Ninety-nine songs that I love. Some with rhyme and reason, some with stories, and many serendipitous discoveries amounting to this collection of sounds that are inked in to my every day being.
In no particular order, like a giant impractically sized round-table. In instalments. You're welcome.
Something strange starts to happen about two minutes in to this song. You'll have to listen to it to find out. The track is one of the many highlights of what was sadly their last album; I am actually grateful it was their last, too many bands re-unite for the sake of mediocrity. I often find the counter-melody that in invades this song swimming around my head during waking moments through the night time. if you've never ventured past Doolittle, Trompe Le Monde is not a bad place to continue on to. I don't have a favourite pixies song; they all keep grappling for first place.
coming up next...
#2. - my name is jonas by Weezer
#3. - rebellion lies by Arcade Fire
#4. - festival by Sigur Ros
#5. - girlfriend in a coma by Smiths
#6. - revolution by Tracy Chapman
#7. - age of consent by New Order
#8. - two more years by Bloc Party
#9. - true love waits by Radiohead
Saturday, 23 March 2013
Saturday, 24 November 2012
oh my ears
I've been listening to and discovering more music than ever recently, particularly since attending a Devin Townsend Project concert.
There's several worlds of music to be indulged by from Devin Townsend, my first encounter being the epic Ziltoid the Omniscient. Knowing nothing of his past in Strapping Young Lad, I really enjoyed the amazing scope and sheer heavey-ness of this album, and also the humour. It's not all this world-batteringly heavy though. The project's Ghost album feels reminiscent of Division Bell-era Pink Floyd, led much by acoustic virtiousity and soothing, lush soundscapes.
Else worthy of attention is the loud but accessable Epicloud.
There's several worlds of music to be indulged by from Devin Townsend, my first encounter being the epic Ziltoid the Omniscient. Knowing nothing of his past in Strapping Young Lad, I really enjoyed the amazing scope and sheer heavey-ness of this album, and also the humour. It's not all this world-batteringly heavy though. The project's Ghost album feels reminiscent of Division Bell-era Pink Floyd, led much by acoustic virtiousity and soothing, lush soundscapes.
Else worthy of attention is the loud but accessable Epicloud.
Saturday, 13 October 2012
recent aural epiphanies
'Better Man' by Pearl Jam. What a beauty, emotive lyrics, rather simple composition but you only have to listen to the many live versions available (Live On Two Legs, Live On Ten Legs, Pearl Jam Live, PJ20 OST) to guage the mass of affection for this number. Delving in to the origins of this song it was interesting to discover this was one of Eddie Vedder's first songs he ever wrote, on his own in San Diego, before he bought his one-way ticket to Seattle.
I admire the way Pearl Jam have done things, always veering away from the commercial hit-machine they always could have been post-Ten. It hasn't always made for the best music, for all the memorable moments there have been some rather forgetable; I can only just about remember that Avacado album. Seemingly aware of the potential popularity of "Better Man", they bury this track towards the end of an interesting yet somewhat bleak Vitalogy album - in between songs about Bugs and foxy mop-handle mothers.
It's hard to figure out if Pearl Jam are over-rated or under-rated.
When I saw Pearl Jam at a festival in the UK just a few years ago, I felt somewhat let down in the aftermath. Not least because the following night at Reading opened with a cover of Pink Floyd's Interstellar Overdrive, bound to have gone over the heads of so many 20-somethings, but back in Leeds, I was quite unaware of the circumstances - not just that this was their first festival slot since the fatal Roskilde disaster, but that it is a band with a very large reportoire, one they make full use of and that means they don't do the same gig twice. Ever.
That does mean, however, that not every Pearl Jam fan I bump in to has had the pleasure of seeing them steam-roll through their awesomely epic version of Neil Young's 'Keep On Rocking In the Free World', a song I've had in my head now for literally years.
'Better Man' by Pearl Jam. What a beauty, emotive lyrics, rather simple composition but you only have to listen to the many live versions available (Live On Two Legs, Live On Ten Legs, Pearl Jam Live, PJ20 OST) to guage the mass of affection for this number. Delving in to the origins of this song it was interesting to discover this was one of Eddie Vedder's first songs he ever wrote, on his own in San Diego, before he bought his one-way ticket to Seattle.
I admire the way Pearl Jam have done things, always veering away from the commercial hit-machine they always could have been post-Ten. It hasn't always made for the best music, for all the memorable moments there have been some rather forgetable; I can only just about remember that Avacado album. Seemingly aware of the potential popularity of "Better Man", they bury this track towards the end of an interesting yet somewhat bleak Vitalogy album - in between songs about Bugs and foxy mop-handle mothers.
