Influential Albums

Trying to trace the music that’s shaped me is impossible. I listen to far too much of it to ever do justice to the full scope of my development, and I’ve gone through many phases over the years. There’s no single album I could point to from artists like Nirvana, whose music carried me through my teenage years, or from others whose influence is more atmospheric than direct. With some artists, like Echo & the Bunnymen, a single song like “The Killing Moon” has done more for me than 10 other artists.

This list isn’t definitive, but it’s a snapshot of the records that have been important to me at different times in my life...

  • The Sky's Gone Out, by Bauhaus (1982)
  • The First Four Years, by Black Flag (1983)
  • Black Sabbath, by Black Sabbath (1970)
  • Blackstar, by David Bowie (2016)
  • Atrocity Exhibition, by Danny Brown (2016)
  • Untrue, by Burial (2007)
  • Hounds of Love, by Kate Bush (1985)
  • Script of the Bridge, by The Chameleons (1983)
  • London Calling, by The Clash (1979)
  • Heaven or Las Vegas, by Cocteau Twins (1990)
  • ...Off the Bone, by The Cramps (1983)
  • Seventeen Seconds, by The Cure (1980)
  • The Evil Ones, by Roky Erickson and the Aliens (1980)
  • Repeater, by Fugazi (1990)
  • Entertainment!, by Gang of Four (1979)
  • Visions, by Grimes (2012)
  • Dragging a Dead Deer Up a Hill, by Grouper (2008)
  • Liquid Swords, by GZA (1995)
  • I Inside the Old Year Dying, by PJ Harvey (2023)
  • Deathconsciousness, by Have a Nice Life (2008)
  • No Home Record, by Kim Gordon (2019)
  • Closer, by Joy Division (1980)
  • Plastic Ono Band, by John Lennon (1970)
  • Ram, by Paul and Linda McCartney (1971)
  • Illmatic, by Nas (1994)
  • Ys, by Joanna Newsom (2006)
  • The Downward Spiral, by Nine Inch Nails (1994)
  • Doolittle, by Pixies (1989)
  • The Agent Intellect, by Protomartyr (2015)
  • ...Like Clockwork, by Queens of the Stone Age (2013)
  • In Rainbows, by Radiohead (2007)
  • Rocket to Russia, by Ramones (1977)
  • Transformer, by Lou Reed (1972)
  • Exile on Main St., by the Rolling Stones (1972)
  • Epic Garden Music, by Sad Lovers & Giants (1982)
  • A Kiss in the Dreamhouse, by Siouxsie and the Banshees (1982)
  • Cut, by the Slits (1979)
  • Either/Or, by Elliott Smith
  • The Queen is Dead, by The Smiths (1986)
  • Fun House, by the Stooges (1970)
  • Children of God, by Swans (1987)
  • Marquee Moon, by Television (1977)
  • Alice, by Tom Waits (2002)
  • Titanic Rising, by Weyes Blood (2019)
  • Is This Real?, by Wipers (1980)
  • Pink Flag, by Wire (1977)
  • Abyss, by Chelsea Wolfe (2015)
  • Germ-Free Adolescents, by X-Ray Spex (1978)

Last revised 2025-08-19

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