Say a word for Charlie Brown, ain’t got nothin’ at all

Built To Spill may just be my favourite band of all time; the guitar interplay on their albums is truly astonishing at times, and no other band has such a magnificent knack with a song coda. It’s not surprising to hear of their hiatus but it is a damned shame, and I hope it’s not the end for them; Martsch can take all the time he wants to make an album if the results are as special as There Is No Enemy (rightly placed on this list just below their trilogy of classics).

I just can’t see how Perfect From Now On can’t top any self-respecting BTS list; it’s a monumental achievement with astonishing attention to detail, and the juddering, monolithic Velvet Waltz is the jewel in its glittering crown (with Kicked It In The Sun not far behind, a song that captures the irresistable gooiness of TINWWL and expands it to epic proportions). Whilst KILAS is only third on my list (behind PFNO and TINWWL), however, it’s such a great album that I can’t really work myself up about it topping this particular list.

I think the list could’ve been expanded to include The Normal Years; it’s a brilliantly cohesive listen in its own right, and is BTS at their most pop (and possibly more twee than TINWWL).

Why Bloodbuzz Ohio gets so much love is beyond me, less a perfect distillation of their sound, more The National on auto-pilot. And the utterly derivative Lemonworld is way out of its depth on this list.

I will give credit for including Afraid of Everyone so highly, but otherwise this is a pretty terrible list. Where is Racing Like A Pro, Mistaken For Strangers and Ada? And a whole host of songs from Alligator?

Another Stereogum list, another attempt to rewrite history. Zen Arcade only at #7? Really?