Twenty Favorite Chamber Pop Albums
(Imagine a melody-driven indie pop augmented by strings, horns, and piano with Pet Sounds as the common touchstone and grunge as the antagonist, and you’ll have a basic understanding of the chamber pop movement of the 1990s and 2000s. Here, in order of preference and restricting myself to one title per artist, are my twenty favorite albums of the genre.)
Promenade by The Divine Comedy
Tindersticks (I) by Tindersticks
The Man in the Bowler Hat by Stackridge
I Am a Bird Now by Antony and the Johnsons
Let It Die by Feist
Songs from the Deep Forest by Duke Special
Rufus Wainwright by Rufus Wainwright
Ibn El Leil by Mashrou’ Leila
Walk With Me: Live at Chateau Neuf by Bernhoft and KORK
Bad Contestant by Matt Maltese
The Dust of Retreat by Margot and the Nuclear So and So’s
Not Going Anywhere by Keren Ann
Andrew Bird & the Mysterious Production of Eggs by Andrew Bird
Gap by Emilie Lidsheim
Garden of Earthly Delights by Susanna and the Brotherhood of Our Lady
Takes by Adem
Down to the Bone: An Acoustic Tribute to Depeche Mode by Sylvain Chauveau & Ensemble Nocturne
Funeral by Arcade Fire
Begin to Hope by Regina Spektor
The Hour of Bewilderbeast by Badly Drawn Boy
— September 19, 2022