Today I decided to do a Tropi Vault and once again gush about my obsessions. Let's talk about my favorite albums! This idea came about because, recently, I was revisiting nostalgic Facebook posts (I have an emotional attachment to what I've experienced on that network), and I came across some old publications (I used to be a VERY active user) where I mused about my love for the Beatles and other bands. One of these posts was exactly that: an ode to my favorite albums. The year was 2013, and since then, little on this list has changed!

Besides the reasons mentioned above, I've been living with the desire to have a public compilation of things I love and that have shaped me.

ram (paul mccartney)

Despite loving these four horsemen who came from a distant star, who are The Beatles, almost equally, Paul's solo career is the one I dedicated myself to listening to the most. I really like John's Double Fantasy and George's All Things Must Pass, besides a few other scattered songs, but I ended up having more contact with Paul's work.

Ram is his second solo album, and in my opinion, the most whimsical... For years I severely gatekept this album and was VERY jealous of it, after all, it's not a very well-known album outside the Beatlemania bubble, but I think recently, with a little push from TikTok, it went viral. Every time I saw someone I knew posting about it on their stories, I'd emanate a small wave of hate and think of that meme "everything you like I liked five years ago." Anyway, who hasn't been jealous of music?

tour de france (kraftwerk)

I think one of the reasons my list hasn't changed much since 2013 is that I'm not that prone to listening to entire albums, I confess. This is the most recent addition to the albums in my heart, driven by my latest obsession: the Tour de France itself! I've never been one to follow sports, but, influenced by my boyfriend, I started watching the Tour, which kept me great company during my last few sewing afternoons in the studio. I already knew Kraftwerk, but I had never really stopped to appreciate them. Then, I remembered they had this album and started listening to it non-stop. Fun fact: it was released as an official celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Tour de France.

a.m. (arctic monkeys)

Between 2012 and 2014, I tried very hard to be indie. In an era when Tumblr was at its peak, I was living my coming of age live, on the internet. More influential than all my idols at the time was my older brother. Six years older, he was an almost mythological figure in my life, and entering his room was such an anthropological experience that I felt like I was accessing a Pandora's Box that held all the secrets to being cool. He probably hated my interruptions, and during one of them, while he was playing Minecraft with friends, I heard an interesting song playing in the background. I asked what the song was, and reluctantly, he replied that it was "Brianstorm" by Arctic Monkeys. I ran to my room and began my research.

I became an avid listener of the band, and shortly after, they released A.M.. If you were also on Tumblr/Twitter at the end of 2013, you'll understand what an event the release of this album was. In February 2014, I had the privilege of traveling to New York with my family and saw my first Arctic Monkeys show at Madison Square Garden. Coincidentally, the Beatles were celebrating 50 years of the Ed Sullivan Show, and the city was infested with the "beetles." At the end of the show, there was a tribute to the best band that ever existed, and they played "All My Loving," with Alex Turner on vocals. It was magical.

Anyway, thank you, Arctic Monkeys, for introducing me to Alexa Chung.

red rose speedway (wings)

Another one from Paul! This time, from when he was already part of Wings. When I discovered the song "Single Pigeon," I would only listen to it, solely and exclusively, on rainy days. It would automatically transport me to a bucolic London atmosphere, where I would walk alone along the Regent's Park canals. That same year, I went to England with my family, and my main goal for the trip was, basically, to recreate those vibes. I was the type of annoying teenager who would put on headphones and subtly walk behind my parents, pretending to be alone to fulfill a little bit of my silly English fanfics.

rumors (fleetwood mac)

This one is more recent. Until 2023, I knew a few scattered Fleetwood Mac songs, being more familiar with the band's hits and some others from their earlier formations. What made me develop a greater interest were two canonical events in a young woman's life: the 1997 performance of "Silver Springs," which went viral on TikTok, and reading Daisy Jones and The Six, which, btw, is pretty bad. Despite everything, the book is inspired by the Fleetwood Mac lore, which sparked my curiosity about the original developments.

As I started consuming more content, like music, interviews, and quickly fell in love with Stevie Nicks, I decided to read a biography of the queen. I was studying... taking notes... As soon as I finished decoding, I went to a modern salon to get bangs like hers. I think that explains a lot!

cold fact (rodríguez)

In 2017, I went on an exchange to Australia, and there I lived one of the most magical years of my life. Around mid-June, I got a boyfriend who introduced me to Rodríguez, and on weekends, we would meet at night to listen to music in a lifeguard hut, watching the immensity of the Pacific Ocean until my curfew, which was 11 pm. One of those songs was "Sugar Man." It was all very romantic until he disappeared and got involved with an acquaintance of mine.

Despite that not-so-pleasant ending, I quickly moved on, and I'm happy to have been introduced to this magical and mysterious artist who was Rodríguez. If you don't know his story, I recommend the documentary Searching for Sugar Man. In short: he became (without knowing it) a phenomenon in South Africa, where his songs boomed and became a soundtrack against apartheid. At the time, people thought he was dead, and he only discovered his fame abroad about 20 years after releasing his first (of two) albums. Some South African fans started a witch hunt to find him and succeeded, bringing him back to the stage. He lived humbly in Detroit until his death in 2023, even after the release of the documentary that brought him belated fame. It's very moving!

"Hate Street Dialogue" is my favorite track.

sounds of silence (simon & garfunkel)

Hello, darkness, my old friend... It was very hard to choose between Bookends and Sounds of Silence, as I love both for the same reasons... But I had to choose one. For me, Simon and Garfunkel are two emissaries from the cosmos who crossed galactic echoes to gift humanity with the most beautiful songs that ever existed. From Bookends, "Mrs. Robinson" was one of the first songs I learned to play on the guitar, and Sounds of Silence is so bucolic... I love it!

brianstorm (arctic monkeys)

I'll spare some of the context, as I've already talked a lot about Arctic Monkeys here. A.M. is my favorite, but "Brianstorm" is a transfer to an indie film starring Michael Cera. Listening to "Fluorescent Adolescent" reminds me of when I downloaded pirated Photoshop from uTorrent to create icons and headers for fan clubs on Twitter. I posted everything on my Tumblr, which blew up with that kind of content. At 13, I had already lived my dream job, and after that, I never dreamed about work again.

Well, that's it, everyone. In the end, this manifesto turned into a trip down memory lane, which made me realize that all these albums are my favorites because of how they made me feel, and not necessarily because of their musicality.

Just a PS: I didn't include any Beatles albums, because, for me, it's impossible to choose. They occupy a separate wing in my heart.

Anyway, don't be shy, leave a comment! I'd love to know what your favorite album is and why.

XOXO,