Best Ever Albums

Re: DRIvel(s) circa 2015-2026

craola — Mon, 13 Jul 2026 02:22:34 GMT

Author: craola

Posted: 07/13/2026 06:22

shye ben tzur / jonny greenwood / the rajasthan express
the second collaboration is nearly as good as the first, yet i seem to come back to it less than their first effort. hardly a fault with the record though. still leading my list for the year.

most mouse
take away their first four albums, and i doubt this'd be one of my favorite project of all time, but this album has something the group has not shown in quite some time, and it's probably my favorite record from modest mouse since good news for people who love bad news.

leila martial
i realize i'm alone on this hill, but leila martial is to me the most talented and creative artist on the planet right now, and she's hyped this album up big time for some time. unfortunately for me, you don't get the full experience here without the live experience, and i don't live anywhere near france, apparently the only place she does her enigmatic shows. it's a great record, but the disconnect between live and studio is palpable enough that it didn't land atop my chart like i had expected.

Re: DRIvel(s) circa 2015-2026

craola — Wed, 21 Jan 2026 19:46:10 GMT

Author: craola

Posted: 01/22/2026 00:46

it's been a rough going, but this is going to be a good year. i can feel it in my bones. plans are blossoming. timing. fruition. serendipity. something special is on the horizon, but we've got to wade through some shit to get to the end of this journey. as with all great adventures, i suppose. i am going to lose a lot of sleep the next twelve months, but i am excited nonetheless.

music! this is a music website. i've been listening to unreleased tracks by one of my favorite artists of all time. lots and loads of them. it's near brilliant as the sun. alas, i can't say who are what, but that's all tied to those horizons. save to say, something special is brewing, and we're coming in hot. i dare say that a fair lot of folks will love it if we can smooth out the landing. if it's a crash and burn, i suppose even that might be spectacular.

Re: DRIvel(s) circa 2015-2026

craola — Fri, 2 Jan 2026 02:24:51 GMT

Author: craola

Posted: 01/02/2026 07:24

i feel old these days. the dreams of my youth were more outlandish by several orders of magnitude, but i find my dreams today all the more unattainable, despite their smaller stature, such as getting out of bed or clocking into this banal job for the umpteenth time. i neither feel quite rested nor fully awake. the days pass by like floats at the parade. i scarcely remember most of them. i feel curmudgeonly in ways i wish to feel youthful.

i fear my children will never obsess over "great albums" the way i did when i was younger, or who am i kidding, the way i do now. i also rejoice in that. we watched the reels off of films we loved and memorized every line. we knew every note to ok computer by heart. we wasted so much time relearning lessons until they were etched deep into our souls. how quickly that's become irrelevant. my children don't watch the same film twice. will they skip past the songs that challenge them? will they appreciate the time that goes into honing these skills? autotune and pitch correction have marred so much of the recent years of pop music. is it only a matter of time before a.i. wrecks what little soul is left? will we all create our little fantasy worlds where we upload our scripts to a.i. and let them create the movies and soundtracks we fancy and seclude ourselves deeper into isolation?

we are already so alone. is it going to get worse?

when the governments begin to employ a.i. to deceive us in mass, when greedsters decide it's more profitable to perpetuate fake music and paintings and films, when half of us are unemployed because technological innovations make us redundant, when it is easier to put on the headset and disappear into our own little fantasy worlds where we don't have to face reality, what then?

the album i've been hooked on lately is yom's le rhythme du silence. i have to add this to the db as it was probably a top ten album of twenty-twenty-five for me. i found angry prayer especially compelling and listened to it on repeat while lobbing accusations around. it's worth listening to if you've ever had the audacity to tell god to be reasonable.

i'm going to bed now.

Re: DRIvel(s) circa 2015-2026

craola — Sun, 7 Sep 2025 01:45:12 GMT

Author: craola

Posted: 09/07/2025 05:45

ı am ulıv, dispıt mı absents in þis pôrt uv tōn. wun dā, pęrhaps sumdā sūn, ıß wil kunçribyūt sumþiņ mor mēniņfōl.

Re: DRIvel(s) circa 2015-2026

craola — Fri, 16 May 2025 15:22:00 GMT

Author: craola

Posted: 05/16/2025 19:22

Thumbnail. Click to enlarge.

Atrahasis by Octotrip / Leïla Martial / Anisssa Nehari

it's been one of those years that've felt pretty abysmal for new music - at least as far as what resonates with me. there are a few releases i've enjoyed and i assume will continue to grow on me over time, but nothing stopped me dead in my tracks until this'ne. leila martial's vocal acrobatics set against brazen brass ensemble is fire, and pairing martial's experimental approach with anissa nehari's unorthodoxy is just as heavenly. i'm still riding the high after listening to it for the first time. stumbling onto this gem was such a joy. will dive back in soon.

Re: DRIvel(s) circa 2015-2026

craola — Fri, 9 May 2025 01:19:29 GMT

Author: craola

Posted: 05/09/2025 05:19

thomas yorke and markus pritchard... i felt that neither one brought their best to the table on tall tales. my first impression is that they were both pretty lazy with it. there are moments, but mostly, it's pretty dull.

