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Post by Maximo Mark on Nov 22, 2006 10:29:15 GMT 1
I really like Zookeepers Boys so may have to investigate Mew further. Absolution is my least favourite Muse album...  |
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Post by yeahyeahtron on Nov 24, 2006 16:01:18 GMT 1
Some great albums in there! I LOVE Mew's  ... I just hope Ladytron will feature They've released 3 awesome albums their latest being their best... The Witching Hour! I only don't like MJ's... I've heard the 1st 6 songs and they all sound the same... :/ |
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Post by dandyhighwayman on Nov 25, 2006 12:57:53 GMT 1
#92 A-Ha "Scoundrel Days"
Top 5 tracks: I've Been Losing You, Scoundrel Days, Manhattan Skyline, Swing Of Things, Soft Rains Of April
Back to the 80s for this one as I delve into the guilty pleasures part of my CD collection. This, I think, was A-Ha's second album and probably their best. They scrape the edges of 80s rock on this (as Manhattan Skyline will demonstrate) but don't give up their pop roots at all as the great and overlooked 'I've Been Losing You' made a wonderful single choice. I tend to think that A-Ha are often overlooked in general as people tend to think they are all about 'Take On Me' and 'The Sun Always Shines On TV' - they're really not though and I was tempted to include one of their later albums in my list ('Minor Earth, Major Sky') to demonstrate this as few still make better sweeping rock/pop today. On an aside, I've always thought this has an odd cover - it looks like it should be the reverse and not the front to me.
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Post by dandyhighwayman on Nov 25, 2006 13:08:33 GMT 1
#91 Jazzanova 'In Between'
Top 5 tracks: Another New Day, No Use, LOVE And You And I, Hanazona, Place In Between
Jazzanova are probably bracketed in the dance genre but to me on this they are a jazzier version of Massive Attack or Zero 7. 'Another New Day' is one of my favourite instrumental pieces ever as the beats take you on a toe tapping journey through a smoky jazz club while the drum break down in the centre is great. It's the sort of album that successfully soundtracked the trendy wine bars a few years back but it's at the front end of that genre, lifting itself high above the realms of pleasant background music. I also love the packaging of decreasing and rotating squares (I'm a sucker for novel packaging!). Like a Massive Attack album, there's several guest vocalists and rappers along the way to ensure things don't get too dull.
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Post by Chris on Nov 25, 2006 13:34:47 GMT 1
The suspense is killing me here,thought we'd be up to the top 20 now!!!
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Post by dandyhighwayman on Nov 25, 2006 14:43:19 GMT 1
I know, I'm travelling at a Homes_pace*
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Post by dandyhighwayman on Nov 25, 2006 14:59:55 GMT 1
#90 The Divine Comedy "Regeneration"
Fave 5 tracks: Perfect Lovesong, Timestretched, Eye Of The Needle, Love What You Do, The Beauty Regime
Whilst not being a normal Divine Comdedy album, this is perhaps the album where Neil Hannon & co are at their most normal. This was a shock to the system for most Divine Comedy fans as the theatrical elements of previous albums were mostly thrown out of the creative window to be replaced by *shock* normal guitar music! Firstly, I must mention 'Perfect Lovesong' as it pretty much does exactly what it says on the tin and scandalously didn't even make the top 40. Whilst that remains my favourite track here, there are more than enough other pleasures within it's rather arty cover to warrant further investigation: 'Eye Of The Needle' tackles the perception of the church with some clever lyrics ("The cars in the churchyard are shiny and German, distinctly at odds with the theme of the sermon"), 'Dumb It Down' deals with the age of everything having to be so simple to the extent that nobody need think any longer ("Your concentration span's too long, it's longer than this song, that's not allowed") while 'The Beauty Regime' deals with modern culture's obsession with looks and image ("In a rut? Can't get out? Don't know why? It's time to make that change, cover up all the pain in your life with our new product range"). Just a great album really.
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Post by dandyhighwayman on Nov 25, 2006 16:05:12 GMT 1
#89 Erasure "Erasure"
Top 5 tracks: Fingers & Thumbs (Cold Summer's Day), Rock Me Gently, Angel, Sono Luminus, Rescue Me
Is this the album that killed Erasure off? Before this they were one of the UK's leading pop acts scoring #1 album after #1 album and strings of top 10 hits. Then came this project... Lead single 'Stay With Me' was a warning as it limped it's way rather non-commercially into the chart at #15 with not even a hugely memorable chorus - even the fantastic follow up 'Fingers & Thumbs' could only manage #20. Well it's certainly not your normal Erasure album, where there were 4 minute pop gems there are now 7 minute epics. 'Rock Me Gently' is a good example, it starts with a perfect 3 minute pop song before dissolving into an 8 minute breakdown of synths and wailing vocals to be followed by the final chorus as if nothing had even happened - surely Erasure have lost the plot? Actually, no, they hadn't as the album is proof of exactly what they can achieve when they dare to let their imaginations run away with them. The true disaster is that it stunted their career so badly that I doubt we'll ever see them make another album like it.
