Sing Sing (1984-1994)
Artist: Honeymoon Killers
In the Aeroplane Over the Sea
Artist: Neutral Milk Hotel
Community Score: 8.79

Perhaps best likened to a marching band on an acid trip, Neutral Milk Hotel's second album is another quixotic sonic parade; lo-fi yet lush, impenetrable yet wholly accessible, In the Aeroplane Over the Sea is either the work of a genius or an utter crackpot, with the truth probably falling somewhere in between. Again teaming with producer... Read More

Joya
Artist: Will Oldham
Redlight
Artist: The Slackers
Community Score: 8.33
Give It Up Let It Go
Artist: Critical Mass
Tone Soul Evolution
Artist: The Apples in Stereo
Community Score: 5.62

The second full-length album by the Apples in Stereo isn't as surprising as their debut, 1995's Fun Trick Noisemaker, but it doesn't sound like simply more of the same. Graced with a larger budget and access to a fully equipped 24-track recording studio for the first time, the group (particularly singer/songwriter/producer Robert Schneider) is... Read More

When I Was Born for the 7th Time
Artist: Cornershop
Community Score: 5.67

When I Was Born for the 7th Time is a remarkable leap forward for Cornershop, the place where the group blends all of their diverse influences into a seamless whole. Cornershop uses Indian music as a foundation, finding its droning repetition similar to the trancier elements of electronica, the cut-and-paste collages of hip-hop, and the skeletal... Read More

Potatoes & Melons Wholesale Prices Straight from the Lock Up
Artist: Snuff

Similar to their 1990 EP Fibbiddydibbiddydob, Potatoes and Melons... isn't an official full-length from Snuff, but rather mostly a collection of obscure cover songs and goofing around in the studio. Of course, a lot of these songs, such as "Magic Moments" and "Shadows of Love," are done in the Snuff style of aggressive, harmonized pop-punk, but... Read More

On Avery Island
Artist: Neutral Milk Hotel
Community Score: 8.00

Like their Elephant 6 labelmates and kindred spirits Olivia Tremor Control's Music From the Unrealized Film Script, Dusk at Cubist Castle, Neutral Milk Hotel's debut, On Avery Island, is an inscrutable concept album, a chronicle of an insular world told in a remarkably universal language. A fuzzy masterpiece of experimental lo-fi recording, the... Read More

20 Vodka Jellies
Artist: Momus
Community Score: 9.00

Although 20 Vodka Jellies is, as the cover says, "an assortment of curiosities and rarities," it also turns out to be one of Momus' strongest and most accessible efforts. Most of this material consists of well-produced demos (many recorded by other artists), plus a few new songs and some B-sides and outtakes that hadn't made it onto an official... Read More

Goldfly
Artist: Guster
Community Score: 7.00

Bursting on to the sonic scene with the driving "Great Escape," Guster's major-label debut quickly mellows into the insightfully deceptive "Demon" and the island chock of "Perfect" before revving back up to the strikingly produced "Airport Song." Though the album has many high points, this first single is the highest. Drifting in like a distant... Read More

Solex Vs. The Hitmeister
Artist: Solex

Solex, a.k.a Dutch record-shop owner Elisabeth Esselink, creates a pure, offbeat musical world on the 1998 debut, Solex Vs. the Hitmeister. All of the songs contain the band's name; Esselink delivers her English-sung vocals with dreamlike, rhythmic phrasing; and the album's cavernous production makes it sound as though it were recorded deep... Read More