Rate Dog Latin's 50 Favourite Albums

1. The Boo Radleys - Giant Steps
2. Autechre - LP5
3. The Beach Boys - Smiley Smile
4. Scott Walker - Tilt
5. Pere Ubu - Dub Housing
6. VA - Sweet As Broken Dates: The Lost Tapes of Somalia
7. Judee Sill - Heart Food
8. Moondog & the London Saxophonic - Sax Pax For A Sax
9. Agustin Peyrera Quartet - La Rana
10. Yasunori Mitsuda & Nobuo Uematsu - Chrono Trigger OST (Malcolm Robinson Orchestral Arrangement)
11. The Prodigy - Experience
12. Tom Waits - Rain Dogs
13. Radiohead - OK Computer
14. The Congos - Heart of the Congos
15. Aphex Twin - Come To Daddy EP
16. Blur - Parklife
17. Ariel Ramirez & Los Fronterizos - Missa Criolla
18. Daft Punk - Discovery
19. The Beatles - White Album
20. Big Thief - Dragon New Warm Mountain
21. Talking Heads - Speaking In Tonguse
22. King Creosote & Jon Hopkins - Diamond Mine
23. dEUS - In A Bar Under The Sea
24. Reuben Vaun Smith - Warm Nights
25. Animal Collective - Sung Tongs
26. Kid Creole And The Coconuts - Tropical Gangsters
27. Boards of Canada - Music Has The Right To Children
28. R.E.M. - Out Of Time
29. Miles Davis - Kind of Blue
30. Lee Scratch Perry - Super Ape
31. Paul & Linda McCartney - Ram
32. Joni Mitchell - Court & Spark
33. Beastie Boys - Ill Communication
34. Pavement - Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain
35. 2ManyDJs - Welcome To Radio Soulwax Vol. II
36. The Specials - The Specials
37. Kyuss - Welcome To Sky Valley
38. Orbital - Insides
39. SunnO))) - Monoliths And Dimensions
40. Eyvind Kang - The Narrow Garden
41. Electric Wizard - Dopethrone
42. Plaid - Restproof Clockwork
43. King Crimson - Red
44. Pearl Jam - Vs
45. Two Lone Swordsmen - Tiny Reminders
46. Pat Metheny Group - Offramp
47. Young Thug - Jeffery
48. Girls In Airports - Kaikoura
49. Ornette Coleman - The Shape Of Jazz To Come
50. Alice In Chains - Dirt
51. Richard & Linda Thompson - I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight
52. Magnet & Paul Giovanni - The Wicker Man OST
53. Boney M - Nightflight to Venus
54. Kraftwerk - Radioactivity
55. Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks - Pig Lib
55. Belle & Sebastian - Dear Catastrophe Waitress
56. Skitz - Badmeaninggood Vol.1
57. ABBA - The Visitors
58. Aim - Coldwater Music
59. Tiny Tim - God Bless Tiny Tim
60. XTC - Skylarking
61. Plone - For Beginner Piano
62. When Saints Go Machine - Konkylie
63. Camarão - The Imaginary Soundtrack To A Brazilian Western Movie 1964-1974
64. Migos - Culture
65. Ought - More Than Any Other Day
66. Gorky's Zygotic Mynci - Bwyd Time
67. Talk Talk - The Colour Of Spring
68. Charles Mingus - The Black Saint And The Sinner Lady
69. Captain Beefheart - Clear Spot
70. Os Mutantes - Os Mutantes
71. The Zombies - Odessey & Oracle
72. Faith No More - King For A Day, Fool For A Lifetime
73. of Montreal - Hissing Fauna Are You The Destroyer?
74. Neil Young - On The Beach
75. The Byrds - The Notorious Byrd Brothers
76. Television - Marquee Moon
77. The Mountain Goats - We Shall All Be Healed
78. Astor Piazzolla & Gary Burton - The New Tango
79. Roxy Music - Avalon
80. Paul McCartney - McCartney II
81. Alice Coltrane - World Spirituality Classics 1: The Ecstatic Music of Alice Coltrane Turiyasangitananda
82. Jeff Wayne - War Of The Worlds OST
83. Smashing Pumpkins - Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness
84. Love - Forever Changes
85. Nick Drake - Bryter Layter
86. Cocteau Twins - Heaven Or Las Vegas
87. The Knife - Silent Shout
88. SAULT - Rise
89. Jeff Wayne - War of the Worlds OST
90. St Vincent - Actor
91. Donovan - A Gift From A Flower To A Garden
92. Iron & Wine - The Shepherd's Dog
93. William Shatner - Has Been
94. Dexy's Midnight Runners - Too Rye Aye
95. DJ Paypal - Sold Out
96. Ross From Friends - Family Portrait
97. Kelley Polar - Love Songs of the Hanging Gardens
98. Run DMC - Tougher Than Leather
99. Benjamin Clementine - I Tell A Fly
100. Sigh - Imaginary Sonicscape

