BRIGHT AND SHINY PLATTERS

There are very few discs among my all-time favorites that I’d suggest are essential to you.

Sure, I could point out why I think you should like Dots and Loops or Haha Sound or Wild Gift, and you might very well be nonplussed. That’s fine.

But there are three that I think you ignore at your own peril.

I’ve prattled on enough about In the Aeroplane Over the Sea. Just live with it for a while, and your soul will be a better place.

Another one is Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space. It’s a bit harder for me to articulate the reasons why I think this is so essential. It’s visceral. That’ll do.

The third is Exile in Guyville.

Now, there was every chance that this one would not age well, that 15 years on it would feel like a relic of indie days gone by. But it still holds up.

It’s profane, and sometimes gratuitous. But so are you.

It’s sprawling and confused. But so are you.

It’s righteously pissed. But so are you.

It’s really kind of beautiful. But so are you...