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It's a "My Taste in Music is Way Better Than Your Taste in Music" Special Feature!
Tommo's Top 25 Favourite Albums (for the time being)


#25 Squarepusher Music is Rotted One Note (1998)

This album blew me away for pretty much one reason. Drum 'n' bass made up from real instruments. Sure, Tom Jenkinson samples instruments and beats here, as do all electronica artists, but he actually played every instrument himself, then recorded it and then sampled it. When you listen to the album with that in mind, the quality is utterly mind boggling. No other artist (that I've ever come across, at least) has ever built a drum 'n' bass album entirely from the ground up.


#24 Beck Midnite Vultures (1999)

It took me a little while to warm to this album, mostly because of the disposable style of the music. There was something that just kept getting more and more irresistable about hearing Beck sing about wanting to sex up the world. Barring the abysmal attempt at mocking gangsta rap, "Hollywood Freaks," every song here is an absolute joy - full of ridiculous falsetto vocals, blasting horns, completely overdone sound effects and Beck's suddenly very-evident libido. On the final track, when I heard Beck squeal "I wanna get with you .... and your sister! I think her name's Debra" I was completely sold.


#23 The Microphones It Was Hot We Stayed in the Water (2000)

I love this album because it completely suprised me. The vocalist was a soft voiced man, singing against a gently strummed guitar, surrounded by fields of tape hiss, distortion, found sounds and backwards loops. Once I got used to that, I was amazed by the completely unpredictable nature of almost every track. Random bursts of guitar noise and multi-part songs that leap from part to part with no warning made this album a completely new experience for me. While most critics claim The Glow, Part 2 is their best album, I think I like this one more, purely because it was the one I got first. That element of suprise has never really been repeated.

#22 Explosions in the Sky Those Who Tell the Truth Shall Die, Those Who Tell the Truth Shall Live Forever (2001)

This is pretty much the only hybrid between space rock and metal I've ever heard of, which makes it instantly interesting. However, on top of the fascinating concept, there are very few albums that can get my pulse racing quite like this. The crescendos here are immense. The first time I listened to one of the tracks (an MP3 I downloaded to preview the album), I almost fell off my seat when I was hit by a sudden, unexpected, sheer wall of loud. That's never happened to me before, and it was damn cool.

#21 Stone Temple Pilots Purple (1994)

I loved "Plush," and for a while in primary school it was my favourite song. The album it came from, Core, just never seemed worth buying, so I settled for the 100% Hits compilation it was on (!). However, a friend from high school copied Purple onto a tape for me and I got utterly hooked. "The Big Empty," "Vasoline" and "Interstate Love Song" are all fantastic singles, but the rest of the album turned out to be suprisingly good as well. I finally got around to picking it up on CD a few years later, and it's still a favourite to this day.

#20 The Letter E The No 5ive Longplayer (2001)

The way I came accross this album was quite cool. I walked into Dadas, and said to their main know-everything-about-music guy "I like lengthy, instrumental, experimental rock, but I already have everything by Godspeed You Black Emperor. Suggest something to me." After a couple of false starts ("Got that. Don't really like that. Got that. etc...") he handed me The No 5ive Longplayer. Its combination of pleasant, charming melodies and complex arrangements and time signatures won me over almost right away. For months afterwards, I kept noticing little elements of the songs, hidden within the quartet of guitars, that I hadn't noticed before.

#19 Tortoise Millions Now Living Will Never Die (1996)

The first track is all you need here. If you're at all enthusiastic about post rock, and you haven't heard "Djed," you need to do so right now. No, really. Right now. Stop reading the feature, download "Djed," and then read the rest. Go on. I'll wait for you. It is 21 minutes long though, so I hope you have ADSL.

#18 Four Tet Rounds (2003)

I bought this one quite recently, and it's been on high rotation in my car stereo ever since. This is an album of "favourite moments." In the opening track, it starts out as a chaotic mess of sampling, with drums, kicks, cymbals, effects and distorted instruments all smashing into each other. Then, with little warning, they all just mesh, as though they were gradually moving closer and closer to being synchronised and then just clicked together in an instant. Even better, the closing track "Slow Jam" has the most beatiful sample of perfect sentimental sappiness - a rubber ducky. It just works.

