To celebrate our 30th anniversary and all the great music that made the past three decades special, MAGNET contributors past and present chose their 30 favorite albums released between 1993 and 2022. The only rules were that each record has to be a full-length and that no artist could be represented more than once in the same incarnation. We’re posting these lists throughout the rest of the year.
John Elsasser, contributing writer
1) Nirvana In Utero (DGC), 1993
2) The Strokes Is This It (RCA), 2001
3) The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion Orange (Matador), 1994
4) Built To Spill Perfect From Now On (Warner Bros.), 1997
5) Yo La Tengo I Can Hear The Heart Beating As One (Matador), 1997
6) Fucked Up David Comes To Life (Matador), 2011
7) The Breeders Last Splash (4AD/Elektra), 1993
8) Hole Live Through This (DGC), 1994
9) The Flaming Lips The Soft Bulletin (Warner Bros.), 1999
10) Beastie Boys Ill Communication (Grand Royal/Capitol), 1994
11) Interpol Turn On The Bright Lights (Matador), 2002
12) Doves The Last Broadcast (Capitol), 2002
13) The Libertines Up The Bracket (Rough Trade), 2002
14) Bloc Party Silent Alarm (V2/Wichita/Vice), 2005
15) Yeah Yeah Yeahs Fever To Tell (Interscope), 2003
16) Liz Phair Exile In Guyville (Matador), 1993
17) Savages Silence Yourself (Matador/Pop Noire), 2013
18) Idles Joy As An Act Of Resistance (Partisan), 2018
19) Courtney Barnett Sometimes I Sit And Think, And Sometimes I Just Sit (Mom + Pop/Marathon Artists/Milk!), 2015
20) Wilco Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (Nonesuch), 2002
21) Tame Impala Currents (Interscope), 2015
22) Spiritualized Ladies And Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space (Dedicated/Arista), 1997
23) Slowdive Slowdive (Dead Oceans), 2017
24) M.I.A. Kala (XL/Interscope), 2007
25) Horsegirl Versions Of Modern Performance (Matador), 2022
26) Stereolab Mars Audiac Quintet (Duophonic/Elektra), 1994
27) Broadcast The Noise Made By People (Warp), 2000
28) TV On The Radio Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes (Touch And Go), 2004
29) Japanese Breakfast Jubilee (Dead Oceans), 2021
30) Nation Of Language Introduction, Presence (self-released), 2020
