Poll: Oliver Kemp's 50 Favourite Records Of All Time

Message Bookmarked
Bookmark Removed

Poll Closing Date: Monday, 6 July 2026 00:00 (in 4 days)

Oliver Kemp runs a newsletter called Deep Cuts. He published this list of his 50 favorite records, and I thought it was an interesting (and relatively cohesive) list that could also inspire discussion amongst ILXors. So let's poll it!

Bark Psychosis - Hex
Stars Of The Lid - And Their Refinement Of The Decline
Bruce Springsteen - Darkness On The Edge Of Town
Alice Coltrane - Journey In Satchidananda
Autechre - Confield
The Blue Nile - Hats
Radiohead - In Rainbows
Fugazi - The Argument
The Tuss - Rushup Edge
Björk - Homogenic
Fennesz - Venice
Beastie Boys - Paul's Boutique
Global Communication - 76:14
Fela Kuti - Gentleman
Fuck Buttons - Tarot Sport
Pink Floyd - Animals
Nina Simone - Pastel Blues
Cardiacs - Sing To God
Dirty Three - Horse Stories
Frank Zappa - Apostrophe(')
Carole King - Tapestry
Daft Punk - Discovery
John Coltrane - Ascension
The Streets - A Grand Don't Come For Free
Underworld - Beaucoup Fish
Prince - Purple Rain
Fishmans - Long Season
Bowery Electric - Beat
Danny Brown - Atrocity Exhibition
Sun Kil Moon - Benji
Tim Hecker - Ravedeath, 1972
Talking Heads - Speaking In Tongues
The Mars Volta - Frances The Mute
Miles Davis - Miles Smiles
Slint - Spiderland
Talk Talk - Laughing Stock
Glenn Branca - The Ascension
David Bowie - Low
Faith No More - Angel Dust
Tom Waits - Blue Valentine
Opeth - Watershed
Portishead - Dummy
Nine Inch Nails - The Fragile
These New Puritans - Field Of Reeds
Slowdive - Souvlaki
Skee Mask - Pool
Mr. Bungle - California
Don Caballero - American Don
Brian Eno & David Byrne - My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts
Joe Hisaishi - Hana-Bi


wipes chooser (unperson), Monday, 29 June 2026 15:00 (two days ago)

Jump to Most Recent Message

Hats

there's like 20 others i feel bad that i can't vote for but Hats is just unfair

ciderpress, Monday, 29 June 2026 16:02 (two days ago)

If anyone's curious about his ranking, I listed them top to bottom, so Hex is #1 and Hana-Bi is #50.

wipes chooser (unperson), Monday, 29 June 2026 16:27 (two days ago)

It's probably not the best album on there, but I feel like Bowery Electric's Beat was a super-formative record for me, so I'm voting in support of that one.

emil.y, Monday, 29 June 2026 16:32 (two days ago)

If you search for his name, you'll also find the substack in which he provides a bit of detail about his approach to the list as well as short blurbs on each entry. It helped me to understand his process a bit better, which should be understood as unabashedly subjective. I will probably vote for "Watershed" - it was a bit disappointing to me when I first heard it, but it has grown into perhaps my favorite Opeth album.

o. nate, Monday, 29 June 2026 17:22 (two days ago)

Paul's vs Journey is a tough call, went with the Beasties

cool list!

Serfin' USA (sleeve), Monday, 29 June 2026 17:31 (two days ago)

No Stereolab so I’m picking Slowdive

✖✖✖ (Moka), Tuesday, 30 June 2026 12:41 (yesterday)

interesting list. one of the more interesting things is his riding for the streets in the year 2026 (i respect it)

mobb derp (voodoo chili), Tuesday, 30 June 2026 13:06 (yesterday)

POX
Beastie Boys - Paul's Boutique
Nina Simone - Pastel Blues
Pink Floyd - Animals
Carole King - Tapestry
John Coltrane - Ascension
Prince - Purple Rain
Danny Brown - Atrocity Exhibition
Talking Heads - Speaking In Tongues
Miles Davis - Miles Smiles
Portishead - Dummy

nicky lo-fi, Tuesday, 30 June 2026 13:09 (yesterday)

Lots of great records here but Homogenic is the one for me.

Gavin, Leeds, Tuesday, 30 June 2026 13:16 (yesterday)

Good list, a solid mix of classics, cult classics and clearly personal choices. At least 15 I play with some regularity.

Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 30 June 2026 13:27 (yesterday)

For similar-sounding reasons to emil.y (I likewise don't see it as the 'best' album on here, but it made a big impact on me in my very late teens), I'll vote for the second Bowery Electric album.

U look M-A-B-U-L-U-S (extended dub version) (Craig D.), Tuesday, 30 June 2026 13:33 (yesterday)

feel like hats is gonna walk this, so i will bravely vote for animals by pink floyd

mobb derp (voodoo chili), Tuesday, 30 June 2026 13:33 (yesterday)

haven't heard that bowery electric album, gonna have to add it to my list

mobb derp (voodoo chili), Tuesday, 30 June 2026 13:33 (yesterday)

ha - i went through that list 3 times before noticing The Streets.

My homies buttthole surfers' record sounds like a f (Western® with Bacon Flavor), Tuesday, 30 June 2026 15:57 (yesterday)

Lotta bangers here but gotta go with Paul's Boutique

EsBeeKid (Whiney G. Weingarten), Tuesday, 30 June 2026 18:05 (yesterday)

wrong bowery electric album imo (but i suppose it's extremely personal of me to prefer lushlife)

ivy., Tuesday, 30 June 2026 18:09 (yesterday)

Going with Underworld, I somewhat disagree w/his contention on the substack that they were never this good again, if only because I think Oblivion With Bells and Barbara Barbara come awfully close, and their other albums (except the merely “good” Barking) are about as good as I had hoped they’d be.

omar little, Tuesday, 30 June 2026 18:28 (yesterday)

Went with Paul's Boutique as well. Was between that and Angel Dust for me. This list got me working on one of my own and both of those are near the top of it.

beard papa, Tuesday, 30 June 2026 18:35 (yesterday)

Journey In Satchidananda

il lavoro mi rovina la giornata (PBKR), Tuesday, 30 June 2026 18:38 (yesterday)

Miles Davis - Miles Smiles
Slint - Spiderland
Talk Talk - Laughing Stock
Glenn Branca - The Ascension
David Bowie - Low

Can I vote for this stretch as a whole?

jmm, Tuesday, 30 June 2026 18:41 (yesterday)

Going with Underworld, I somewhat disagree w/his contention on the substack that they were never this good again, if only because I think Oblivion With Bells and Barbara Barbara come awfully close, and their other albums (except the merely “good” Barking) are about as good as I had hoped they’d be.

I disagree with this. I like Underworld a lot, but Beaucoup Fish is the moment where the wave peaked, crashed and rolled back. There are good albums and good tracks after that one, but you can hear/feel them getting older, to the music's detriment.

wipes chooser (unperson), Tuesday, 30 June 2026 18:42 (yesterday)

Fuck me, now this is a hell of a list! I could vote for 20 of these at least

octobeard, Tuesday, 30 June 2026 18:56 (yesterday)

Went with Discovery, it was just that massive for me.

octobeard, Tuesday, 30 June 2026 18:57 (yesterday)

There are good albums and good tracks after that one, but you can hear/feel them getting older, to the music's detriment.

I disagree with this disagreement, if only because I think the one album where I could feel things slipping away from them was on Barking, which felt like an effort to keep their sound fresher by bringing in other more youthful collaborators, and it didn’t sound like them. It’s where I could really feel their age, not desperation per se but just a misguided effort to sound more current maybe…

Whereas the albums released after Karl Hyde worked with Eno seem to strike a perfect balance between their ‘90s sound and some type of graceful aging via pushing things into more experimental zones.

Plus, I think the thing is they’ve never sounded particularly anything BUT middle aged to me (in a good way.)

omar little, Tuesday, 30 June 2026 19:24 (yesterday)

I actually think the only thing that makes underworld feel older to me is they perhaps overly rely upon their classic hits during their live performances, when I think so much of their newer material is strong and interesting enough to sustain a compelling live show.

omar little, Tuesday, 30 June 2026 19:26 (yesterday)

Fuck Buttons deserve a vote and I adore it

kraudive, Tuesday, 30 June 2026 19:54 (yesterday)

so many classics, i always name my wi-fi Spiderland. head says Hats, heart says Alice, but had to go with the Fishmans

llurk, Tuesday, 30 June 2026 23:57 (yesterday)


You must be logged in to post. Please either login here, or if you are not registered, you may register here.