When you are in Nebraska for nearly four months straight, you have exactly two options: die of boredom or do literally anything else. Considering that I dearly wished to see my friends in the fall, I needed something to occupy my time. So, this past summer I set a goal for myself: to listen to 150 albums by the time I went back to school.

To be fair, this idea did not start this summer, but last December in Colorado, where a more than eight hour road trip lay ahead of me. I was in one of those phases where every single song I had ever listened to was suddenly boring and overplayed, so I decided to spend this time finding new music by listening to full albums, front to back, for the entirety of the car ride. This quickly became a road trip tradition for me, helping me discover new music and give each album my undivided attention.

At the beginning of this summer, with two over-20 hour trips to Boston to Maine and back, it was clear there were many, many, new albums to be heard. I mean, anything beats staring blankly at the billions of miles of cornfields (driving through the Midwest rules). I started writing down the albums I was listening to. With 59 albums under my belt by the time I was back home for good, I figured, why not make it a nice round number and reach 100?

With this goal in mind, I started listening to albums whenever I had the time: on walks, during tedious internship work, driving to and from downtown or just sitting in my room scrolling through Pinterest. This proved so successful that by the end of June, I had reached my original goal of 100 albums. But I am no quitter; with the prospect of another two dull months starting to creep up, I decided to up my goal to 150.

I did not have a set “top 150 albums of all time” list or any guideline to go off, usually just classics I had never fully heard (Remain in Light by the Talking Heads, Rumors by Fleetwood Mac, Bryter Layter by Nick Drake, to name a few) as well as Spotify suggested albums, though what I enjoyed listening to the most was recommendations from my friends.

I constantly askied them for new music suggestions, and I loved getting to glimpse a bit further into their tastes and personalities, peeking through a metaphorical window into what music they liked and why. Whether I liked the suggested album or not (which I usually did), the conversations I would have afterwards about them, whether my friends explained the underlying meanings of songs or the story behind the creation of the music, were some of the most precious and meaningful experiences I had over the summer. People light up when they get to talk about what they are passionate about and I am always honored to share those moments with them. Plus, half my music taste is now a shameless ripoff of my friends’.

It was incredibly fun to explore different genres, time periods and production levels of music, as well as finally being able to recommend music my friends had not already listened to.

With that in mind, here is my list of 10 underrated albums spanning across different genres:

• “I Don’t Hate You” by Ogbert the nerd – incredibly fun midwest emo album, full of whiny screamo-adjacent performances.

• “I Wanna be a Sniperrrrr” by sniper2004 – short and energetic SoundCloud rap style album, with pretty impressive production nonetheless.

• “Akuma no Uta” by Boris – mind-blowing rock album that dips into the experimental. The guitarist and vocals are loud and unapologetic. They are touring in Minneapolis October 9!

• “Purple Mountains” by Purple Mountains – absolutely devastating and brilliant piece of indie folk. Nights that Won’t Happen is probably the saddest song I have ever heard.

• “Chipmunks at 16 Speed” by Sludgefest – Yes, this is exactly what it sounds like. Some random internet person slowing down old Alvin and the Chipmunks covers of popular 70s and 80s rock/pop hits, making them sound almost like goth rock. It absolutely rules.

• “Burning Desire” by MIKE – Mosaic of short songs that combine into a vivid picture of colorful production, clever lyrics and captivating performances.

• “Songs About Fucking” by Big Black – Yes, I know the album cover is weird, but this is absolutely essential punk listening! Steve Albini is a genius.

• “Faust IV” by Faust – classic Krautrock album that envelops you in fuzzy guitar and woozy vocals. Not a super easy listen, but rewarding nonetheless. If you are a fan of Can, definitely give this a try.

• “Peanuts on the Run” by Fukamidori – Good clean city pop fun. Danceable grooves and whimsical melodies. The cover of “Our House” is genuinely so good.

• “Today I Laid Down” by bl4ck m4rket c4rt – recent shoegaze-adjacent album, a short exploration of a dreamy wall of sound.

After hours upon hours of music, I can confidently say what I learned most was not even about my own taste in music, but rather the joy that comes from sharing it. The next time Spotify, that random girl in your chem lab or your dad shares an album, give it a listen. You would be surprised what you can discover!

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