Would have voted Tiny Tim.

It could have been a lot lot higher tbf

I'm the Sax Pax For A Sax vote, why is this period of Moondog's career not regarded as his artistic peak as it should be?

Maybe because the polyrhythmic snaketime tin-can stuff was so remarkable, especially for the time, and marked him out as one of the foremost "outsider" artists. But I agree, much as I like that stuff, the compositions on Sax Pax just hit me in an emotional way I can't describe

great list! recent road trip bias leads me to Tropical Gangsters and In Sides

rain dogs or rest proof clockwork, will go with the latter since probably no one else will

out of the first 50 i'm going for the kyuss album - i wouldn't say it's the "best" of them (personally that'd probably go to rain dogs) but it's def the one that had the most of a direct influence on me. takes me back to being 14 and carefree

will def be voting the wicker man soundtrack though, that's without a doubt my favourite thing on the whole list

i feel like we have similar but also different enough tastes that we could have a spirited and good-natured argument over a pint

funnily enough, a ton of these artists would be on my top 100, but almost none of the same albums - alice>rain dogs, blues for the red sun>welcome to sky valley, harvest>on the beach, the creek drank the cradle>the shepherd's dog....

There are at least 10-12 contenders but I threw my vote to Autechre

Choosing between Court and Spark, Rain Dogs and The White Album is like choosing a favorite child. I’m inclined to choose the last just because it’s been a favorite since I was less than five years old.

probably dragon new warm mountain i believe in you out of these, though court & spark comes close

Fun list! Gonna have to be boring and vote KoB tho

i voted for kyuss! so that there would be one vote for kyuss.

Good enough list that I’m gonna have to listen to the 20 or so I don’t know

my true preference is probably pavement, congos, or specials, but i’m gonna vote for young thug

i voted for kyuss! so that there would be one vote for kyuss

Two:

out of the first 50 i'm going for the kyuss album...

― tremolo, Sunday, 20 August 2023 14:13 (four hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

oops missed that! two to win it all!

A-tier

Pere Ubu - Dub Housing
Judee Sill - Heart Food
Tom Waits - Rain Dogs
Aphex Twin - Come To Daddy EP
Blur - Parklife
Boards of Canada - Music Has The Right To Children
Miles Davis - Kind of Blue
Joni Mitchell - Court & Spark
The Specials - The Specials
SunnO))) - Monoliths And Dimensions
Eyvind Kang - The Narrow Garden
Ornette Coleman - The Shape Of Jazz To Come
Kraftwerk - Radioactivity
ABBA - The Visitors
Talk Talk - The Colour Of Spring
Charles Mingus - The Black Saint And The Sinner Lady
Captain Beefheart - Clear Spot
Os Mutantes - Os Mutantes
The Zombies - Odessey & Oracle
The Byrds - The Notorious Byrd Brothers
Television - Marquee Moon
The Mountain Goats - We Shall All Be Healed
Alice Coltrane - World Spirituality Classics 1: The Ecstatic Music of Alice Coltrane Turiyasangitananda
Nick Drake - Bryter Layter
Cocteau Twins - Heaven Or Las Vegas
The Knife - Silent Shout
Dexy's Midnight Runners - Too Rye Aye

