Hellooooo
A while ago, the redakkie received a very sweet email from Meuk, saying that they still read Youri’s favorite albums article every now and then and would love to see more articles about koornbeurser’s favorite albums.
I often yap people’s ears off about music that I love, and thought it’d be fun to write an article about some albums that I hold very dear. They are in no particular order, but I did save my 3 absolute favorites for the end!
Note: the album covers in this article link to the albums on spotify. I’m not a big fan of spotify as a company and have recently switched to playing local files, but figured this was the most convenient for people. If you message me, I’ll gladly send you some definitely-legal flacs :]
Tracy Chapman – Tracy Chapman
Genre: folk
You know that one song Fast Car? Yeah she’s written other songs too, and they’re real good. I listened to this album a ton as a kid, and still really love it. Its songs are heartbreaking and beautiful, many of them about the hardships of living as a black woman in the 80’s United States. But some are optimistic and hopeful, and with her amazing voice both are oddly soothing.
My personal favorite on the album is For My Lover, a song about the sacrifices she has to make for her at the time criminalized (presumably queer or interracial) love.
Gojira – From Mars to Sirius & L’Enfant Sauvage
Genre: prog metal
I don’t actually listen to metal all that much anymore nowadays, but Gojira is still one of my favorite bands. They do cool stuff with weird rhythms n stuff, and their lyrics often have themes of nature and environmentalism.
My fav Gojira song, The Gift of Guilt, is actually not in this album but also definitely worth a listen. That bass line is so sexy
Pink Floyd – The Wall
Genre: psychedelic rock
Another nostalgic one for me, I listened to this one a ton as a kid. It has really interesting themes of trauma, cycles of abuse, and especially isolation. It’s definitely an album for which you wanna just sit down and listen to the whole thing in one go.
There’s a film adaptation as well! It’s weird and trippy and unnerving, I love it. The visuals get really fucked up as Pink falls into a psychosis.
Oingo Boingo – Only A Lad
Genre: new wave / ska
I was introduced to this band by Daniël, who has sang their songs at many a koornbeurs karaoke night. The songs in this album all sound light-hearted and fun, but touch on some pretty dark topics. My favorite is Only A Lad, which pokes fun at society’s habit of justifying violent behavior from young boys who “just don’t understand”.
Stromae – Racine Carrée
Genre: pop?
More nostalgia! Stromae is a singer from Brussels, who I used to listen to a lot when I still lived there as a kid. His music is super catchy and often sounds cheerful, but handles some heavy themes. I have a distinct memory of being at a party and hearing a club remix of Papaoutai, a song about his father who was killed in the Rwandan genocide, and realizing how surreal that was.
Gregory and the Hawk – Moenie and Kitchi
Genre: indie folk
This one I was introduced to by Aida! It’s just really sweet and comforting music, perfect for a cold and miserable day when you’re cozy inside with a blanket and tea <3
Headache – The Head Hurts, But The Heart Knows The Truth
Genre: weird
I don’t even know how to start describing this one. It’s just weird and surreal, and surprisingly existentialist? It’s more poetry or spoken word than music, and the AI voice definitely adds to the uncanny vibe. Also definitely a “sit down and listen in one go” album.
Maybe the best way to describe the vibe is Bauke’s reply after listening to it:
idk yeah it’s an interesting one
IMANU
Genre: drum ‘n bass
I’m gonna cheat a little bit for this one. IMANU has been one of my absolute favorite artists for a year or two now, and I recently went to his concert with Maxime and Katinka. I was already pretty exhausted by the time he came on, but still had an amazing time. Writing this article I felt like I had to mention him, but found it hard to pick a favorite album since most of his (best) works are released as singles, so here goes.
His music is what I describe as “brain scratchy”. It resonates somewhere deep in your head, and the crispy noise gives you a blissful tingle running down your spine.
My personal favorite track is the first one I heard: Catalyst, one of his collabs with DROELOE. I was already a huge fan of DROELOE (will yap about him later!) when I heard this track and immediately fell in love. Both artists have an incredible unique musical style, and Catalyst blends them in such a beautiful way. Two years later, having listened to more of their music, this is one of the tracks I keep coming back to.
After that, it would probably have to be Of Two Minds and Reminiscing. These tracks just have that classic IMANU sound that I love so much. The sound design is super interesting and idk it just scratches my brain the right way :]
Empress is another interesting one, the ending sounds genuinely fucked up and I love it. Oh and a few days ago he released a new track, Bleak. It’s really good :]
Ren – Demos (Do Not Share), Vol 2
Genre: rap
Oh my god I love this one so much. Many of Ren’s songs deal with his struggles with mental health, addiction, and chronic illness. I discovered his music at a time when I was just dealing with my MS diagnosis, so a lot of stuff really resonated with me.
My favorite song by him, Hi Ren, is a bit more recent and not in this album but GOD it’s so fucking goood.. I’ve listened to it countless times now, and it still gets me crying every time. Both his way with words and voice are incredible, it can flip from raw and painful to gentle and hopeful in an instant. And the speech at the end has genuinely changed my outlook on life.
DROELOE – The Art of Change
Genre: transcends genre, a category of its own
Okay so this album is basically what made me want to write this article to begin with. I’ve discovered DROELOE about two years ago, and have been obsessed ever since. I’ve recommended it to everyone who would listen. I don’t think I have the words to describe how much this album means to me.
And sure I like his other work too, but this album is different. It’s a concept album that follows a young girl who uses a tape recorder to communicate with her past and future selves. And my god is it good. The songs are nice on their own with interesting sound design and good mixing, but as a whole album it becomes so much more. It feels like being taken on a journey through someone’s life.
If you’ve made it this far in the article, please please please I beg you do yourself a favor. Take a good moment to sit down somewhere comfortable with nice headphones, close your eyes, and just listen to the whole album.
