The Top 10 Albums I Own On Vinyl

A few months back, I made a video in which I chronicled all of the albums I own on vinyl. I have been collecting vinyl for years, and while there are a lot of my favorite albums that I am still yet to own on vinyl, I thought I would take a bit more of a personal approach for this post, in which I outline 10 of the albums in the video that are my favorite. I will be using what I said in that video, where you can see all of the albums I own on my Youtube channel.

Jeff Rosenstock - WORRY

By far my favorite album by Jeff Rosenstock and one of my favorites of all time. This album has such an awesome flow that some of his other albums don’t have, and just banger after banger. I have spun this 100s of times and will continue to, and my favorite on this album is Festival Song, that one just hits so hard.

PUP- Morbid Stuff

This is PUP’s magnum opus in my opinion. This the album where their songwriting, catchy riffs and gutbusting performances all came together to create this perfect mix of hardcore sing-a-long-ables. As a fan of their two albums before this one, this album just blew me away, and cemented PUP as one of my favorite bands of all time.

The Decemberists - The Crane Wife

I have been a Decemberists fan for quite some time now but I honestly slept on this album until about a year ago. Since then, it has quickly become my favorite Decemberists albums, and one of my favorites ever. This album is just a great show of how versatile but catchy The Decemberists can be, and I would recommend this album to anyone. My favorite on this one changes a lot, but The Crane Wife 3 is such a great intro to the album and one of my favorites by the band period.

Black Country, New Road - Ants from Up There

This album will probably be my top pick for album of the year, along with many other people I assume. Much like their first one, something about this album didn’t really click with me the first time, however once I gave it an honest listen, it blew me away. If you love this album, I would recommend watching Professor Skye’s interview with the band and their sound engineer. Listening to them describe every song gave new appreciation for the album for sure. Very hard to pick a favorite, but the popular choice would be Concorde and it’s for good reason. Can’t say enough good things about this album.

Phoebe Bridgers - Punisher

I was a fan of Phoebe before this album, but damn, this just brought her to an indie legend. A lot of my friends have traveled to see her in concert this year, and i’m very jealous. Her voice in style is something special, and truly a one of a kind beautiful voice. Very happy to exist on the same earth as her. I’d say my favorite here is I Know The End, just the perfect cathartic ending to the album and such a great track. Thanks Phoebe.

Say Anything -... is a real boy

This is such an underrated pop punk album! Quintessential pop punk in my opinion. I only gave it a listen recently but many of the pop punk bands to come after it really took a lot of inspiration from this one. The track list is a bit bloated, but this record is filled with angsty pop punk, with some strange twists and turns in instrumentation and songwriting. Alive With the Glory of Love is my favorite on this album, and absolutely within my top 5 songs of all time.

Big Thief - Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You

Such a sweet and ambitious album, and my favorite from the group. I love the extended instrumentation from previous works, and how the album flows from vibe to vibe, sometimes sounding like I should be living in the forest with a bunch of talking animals with hats and grass sticking out of their mouth, and sometimes feeling like a cold rainy day indoors. My favorite on this one frequently changes, but at the time of writing, i’ll say Sparrow, because when I first listened I was absolutely transfixed, it’s such a beautiful song.

Neutral Milk Hotel - In The Aeroplane Over the Sea

I saved this one for last because this album is, objectively, my favorite of all time. This album spoke to me so much as a teenager, and still does today. Something about the experience, the backstory, the distorted guitar sounds paired with the straining, gorgeous singing by Jeff Mangun introduced me to lofi and the different ways that music can sound. So much has already been said about this album, and even still I kind of want to discuss it in another video, so I’ll leave it there for now, but man, I love this album so much. Funny note, my sleeve for this is actually busted, so I may use that as an excuse to get a newer, fancier pressing or even the neutral milk hotel box set in the future. Right now, my favorite on this album is Two Headed Boy pt 2, but ask me again tomorrow.

Mort Garson - Mother Earth’s Plantasia

I’ll do this one first because we have it framed. This is a very special album. I’ll probably end up making a video about this one, so I won’t say too much, but when this got a re-releases I was absolutely ecstatic and ordered it immediately. I love the cult following of this album, and would love to discuss it more in the future. I think the title track on this one is my favorite, I just love the way it builds and introduces the listener to the magic. Check this one out.

Kendrick Lamar - To Pimp A Butterfly

This album is for sure within my top 3 albums of all time. I know everything about it that needs to be said has been said, but damn, every now and then I get overwhelmed about how much of a masterpiece I think this album is. I actually only picked this one up on vinyl within the last year or two, as it was always a bit pricey, but I am very happy to own this one. My favorite song on this one changes all the time, but recently i’ve grown a new appreciation for Mortal Man.