Top 100 Greatest Music Albums
by Norman Bates

From Hayden 10/22/2025 07:57 | #311417

Molina's got a new one up her sleeve too— couple weeks or so I think— looking forward to it. Argentina is underrepresented on that chart... fact I've only squeezed five albums from there compared to Bolivia's seven, etc, etc... sometimes 100 entries just isn't enough. Meanwhile, nearly a quarter of that chart is Brazil, but Brazil's Brazil, and I just can't do anything about that—

& I'm not familiar with Totó la Momposina! Colombie seems like it could be up my alley, it'll be going in the evergrowing, ridiculously endless queue (you'd think this would get shorter over time, but)— I know Susana Baca, but strangely I've yet to hear her s/t (which seems to be her 'big one')— I was in Lima this time last year for their Day of Creole Song, which had some great vibes for a day celebrating traditional music (mind, they mix it with Halloween, which was unexpectedly big too). Def a different side of Peru's sound compared with the typical huayno, etc, and a genre that's prime didn't land on wax as much as it should have... (a la fado).

I've been thinking of giving the chart a slight fresh coat of paint after a deeper dive into my lesser-listened countries in central America (El Salvador, Honduras, Belize), but haven't quite been hitting the jackpot with gems from there.

Peru's a great country to discover music from, and one of the more underappreciated spots in South America. Possibly because it isn't as rhythmic and 'Latin' sounding as Cuba, Brazil, Colombia, etc— it leans much more towards that European melancholy than say... samba— entire country just never really gets its flowers—

Always appreciate the recs though, and I look forward to the day your main gets an update ;)—

From KitchenSink 01/19/2021 22:58 | #264696

ace chart as usual my friend, and clearly I need to listen to Bembeya Jazz National because that they seem very up my alley

Hey man this chart is pretty cool. I think I will pick up some recommendations from the latter half.

From arthurbittencourt 01/11/2019 14:27 | #229491

deep

From Julelios 12/03/2018 09:42 | #226075

Intéressant

From ribeiro85 01/05/2018 15:08 | #204630

A worldwide experience

From JulianR 09/22/2017 04:08 | #198498

great picks! good to see a chart that doesn't just have the one token jazz album

From DommeDamian 08/29/2017 04:57 | #196887

Master chart

Great selections, awesome to see some love for The Beach Boys, Nick Drake and Mingus.

From CharlieBarley 10/05/2016 12:52 | #176372

Good to see The Smiths, Dylan, Beatles and The Cure. Unconventional and broad-ranging chart. Music from a lot of different countries. Good work Mr Bates!