Top 30 Most Underrated Albums!!
My top 30 favorite albums that I think are lovely and should be praised WAAAAY more than they are! Everything on here is great and I recommend all these albums!
30. Bon Iver - 22 A Million
Bon Iver takes his sound to the most experimental. Vocoder passages are super dope, 715 Creeks is an insanely underrated tune.
Great kitschy synth music. Catchy, lighthearted, sweet and playful.
Best underground soundcloud rap album in my opinion. Cavernous, edgy, loud and depressing.
For an album with what I consider to be one of the best Frank Ocean features ever I hardly see it talked about in hip-hop circles. Great album.
26. Justice - Audio Video Disco
Grossly overshadowed by it’s monolithic older brother Cross, Audio Video Disco still serves bangers. Civilization is one of my top 10 songs of all time but On’n’on, Helix and New Lands should not be overlooked!
25. Gesaffelstein - Aleph
If I had to describe Aleph in a single word it would be brooding. Runners up include expensive, violent and scary.
If anything proves that we are long overdue for a full length A-Trak solo album, it’s this.
23. Yung Lean - Unknown Memory
Cloud rap pioneer Yung Lean’s opus. Volt, Sunrise Angel, Sandman and Blinded are all incredibly ahead of their time.
22. Playboi Carti - In Abundance
This one comes with a bit of a caveat considering it is a fan-compiled mixtape and not an official album but many of the songs on this project in my opinion stack up against highlights from S/T, Die Lit and WLR.
21. Dead Can Dance - Within the Realm of a Dying Sun
Referring to this album as moody and ambient don’t do it justice but for the sake of keeping this list concise it will have to do. Dead Can Dance deserve the highest order of praise for this medieval epic.
A melancholy and personal look into Porches frontman Aaron Maine’s experiences with social anxiety and depression. It’s groovy and will have you dancing with tears in your eyes.
Only two tracks long which makes it the shortest album on this list, Olof Dreijer of The Knife, under the pseudonym Oni Ayhun, makes curious, twinkling techno on Oar003.
18. Amnesia Scanner - Another Life
Abrasive and glitchy, german electronic duo Amnesia Scanner’s first album is not for the feint of heart but anyone who decides to keep an open mind (and the volume knob sitting lower than usual) will find some truly captivating moments of electronic brilliance on this record.
Absolutely fucking hilarious album. With features from Skrillex, Boys Noize, Peaches and even Charli Xcx. All wet is modern dadaism and if you don’t believe me make sure you check out No Tony and Chairs in particular.
16. Crystal Castles - Amnesty (I)
I do not understand why this album isn’t considered more when talking about Crystal Castles’ discography. It sounds related to their self titled trilogy but takes the band’s style in a less dance oriented, more experimental almost instrumental hiphop direction. Edith Francis’ vocals are great and the songs Ornament and Fleece stand out in particular, not to mention that the bonus track Kept may be one of the group’s best.
15. Simian Mobile Disco - Murmuations
Very low-key electronic music from Simian Mobile Disco, Murmurations features some flooring choral pieces backed by soft dance patterns. Great relaxing listen for fans of Caribou, Jamie XX and Chrome Sparks.
14. Mdou Moctar - Ilana (The Creator)
Where to even begin with this one! Mdou Moctar is a guitarist from Niger and Ilana (The Creator) is in my opinion his best work. Fuzzy rock music that sounds like it’s being played from 50-foot monitors in the middle of the Sahara.
13. Chemical Brothers - Further
Chemical brother’s second sleekest album after born in the echoes, Further has glamour that you’re seldom able to find elsewhere.
Absolute fucking rager of an album. Featuring Policia, Remy Banks and Hudson Mohawke among others, Boys Noize is in your face and doesn’t give a shit on Mayday. The remix of Birthday released after the album with Danny Brown is priceless.
Break out the tissues if you plan on listening to Desertshore today, this album is unrelentingly melancholic. Nico’s vocals sound almost ghost-like at times and the instrumentals on here are gorgeous.
10. The Newcomer - Earth Motivation
Sopping wet with OPN influence, Earth Motivation is glitchy but retains an emotional quality that will sit with you for a while after your first listen. Perfect for fans of Autechre, Oneohtrixpointnever and Venetian Snares.
