my favourite albums

the first sound of the future past (astrophysics, 2022)
*･ﾟ✧ ﾟ･* favourite track: take on me
formats i own this on: cd (burned from bandcamp download)
when i first heard this album: late 2022
*･ﾟ✧ ﾟ･* i found this album through take on me as since some point in early-mid 2022 i have been completely abnormal about a-ha take on me. i can't quite remember the motivation but there was one day where i just searched up "take on me" on spotify and added about fifty different versions to my queue to listen to. this wasn't one of them, but it kickstarted some very important facets of this era of my music taste: a thing for orchestral versions of my favourite songs, and a thing for different versions of take on me. i won't go into what take on me (symphonic version) did to me because we'd be here for hours, but in the end this whole thing led to astrophysics/miku's cover of take on me being recommended to me on youtube, which i clicked on and promptly fell in love with. i found the album on bandcamp, bought it posthaste, and stuck it on a cd. and i love it dearly!!

the rise and fall of ziggy stardust and the spiders from mars (david bowie, 1972)
*･ﾟ✧ ﾟ･* favourite track: moonage daydream
formats i own this on: cd (30th anniversary edition!)
when i first heard this album: around summer 2022
*･ﾟ✧ ﾟ･* GODD i love this album so much. see it's been a bit on-off shockingly enough because while i've always loved the music it always really reminded me of summer 2022 which is really not an era i ever want to be thinking about, and at that time there was definitely an element of having overplayed it. i never disliked it but i kind of stopped listening to it naturally and then hesitated to go back to it. however recently i'm getting back into david bowie after this long departure (watched life on mars/ashes to ashes haha) and i'm remembering just how incredible he is!! so of course ziggy stardust is back in the playlist. now i've had some away time and come back to it i think it's fair to say this is one of my favourites of ALL time. i know this is a page for my favourite albums but this is high in the list. the sound is incredible and i love the strings not to mention that i'm a sucker for a concept album! i must get this on vinyl asap, it's the first album i ever remember thinking "i really want to get a record player specifically to play this on it"

unreal unearth (hozier, 2023)
*･ﾟ✧ ﾟ･* favourite track: francesca
formats i own this on: none :( would loove to get the burnt clay LP though
when i first heard this album: summer 2023, not when it released but pretty soon after
*･ﾟ✧ ﾟ･* AGH unreal unearth how i love you <3 honestly i neglect this album so much but it's SO good. i first listened to it in summer 2023 which was a MAD time for me for a whole multitude of reasons the biggest of which being the release and subsequent impact of good omens season two. unreal unearth released after good omens and everyone in the GO tag on tumblr went mental over it because omg i can't believe hozier wrote a whole album about good omens. and you know what they were right! so that's what made me listen to it. so i strongly associate this album with that show (which might be the reason i've been neglecting it, actually, i've not been thinking about good omens lately anywhere near as much as i used to...). soundtracked my most incredible and insane summer to date and also is really freaking good. thank you unreal unearth!! may you live on forever in the form of deranged analysis sheets made in the heat of ineffable insanity

animal love (charlene kaye/KAYE, 2012)
*･ﾟ✧ ﾟ･* favourite track: don't make me believe
formats i own this on: cd
when i first heard this album: early 2024
*･ﾟ✧ ﾟ･* literally if you haven't listened to charlene kaye what are you even doing here!! log off and become changed fundamentally by animal love now!!! for real though i love charlene kaye SO much. i always had some level of awareness of her because of her work with starkid and darren criss but i only kind of became fully appreciative of her in late 2023, when i started listening a lot to dress and tie and skin and bones and generally watchng a lot of her performances with darren criss because of the DC concert at that point in time. after that insanity sort of died down i decided that i was long overdue checking out her stuff so decided to listen to animal love. and OH MY GOD!!! albums that change your life!!!! god i can't overstate how incredible animal love is. charlene's voice is so beautiful, she has to be my favourite vocalist of all time. just go listen to it ok!!

