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.
Brennan Cavanaugh, contributing photographer
1) Björk Homogenic (Elektra), 1997
2) Rye Coalition The Lipstick Game (Gern Blandsten), 1999
3) Laura Marling Alas, I Cannot Swim (Virgin), 2008
4) Kendrick Lamar Damn (Top Dawg/Aftermath/Interscope), 2017
5) Sufjan Stevens Illinois (Asthmatic Kitty), 2005
6) Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!! (Anti-), 2008
7) Belle And Sebastian The Boy With The Arab Strap (Jeepster), 1998
8) Jon Spencer & The HITmakers Spencer Gets It Lit (Bronze Rat/Shove/In The Red), 2022
9) Lynched Cold Old Fire (Lynched), 2014
10) Built To Spill Perfect From Now On (Warner Bros.), 1997
11) Guided By Voices Alien Lanes (Matador), 1995
12) Sleater-Kinney The Woods (Sub Pop), 2005
13) The Spinanes Manos (Sub Pop), 1993
14) Ezra Furman Perpetual Motion People (Bella Union), 2015
15) Crooked Fingers Crooked Fingers (Warm), 2000
16) Cypress Hill Black Sunday (Ruffhouse/Columbia), 1993
17) Tiny Ruins Olympic Girls (Ba Da Bing!), 2019
18) Eagles Of Death Metal Death By Sexy (Downtown), 2006
19) Tarwater Animals, Suns & Atoms (Kitty-Yo/Mute), 2000
20) Six Organs Of Admittance For Octavio Paz (Time-Lag/Holy Mountain), 2003
21) Modest Mouse The Moon & Antarctica (Epic), 2000
22) Liz Phair whitechocolatespaceegg (Matador), 1998
23) Cate Le Bon Reward (Mexican Summer), 2019
24) Kante Zweilicht (Kitty-Yo), 2001
25) The Jesus And Mary Chain Stoned & Dethroned (Blanco y Negro/American), 1994
26) Wild Arrows Dreamlike Dream (Katuktu Collective), 2018
27) Mainliner Solid Stick Attack (La Musica), 1999
28) Bob Dylan Christmas In The Heart (Columbia), 2009
29) Think About Life Family (Alien8), 2009
30) Jonathan Richman Ishkode! Ishkode! (Blue Arrow), 2016
