Exploded View On 10 Albums Everyone Needs to Own

We're huge fans of the self-titled debut of Exploded View, a buzzy new Sacred Bones band. We're carrying their album in our members store right now, so we asked the band to give other recommendations for records you should own. Here's their list:

Let England Shake - PJ Harvey
Martin: It’s such a beautiful album on every level, definitely her best record. I've never been a big fan of PJ Harvey; I always found her 90s stuff a bit grungy (the rest of the band disagree...) What’s so amazing about the record is that without getting boring, it seems that they worked a lot of time on it and put a lot of soul into it.

Nightclubbing - Grace Jones
Hugo: It has a song called "Art Groupie" - so it’s a must.

White Light/ White Heat - Velvet Underground
Amon: The first time i heard it it, it was like looking from the past into the future - it was like from a different time. It is a very sensual record for me - like electric sex.

United States of America - United States of America
Hugo: Personally, I love the way that they use early electronic devices made by themselves. Lovely songs, with a lot of experimentation.

Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret - Soft Cell
Martin: I first heard soft cell when I was 8 or 9 and really fell in love with "Tainted Love," which i didn’t realize was a cover at the time. What was really amazing about this synth pop album is that it doesn’t sound cold or electronic even. You can really hear the band is playing all the instruments and Marc Almond’s vocals are really on top here. Also for me, growing up in a small town in Sweden, listening to Soft Cell and David Bowie sort of legitimized being queer or strange, and with the lyrics - it’s obvious this is a very gay album.

Metamatic - John Foxx
Hugo: It’s a perfect - amazing song writing translated into electronics and also as an object the cover is just amazing.

Dreams Less Sweet - Psychic TV
Annika: This is one of my favorite records. If I get home from tour and need some comfort, I put it on. I love the way it uses field recordings in such a sweet, vulnerable, yet weird way. I find Genesis highly inspiring just because s/he and Jane used to try things, never really sure where it would lead. They lived and that was enough. I remember in an interview, Genesis said education is a waste of time because it’s concerned too much with the future and you should instead live in the now. Im not sure I entirely agree but I take it as a huge inspiration and reminder to live more in the present.

Estudando o Samba - Tom Zé
Amon: At that time, Tom Zé was really an exile from Tropicália and was a mostly vanguardist and experimental guy from there. He won an MPB (Música Popular Brasileira) contest for the best song but was never rewarded with the prize so then he said, "Fuck everybody, I’m going to do my own shit," not caring. So with this album, he rearranged a lot of his old songs and other peoples, like A Felicidade from Tom Jobim, which is one of the most strange and delicate arrangements I've ever heard and it’s heartbreaking.

Ev'Rything's Coming Up Dusty - Dusty Springfield

Annika: My favorite record of all time.

Full Circle - Holger Czukay, Jah Wobble and Jaki Liebezeit

Amon: It’s kept me safe while hanging around at night. It’s like drums, melted, pouring out of a crooked pot of jazzy dub.