My favorite albums!!! This was last updated 8/15/26, so things are bound to change, but I picked some all-timers for this. A lot of these are tied to personal stories or associations with albums, but I mean, that's how people work so it is what it is.
I'll be including the album embedded off Bandcamp if it's on Bandcamp, listen and see if you like it! And support the artists! Note that this will NOT be ordered by how much I like them; I really don't like ranking things relative to each other since my opinion changes constantly and also depends on the mood I want, etc etc. Also I'm indecisive :,)
Knifeman by AJJ ; favorite song on the album: Gift of the Magi 2: Return of the Magi
This was my favorite album for years when I was in highschool, and so AJJ will probably always be one of my favorite bands even if I don't listen to them as much as I used to. Knifeman is great folk punk. Love the album formatting too, I'm not a huge fan of the opener but the second song is my favorite so I forgive it, and Big Bird as a closer?? I cried to that song once, it's beautiful. Sad Songs is a great middle track too. American Tune is a little too corny for me to listen to, I usually skip it, but the kazoo kinda goes crazy.
This album means a lot to me because I listened to it a lot during a rather hard period. I'm not going to trauma dump why here, but I for months it seemed from the moment I was awake to the moment I went to sleep, I had this awful pit of dread in my stomach. Some of the only things that made me feel better was this album, and hanging around friends. It didn't "change my life", but it made that rough period a little better, and so I'll probably always love it for that alone. The album is scared and sad and a little pathetic, but a little hopeful too, and I was all of those things too and it felt nice to hear it.
I saw them live semi-recently too! It was so so so sososososo fun. And I almost cried to Big Bird AGAIN. Why did they have to name it that I sound stupid saying I'm bawling my eyes out to Big Bird bro come on
Revengeseekerz by Jane Remover ; favorite song on the album: Dancing with Your Eyes Closed
I listened to this album once, didn't think too much about it, then relistened to it after a friend told me to and discovered it's actually peak???? It's the first electronic-heavy album I really fucked with and got me into more of that sorta thing. I don't have any emotional story to attach here I just think it's a really good album and it makes me want to tweak out whenever I listen to it. I will say my jaw dropped when the fucking SONIC.EXE SAMPLES played in Dark Night Castle bro what the fuckkkk
Fool in Her Wedding Gown by The Crane Wives ; favorite song on the album: Back to the Ground
Crane Wives are one of my favorite bands I've been listening to since highschool and I know all their albums. I'd say Coyote Stories is generally more loved and easier to get people into the band with, but Fool in Her Wedding Gown has always been my personal favorite. I like the instrumentals more, and I like how much more aggressive the vocals are. Not quite screaming but sorta growling sometimes? It's fun!
I also saw these guys live, I actually prefered a lot of their songs concert style over the studio recordings. Maybe I'll have to see em again if they run by again, just to hear the concert versions again! This is one of those albums I don't listen to or think about most of the time, but then I remember it exists and relistening and think to myself, it's still so peak????
Peaceful as Hell by Black Dresses ; Favorite song on the album: CREEP U
If I had to explain why I really like this album, it would get WAY to personal WAY to quick, so for the sake of this journal let's just say I like the lyricism and style. I also think the formatting of the album is good, LEFT ARM OF LIFE is a great opener even if it's not much of a stand-alone song; MAYBE THIS WORLD is one of my all time favorite interlude songs and is the point in my mind that divides the album in half (so it does it's job); and 666 is a really nice closer that I do actually like solo. The instrumentals in the latter half dude... "I just want to have my body to myself while I still am"... man....
I love my Computer by Ninajirachi ; favorite song on the album: London Song
I listen to this album a lot while making this website imao. Nothing crazy to say, I think it just sounds really nice (and apparently people agree since it's gotten a bunch of awards!). And as a kid that grew up online with my computer, obviously a lot of it hits home. Sing Good dude? That song is so beautiful...