9. Tami T - High Pitched and Moist
High Pitched and Moist is definitely not for everyone, but if you like your pop smeared with autotune and in-your-face sexuality then Tami T’s 2019 album is perfect for you! I recommend this one for any fans of Fever Ray and GFOTY.
8. Ryuichi Sakamoto - Async
From the jump, Japanese avant garde classical composer, pianist, electronic musician and synthpop legend Ryuichi Sakamoto hits you where it hurts on Async. The first tune Andata is one of the most beautiful and soul crushing instrumental songs I have ever had the pleasure of hearing, but the quality remains consistent throughout the entire record.
7. Blanck Mass - World Eater
Holy. Fuck. Drop whatever you’re doing right now and listen to this album. I don’t care if you’re in a business meeting or getting lunch, World Eater demands the utmost attention. After hearing the transition from the end of Rhesus Negative to Please my life was never the same. I can’t sing Blanck Mass’ praises enough so you’re going to have to check this one out yourself but I guarantee you will NOT be disappointed.
6. Jean-Michel Jarre - Oxygene
French synth deity Jean-Michel Jarre’s intergalactic journey Oxygene is a record that soars above and beyond its compatriots (namely Mort Garson’s Plantasia and Jean-Jacques Perrey’s Moog Indigo) and will take you on an extra-planetary voyage from which you may never return. I recommend listening to this album with the best sound system you have available to really get the most out of it.
5. The Knife - Shaken-Up Versions
Technically The Knife’s last album before their retirement (not counting the Terminal 7 Live album), Shaken-Up Versions sees Karin and Olof Dreijer metamorphosing songs from all across their discography into dancefloor fillers. Electronic musicians retooling their material into more danceable, DJ set ready tracks is nothing new (See Alive 2007 and All Across the Universe) but the Knife’s catalog is already so impressive that hearing classics transmogrified like this is a phenomenal experience that I don’t want any dance music fans to miss out on! They reworked Silent Shout for christ’s sake how can you not love this.
4. Geinoh Yamashirogumi - Ecophony Rinne
Katsuhiro Otomo famously tapped Geinoh Yamashirogumi for the soundtrack to Akira, but what some of you may not know is that, while working on the Akira manga, Otomo was listening to this record in particular which inspired him to collaborate with the collective for the Akira film. Ecophony Rinne is like nothing I have ever heard before or since. It’s got a tectonic quality to it that makes you think you’re witnessing an extinction event or the birth of a new universe while listening which is an experience I highly recommend, ESPECIALLY for fans of the Akira manga and film; this album sounds like how Akira looks and Akira looks damn good.
3. Buy Muy Drugs - Buy Muy Drugs
Slept on in every regard, Buy Muy Drugs is a triumph of experimental and industrial hiphop. The duo made up of rapper Denmark Vessey and producer Azarias are welding together grime, bass music and afro-cuban percussion into a dystopic and pummeling listening experience that gets better and better with every listen. To quote JPEGMAFIA, “Death Grips can’t do this shit”.
2. Susumu Hirasawa - Technique of Relief
This album is jaw-dropping. It’s pop, ambient, traditional-Japanese experimental choral synth music delivered with soaring, regal grandiosity. One of the closest things to musical perfection I can think of, Technique of Relief is an album that even now I am having a difficult time describing. Intensely emotional yet hopeful; groovy but substantive, Susumu Hirasawa penned an oeuvre with this record.
1. Daft Punk - Human After All
The number one spot goes to the black sheep of the world’s most beloved electronic music making androids’ discography. Panned on release for being “spread thin” and “too minimal”, (The Village Voice went so far as to call the album “ a bad record whose details rarely merit further thought “) Daft Punk’s third album Human After all is definitely different from it’s rhinestone studded predecessor but in the absolute best way possible. It’s groovy, dark, emotional, tragic, minimal, distorted and it yields some of the robots’ best tracks (Human After All detractors seem to forget that Technologic, Robot Rock and the title track do not actually stem from the Alive 2007 Coachella set but rather find their home on this album). Sleeper gems like Make Love, Emotion, Television Rule the Nation and Prime Time of Your Life range from introspective and moody RnB that would not feel out of place on a Sebastien Tellier record to blown out, gravelly rock oriented tunes that remind the listener of Daft Punk’s roots as french garage rockers. Phenomenal album, criminally underrated.
