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.
Liz Phair Exile In Guyville (Matador), 1993
Guided By Voices Bee Thousand (Scat), 1994
Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds Let Love In (Mute), 1994
The Sea And Cake Nassau (Thrill Jockey), 1995
Aphex Twin Richard D. James Album (Sire/Elektra), 1997
Sleater-Kinney Dig Me Out (Kill Rock Stars), 1997
Elliott Smith XO (DreamWorks), 1998
Smog Knock Knock (Drag City), 1999
The Magnetic Fields 69 Love Songs (Merge), 1999
Spoon Girls Can Tell (Merge), 2001
Broken Social Scene You Forgot It In People (Arts & Crafts), 2002
Broadcast Haha Sound (Warp), 2003
Ted Leo And The Pharmacists Shake The Sheets (Lookout!), 2004
OOIOO Gold & Green (Thrill Jockey), 2005
J Dilla Donuts (Stones Throw), 2006
Jay Reatard Blood Visions (In The Red), 2006
Arthur Russell Love Is Overtaking Me (Audika), 2008
Death …For The Whole World To See (Drag City), 2009
Sharon Van Etten Epic (Ba Da Bing!), 2010
PJ Harvey Let England Shake (Vagrant/Island), 2011
Savages Silence Yourself (Matador/Pop Noire), 2013
Yo La Tengo Fade (Matador), 2013
Angel Olsen Burn Your Fire For No Witness (Jagjaguwar), 2014
Joanna Newsom Divers (Drag City), 2015
Noname Telefone (self-released), 2016
Phoebe Bridgers Stranger In The Alps (Dead Oceans), 2017
Low Double Negative (Sub Pop), 2018
Cate Le Bon Reward (Mexican Summer), 2019
Sault Untitled (Black Is) (Forever Living Originals), 2020
Wet Leg Wet Leg (Domino), 2022
These are unranked and listed chronologically.
