Five Albums

Five Albums With Analogous Pairings

1. Akiko Kiyama – 7 Years

Music had a great year in 2008. I think there’s a lot of nonchalance in this album, crafted and deliberate coolness.

Fav song: I Was Weak In the Knees

Analogous Pairings: Black coffee with cinnamon. Berry matte lipstain. A single dangly metal earring. The book Sputnik Sweetheart. Worn leather coat with ripped lining. A sticky club floor vacated only one hour ago. Six ants following each other in a circle. Bank station walkway connecting the Northern and Central lines.

2. Selected Ambient Works 85-92 – Aphex Twin

This is on most producers’ lists, for good reason. I like to break apart components of art to figure out how to get somewhere similar, and this is a great album to do that with. Every song is a different ambience but always hazy, refreshing, interesting. Aphex invented ironic self-mythologyzing.

Fav song: Xtal
Analogous Pairings: Three blades of grass covered in fresh frost. Citron tea with sparkling water and mint leaf. Eyeliner wings in teal blue pencil. Getting incrementally better at something. Shampoo suds. A coriander and vetiver scented candle. Acid. Crispy courgette fries. Tinkering with music hardware. The smell of chlorine.

3. 7G – A.G. Cook

7G is to the 2020s what SAW 85-92 is to the 90s. 7 is the most pleasing number. There’s something folkpop about this too, as much as it is a truly electronic album.

Fav song: Windows
Analogous pairings: Glossier You solid perfume. Pink pepper and rose kombucha. Pale, matte, cool pink blush. Foggy prescription glasses. The number 4. Cream waffle textured Henley neck long sleeve T shirt. Spaghetti and clams. Small, overly warm room.

4. Born This Way – Lady Gaga

Born This Way is my teenage dirtbag album!!! This is the pinnacle of pop music. It’s integral to my identity. I keep finding new ways to fall in love with this album, and it continues to mean so much to me throughout my life. I also love the darker, campier and musical theater-esque energy of these songs. The lyrics on Born This Way are so creative, beautiful and inspiring.

Fav song: Bloody Mary
Analogous pairings: Customised leather jacket with spikes. Mermaids. Edouard Manet’s “Olympia”. Disco balls. Beige latex. The ‘Paris’ filter on Instagram. Homemade incantations written on school notebook paper. Cutting your bangs over the sink. Mugler Alien perfume. Timed charcoal drawing class. Mint inner eye corner highlight. Leather bound Bible. Coffee and hot croissants.

5. POP 2 – Charli XCX

Avant-garde, different and crispy in the way Missy Elliot’s song “Get ur Freak On” is. Pop music will never be lowbrow. I love music with texture, and this is what liquid, metallic pop sounds like.

Fav song: Unlock It
Analogous pairings: Body glitter. Mountain drive with 3 friends. The decorative plastic covering sweet or baklava trays. Isamaya SkinLacq. Being the last one to arrive to your birthday party. Shimmery purple balloon. Silver Tiffany’s key necklace. Writing in a physical journal with pink glittery gel pen.

Those are 5 albums I like. Happy listening.

xoxo, io ◠‿◠✿

⊱ ────── {⋅. ✯♪✯ .⋅} ────── ⊰