Re: DRIvel(s) circa 2015-2026

craola — Sun, 6 Apr 2025 07:27:04 GMT

Author: craola

Posted: 04/06/2025 11:27

[redacted]

Re: DRIvel(s) circa 2015-2026

craola — Tue, 4 Mar 2025 02:17:21 GMT

Author: craola

Posted: 03/04/2025 07:17

[redacted]

Re: DRIvel(s) circa 2015-2026

craola — Mon, 24 Feb 2025 23:09:26 GMT

Author: craola

Posted: 02/25/2025 04:09

seriously, bodysong is so good. on re-evaluation, it may be my favorite of his works. leans on the experimental side without falling apart or venturing into boredom.

Re: DRIvel(s) circa 2015-2026

craola — Sun, 23 Feb 2025 18:59:48 GMT

Author: craola

Posted: 02/23/2025 23:59

i've been relistening to jonny greenwood's bodysong for the first time in year(s), and it's really blowing my mind. what an incredible record.

Re: DRIvel(s) circa 2015-2026

craola — Fri, 7 Feb 2025 06:45:04 GMT

Author: craola

Posted: 02/07/2025 11:45

[redacted]

Re: DRIvel(s) circa 2015-2026

craola — Thu, 6 Feb 2025 22:32:37 GMT

Author: craola

Posted: 02/07/2025 03:32

[redacted]

Re: DRIvel(s) circa 2015-2026

craola — Sat, 18 Jan 2025 01:16:04 GMT

Author: craola

Posted: 01/18/2025 06:16

the weather station really has a knack for butchering talk talk songs, huh?

Re: DRIvel(s) circa 2015-2026

craola — Wed, 15 Jan 2025 19:42:42 GMT

Author: craola

Posted: 01/16/2025 00:42

today, while listening to polvo, i realized that one of the members was in this other project, and it's quickly ascended my charts. i am a sucker for these lofi acoustic experimental records.

Thumbnail. Click to enlarge.

Idyll Swords by Idyll Swords

this is nothing groundbreaking or earthshattering or soilemploding or dirtdropping or etc. more novel than envelope-pushing, but what a beautiful record, particularly the tunes with the overt eastern influence. it reminds me of hearing spartan fidelity for the first time.

also, i am patting myself on the back right now. i posted a legitimate album discussion entry in the music diary today instead of my usual navel-gazing.

Re: DRIvel(s) circa 2015-2026

craola — Wed, 8 Jan 2025 12:08:21 GMT

Author: craola

Posted: 01/08/2025 17:08

what distinguishes this rising sun?

nothing.

when the bells rang out, i sighed, exasperated.

do we celebrate the new year only to announce that the old one has died? the food i left on the table, a reminder of the yesterdays i took for granted, is rancid, and while i swell with anticipation for the plans ahead, i look back to admire the emaciated threads that have come undone. there is work yet unfinished.

another year has begun.

the new year confronts me with its blank slate. dust-gathered dreams find their feet as my courage returns to me, and they, the dreams, dance before me on their own. what will happen should i reach out to touch them?

what distinguishes this rising sun?

everything.

Re: DRIvel(s) circa 2015-2026

craola — Sat, 4 Jan 2025 01:42:22 GMT

Author: craola

Posted: 01/04/2025 06:42

we knew each other for a day that night
you, my chimeric muse, and i, the dreamer
what dreams did i vanquish when i awoke
when you discovered you were an illusion
or were you undone when i woke at dawn?

Re: DRIvel(s) circa 2015-2026

craola — Fri, 3 Jan 2025 02:44:44 GMT

Author: craola

Posted: 01/03/2025 07:44

edit: too much tripe for my tongue.

Re: DRIvel(s) circa 2015-2026

craola — Thu, 2 Jan 2025 17:33:16 GMT

Author: craola

Posted: 01/02/2025 22:33

edit: too much tripe for my tongue.

Re: DRIvel(s) circa 2015-2026

craola — Wed, 1 Jan 2025 16:06:46 GMT

Author: craola

Posted: 01/01/2025 21:06

i watched you yellow into gold as the air turned cold around you. you turned over a new leaf, reddened and fell to the ground in defeat. didn't you tell me the summer had just begun?

i will not shrivel up as shadows stretch across the pavement like fanciful beastly creatures, like all the horrors my mind manifests. they are merely phantom illusive things. the fall of night is but the frigid promise of a new day on the horizon, and no shadow survives the light. i realize with trepidation that summer is itself only a covenant, a ritual we entertain to welcome the coming winter with all her blizzards and her biting.

Re: DRIvel(s) circa 2015-2026

craola — Wed, 1 Jan 2025 12:16:25 GMT

Author: craola

Posted: 01/01/2025 17:16

a stack of bills on the desk
disorganized but composed
my eyes do not reflect my age
but i feel it in my bones
the stupid things i used to do
leave an acute malaise
if only for the bat of an eye
it will cripple me some day