B-tier

The Beach Boys - Smiley Smile
Scott Walker - Tilt
Moondog & the London Saxophonic - Sax Pax For A Sax
The Prodigy - Experience
Big Thief - Dragon New Warm Mountain
Talking Heads - Speaking In Tongues
Beastie Boys - Ill Communication
Young Thug - Jeffery
Tiny Tim - God Bless Tiny Tim
XTC - Skylarking
Ought - More Than Any Other Day
Neil Young - On The Beach
Roxy Music - Avalon

C-tier

Autechre - LP5
Radiohead - OK Computer
Animal Collective - Sung Tongs
R.E.M. - Out Of Time
Pavement - Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain
Alice In Chains - Dirt
Love - Forever Changes
St Vincent - Actor
Donovan - A Gift From A Flower To A Garden
Iron & Wine - The Shepherd's Dog
Run DMC - Tougher Than Leather

D-tier

The Beatles - White Album
King Crimson - Red
Pearl Jam - Vs
Belle & Sebastian - Dear Catastrophe Waitress
Paul McCartney - McCartney II
Smashing Pumpkins - Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness

F-tier

Faith No More - King For A Day, Fool For A Lifetime
of Montreal - Hissing Fauna Are You The Destroyer?

N/A (haven't listened, or haven't listened to enough to rank)

The Boo Radleys - Giant Steps
VA - Sweet As Broken Dates: The Lost Tapes of Somalia
Agustin Peyrera Quartet - La Rana
Yasunori Mitsuda & Nobuo Uematsu - Chrono Trigger OST (Malcolm Robinson Orchestral Arrangement)
The Congos - Heart of the Congos
Ariel Ramirez & Los Fronterizos - Missa Criolla
Daft Punk - Discovery
King Creosote & Jon Hopkins - Diamond Mine
dEUS - In A Bar Under The Sea
Reuben Vaun Smith - Warm Night
Kid Creole And The Coconuts - Tropical Gangsters
Lee Scratch Perry - Super Ape
Paul & Linda McCartney - Ram
2ManyDJs - Welcome To Radio Soulwax Vol. II
Kyuss - Welcome To Sky Valley
Orbital - Insides
Electric Wizard - Dopethrone
Plaid - Restproof Clockwork
Two Lone Swordsmen - Tiny Reminders
Pat Metheny Group - Offramp
Girls In Airports - Kaikoura
Richard & Linda Thompson - I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight
Magnet & Paul Giovanni - The Wicker Man OST
Boney M - Nightflight to Venus
Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks - Pig Lib
Skitz - Badmeaninggood Vol.1
Aim - Coldwater Music
Plone - For Beginner Piano
When Saints Go Machine - Konkylie
Camarão - The Imaginary Soundtrack To A Brazilian Western Movie 1964-1974
Migos - Culture
Gorky's Zygotic Mynci - Bwyd Time
Astor Piazzolla & Gary Burton - The New Tango
Jeff Wayne - War Of The Worlds OST
SAULT - Rise
William Shatner - Has Been
DJ Paypal - Sold Out
Ross From Friends - Family Portrait
Kelley Polar - Love Songs of the Hanging Gardens
Run DMC - Tougher Than Leather
Benjamin Clementine - I Tell A Fly
Sigh - Imaginary Sonicscape

You got the War Of The Worlds OST on there twice fyi

Voting Dub Housing because boy that sounds swell right now

yeah i was flipflopping on that

Also, I'm surprised dog latin that you don't have a single Kraut record in your top 100! I'd have at least six in mine

Dexy's at A tier and Beatles at D? That's literal madness.

WOTW twice? Maybe it's that good. Haha, well noticed! I'll need to think of something else. Maybe 'Postcards' by Graham Lambkin & Jason Lescaleet which is pretty hard to come by and I'm not sure I have a copy of any more

Glad people are liking the list!

I'm struggling to work out what KoB stands for

That took me a while

I don't know much about Kraut. I've listened to a couple of Can albums but they never really clicked on the whole. I did eat breakfast with Damo Suzuki once though.

