For the Thrill of It: Fifteen essential Thrill Jockey releases

Adult.,  “Gimme Trouble” (2005)
Detroit’s paranoid electro freakout is as warped as it is penetrating

Brokeback, “Field Recordings from the Cook County Water Table” (1999)
Doug McComb’s best work under the Brokeback moniker—textured and inventive

Califone, “Quicksand/Cradlesnakes” (2003)
Avant-garde art-rock from one of the country’s best bands

Califone, “Roots & Crowns” (2006)
More perfection—the cover of Psychic TV’s “The Orchids” is a must-hear

Eleventh Dream Day, “Eighth” (1997)
A sonically expansive record, “Eighth” introduced a new EDD

Eleventh Dream Day, “Prairie School Freakout” (2006)
A reissue of EDD’s seminal record, with the “Wayne” EP tacked on

Freakwater, “Feels Like the Third Time” (1993)
Carefully constructed backwoods country that started a revolution in the Americana world

Janet Bean and the Concertina Wire, “Dragging Wonder Lake” (2003)
Multi-instrumentalist Bean’s first solo endeavor, an album with an affecting sound and a staggering list of contributors on hand to help build it

John Parish, “How Animals Move” (2002)
Elegant, peaceful work from an underappreciated artist

The National Trust, “Kings and Queens” (2006)
A dancefloor mix of house, disco and bubblegum pop—the local duo’s efforts are infectious.

Nerves, “S/T” (1998)
The kind of slaughterhouse rock ‘n’ roll that just doesn’t exist anymore

The Sea and Cake, “The Fawn” (1997)
Still the much-accomplished, Sam Prekop-led band’s best album

Tortoise, “Millions Now Living Will Never Die”  (1996)
The influential band’s second full-length—a massive, brooding, unforgettable journey

Tortoise, “TNT” (1998)
Another giant, diverse offering from the post-rock geniuses—with more electronic composition

Trans Am, “The Surveillance” (1998)
Instrumental madness that borders on unhealthy paranoia (Tom Lynch)

For the Records: Bettina Richards and her Thrill Jockey cross the fifteen-year line