Small Town Heros by Hurrary for the Riff Raff ; favorite song on the album: Blue Ridge Mountain
Nobody does American folk/country like the they/them lesbians!! I'm not even joking. The singer-songerwriter for Hurrary has such beautiful vocals all throughout this album, and the variety between fun songs and soft songs is really up my alley. I played this album a lot while cooking with my mom, because she also likes folk music, and so I do associate this album a lot with those memories and it makes me happy.
My favorite song from them is actually Hawkmoon because aiweiofwesosuia American South queers I love you. The album that song is from, The Past is Still Alive, is just about as good if not better than this album, but the memories I have associated with Small Town Heros sways my opinion too much for me. If you ask me, I think you should just listen to both!
Thunder Thigns by Kimya Dawson ; favorite song on the album: Walk Like Thunder
I have way too much to say about this album. At first, I didn't like that it was so thematically variable, like on this album there is a song about environmental dread, the death of a someone she looked up to, a children's song, a song playing on "urine" and "you're in" about discovering she's pregnant, a song about how cool the library is, and Walk like FUCKING Thunder (I've cried to this song more than any other song in my life). But honestly, I've come to love that about it. It feels real, I guess? Being alive IS about grieving, and enjoying libraries, and dreaming of a better future.
Like AJJ, Kimya Dawson's work is also very comforting to me. I don't know what to say about them other than they mean a whole lot to me. I think some of the lyrics get a little corny too, but that's okay because people should be allowed to be corny.
Remember That I Love You by Kimya Dawson ; favorite song on the album: Underground
On that note, this album has a similar story to Knifeman. I couldn't tell you exactly why? I guess a lot of it is stuff I wanted as a depressed kid. A little grief, a little happiness, the ability to move, etc. Anyway, very cute album, I'm a sucker for albums where it's mostly guitar and a singer. It's warm. Listen to itttttt
Band of Gypsys by Jimi Hendrix ; favorite song on the album: Message of Love
I don't really listen to a lot of older artists, even though I know plenty of them are good, but Jimi Hendrix's work is a exception I love Hendrix. I get very happy when I find Hendrix CDs I can buy used for cheap. His best work, in my opinion, is some of the live stuff, which is why this is one of my favorite albums since it's just live takes. I don't know, his music is just like that, the Fire from the Woodstock recording is 100x better than the studio. I don't need to tell you Hendrix is good, just listen to him.
Deathconsciousness by Have A Nice Life ; N/A
I didn't include a favorite song because this album is more of a experience to me I guess? I don't listen to any song on this album casually, and I almost never listen to the entire album casually either, this is a excusively "I'm lying down with my headphones on and staring at my ceiling" kinda album. And it's actually so incredible. I have difficulties focusing on a album if it's a relisten and I'm not doing anything or not in a Mood, but despite the double album length this thing has I've always gotten through the whole thing. It's so good.
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Also here's a few of my not-quite-favorites but still really peak albums that I wanna talk about:
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Love and Ponystep by Vylet Pony ; favorite song on the album: Falling in Love With a Corporate Illustration
I did not particularly like dubstep back when it was more popular, but honestly this album is fire and beautiful, completely unironically. It's not solely dubstep too, if that also wasn't your thing, but I'm bad at genres so idk what to tell you it, just like listen to the first song and you get the general style. Anyway, I only listened to this album because a friend showed me her single "Antonymph," which is fantastic and the music video is indeed horribly nostalgic (and if you read the text included, lowkey beautiful) for me, because as you probably guessed, yes I was a edgy, gayass tumblr kid when I was younger.
Anywho, I really liked that single so I decided to listen to her most recent album, and honestly I was blown away. I didn't expect to like it that much, but it's actually so fun and includes a shockingly beautiful narrative for something driven by interludes of the Call of Duty narrator and a alicorn pony character named Top 5 Videos. Actually crazy. Walking Besides a Dragonfly into Jester dude???? Beautiful songs, I'm going to start crying over this fucking pony music dude, oh my god.
When I was working my summer customer service job, I liked to roll my windows down, blast this album, and scream the lyrics. It made me feel like a real person again after spending 6 hours cycling through my required customer service NPC dialogue.