Oh, Kind Of Blue. Duh

King of Bain

Weirdly those were the words that kept occurring to me 🤣

King Of Bain are my favourite stoner rock band. Replace the second War Of The Worlds with that

There's much I adore on this list. These

1. The Boo Radleys - Giant Steps
11. The Prodigy - Experience
19. The Beatles - White Album
38. Orbital - Insides
43. King Crimson - Red
60. XTC - Skylarking
67. Talk Talk - The Colour Of Spring
80. Paul McCartney - McCartney II

would be contenders for my top 100 also. Although in the case of XTC I'd choose several others instead. And Colour would have to be second fiddle to Spirit.

My favourite though is Experience - I always rank that very highly when I make spur-of-the-moment, decidedly messy topsters of my fav 100 albums to amuse my friends.

Oh, I forgot you have Kraftwerk on there, which counts imo

My three favourite Krautrock bands are the obvious non-Can ones: Cluster, Neu! and Popol Vuh. dog latin I think you’d adore both Sowiesoso and Zuckerzeit tbh

I voted for the Boo Radleys because of course I did.

Cheers fgti. I'll check those. I've definitely heard music by all those bands

Bee OK: Welcome brother

Westbury - I could easily have picked Jilted instead of Experience, and a little while ago I would have.

But given the emphasis on pure raving over the explicit edgelording that would creep into their later stuff, Experience feels like it's aged the best. It's an astonishing bit of work considering how a lot of people would have written them off as a one-off novelty act based solely on the Charly single. I don't think there's a dull moment on there.

I was tempted to go for Mummer rather than Skylarking too, but the latter feels more consistent, a better encapsulation of XTC as an album band

A fair amount I haven't heard (Boo Radleys, King Creosote, Kid Creole, etc), but my A tier would include Autechre, King Crimson, Lee Perry, the Congos, and Miles for sure.

voted dirt

great heart on the sleeve poll, going with my current equivalent - ram.

This list takes me back to listening through the /mu/core essentials as a 16yo. Voted BoC, but it could have been 10 different albums listed here

More people should hear Giant Steps by the Boo Radleys. It's my favourite album.

Spottie. I've had 'Dirt' in my life since I was a teenager but it's only quite recently that I realised what an amazing piece of work it really is. Strangely, it was Alice In Chains' Unplugged that I was most familiar with, growing up, so for a long time a lot of the songs on that are my personal head-cannon.

But of all the big grunge-era albums, 'Dirt' is perhaps the one that holds up and has aged the best. Note I don't have any Nirvana in my Top 100, which surprises me because obvs all their albums are terrific, but I'd rather reach for 'Dirt' any day of the week nowadays.

Goddammit dl, I couldn't sleep and you made my brain start thinking about what its 50 favorite albums would be.

Western® - I believe Paul McCartney is the only act with more than one entry in this list (three if you count the White Album). I deliberately didn't want to clog my list up with EVERY TALKING HEADS ALBUM or whatever as it makes for a boring list, so I just chose the albums by each act which resonate most subjectively and emotionally to me.

'RAM' is such an important record to me. It has personal significance in that it was an album my cousins and I found in among our aunts' and uncles' record collection at my grandparents' house in France and just left on rotation one summer and for many summers to come when we revisited.

I must have just completed my GCSEs and was looking forward to attending my first music festival, Reading '97 - just about feeling like I was starting to become an adult.

But RAM is just pure rural sunshine for me. It's a record of daft little songs, and I'm a big fan of daft little songs (see: Smiley Smile). The whole thing is imprinted on mine, and my brothers and sisters' collective consciousness and we even quote little phrases of it at each other occasionally.

I couldn't leave off McCartney II though, which I stumbled on a lot later and blew my mind a little. Funny, I never really saw myself as a particularly massive McCartney fanboy, but from his solo stuff, his work with the Beatles, even watching things like The Frog Chorus as a child, his music has always been there with me.

xp Jordan, do it! I'd like to see it.