#17 The Olivia Tremor Control Dusk at Cubist Castle (1996)

In a list of how satisfying it was to obtain particular albums, this would be number one. This album was at the top of my to-buy list for a good two years. After having zero luck trying to order it from overseas I completely fluked it and managed to pick it up for $15 on Ebay. How very sweet it was. The album itself it pretty impressive as well. The thing I love most is its bizzare structure - a series of breezy, Beatles-inspired pop songs, followed by a total acid freak-out in the form of a 22 minute, 10 part ode to 100 typewriters, soaked in green paint. Then the group just drift back down into some more of that breezy pop. What can I say? I love a druggy, multi-part suite of tracks, whose focus is redecorated office equipment.

#16 Aphex Twin I Care Because You Do (1995)

This is definately my favourite Aphex Twin album. I think I like it the most because I find it to be the most consistently enjoyable, as far as catering to my specific tastes goes. I love all of my Aphex CDs, but I find I enjoy listening to most of his music in the form of home-made mix CDs, rather than on the albums as was intended. I guess this one is the exception to the rule. Also, there is no greater joy than watching people try to dance to the opening track, "Acrid Avid Jam Shred." It's random stop-starts, and layered, utterly weird time signatures are usually too much to handle.

#15 The Flaming Lips Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots (2002)

The song "Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots (Part 1)" is probably my favourite singalong track of the past year. It's just beautiful, having a bunch of happy, possibly intoxicated friends waving their arms back and forth and singing. Oh Yoshimi. They don't believe me. But you won't let those robots eat me! Lead singer Wayne Coyne is also one of my favourite modern rocks stars because he's old, fun-loving and goofy. It's very refreshing given today's musical trends of angst and serious-minded wankery that have plagued rock music ever since the post-grunge image became an effective way to sell records.

#14 Beck Mutations (1998)

One of the things I love the most about Beck is that he didn't try to outdo his breakthrough album. When Odelay was a success he could have easily rested on his laurels and made more genre hopping music in that general style. Instead he made what is, basically, a rhythm & blues album (and then a funk & soul album after that). His desire to continually change his image has always kept his music fresh and interesting for me, and this album was no exception. The amazing thing is that, even within the fairly limited confines of rhythm & blues, he still manages experiment and make something unique.

#13 Eels Electro-shock Blues (1998)

This album is really beautiful. I don't think I've heard someone sing so openly about the death of loved-ones before, which makes it one of the few albums I own where the lyrics are really important to me. The simplicity with which E sums up his complex feelings is really incredible. Lyrics like "Look at all the people with the flowers in their hands / They put the flowers on the box that's holing all the sand / That was once you" are genuinely moving. My favourite line of the album is his account of his mother's cancer surgery - "Magic markers tattoo you / And show it where to aim / And strangers break their promises / You won't feel any pain."

#12 Radiohead The Bends (1996)

OK Computer and Kid A are both incredible albums, which just barely missed out on being in this list. The Bends, on the other hand, is absolutely my favourite Radiohead album. This was before they became particularly arty. Before they started to go nuts experimenting with all manner of musical influences. Before the phrase "It's not just deep - it's Radiohead deep." really applied, there was this - an utterly brilliant album comprised of beatiful slow-rock, laced with moments of massive guitars. I really love the sudden outbursts in tracks like "My Iron Lung" and "Nice Dream."

#11 Air 10,000Hz Legend (2001)

I don't know why almost everyone - both critics & fans - gave this album such a hard time. It was like Air were being punished for trying to expand their horizons rather than just making Moon Safari - Part 2. While I love their debut, I'll take this album over it anyday. It's full of genre melding, bizzare samples & cheeky humour, which are all things I love in an electronica album. The guest vocals by Beck didn't hurt either.

#10 Cornelius Fantasma (1997)

Sheer, enthusiastic, 100mph fun. Cornelius rarely stops to catch his breath on Fantasma, as though he's not allowed to take a break until the album has blasted through it's 12 tracks all the way to the end. So blast he does, with all the charisma and goofy joy of a Willy-Wonka-meets-the-Mad-Hatter Japanese noise-pop savant.

#9 Deltron 3030 Deltron 3030 (2001)

I don't really like rap, but I love this album. Its theme of a 3030 star system full of paranoia, computer wizardry, rap battles and nifty, futuristic stuff is the most well-executed of any concept album I've ever heard. Dan the Automator's sampling and effects fill the songs with character, and the interludes even moreso. Best of all, Del tha Funkee Homosapien delivers some of the most brilliant lyrics ever - loaded with SF references ranging from William Gibson to Mecha to being the supreme champion of the Intergalactic Rap Battle. Fantastic stuff.

