1. Guided By Voices | Man Called Aerodynamics
Very hard to pick a GBV favorite but would have to go with this one for the contrast, its powerful execution - marching drums, noisy as hell power chordings - and ultra-melancholly melodies and lyrics. I remember everything about looking for, purchasing, and listening to Under The Bushes... the first time (in a bustop in Perth, Australia).

2. Koil | Waktu Yang Berhenti
An Indonesian band I looked up to quite a bit. This record was their first one and least Heavy Metallic. The song title means The Stopping Time and for me is a perfect amalgamation of sorrowful Industrial Rock and pre-Emo Pensivity.

3. The For Carnation | Grace Beneath The Pines
Slow motion goodness from one of the best Slowcore bands.

4. Steven R. Smith | All Is One, One Is None, None Is All
Just fantastic drifting, distorted Death Folk from Smith. He's a whole catalog worth delving into.

5. The Third Eye Foundation | A Galaxy Of Scars
+ Matt Elliott - If Anyone Tells Me "It's Better To Have Loved And Lost Than To Never Have Loved At All" I Will Stab Them In The Face... I'm cheating because it's essentially the same person playing very different Music. They both swell and catches you in the same way though through different manners.



6. Crescent | Sun
From the same scene with Flying Saucer Attack, Movietone, etc. Rauchy shoegazer? It feels very mid-90s Punk Rock for me though it's probably not.

7. Rome | Leaving Perdition
This takes a while to seep through if you're young-ish, which I was when I first ran into it. Another gold from the Thrill Jockey archives. I don't think they're still around, but, when they did, they felt so far ahead, even in context of the era's Post Rock-ing.

8. Shipping News | Untitled W/ Drums
This comes from Flies The Fields, a record that is just fantastic. It feels like it comes from the rural outback of an American landscape. I'm saying this as someone who has never been to America. There's an unforced sense of Mystery in the record and the songs are twistedly catchy and menacing.

9. Melvins | At The Stake
From Stoner Witch, my favorite Melvins record and one of my top 5 of all time LPs. The heaviest of the heaviest, such so that I recall the doors in my teenage bedroom literally shaking. There's a Pro-Shot live performance of this song on YouTube which the World should see.

10. Re: | Pawk
This song feels like a close cousin of Rachel's, though less deliberate. A great band and I believe one of Constellation Records' best.