It really didn't take me too long either and I wasn't even at home - just laying it out into my phone notes and rearranging. Most of all I went with my heart here and didn't overhtink it. As Western says, it's heart on sleeve. Maybe I'd been carrying a rough draft of this around in my head forever anyway

Going with Heart Food, though tempted by several others, especially LP5 and the White Album.

ooh i didn’t see ram in there

impossible, so I voted for Sweet as Broken Dates as I'd be sad if that got no votes

― rob, Monday, August 21, 2023 4:39 PM (thirty-four minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

Very glad of this. I know it's a comp, but it all sounds of a piece (probably because most of the musicians are largely the same on most of the songs). Such an enjoyable record.

Narrow Garden is many things, among them: the greatest bassoon album ever recorded

Yes! I played the final track to a friend of mine who once played bassoon in the Philharmonic and she was very impressed, said it was "clever what he's done there". I'm not music literate enough to know why, but I'll take her word for it

That track cemented the bassoon as my favorite of the woodwinds, yeah. Eyvind is a genius. Love his arrangements on that SunnO))) album, too

I’m seeing at least 4 albums which I’d place as my top 50 from their respective decades…

Been listening to the Rain Dogs remaster a lot this week (favorite album by him is Swordfishtrombones tho) and also the Come To Daddy EP coincidentally.

Probably one of those but could vote for many other albums in here.

I went with In Sides, still feel like that album successfully fuses house music with 70s German cosmic spacerock in a way that's never really been replicated

Yeah I forget In Sides exists sometimes. It's one of the first proper electronica albums I ever bought. But I'm always surprised at how well it still stands up. Dwr Budr is my favourite but I like everything on there

first track and last track are genuinely symphonic and pretty in ways I don't really associate with the 'electronica' genre, it's really kinda crazy this album exists

My only problem with Our There Somewhere (which, don't get me wrong, I do love), is that it takes an extraordinarily long time building up to the "good bit" and the good bit lasts all of four bars!! Not enough Orbital - shoulda made it even longer.

Still, it's a smart trick because I look forward to it all the way through the album, almost to the detriment of my enjoyment: "Oh man, I can't wait for the Good Bit" 😂😂

But you're right - this is 'symphonic' and I'd add that descriptor to Dwr Budr and Adnans too

Kind of wish The Saint wasn't tacked on to the end of reissues of it though - a very sudden slap to the face and a crash back to reality

I thought that was just on the bonus CD. as you probably know there was a version of it with the Times Fly EP and the full version of "The Box" and it sucked how difficult that was to find.

Ordinarily, any list with Kyuss on it...but as they've already got a couple of votes, I reckon it's The Congos.
From the second half, I'd have had *The Colour of Spring* or *Bryter Layter*. Great list of stuff - lots I need to check out, clearly.

If the Eyvind Kang had been *Live Low to the Earth* it'd have been that.

My copy of In Sides not only sports The Saint but a giant sticker with the haloed stickman. No SAINT LIVE though, the #3 hit they had in the meantime (albeit just after Christmas in times of low sales).

SATAN LIVE

Nice to see the somewhat unregarded (in these parts, AFAICT) Misa Criolla on this list. I discovered it in high school when I couldn't find the Missa Luba and bought it as an unheard substitution. Magical devotional music! IIRC Björk cited it when discussing influences on Medúlla.

Alice in Chains baby

The Boo Radleys?! What?

You heard

Look at what you've started, lol

Very glad of this. I know it's a comp, but it all sounds of a piece (probably because most of the musicians are largely the same on most of the songs). Such an enjoyable record.

― Stomp Jomperson (dog latin), Monday, August 21, 2023 12:14 PM (yesterday)

I thought about doing my own list (before waking up to 10 of them lol) and it would have a lot of comps on it too, so now I'm doubly glad I voted for this. well-chosen comps of African music are the best!

Beatles

voted Radiohead for current mood but could have gone a lot of different ways

Spottie. I've had 'Dirt' in my life since I was a teenager but it's only quite recently that I realised what an amazing piece of work it really is. Strangely, it was Alice In Chains' Unplugged that I was most familiar with, growing up, so for a long time a lot of the songs on that are my personal head-cannon.

But of all the big grunge-era albums, 'Dirt' is perhaps the one that holds up and has aged the best. Note I don't have any Nirvana in my Top 100, which surprises me because obvs all their albums are terrific, but I'd rather reach for 'Dirt' any day of the week nowadays.