U by Underscores ; favorite song on the album: The Peace
I don't have a lot to say on this album other than it's very good. I like listening to it while driving, and Lovefield, The Peace, and Music are all absolute bangers. I have a stronger emotional attachment to her other album, Wallsocket (also listen to that), but I think this is generally a better album overall. Instrumentals are better, and I think the songs are all consistently good (which is pretty impressive, a lot of albums have songs I just skip).
Worm Food by Cavetown ; favorite song on the album: A Kind Thing to Do
Cavetown's music style is something I usually don't really like, but because I was the previously mentioned edgy gayass Tumblr kid, I am very emotionally attached to his music. I think he's actually the first band/songwriter I actively decided to follow and go out my way to listen to whole albums rather than just songs. I basically know all the lyrics to almost every album he's ever released. I named one of my Furbies after him!
Despite my strong emotional attachment to albums like Lemon Boy, I actually think based on pure listening experience, Worm Food is his current best. Cute style, all the songs are really good, I think the opening and closer are both good single songs and fuction well in the album order (rare). Juno makes me cry, etc etc.
I actually saw Cavetown live once! I didn't know how well his songs would work as concert music but it was actually fire????? The legally required Boys will Be Bugs and Devil Town were INSANE and he played a concert version of Pidgeon that was so good???? Pigeon is my favorite song off Lemon Boy and I actually think the concert version was a improvement, I'm very sad it's never been studio recorded but I guess that keeps the magic of it in my mind.
Hole In My Head by Laura Jane Grace ; favorite song on the album: I'm Not a Cop
Also no big speech for this, it's just a kinda fun folk punk album. I remember listening to this album while driving back to my dorm after going to my parent's house (multiple hour drive), and it was late so all the trees were lit up gold and the shadows were strong and angled and it was beautiful.
Forever in Your Heart by Black Dresses ; favorite song on the album: Waiting42moro
First album I ever listened to by Black Dresses. Industrial is how I describe it in my mind? It sounds like tangled wires, gray-sky concrete, big ugly metal machines, but in a good way? A way that scratches at a certain pain anyway. I mean, just listen to Bulldozer. One of my favorite albums to listen to while angry upset. Like most of Black Dresses's discography, it's a rather depressing album, so I don't reccomend it if you don't like that sorta thing but damn. It's really good. I'm usually someone who doesn't like people straight SCREAMING lyrics, but this is the first album I warmed up to it with. It's stylistically appropriate.
Pelicans We by Cosmo Sheldrake ; favorite song on the EP: Pelicans We
Fun EP :) I have no speech all of Cosmo Sheldrake's work is just fun. Sigh, I would love to be a tarigrade... Tyoe of shit to play after you're resting from searching for bugs or something.
I'll be including the album embedded off Bandcamp if it's on Bandcamp, listen and see if you like it! And support the artists! Note that this will NOT be ordered by how much I like them; I really don't like ranking things relative to each other since my opinion changes constantly and also depends on the mood I want, etc etc. Also I'm indecisive :,)
Knifeman by AJJ ; favorite song on the album: Gift of the Magi 2: Return of the Magi
This was my favorite album for years when I was in highschool, and so AJJ will probably always be one of my favorite bands even if I don't listen to them as much as I used to. Knifeman is great folk punk. Love the album formatting too, I'm not a huge fan of the opener but the second song is my favorite so I forgive it, and Big Bird as a closer?? I cried to that song once, it's beautiful. Sad Songs is a great middle track too. American Tune is a little too corny for me to listen to, I usually skip it, but the kazoo kinda goes crazy.This album means a lot to me because I listened to it a lot during a rather hard period. I'm not going to trauma dump why here, but I for months it seemed from the moment I was awake to the moment I went to sleep, I had this awful pit of dread in my stomach. Some of the only things that made me feel better was this album, and hanging around friends. It didn't "change my life", but it made that rough period a little better, and so I'll probably always love it for that alone. The album is scared and sad and a little pathetic, but a little hopeful too, and I was all of those things too and it felt nice to hear it.
