Not at all, I really enjoyed reading this! You made me appreciate the lyrics which I’m sure would have completely gone by for me. More importantly, I never really listened to Dan Deacon when he was hyped even though it should have ben my jam because I loved Animal Collective, Yeasayer and Why? at the time which seem to share some of his vibes. So I will listen back to this album now and see if it clicks, reading you also didn’t love his earlier material too much.
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In some parts of the world it is already May, I have 45 minutes to go. So a quick one for April, an album I instantly knew was going to be one of the twelve:
Roni Size / Reprazent - New Forms
I was near a dancefloor (I was almost never on it) during uni. Gabber was pretty big in The Netherlands at the time, house too, but I think I missed the whole underground growth of dnb. And boom: the guy behind the decks threw Brown Paper Bag in the mix. I still remember the sensation you sometimes have when you hear something you never heard before and it just clicks. Asked the dj what it was (no shazam or smartphones yet), bought the album shortly afterwards. Really been my gateway to more dnb, jungle, uk bass, garage/2 step and early dubstep (Kode9, Hatcha, El-B, etc).
So thanks for that. 
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Jimmy Eat World - Clarity
I wasn’t sure whether I should introduce this album. Not because I’m embarrassed to be a big fan of Jimmy Eat World—but because explaining why isn’t so easy.
Back in 1999, I was a student in my early twenties, playing in a band and looking for like-minded people. At university, there was this one guy studying law who didn’t quite fit in with the rest. He wore baggy clothes, band shirts, and sneakers instead of brown trousers, long-sleeve shirts, and dull slip-on shoes. Even though we were in different programs, we kept running into each other between classes and quickly connected. We were both into heavier guitar music, and he put together his own fanzine, complete with compilation CDs. We even contributed a track to one of them. It was all very DIY—pre-internet—and incredibly exciting.
He introduced me to a new kind of music: emo rock. Bands like Hot Water Music, The Get Up Kids, and of course Jimmy Eat World. Their album Clarity was hard to find in Europe at the time. I remember going to an independent record store just to buy it on vinyl—even though I was mostly collecting CDs back then.
I still love this album deeply to this day. Some people might be put off by the band because they’ve heard “The Middle” from Bleed American too many times. But Clarity is something else entirely. Every song holds up, even now. And many of them—“Goodbye Sky Harbor,” “Blister,” or “12.23.95”—still move me to tears. The combination of lyrics, melodies, and sound has an emotional impact on me that never fades.
Nothing on Clarity tries to show off technical skill. There’s no heaviness for its own sake—just a sense of vulnerability and honesty throughout. At the time, I was also listening to darker, heavier, and more complex music, but this record showed me that none of that is necessary to create something cohesive and truly compelling.
Unfortunately, I lost touch with the friend who introduced me to Jimmy Eat World. He was part of my life for a few years, and then we drifted apart. But through him, I learned so much about music. He also introduced me to another musician I later played with—again, in an emo rock band.
Musically, the album’s influence is still with me, as I continue to enjoy emo bands like Touché Amoré and Holding Absence.
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This is a good reminder to give this album a spin again. It’s really great…
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Gotta start again in the month of May!
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In 1996, DJ Kicks : Kruder & Dorfmeister was a major influence in my musical journey. Drum&Bass/Breakbeats/Trip Hop are well represented on this well chosen Tracks compilation. The mixes are great and the choice of the Tracks is coherent. The Beats are sick, the choice of Vocals is awesome. I don’t have much to say about this Album if anything, it’s probably the Album on which I made love/had sex the most.
It’s the 30th anniversary of this Album and something is coming out on Bandcamp on May 22.
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I had to go and see them play K&D Sessions live last summer in Helsinki.
It was an amazing gig.
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Lucky man. K&D Sessions is another great double Album.
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For April (sorry always late…) the next album I chose to write about was Skinny Puppy “Rabies”.