I know there's a lot being asked of everyone's attention ATM but I really think Ilxors would enjoy that Agustin Peyrera Lucena Quartet album.

One of those records I heard playing in a record shop and had to just buy right there on the spot

All hail the progenitor of the great revival

Number of albums heard: 21

Favourite: Red

Least-favourite: Offramp (don't mind "cozy jazz" but this is dead)

Nicest surprise: Ubu or Judee Sill

Unheard, but most want to hear: Dirt, I've never heard the whole thing

very please to see all the Eyvind Kang love, did anyone besides DL and me list him in their 50?

don't mind "cozy jazz" but this is dead

FPed you for this

Sweet As Broken Dates because awes and satisfies in its own isolated way, whereas several other first-tier selections are from extensive discographies of much more extant artists (I know where to get plenty Ubu, not so true of at least several/most SABD contributors, to my moderate knowledge)

I can see why someone might think of Offramp as "cozy jazz". Fusion ain't for me, normally. But if this is cosy, it's only surface level. There's something strange going on underneath.

You know how going to the toilet at the mutliplex cinema is eerie? You leave the screen room and go down the big empty corridor and into the bathroom and it's strangely quiet and ascetic.

It straddles a line between Balearic chillout and the kind of instrumentals you get on black metal albums. There are some really weird and unsettling tones on that album, particularly on Au Lait which is especially gothic.

Barcarole has this otherworldly disconnect of feeling like I'm at a strangely vapid lounge party looking out at a retrofuturist cityscape waiting for something apocalyptic to happen.

If it's cosy, then I guess it's Lynchian in its cosiness? It's quite unsettling. Or maybe I'm just hearing stuff that isn't there. Anyway, I love it.

dow, I take it you're familiar with the various recent releases and rereleases by Dur Dur Band?

xp

It can only be so cozy when you are doing screeching synth guitar solos.

tricky one but Tilt it is - still think it's Scott's finest hour.

Ornette!

Would have voted for Kingsize

Barcarole has this otherworldly disconnect of feeling like I'm at a strangely vapid lounge party looking out at a retrofuturist cityscape waiting for something apocalyptic to happen.

That's a great description and I'm glad you get that out of it. I'm listening to it and hearing a fairly aimless stab at 80s King Crimson doing ethno-jazz. I liked half of Bright Size Life a lot, and some of Song X, but not much else from Metheny, and I think a lot of it is his sound palette, apparently chosen to irritate me at a pre-conscious level.

Voted for Kind of Blue because I hadn't voted for a Miles Davis record in anybody else's poll, and I had it basically memorized in high school (though as it turns out the version I had, the 1986 "Columbia Jazz Masterpieces" reissue cassette, was off-pitch as well as featuring a photo of Davis from about 1969 on the cover).

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

I know there's a lot being asked of everyone's attention ATM but I really think Ilxors would enjoy that Agustin Peyrera Lucena Quartet album.

One of those records I heard playing in a record shop and had to just buy right there on the spot

― Stomp Jomperson (dog latin), Tuesday, August 22, 2023 7:46 PM (one week ago) bookmarkflaglink

listened today, really beautiful. feels like it's gonna be elevator-y at the start, but the playing is fantastic and the compositions are consistently surprising

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

oh no

Amazed that Talking Heads got 0 votes, considering they were in the top 3 of like everyone else's poll.

Booooooooooooooo

Also didn't know that Kyuss is relatively popular

And this poll ends on what just happens to be the 30th anniversary of Giant Steps - I swear I didn't do that on purpose!

Only 7 albums didn't get a vote(!) Nice work ILM 😁

Pere Uni did remarkably well.

Two people voted for the Chrono Trigger soundtrack, which is p amazing. And nice to see three people voting for Sweet As Broken Dates.

voodoo chili - glad you liked La Rana. I admit, I'm a sucker for "elevatory" music these days, but you're right, these compositions are thrilling

Pere Ubu, obvs. Bloody autocorrect

Update: No change

feckin' Beatles