseplants and iced tea.
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Blissfully pretty chamber folk, new age, and min'yĆ music mixed with field recordings and various musical recordings from around the rural village Masakatsu Takagi made this album in. A portal to a beautiful, peaceful, Japanese village.
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Extremely underrated jazzy, math-influenced, Chicago School style post-rock. This album came about a lot later than more celebrated albums by Tortoise and The Sea and the Cake so it gets overlooked. It's not as pioneering but it's better than all of them.
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Monumental modal jazz mixed with blues. Half the credited musicians on this are as celebrated and influential as Miles Davis is. One of the most famous and lauded jazz albums for a reason.
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Simple, nostalgic, small-town emo-revival/pop-punk done extraordinarily well.
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Quiet, gentle twee-pop that's incredibly sweet and comforting.
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I debated whether or not to include this album here and I don't know how to describe it in a way that doesn't feel cheap or contrived. It's eleven songs Phil Elverum (of The Microphones) recorded shortly after his wife died of cancer. I just included the first thirty seconds of the first song because choosing an illustrative sample felt wrong. Incidentally the first lyrics of the album sum up why discussing this album as a piece of art makes me uncomfortable.
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The main reason I limited this section to one album per artist is so this entire page isn't dominated by Mountain Goats albums. John Darnielle is my favorite musician full stop. I think All Hail West Texas is probably the most representative of his early sound. Lo-fi acoustic guitar and vocals over a whirling tape recorder hum, three or four chords, and some of the best modern American folk songs ever written.
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