I had a friend all throughout high school that was a huge KMFDM fan and actually introduce their album the process back when it came out back in 1996. But at that time I was more into Korn and the Deftones. So I didn’t get it. And, to be fair, I didn’t really give it a chance. I was getting more and more into drums and I had no interested in programmed drums outside of rap. That’s a discussion for another month. But most electronic albums at the time that I had access to really thin drums or were the typical 4 on the floor techno stuff. It just had no effect on me.
When I got into this album is was in the late 90s, like 98…99, – it was way after Skinny Puppy had broken up, and 10 years after the album came out. But the drums really resonated with me. they programmed like a drummer would play. So much so, I couldn’t figure out how they were programmed. It’s a bit corny but I started dabbling in my “first” music program, the MTV Music Generator for the PS1. And I got how to program loops, but how these songs were programmed really interested me. It was almost like someone played the keys or pads the whole way through.
Either way, not only the patterns and rhythms but the sounds. The album hit hard and it was dark.
I realize that fans of Skinny Puppy have mixed feelings about Uncle Al on this album and this album in general, but it really got me into the band HARD CORE. I ended up buying their whole discography and got me trying to track down all the singles that had remixes, etc.
Unrelated to drums, the song, Worlock, had started my obsession with bass lines and huge warm pads. When my friend showed me his JP-8000 (this was maybe 2000?) I remember being like. OH SHIT! I need that! Then I can write Worlock style basslines. Oh, how little I knew…
Anyway, the album opened a lot of doors for me musically and got me started integrating electronic music with live music. (Funny that NIN didn’t have a bigger impact, but whatever)
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wow that cover art is gorgeous. are you a phish fan, by chance?
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i saw him at least twice in philly back in the ed schrader’s music beat days. you remember that Making of Bromst short doc? that was so inspiring to me as a young 20 something learning Reason 5 for the first time
i totally agree on your point about not jiving with the full albums though. but thats most albums for me:
lots of midi piano. maybe thats why i loved maxime denuc so much
i love these secluded cabin studio session documentaries
i think mine would be These New Puritans - Field of Reeds, but i dont have the energy to do a thoughtful writeup at the moment
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Funny, I haven’t thought about that band in 15 years until recently. What’s the connection to Deacon?
Oh man, I hope you’ll find the energy some time this year to write about it. What a great album! “This Guy’s in Love with You” is incredible. Also one of the most interesting left turns in indie rock.
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Wham City (alan resnick, robby radcliffe the “Cry of Mann”/“unedited footage of bear”/Alantutorial guys). Baltimore art collective
they used to tour together. I saw them both at this pool party in new jersey in like 2010/2011. both times i saw dan, ed was there playing a floor tom and singing with his bassist
I havent heard any of the subsequent albums in-full yet, I really have to take some time to do that as well
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I tried to get into hip hop and rap throughout my childhood, but I always felt like I was too late to the party (Beastie Boys) or just alienated by the lyrical content (G-funk, Jay-Z, etc)
In college I was introduced to MF DOOM. He was perfect, lyrically, musically, the whole thing. Operation: Doomsday had dropped a few years back, and when Madvillainy was coming I was primed and ready. It was a time of ample cannabis consumption, late night cartoons, and goofing around. Madvillainy was the perfect soundtrack.
I was lucky to catch DOOM at a small venue in Chicago at this time, which still stands as the best live rap show I’ve ever seen. It was decidedly not an imposter, and the masked villain owned the crowd.
This one harkens back to a heady, simpler time in my life. All hail the Super Villain.
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Cevin Key was a drummer before getting into electronic music so this makes sense. And…
He would often do exactly that. I’m not sure about Rabies but probably, SP’s work is full of drum tracks laid down live, almost all of Too Dark Park is done that way for example ( Morpheus Laughing from that album is an excellent example of the effectiveness of that method). Its just one of those details that makes them special and stand out. If you want your beats to have good feel, the best way is to play them with good feel.
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