100 Albums Beyond The Canon

Seeing my friend and colleague Tucker Johnson take on the arrogant listmaking over at Rolling Stone has come to make me see that populism and crowd-pleasing have ruled the "last word" in criticism for far too long. Who gives a shit how many staff writers like The Beatles? Is that any excuse for shutting down your exploration of what must be nearly a billion albums made in the last hundred years at one band and its followers. I'd rather listen to Wilco and Elliott Smith adapting their love of those records than the genuine article anyday. So, taking a cue from Cinematical, I thought I'd share 100 albums that no major publication would ever champion despite their largely being better than what the mainstream accepts as a classic. You embrace context, nostalgia and personal taste; Yes, Exile on Main Street was important, but it's fucking boring and sounds like every other post-68 stones album. And worse still you put like two dozen greatest hits and live records which can't be judged together. An album is by a band in a studio, not assembled by money hungry suits. A live performance is also too different to be judged alongside a studio recording. You haven't been right in decades and you put reality tv stars on your magazine covers. So here are 100 fantastic albums Rolling Stone would never tell you to listen to, that I love so much more than anything in their top 20 best albums of all time. And no I'm not going to rank them. Limit one per band.

1. Echo & The Bunnymen - Porcupine
2. John Cale - Paris 1919
3. Living Sisters - Love To Live
4. Regina Spektor - Soviet Kitsch
5. Kings of Convenience - Quiet Is The New Loud
6. Kitchens of Distinction - Strange Free World
7. Stars - In Our Bedroom After The War
8. The Decemberists - Picaresque
9. Chavez - Ride The Fader
10. The Futureheads - News & Tributes
11. Grizzly Bear - Yellow House
12. Broken Social Scene - Broken Social Scene
13. Talking Heads - Speaking In Tongues
14. Wolf Parade - Apologies To The Queen Mary
15. Apostle of Hustle - National Anthem of Nowhere
16. Holy Fuck - Latin
17. Belle & Sebastian - The Boy With The Arab Strap
18. Killing Joke - Killing Joke
19. Do Make Say Think - & Yet & Yet
20. A Place To Bury Strangers - Exploding Head
21. Julie Doiron - I Can Wonder What You Did With Your Day
22. Sonic Youth - The Eternal
23. Astor Piazzolla - Lo Que Vendra
24. Supergrass - Life on Other Planets
25. Doves - Some Cities
26. Gordon Bok - Clear Away In The Morning
27. Wilco - Kicking Television
28. Yo La Tengo - Painful
29. Air - Talkie Walkie
30. John Frusciante & Josh Klinghoffer - A Sphere In The Heart of Silence
31. The A Frames - Black Forest
32. Witchcraft - Witchcraft
33. Tom Waits - Swordfishtrombones
34. Bauhaus - The Sky's Gone Out
35. Amy Millan - Masters of the Burial
36. Godspeed You! Black Emperor - Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven
37. World Leader Pretend - Punches
38. The Chills - Kaleidoscope World
39. Loose Fur - Born Again In The USA
40. Roy Orbison - Crying
41. Dungen - Tio Bitar
42. Iron & Wine - The Shepherd's Dog
43. Red Lorry Yellow Lorry - Paint Your Wagon
44. Rufus Wainwright - Want One/Want Two
45. Emitt Rhodes - The American Dream
46. Manic Street Preachers - The Holy Bible
47. Feu Thérèse - Feu Thérèse
48. Animal Collective - Strawberry Jam
49. Sondre Lerche - Phantom Punch
50. Sunset Rubdown - Random Spirit Lover
51. The Helio Sequence - Keep Your Eyes Ahead
52. Portishead - Third
53. British Sea Power - Man of Aran
54. Bundy K. Brown - Directions in Music
55. Handsome Furs - Face Control
56. The Horrors - Primary Colours
57. Patrick Watson - Wooden Arms
58. Sparta - Porcelain
59. Ali Farka Toure - Niafunke
60. The Ronettes - Presenting The Fabulous Ronettes
61. Sparklehorse - It's A Wonderful Life
62. Grandaddy - Sumday
63. The Dipers - How To Plan Succesfful Parties
64. Death From Above 1979 - You're A Woman I'm A Machine
65. Madvillain - Madvillainy
66. Fela Kuti - Zombie
67. The Von Bondies - Pawn Shoppe Heart
68. The Walkmen - Bows & Arrows
69. Bloc Party - Silent Alarm
70. Tom Vek - We Have Sound
71. Sam Roberts - Love At The End Of The World
72. J. Tillman - Vacilando Territory Blues
73. Julie Fader - Outside In
74. Kris Kristofferson - Jesus Was A Capricorn
75. The Besnard Lakes - The Besnard Lakes Are The Roaring Night
76. Nancy Sinatra - How Does That Grab You?
77. Amon Düül II - Yeti
78. Howlin Wolf - Moaning In The Moonlight
79. Nico - Desert Shore
80. David Bowie - Lodger
81. Wire - 154
82. Richard Thompson - You? Me? Us.
83. The Chameleons - What Does Anything Mean, Basically?
84. Cocteau Twins - Head Over Heels
85. Ride - Nowhere
86. French Kicks - Two Thousand
87. Chapterhouse - Whirlpool
88. Eric's Trip - Forever Again
89. Chad VanGaalen - Skelliconnection
90. Final Fantasy - Heartland
91. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - The First Born Dead
92. Fly Pan Am - Sédatif En Fréquences Et Sillons
93. Fairport Convention - Liege & Lief
94. The Feelies - The Good Earth
95. The Cramps - Off The Bone
96. The Mars Volta - De-Loused In The Comatorium
97. Basia Bulat - Heart of My Own
98. Women - Public Strain
99. Rolling Stones - Their Satanic Majesties Request
100. Orchestra Baobab - Specialists In All Styles