I saw them live semi-recently too! It was so so so sososososo fun. And I almost cried to Big Bird AGAIN. Why did they have to name it that I sound stupid saying I'm bawling my eyes out to Big Bird bro come on
Revengeseekerz by Jane Remover ; favorite song on the album: Dancing with Your Eyes Closed
I listened to this album once, didn't think too much about it, then relistened to it after a friend told me to and discovered it's actually peak???? It's the first electronic-heavy album I really fucked with and got me into more of that sorta thing. I don't have any emotional story to attach here I just think it's a really good album and it makes me want to tweak out whenever I listen to it. I will say my jaw dropped when the fucking SONIC.EXE SAMPLES played in Dark Night Castle bro what the fuckkkk
Fool in Her Wedding Gown by The Crane Wives ; favorite song on the album: Back to the Ground
Crane Wives are one of my favorite bands I've been listening to since highschool and I know all their albums. I'd say Coyote Stories is generally more loved and easier to get people into the band with, but Fool in Her Wedding Gown has always been my personal favorite. I like the instrumentals more, and I like how much more aggressive the vocals are. Not quite screaming but sorta growling sometimes? It's fun!I also saw these guys live, I actually prefered a lot of their songs concert style over the studio recordings. Maybe I'll have to see em again if they run by again, just to hear the concert versions again! This is one of those albums I don't listen to or think about most of the time, but then I remember it exists and relistening and think to myself, it's still so peak????
Peaceful as Hell by Black Dresses ; Favorite song on the album: CREEP U
If I had to explain why I really like this album, it would get WAY to personal WAY to quick, so for the sake of this journal let's just say I like the lyricism and style. I also think the formatting of the album is good, LEFT ARM OF LIFE is a great opener even if it's not much of a stand-alone song; MAYBE THIS WORLD is one of my all time favorite interlude songs and is the point in my mind that divides the album in half (so it does it's job); and 666 is a really nice closer that I do actually like solo. The instrumentals in the latter half dude... "I just want to have my body to myself while I still am"... man....
I love my Computer by Ninajirachi ; favorite song on the album: London Song
I listen to this album a lot while making this website imao. Nothing crazy to say, I think it just sounds really nice (and apparently people agree since it's gotten a bunch of awards!). And as a kid that grew up online with my computer, obviously a lot of it hits home. Sing Good dude? That song is so beautiful...
Small Town Heros by Hurrary for the Riff Raff ; favorite song on the album: Blue Ridge Mountain
Nobody does American folk/country like the they/them lesbians!! I'm not even joking. The singer-songerwriter for Hurrary has such beautiful vocals all throughout this album, and the variety between fun songs and soft songs is really up my alley. I played this album a lot while cooking with my mom, because she also likes folk music, and so I do associate this album a lot with those memories and it makes me happy.My favorite song from them is actually Hawkmoon because aiweiofwesosuia American South queers I love you. The album that song is from, The Past is Still Alive, is just about as good if not better than this album, but the memories I have associated with Small Town Heros sways my opinion too much for me. If you ask me, I think you should just listen to both!
Thunder Thigns by Kimya Dawson ; favorite song on the album: Walk Like Thunder
I have way too much to say about this album. At first, I didn't like that it was so thematically variable, like on this album there is a song about environmental dread, the death of a someone she looked up to, a children's song, a song playing on "urine" and "you're in" about discovering she's pregnant, a song about how cool the library is, and Walk like FUCKING Thunder (I've cried to this song more than any other song in my life). But honestly, I've come to love that about it. It feels real, I guess? Being alive IS about grieving, and enjoying libraries, and dreaming of a better future.Like AJJ, Kimya Dawson's work is also very comforting to me. I don't know what to say about them other than they mean a whole lot to me. I think some of the lyrics get a little corny too, but that's okay because people should be allowed to be corny.
