For me it was Andrew Bird (who I am currently on a binge of) and Fleet Foxes.
To a lesser extend, Radiohead and the Flaming Lips. Though I mostly just didn't care about them until I was older.
For me it was Andrew Bird (who I am currently on a binge of) and Fleet Foxes.
To a lesser extend, Radiohead and the Flaming Lips. Though I mostly just didn't care about them until I was older.
Not OP but I'm an unironic swiftie with a lot of hipster opinions about music
Her latest album, folklore, is a good entrypoint for someone who's into andrew bird, fleet foxes, and similar — half of it's produced by the national's Aaron Dessner, one of the best tracks on the album is a duet with justin vernon, and overall it's a lot more stripped back than some of her other recent work. Some tracks of note are the 1, cardigan, exile (ft. bon iver), seven, epiphany, and peace.
Another great choice is reputation, in particular if you're into concept albums. Sonically it's pretty opposite from folklore (which is very stripped back) — it's a lot darker and grittier than pretty much all of her other stuff and the theme of conflict between public persona vs private life is very interesting imo.
And like AlephNull said, 1989 is an absolute pop masterpiece, and has the highest bop density out of pretty much any album every produced.
Edit: also, I wouldn't recommend the full album as a starting point, but the song Cruel Summer off of Lover (cowritten with St. Vincent) might be her best, bar none.
I do like a good concept album. Among my favorites are the original Anais Mitchell Hadestown and the Deltron 3030 album.