neon god (charlene kaye/KAYE, 2022)
*･ﾟ✧ ﾟ･* favourite track: neon god
formats i own this on: none :( MUST burn it to a cd
when i first heard this album: summer 2024
*･ﾟ✧ ﾟ･* look man i just. like i don't even know what else i can say here this album is SO COOL!!! definitely a big contrast to animal love and i can't decide which era i love more. check back in when i finally listen to conscious control in full. but AGH yeah this is one of my fav albums (it's an EP actually but i'm counting it) to listen to when i'm out and about. once again the vocals are INSANE and i just love the aesthetics of it too, i'd really recommend watching the music videos even though they will turn you lesbian. i honestly can't recommend enough both this album and (again) charlene kaye's music as a whole like if you know me at all you know that when asked for music recs she is one of the very first to spring to mind. i can't even articulate i properly i just need you all to know this is absolutely mad and you need to get on it

starface (lava la rue, 2024)
*･ﾟ✧ ﾟ･* favourite track: FLUORESCENT / Beyond Space feat. NiNE8 & Feux
formats i own this on: none :( but i have my eye on the vinyl i think that will be my next record purchase
when i first heard this album: summer 2024, when it came out
*･ﾟ✧ ﾟ･* i found out about this album before its release when it was featured on some bandcamp article, i rarely click on those but i did this time and BOY am i glad! i love starface. as previously mentioned i am an absolute concept album luvr and it seems that i'm particularly drawn to ones concerning space and aliens and humanity. humanity was actually the first track i heard off this one because it was released before the rest of the album so i got to listen to that on bandcamp, which is what drew me in. i deeply adore the whole sound of this album. i saw someone (might have even been la rue themself..?) describe the album as "lesbian ziggy stardust" once which i really do love! but yeah AWESOME one and i really hope i can get it on vinyl soon because it's SO nice to listen to.

rumours (fleetwood mac, 1977)
*･ﾟ✧ ﾟ･* favourite track: go your own way
formats i own this on: cd
when i first heard this album: in full i think early 2023
*･ﾟ✧ ﾟ･* there were always songs i loved from this album (go your own way, the chain, don't stop, dreams.. all of the most popular ones basically) but it took the the chain scene from our flag means death season one to finally get me to listen to it in full. honestly the impact ofmd had on me in early 2023 should be studied. that year in general was insane for me in terms of tv shows. but anyway i'm really glad it gave me the push to listen to this album because i know it's been said time and time again over the past almost-fifty years but GOD is this album incredible. they were RIGHT about this. it's become a very big comfort album for me too since i listened to it SO many times during that period of my life, it's very familiar. go your own way is a strong contender for my favourite song of all time. i've cried to it on many occasions just purely for the fact that i can't comprehend that i can find a song so good, if that makes sense? it's just completely insane for me. they don't get it like i do

life in cartoon motion (MIKA, 2007)
*･ﾟ✧ ﾟ･* favourite track: my interpretation
formats i own this on: cd
when i first heard this album: 8th august 2023.
*･ﾟ✧ ﾟ･* ok my deal with this album is mad. my eyes were first opened to mika when i watched eurovision in 2022 (want to note i do NOT watch eurovision anymore re: genocide) and he performed on it and it made a STRONG impact on me. and then in summer 2023 (which you might have gathered was a fairly key pivotal chapter of my life) good omens season two premiered and we all cried.. and the first song i thought of after that DEVASTATING ending was happy ending. this was my first song analysis about good omens, and it also kind of reminded me that okay mika is actually like well good, so i bought it on a cd. and then that cd arrived and i listened to it and very suddenly that became the essential soundtrack to summer 2023. this was the album i had on repeat for that whole time, it's SO good. no skips! happy ending and any other world are, to me, The good omens season 2 songs. i can't listen to this album in full without being transported back to this time. and you know what i'm just going to leave these sensational remixes here...

