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AllMusic 20: Matt’s Faves
June 20th, 2012 | 10:00 am est |
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My list is alphabetical and starts with a bit of a cheat: the Action’s Rolled Gold. Recorded between 1967-68, the album wasn’t released until the mid ’90s, and is not only a bonafide lost classic, but one of my favorite albums ever. Elsewhere, I had to represent some of the incredible R&B of the ’90s, like Sade’s Love Deluxe, which is one of those rare perfect albums. Although I do think Blur’s Parklife is a classic, I more often find myself returning to the band’s ambitious, incessantly melodic 1993 statement of purpose Modern Life Is Rubbish, which prefigured the Britpop invasion, and included one of the best singles of the decade in “Chemical World.” As for the ’00s, as much as I like to wait and see how albums feel when more time has passed, I was confident including releases like Frankmusik’s exuberant and infectious Complete Me and Phoenix’s United which, simply stated, are never more than a few clicks away on any player I own. Oh, and if you are a fan of raw, old school rockin’ blues and vintage R&B — and think nobody makes good music anymore — get with Nick Curran. His 2000 debut will fix your head.
Technical editor Jonathan Ball provides a list of his 20 favorite albums released since the birth of AllMusic.
Due to the influence of the CD reissue phenomenon, ’90s music was for many artists about recreating the ’60s, while simultaneously referencing those early ’80s years that were far enough away to be deemed “retro.” However, the post-millennial sound seems to have been about every other decade apart from itself, all of course — for better or worse — through the prism of a full-blown ’80s revival. Although my favourite 20 albums of the last 20 years are very much of the indie, folk, and alternative country ilks, the last 10 years in particular have also seen me get knee deep in decades-old nuances of reggae, jazz, classical, and electronic music — as well as flying headlong into ’60s soul — all thanks to the ease with which we can now learn about different genres online through sites such as allmusic.com.
Of all the lists we’ve had to do here, this one was easily the most difficult. I started with about 60 albums just off the top of my head, then narrowed it down to about 25, then added 10 more I had forgotten about, and finally cut it down to the required amount. Given the time period involved, this list represents my 20 favorite albums that were made while I was really aware that there was more to music than my Dad’s AC/DC tapes (which I still love) and my mom’s cassingle collection (which I will always grudgingly appreciate for giving me the ability to obsessively listen to the same songs over and over again). It was a hard list to make, but here it is, presented in chronological order with commentary, because having to order them from most to least favorite would’ve been far too cruel an exercise for me to undertake.
Belle & Sebastian – 
Fortuitously for AMG’s big 20, 1992 was the year I started to take music seriously, in retrospect probably a response to moving to a tiny town where my presence was unwelcome. Limited to the means of my then middle school-aged self, I begged my folks to write me checks to mail order whatever caught my ear on MTV’s 120 Minutes or in rock mags. As to this list, each record is uncompromising in its artistry, and beyond simply exciting or challenging me, each pulls at my heart or kicks me in the guts — or both — with an intensity unabated by the passage of time or repeated spins. [
On their fifth album, which not-so-coincidentally is being released this week, 
As we celebrate our 20th year, the editors trace the evolution of several genres and styles. Here is a list of their favorite and most notable pop/rock albums released since 1992, featuring links to our new and improved album pages.