Remember That I Love You by Kimya Dawson ; favorite song on the album: Underground
On that note, this album has a similar story to Knifeman. I couldn't tell you exactly why? I guess a lot of it is stuff I wanted as a depressed kid. A little grief, a little happiness, the ability to move, etc. Anyway, very cute album, I'm a sucker for albums where it's mostly guitar and a singer. It's warm. Listen to itttttt
Band of Gypsys by Jimi Hendrix ; favorite song on the album: Message of Love
I don't really listen to a lot of older artists, even though I know plenty of them are good, but Jimi Hendrix's work is a exception I love Hendrix. I get very happy when I find Hendrix CDs I can buy used for cheap. His best work, in my opinion, is some of the live stuff, which is why this is one of my favorite albums since it's just live takes. I don't know, his music is just like that, the Fire from the Woodstock recording is 100x better than the studio. I don't need to tell you Hendrix is good, just listen to him.
Deathconsciousness by Have A Nice Life ; N/A
I didn't include a favorite song because this album is more of a experience to me I guess? I don't listen to any song on this album casually, and I almost never listen to the entire album casually either, this is a excusively "I'm lying down with my headphones on and staring at my ceiling" kinda album. And it's actually so incredible. I have difficulties focusing on a album if it's a relisten and I'm not doing anything or not in a Mood, but despite the double album length this thing has I've always gotten through the whole thing. It's so good.
-
Also here's a few of my not-quite-favorites but still really peak albums that I wanna talk about:
-
Love and Ponystep by Vylet Pony ; favorite song on the album: Falling in Love With a Corporate Illustration
I did not particularly like dubstep back when it was more popular, but honestly this album is fire and beautiful, completely unironically. It's not solely dubstep too, if that also wasn't your thing, but I'm bad at genres so idk what to tell you it, just like listen to the first song and you get the general style. Anyway, I only listened to this album because a friend showed me her single "Antonymph," which is fantastic and the music video is indeed horribly nostalgic (and if you read the text included, lowkey beautiful) for me, because as you probably guessed, yes I was a edgy, gayass tumblr kid when I was younger.Anywho, I really liked that single so I decided to listen to her most recent album, and honestly I was blown away. I didn't expect to like it that much, but it's actually so fun and includes a shockingly beautiful narrative for something driven by interludes of the Call of Duty narrator and a alicorn pony character named Top 5 Videos. Actually crazy. Walking Besides a Dragonfly into Jester dude???? Beautiful songs, I'm going to start crying over this fucking pony music dude, oh my god.
When I was working my summer customer service job, I liked to roll my windows down, blast this album, and scream the lyrics. It made me feel like a real person again after spending 6 hours cycling through my required customer service NPC dialogue.
U by Underscores ; favorite song on the album: The Peace
I don't have a lot to say on this album other than it's very good. I like listening to it while driving, and Lovefield, The Peace, and Music are all absolute bangers. I have a stronger emotional attachment to her other album, Wallsocket (also listen to that), but I think this is generally a better album overall. Instrumentals are better, and I think the songs are all consistently good (which is pretty impressive, a lot of albums have songs I just skip).
Worm Food by Cavetown ; favorite song on the album: A Kind Thing to Do
Cavetown's music style is something I usually don't really like, but because I was the previously mentioned edgy gayass Tumblr kid, I am very emotionally attached to his music. I think he's actually the first band/songwriter I actively decided to follow and go out my way to listen to whole albums rather than just songs. I basically know all the lyrics to almost every album he's ever released. I named one of my Furbies after him!Despite my strong emotional attachment to albums like Lemon Boy, I actually think based on pure listening experience, Worm Food is his current best. Cute style, all the songs are really good, I think the opening and closer are both good single songs and fuction well in the album order (rare). Juno makes me cry, etc etc.
I actually saw Cavetown live once! I didn't know how well his songs would work as concert music but it was actually fire????? The legally required Boys will Be Bugs and Devil Town were INSANE and he played a concert version of Pidgeon that was so good???? Pigeon is my favorite song off Lemon Boy and I actually think the concert version was a improvement, I'm very sad it's never been studio recorded but I guess that keeps the magic of it in my mind.