the rise and fall of a midwest princess (chappell roan, 2023)
*･ﾟ✧ ﾟ･* favourite track: naked in manhattan
formats i own this on: cassette tape, popstar edition 2LP
when i first heard this album: 8th july 2024
*･ﾟ✧ ﾟ･* WHO DOESNT LOVE THE MIDWEST PRINCESS!!!! honestly if you're a chappell hater get off my page ok she is EVERYTHING to me. i listened to this album after chappell had got really popular for good luck babe because a load of people had recommended her to me and i kept seeing the chorus of good luck babe and thinking "oh i should really listen to that" and then bff zaphod listened to it and that was the last straw so i finally got around to it and OH my god. my eyes were OPENED!! revolutionary moment for gay people everywhere. the first record i ever got was actually good luck babe (many months before i even had a record player... i was planning on getting one though and it was like £10) and then the second was this album which my mum bought me for christmas 2024! honestly watching chappell roan's live performances even just through youtube videos literally makes me cry almost every time purely because i can't get my head around the fact that someone can be such an INCREDIBLE performer like it overwhelms me i think. i might be seeing her live in the summer (!!!!!!!!!!) so dunno how i'll cope there To Be Honest

city slicker (ginger root, 2021)
*･ﾟ✧ ﾟ･* favourite track: city slicker
formats i own this on: none :( would KILL for a cassette or a vhs but they are SO EXPENSIVE on discogs. i'd like to get a record too though and they're fairly easy to come by
when i first heard this album: summer 2023 (but like before The Events Of Summer 2023 so it's not REALLY a Summer Twenty Twenty Three album)
*･ﾟ✧ ﾟ･* okay when i start talking about ginger root it is ALL over for everyone else in my general vicinity so buckle up cos these next three albums are all VERY dear and precious to me. city slicker was the second ginger root album i listened to (after nisemono) and this is usually the part where i would start talking about how i discovered that but it's actually next on the list so i'll save it. i WILL tell you about the storyline though!! these three ginger root projects - city slicker, nisemono, and shinbangumi - all have a storyline to them, told mainly through the music videos. city slicker's isn't as directly related but takes place in the same universe as the other two, the premise of it is what would it look like if ginger root wrote the soundtrack for a fictitious 1981 film? and just saying but if it were real i'd watch the SHIT out of this film. as always the music videos are SO well made and just!!!! like i can't even put it into words you just have to watch them all and go insane

nisemono (ginger root, 2022)
*･ﾟ✧ ﾟ･* favourite track: loneliness
formats i own this on: cassette tape, VHS (+ i want to get a record of it too)
when i first heard this album: early 2023
*･ﾟ✧ ﾟ･* THE START OF MY GINGER ROOT LORE!!! i first heard loneliness a few days after the music video for it released, as it was recommended to me on youtube. i hardly ever click on MVs that are recommended to me on there but i guess something beckoned me to it so i watched it and BOY am i glad i did!!!! wowzers and so i added that to my playlist and that was all been and done with. and then months later in early 2023 i listened to it and thought "hey what the hell the music video for this was really good wasn't it" and also "hey this is insane why have i not listened to the rest of the album this is from" so i made the once again excellent decision to watch all of the music videos on youtube. AND HOLY SHIT OH MY GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! nisemono (meaning fake or fraud) tells the story of ginger root, a californian songwriter who has written the songs for japanese pop idol kimiko. she receives these songs moments before her first live performance of them on a late night show, but she dislikes them and cannot perform them, so her manager quickly pushes ginger root himself to sing them as a last resort (as he is the only other person who knows the songs). from here the EP explores impostor syndrome and how this affects both ginger root and kimiko, ending in a segue into shinbangumi... much like with city slicker i CANNOT!!!!! overstate just how well made this is. from the production of the songs to the music videos it's just INSANELY good. please if you don't listen to any other ginger root albums at least listen to this one because it altered me on a permanent molecular level i think i've never been normal since discovering ginger root nisemono

