5 Albums To Self Isolate With

Entering the second month of what's become an almost international period of self isolation due to the Covid-19 pandemic and given the boredom and frustration you may be feeling (I know I am), I wanted to recommend some albums to help you get through this trying time. To preface these selections, keep in mind that these choices are very much influenced by my age, musical taste and experience, although what I wanted to do is pick 5 records that each offer something completely different. Perhaps you've heard of these before, perhaps you haven't... I just hope you can get some enjoyment out of the music as a sort of distraction from the present.

"†††"

††† (Crosses)

11th February 2014

Sumerian Records

The murky production and haunting electropop makes for a thrilling alternative to Chino Moreno's output with the band Deftones, shying away from metal for an album that was originally branded as "witch house".

Of course, the reality is that the vast majority of this album imitates the darker, more gothic side of 80s electropop, albeit with a sharper edge courtesy of Moreno's metal background that give the songs a more stern foundation from which the frameworks of darkwave and electronica that give so much character to this album. Despite being somewhat overlooked and forgotten by many critics and the public, this is an album that offers up a sound that's both familiar and a little unique, the chugging guitars and chilling synths constantly sweeping me off my feet and contributing to the unsettling ambience from which this album's themes are constructed. If you're looking for something nocturnal, sensual and somewhere between Depeche Mode, Nine Inch Nails and Zayn then this album is for you.

Best Tracks: This Is a Trick; Telepathy; The Epilogue; Nineteen Ninety Four; Death Bell

"新しい日の誕生"

2814

21st January 2015

Dream Catalogue

A collaboration between two pioneers of the vaporwave movement, HKE and Telepath テレパシー能力者 explored the possibilities of ambient music within the microgenre, arguably to perfection.

On the opening track you're greeted to a tide of calm yet disorienting synths, a beautiful yet typical representation of Japanese ambience that opens up into a crunching, trainline whirl of a bassline that transforms the track into an expansive, spacelike gem. For lack of a better term, I'm going to steal the title of Dua Lipa's album and brand this as a case of "Future Nostalgia", a perplexingly cosmic and futuristic ambience countered with the sounds of a city like Tokyo, from which this draws inspiration. It's a bold progression of a genre that's been as confused with itself as the outside world has been looking in, and a solid point from which the duo would begin expanding into a more techno oriented sound just as offshoots of vaporwave began following suit with their own ambient-oriented records. I'm going to put the English translations of the songs in the best tracks section, the original Japanese being comparable on the wikipedia page.

Best Tracks: Recovery; Shinjuku Golden Street; Sorrow; True Love; Telepathy; The Birth of a New Day

"A Book Like This"

Angus & Julia Stone

8th September 2007

Flock Music

The debut album from Australia's top acoustic folk singers, Angus and Julia Stone are a brother-sister duo who managed to escape the slew of mediocrity that thrives internationally from this sort of acoustic driven band, primarily due to their excellent, identifiable writing and ability to leave behind the oversaturated one-guitar-and-one-mic set up frustratingly ubiquitous with folk music.

It's a very pretty collection of songs that doesn't strive to be particularly groundbreaking or new, but it seeks to please through its grounded instrumentation; the two vocalist's timid but distinct vocals; the clever psychedelic tinges that accentuate the basic acoustic foundation and the aforementioned relatable writing. Angus Stone in particular offers a mellow, personal view into his life that is carefully transferred via top notch lyrics and metaphors, although it's Julia Stone who steals my heart with the best song on the album in the form of the hypnotic balladry of the penultimate track "Another Day". For me, although they definitely come close on multiple occasions, this was the best album from the duo.

Best Tracks: The Beast; Here We Go Again; Silver Coin; Jewels and Gold; Another Day

"Knee-Deep In the North Sea"
Portico Quartet

5th November 2007

Real World Records

 

The band would go on to experiment with electronic, techno and ambient music on later releases, but this was where it all started for the Mercury Prize nominated act.

This is a rather gorgeous album, a sort of concept album in regards to the prevailing scenery achieved by their all-encompassing and mind-bogglingly immersive sound. It's jazz music from a band who know exactly how to arrange and construct their music to create the maximum effect, taking inspiration from a multitude of cultures and often utilising their instruments in unusual or restrained ways; the product is something simultaneously urgent, tasteful and alluring, an odd mix of sounds combining to represent the cold yet comfortably familiar North Sea. Given how peculiar the driving force of the hang is as an instrument in their music, it's no wonder the group caught on from within the jazz scene given how new and unconventional it is. It's a core element of this group's sound that they've succeeded in utilising in a number of different ways as their career and style has evolved. As much as I am praising this album as a starting point for the band, their other albums all offer something slightly different and almost always to the same quality of this one, so I'd definitely give it a shot.

Best Tracks: Zavodovski Island; Knee-Deep in the North Sea; Steps in the Wrong Direction; Cittàgazze; Prickly Pear

"Silent Shout"

The Knife

20th March 2006

Rabid

The Knife's transformation from sluggish electropop to the aggressive experimental chaos of their final album, Shaking The Habitual in 2013, was a prime example of an upward trajectory in a career that went from quirky but derivative to front-line boundary-pushing chaos. Of course, everyone has their favourite Knife album, and whilst I've yet to settle on mine I wanted to draw your attention to what is undeniably their most streamlined and balanced release, 2006's Silent Shout.

It is both exceptional and unfortunate that The Knife's career only spawned four of their own studio albums, but given the insanely high quality of the latter three I still feel extremely privileged to listen to what we have. Landing between their most and least accessible albums, Silent Shout was the moment their sound transferred from the witty and weird synthpop of Deep Cuts, an album ironically known for its big singles, and into sleek techno. It was perhaps a jarring decision for fans of the group, and yet it only enabled them to gain more recognition and acclaim around this time.

Personally, I have to commend the steady yet off-kilter, helter-skelter beats as a driving force equal to Karen Dreijer's strong writing and vocal personality, warped by edits as usual to achieve vocals as weird as some of the music behind it. Listening through the album, the conventional techno ends after the third song and morphs into the high-octane, propulsive and manic energy of "We Share Our Mother's Health", an intoxicating track that I find myself coming back to outside of the album all the time. From this moment on, the album only puts its weirdest feet forward with little breathing space for anything resembling their earlier works, or even the three opening tracks. That said, every single song on here captivates me, admittedly in different ways due to their varying directions and levels of strangeness.

Best Tracks: Silent Shout; We Share Our Mother's Health; Marble House; Like a Pen; Forest Families; One Hit  

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Music is one thing that we all need in a time like this, and I'm hoping you can find some enjoyment out of these albums. The 5 records I picked were specifically all from a range of genres, so unless you're exclusively a metalhead there should be something for you here. Thank you so much for reading, and please stay safe.

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