Hey there! My name is Bean and I'm new here! I thought since you don't know me and I don't know you, you should at least know a bit about my music taste. I mean it's just common sense! Here are five albums that helped me get my life together.
1. Tigermilk - Belle and Sebastian
By far my favorite album on the list, "Tigermilk" is known as a classic in the indie community for it's simple vocals and being primarily lyric based. Personally, I find this album to be one of the most influential that I've ever had the pleasure of listening to. From tracks like " I Could be dreaming" to "Electronic Renaissance", the album seems to get better and better as you listen to it. "Tigermilk" is the kind of album that you could play in the background as you propose to your partner of several years. It's an album for lovers, an album for the casual indie fan, and an album for lyricists who need to be inspired BADLY.
2. Zentropy - Frankie Cosmos
"I'm the kind of girl buses splash with rain. I'm the kind of giiiiiiirl buses splash with rain." Ah, does that not just bring out your tormented emo soul? I mean it's more of a "cute nerd girl" lyric but I still felt my emo come out a bit there. This album is the sort of album that makes you want to put your hair up in pigtains and talk a long walk while it's raining. The album seems to romanticize the parts of life that we hate the most - being alone, growing up, and having pets die. At the same time, "Zentropy" explains the feeling of wanting indepndence and being completely in love with someone.All in all, this album makes you feel like you're in a parallel demension where everything feels like a cool indie movie.
3. Before the world was big - Girlpool
It's June 2015, I have $10 to spare so I go on Itunes to have a little looksee at the indie music section. Now, I'm pretty much just looking for a pretty album cover since that's typically what I do. The cover of this album REALLY caught my eye due to it's use of primary colors and simple art. I bought it and WOOWEEE HOLY GOSH was this the best decision! "Before the world was big" is one of the most amazing albums in the world and was my favorite for the longest time. From the insturmentals that take inspiration from "The Velvet Underground" and lyrics that are completely nostalgic, this album never fails to make me sing along at the top of my lungs.LISTEN TO IT NOW!
4. The Family Jewels - Marina and the diamonds
Yes! That's right! Another album that makes me feel angsty! Marina is known to be quite blunt with her lyrics, which is honestly my favorite thing. She has a whole song on this album that's about how awful Hollywood is and just the extraness of that. So that's a cool thing!This album is also strangely upbeat in comparison to the others that I included, whcih is kind of hilarious to me. It just makes you want to get up and dance but simulataneously complain about life being too much to handle. The most important thing about "The Family Jewels" to me is that it has two songs that tackle abuse and OCD. I really appreciate that Marina included these songs because she has such a large following and they could really reach some people who may be working through these things.
5. Made of bricks - Kate Nash
This is the only album on the list that I know about because of my older sister. As a kid, I'd copy everything she did. I thought that she was so interesting and I remember hearing "Foundations" by Kate Nash during long car rides. Although the song talks about an abusive relationship, I always thought that it was very interesting and the lyrics were so strikingly honest that I just became so interested in the person that wrote those lyrics. I started listening to Kate Nash very selectively. At first, I only listened to "Merry happy" and " Pumpkin Soup" but not the entire album. It wasn't until a few months ago that I looked up "Made of bricks" on spotify and listened to the whole thing over again. "Made of bricks" is such a unique album that combines storytelling and Kate Nash's beautiful voice so easily.
Well there you go! Now run! Run! Listen to these lovely songs and ignore how many times I talked about lyrics in this article.