#8 Amon Tobin Supermodified (2001)

Amon Tobin is probably about the best thing drum 'n' bass has going for it (yes, moreso than Squarepusher), and this is my favourite reason why. Essentially a jazz-swing album at its core, Supermodified sounds completely fresh. The swing element is almost completely unique to Tobin's work, and it makes the album sound interesting, original and incredibly catchy. It's sometimes said that experimental and dancable electronica are mutually exclusive. This album has both in spades.

#7 Nirvana Nevermind (1991)

It had to pop up sooner or later. I was 11 when this came out, and I thought it was complete crap. Admittedly I was still listening to generic radio pop at the time, but it just didn't click for me. Then, in 1992, I saw the clip to "In Bloom" on the TV, and my interest lifted somewhat. Then I got a dodgy copy of it on a cassette from a friend, just because I could, and my interest continued to build. Nirvana really were a gradually aquired taste for me, as I don't think I became a full blown fan until late in the decade, despite being a regular Triple J listener from around 1992 onwards. Once I finally caught on, though, I was hooked.

#6 Godspeed You Black Emperor! Yanqui U.X.O (2002)

Contrary to most Godspeed fans, I think this is the group's best album to date. While my favourite individual tracks can be found on Lift Yr Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven! and Slow Riot for New Zero Kanada, I think this is the strongest release overall. I find the level of consistency shown here to be far superior to the scattered odds-and-ends of their previous works. If I'm looking to listen to a full Godspeed album from start to finish, Yanqui U.X.O is almost always the one I go with.

#5 Boards of Canada Geogaddi (2002)

Geogaddi is easily my favourite electronica album. The mix of ambient electronica and hip hop beats was something I loved on their debut, Music Has the Right to Children, and this album takes that concept and utterly perfects it. The backdrop of gorgeous ambient soundscapes, layered over massive basslines and staggering, disjointed beats is something I find completely fascinating and thoroughly enjoyable. Along with Supermodified (#8), this is one of the only albums to bring anything new to the genre of electronica in quite some time.

#4 Regurgitator Tu Plang (1996)

Ah, Regurgitator. Good times. I was an utter Regurgitator freak in highschool. While my obsession has cooled somewhat, I can still claim to own every album, every EP, about half a dozen singles, the video, the DVD & three t shirts, as well as having seen them live 5 times. This album is my favourite of the lot. Not only does it contain a fantastic mix of eclectic genres, but it's the album that features "I Sucked a Lot of Cock to Get Where I Am," "Kong Foo Sing," "F.S.O" and "Miffy's Simplicity," and that's just the singles. Then there's also the sped up version of "Blubber Boy," the snappy, live-favourites "Social Disaster" and "G7 Dick Electro Boogie" and my favourite, the instrumental "Young Bodies Heal Quickly."

#3 Soundgarden Superunknown (1994)

Soundgarden weren't especially good before this album, nor on the one release that followed before their break-up. However, for the couple of years during which Superunknown ruled the airwaves, there was nothing better. The single "Black Hole Sun" is going to be a classic for years to come, but the rest of the album was almost equally impressive. "Limo Wreck," "Spoonman," "The Day I Tried to Live," "Head Down" and "Like Suicide" were all personal favourites. This also has the added bonus of being one of the first CDs I ever bought with my very own money (I'd already picked up a tonne of cassettes by this stage, but precious few CDs). How very sentimental.

#2 Beck Odelay (1996)

Those who know me well are probably gasping with suprise right now. Well, maybe not gasping. Yes kids, Odelay is not my favourite album of all time anymore. It had a good run of about 5 years as the best-album-in-the-history-of-music-according-to-Tommo, but now it's time at the top has come to an end. Anyone who hung around me from 1999 to 2003 knows how much I worship this album. Those of you who weren't around should probably be thankful that you didn't have to hear me constantly ranting about how "Jackass" was the best song of all time (which it still is), and how Odelay is completely and utterly brilliant. If you think it's not very good, then I think you're not very good.

#1 Neutral Milk Hotel In the Aeroplane Over the Sea (1998)

Read the review. It doesn't come close to doing In the Aeroplane Over the Sea justice. Here's a little bit of context about how this album managed to dethrone Odelay. I always loved Odelay mostly as a collection of brilliant, individual songs. This album is more of a complete package, with a proper (albeit indecipherable) narrative and ongoing themes. Odelay contains my #1 song. In the Aeroplane Over the Sea contains my #2 song. And my #3 song. And my #12 song. And my #18 song. And my #28 song. And my #33 song. Even when judged as a collection of individual songs it's still better. Jeff Mangum is a genius, and that's all there is to it. No wonder fans talk about his possible return to music as though it's the second coming of Christ.