It's hard to figure out if Pearl Jam are over-rated or under-rated.
When I saw Pearl Jam at a festival in the UK just a few years ago, I felt somewhat let down in the aftermath. Not least because the following night at Reading opened with a cover of Pink Floyd's Interstellar Overdrive, bound to have gone over the heads of so many 20-somethings, but back in Leeds, I was quite unaware of the circumstances - not just that this was their first festival slot since the fatal Roskilde disaster, but that it is a band with a very large reportoire, one they make full use of and that means they don't do the same gig twice. Ever.
That does mean, however, that not every Pearl Jam fan I bump in to has had the pleasure of seeing them steam-roll through their awesomely epic version of Neil Young's 'Keep On Rocking In the Free World', a song I've had in my head now for literally years.
Wednesday, 28 December 2011
my favourite album of 2011
Thurston Moore - Demolished Thoughts
This was a latecomer, snuck in at the last week of 2011 under the Christmas tree. I don't know how I had let this pass me by at first but what an album. The Sonic Youth front man presents a force of de-tuned acoustic dissonance, violins, and warm folky vocals in what almost sounds like a swansong given the imminent and maybe permanent hiatus of his band.
This was a latecomer, snuck in at the last week of 2011 under the Christmas tree. I don't know how I had let this pass me by at first but what an album. The Sonic Youth front man presents a force of de-tuned acoustic dissonance, violins, and warm folky vocals in what almost sounds like a swansong given the imminent and maybe permanent hiatus of his band.
Saturday, 24 December 2011
hopping in puddles
Singing in their native tongue, as well a concoction of made-up meaningless words of their own (not that most of us would know the difference) my favourite thing about listening to Sigur Ros is that their music doesn't remind me of anything. It's like taking a vacation from everything.
Monday, 12 December 2011
come sit next to me, pour yourself some tea.
My first time abroad, at the age of 15, I found myself in a record shop, somewhere in California. It was where I purchased my first truly great album. To this day it is still my favourite.
Growing up with the old-school illegal file-sharing Napster, I was already heavily in to Nirvana, owning their whole catalogue thanks to those lovely crooked file sharers. Needless to say, Courtney love got my money eventually as I grew to an age of greater responsibility and enough finances to afford the authentic plastic discs for myself.
I've always believed in paying for music if you enjoy it...eventually.
Weezer's Blue Album, born to the world in 1994; a year in music often noted for what was lost to then to what was gained. Whilst on the other side of the Atlantic a young band called Oasis were gaining momentum, their favourite American band, Weezer, were also creeping in to the ear canals of what was to be known as the post-grunge listernership.
Weezer's Blue Album has been, and always will be, my favourite 43 minutes of music. The perfect way to spend three quarters of an hour. Go on, do it now. There's no doubt this record would not exist if Nirvana or The Beach Boys had never happened. But far from anything derivative, the Blue album packs 10 tracks that are impossible to put above any other. Surf melodies meet sweeping crescendos, and memorable lines such "I'm going surfing cos I don't like your face" on the surf-punk spectacle 'Surf Wax America'. My Name is Jonas, the best way to start an album since Smells Like Teen Spirit? Only In Dreams, the best way to end an album...ever. Try it.
Growing up with the old-school illegal file-sharing Napster, I was already heavily in to Nirvana, owning their whole catalogue thanks to those lovely crooked file sharers. Needless to say, Courtney love got my money eventually as I grew to an age of greater responsibility and enough finances to afford the authentic plastic discs for myself.
I've always believed in paying for music if you enjoy it...eventually.
Weezer's Blue Album, born to the world in 1994; a year in music often noted for what was lost to then to what was gained. Whilst on the other side of the Atlantic a young band called Oasis were gaining momentum, their favourite American band, Weezer, were also creeping in to the ear canals of what was to be known as the post-grunge listernership.
Weezer's Blue Album has been, and always will be, my favourite 43 minutes of music. The perfect way to spend three quarters of an hour. Go on, do it now. There's no doubt this record would not exist if Nirvana or The Beach Boys had never happened. But far from anything derivative, the Blue album packs 10 tracks that are impossible to put above any other. Surf melodies meet sweeping crescendos, and memorable lines such "I'm going surfing cos I don't like your face" on the surf-punk spectacle 'Surf Wax America'. My Name is Jonas, the best way to start an album since Smells Like Teen Spirit? Only In Dreams, the best way to end an album...ever. Try it.
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