What's one album/book/movie that made you into the person you are today?

[LAKISYLVANIA]

There are several

Album: Grimes - Halfaxa (most)
Book: If the universe is teeming with aliens ... where is everybody?: fifty solutions to the fermi paradox and the problem of extraterrestrial life by stephen webb
Movie: The Tale of Princess Kaguya (a Japanese fairytale adoption in a Studio Ghibli anime, but so freaking good, and i could say that it changed some views in my life, particulary around the themes of birth and death. For me watching this movie was like experiencing intense emotion around this movie, but also experiencing a certain eureka-moment)

But Grimes - Halfaxa is the most important out of them all. I quote my review again.

Grimes - Halfaxa (2010)



Country: Canada
Genre: Ethereal Wave
Subgenre: Synthpop, Art Pop, Witch House, Ambient Pop
Descriptors: ethereal, surreal, atmospheric, female vocals, fantasy, dark, lonely, nocturnal, spiritual, abstract, hypnotic, lush, mysterious, cryptic, avant-garde, medieval, rhythmic, quirky, ominous, psychedelic, lo-fi, repetitive, longing, love, sad
Favorite song: Dream Fortress

10/10

I know this album isn't as well perceived as Visions and Art Angels, but to me, it's still her best. Halfaxa sounds like a trip to a different world. It catches you, and it never let go of you. I've heard a lot of good, even exceptional good music albums in my life, and i still have a lot to discover, but i've never heard something that's similar or comes close to this experience (unfortunately). It's something really unique, that hasn't been done before and not been redone yet. I think the combination ethereal wave + electronic is even unprecenteded.

I feel like everytime i listen it again, i'm sung into high spirits. This album could approximate closest to what heaven may actually sound like, or that's how it feels to me personally. And even though while the whole album might sound ethereal (which is what you might associate with 'heaven'), it secretly might be Grimes' darkest album so far. Compare it with Art Angels, where she sounds a lot more happier while in World ♡ Princess, she sings about the passing of a good friend of her's as an example. The ethereal sound of the album, compared to the dark undertone might be a contradiction, but Grimes can give balance and shape to this album, and it's also contradictive in that Grimes uses samples of medieval phenomens, and combines it with electronic music. Grimes has called Halfaxa her medieval album, and in some way, it's electronic choral music, which explains the weird electronic + ethereal wave combination, but it gives rise to one of the most unique, underrated and unknown masterpieces of the 21st century. Not Art Angels, but Halfaxa is Grimes' creative peak. Art Angels however is the album where Grimes evolves towards a more mainstream and poppy sound while the atmosphere changes from a depressive and isolated nature to a more happy and quirkly nature.

And of course, just like basically any other album of Grimes so far, every song is very qualitative. It's hard for me to pick a favourite out of this selection. Dream Fortress is very iconic, and has created some kind of cult following on the internet. But i really like My Sister Says The Saddest Things as well. Weregild is also very good and I also think World ♡ Princess is exceptionally good, while songs like River, Favriel, Devon and Swan Song are very good as well. This is an album i've started listening four ago, and i'm still regularly listening it. It never gets old for me. Every time i listen it again, it feels like it's the first time again while i quickly get tired of other stuff. That's the main secret of this album, and i'm not sure how it's been done, but it might be because of the hypnotic and dreamy vibe. I often listen to this album when i'm stressed or feel terrified, and this album will reduce my anxiety.

Overall, this is an exceptional music album from an exceptional music artist from who her working style differs quite a lot to similar artists. She creates her own artwork, does her own production and even calls herself more a producer than an actual singer. It's hard to catagorize her or label her a music. She kinda does her own thing. IMO one of the best artists of the 2010's decade.

[LAKISYLVANIA]

I don't know if it 'made me into the person I am', but this album has probably had the biggest impact on my musical interests as of recent:



Like most shoegaze fans, MBV got me hooked. What's sad is that shoegaze is such a niche genre (even more so than the now-mostly-dead emo pop and gothic rock) that it hit its prime in the late 80's/early 90's and then pretty much died off. MBV broke up but have since reunited, albeit with limited new releases. But pretty much every shoegaze band can trace its influence to this band, and this album in particular.

They recently got back on Spotify, but i'm glad you mention this, since after Halfaxa this is literally my favourite album, but I wouldn't say this made me into the person i am today, so if Halfaxa didn't exist, i would probably have gone for a different album.

Shoegaze - Souvlaki, Ride - Nowhere and MBV - Loveless are the three essentials, but if you want some recommendations, i'll gladly give you them, depending on what you want. It's a niche genre, but it certainly has a lot to offer, and there is still some good shoegaze today, sometimes experimenting with different genres. There is also a flowchart of essential shoegaze albums depending on what you look.



This is a good one, but there are other ones, there's even one for Japanese shoegaze (and for a lot of music genres or bands you can name, as well as essential charts).

I'm certainly a big shoegaze / dream pop / noise pop fan, certainly.

The fun part is: on that flowchart, i seem to like albums from every corner so it's definitely one of my favourite genres.