shinbangumi (ginger root, 2024)
*･ﾟ✧ ﾟ･* favourite track: only you
formats i own this on: cassette tape, vinyl (sunray LP with juban tv pop-out building
when i first heard this album: 17th september 2024
*･ﾟ✧ ﾟ･* when the shinbangumi music videos started coming out i was like ooh yay new ginger root music :) awesome and then when shinbangumi as a whole came out and i listened to it in full i went OOH YAY NEW GINGER ROOT MUSIC :) AWESOME!!!!! with new albums i know i'll like i generally preorder them and then endeavour to only listen to them when the physical format arrives so i did this with shinbangumi (actually technically i didn't preorder the cassette. the preorder sold out so i despaired but then by some stroke of insane luck i managed to find a new sealed cassette on ebay for the same price (i think a couple of quid less actually) a day or two after the album released & then i bought the record in january 2025) anyway yet again albums that change your LIFE!!!! this kickstarted a whole ginger root era for me it was an INTENSE few months. ALSO this is my cat artie's favourite album he purrs whenever i put it on, especially on the record player. SO YIPPEE!

in the zone (britney spears, 2003)
*･ﾟ✧ ﾟ･* favourite track: breathe on me
formats i own this on: cd
when i first heard this album: autumn 2023
*･ﾟ✧ ﾟ･* another hallmark of summer 2023 for me completely separate from the good omens-inspired insanity was actually that i had a massive britney era at this time. it was i think largely influenced by the online spaces i was in, being very into 90s-00s themed sites (see sweethard666), as well as this being barbie summer which i leaned into VERY hard. i still have strips and strips of tiny little rhinestones which i was using to bedazzle everything. and with all this came an intense britney fixation. in the summer i bought cds of baby one more time (the album and the single!), oops, and the singles collection; i had them all in a playlist on my laptop and this was Literally all i listened to besides my good omens playlist. i got in the zone later on, because i really hadn't appreciated it enough in the summer, and to be honest it's only very recently that i've come to appreciate it enough at all. i think it's so cool honestly. it sounds more mature and less pop-y than her previous albums and i LOVE that

moss hollow (mark swiderski, 2006)
*･ﾟ✧ ﾟ･* favourite track: took him home
formats i own this on: none :( would LOVE a cd but cannot find one anywhere
when i first heard this album: 11th august 2024
*･ﾟ✧ ﾟ･* in 2024 i had a sudden epiphany and realised how much i LOVE team starkid's 2007 chronically underappreciated webseries little white lie (go watch it!!!), and also its soundtrack album. (i would have 100% put that on this page but i'm trying to avoid soundtracks and compilations on here in favour of 'actual' albums with a shape) in the summer i was spending some time stewing in this and then suddenly discovered mark swiderski's spotify page. he is one of the main writers of the lwl soundtrack and his songs on it are so so good, so needless to say i was VERY excited when i found out that he has a fair few solo albums which contain songs from lwl!!! moss hollow in particular has some of my favourites. it was deeply exciting to me finding out that hold her like murder has those drum beats at the start because it links it to the previous moss hollow track. and i love that tanya and sami's lesbian breakup song is on there too. peace and love

a dream is all we know (the lemon twigs, 2024)
*･ﾟ✧ ﾟ･* favourite track: how can i love her more?
formats i own this on: none, would like a cd
when i first heard this album: 5th may 2024
*･ﾟ✧ ﾟ･* I <3 PERUSING BANDCAMP!!!!! honestly one of my favourite ever bandcamp finds. i thought these guys were british though i felt kind of betrayed when i found out they were from over the pond. this was one of those albums where you look it up a bit and kind of go hold on how have i not heard this before. on their website it turns out that iggy pop, gerard way, elton john, cillian murphy... MANY famous people had left reviews. mind you elton john has listened to just about every album on bandcamp and discussed it on his podcast i think but gerard way?? hello??? anyway i LOVE the 60s style of this i think they do such a good job while still sounding fresh & i think this is essential listening for any fellow bandcamp perusers