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Post by dandyhighwayman on Nov 25, 2006 16:20:27 GMT 1
#88 Susumu Yokota "Sakura"
Top 5 moments: Hisen, Azukiiro No Kaori, Naminote, Genshi, Kodomotachi
From camp 80s stars to a Japanese minimalist soundscaper, the list will be nothing if not varied! I suppose this is technically ambient music and more often than not I do use this album to help me get to sleep but it doesn't fall into the stereotype that ambient is dull, it's a beautiful experience that never fails to leave me with a relaxed feeling by the end. There was even a point where I struggled to sleep without putting this on first... I have chosen this album above all his other work as it's the first one I bought and so is more special to me, he does have many other albums though and all are rather great and even verge into techno territory on occasion.
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Post by dandyhighwayman on Nov 25, 2006 19:09:54 GMT 1
#87 Fiona Apple "When The Pawn..."
Top 5 ditties: To Your Love, The Way Things Are, Get Gone, Love Ridden, A Mistake
This is such an emotional album, Fiona really isn't like any other banshee around. This album is a reflective and somewhat bitter piece of work about relationships in general and boy does she put her heart and soul into it. Predominately piano based (although not in the same way that Tori is, this is usually fast paced and ever so slightly tiring stuff), Fiona sings deep lyrics over rather sweet tunes and just draws you into her world. It's almost as though she realised she was being overly negative about relationships in general though as the final track on the album, 'I Know', is a plain love song that lets in that she still may have some hope for the future!
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Post by Laurence on Nov 25, 2006 19:19:54 GMT 1
Oh you know I love When the Pawn but that's the first since Absolution I own. As for the Erasure album, I LOVE Stay with Me, it's one of the most gorgeous songs I've ever heard and if I was going to buy an Erasure album, I would get that one. In fact I might buy it after knowing it was in your top 100. Do own Divine Comedy's Greatest Hits - excellent but not desperate to own more. Susumu Yokota - well it's a great name to drop to impress friends. Is it like Boards of Canada?  |
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Post by Laurence on Nov 25, 2006 19:20:18 GMT 1
I know, I'm travelling at a Homes_pace*
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Post by dandyhighwayman on Nov 25, 2006 19:37:40 GMT 1
#86 Tortoise "Standards"
Top 5 TUNES: Benway, Blackjack, Monica, Firefly, Seneca
Just as an aside, this album starts off with a 2 minute-ish blast of guitars that's always reminded me of the Velvet Underground & Nico album. This is another instrumental album from the early 2000s and one that rewards a listener greatly after repeated listens. I'm not totally sure what to say about it actually as it's a cut up of all different reference points (mainly from the alternative scene of the 70s and 80s) and the songs often change direction halfway through and very from twisted and cut up beats to repeated guitar hooks and big 80s synths. It's very good indeed, in fact I'm already thinking I may have placed it too low.
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Post by dandyhighwayman on Nov 25, 2006 19:52:29 GMT 1
Oh you know I love When the Pawn but that's the first since Absolution I own. As for the Erasure album, I LOVE Stay with Me, it's one of the most gorgeous songs I've ever heard and if I was going to buy an Erasure album, I would get that one. In fact I might buy it after knowing it was in your top 100. Do own Divine Comedy's Greatest Hits - excellent but not desperate to own more. Susumu Yokota - well it's a great name to drop to impress friends. Is it like Boards of Canada? It's not really like BoC, no... it is more ambient than that and almost more traditional. That Erasure album really is rather good and it's the only one of theirs I'd suggest as being one for you to get - although there is another still to come later on... You'll probably be able to pick up their self titled one dirt cheap somewhere, they must have overstocked it something rotten at the time! That's my favourite Fiona album ('Extraordinary Machine' missed the cut this year due to me not being as familiar with it) - I don't have 'Tidal', should I purchase? |
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Post by dandyhighwayman on Nov 25, 2006 21:40:55 GMT 1
#85 David Holmes "Bow Down To The Exit Sign"
Hip 5 hops: Hey Lisa, 69 Police, Compared To What, Zero Tolerance, Sick City
This was out at the same time as Primal Scream's 'XTRMNTR' and it shows heavily, not least by the presence of Bobby Gillespie on a couple of it's tracks. Primal Scream's frontman isn't the only talent on show either, Carl Hancock Rux appears on an excellent cover of Roberta Flack's 'Compared To What' and the more recently famous Martina Topley-Bird lends her vocals to 'Zero Tolerance'. The album as a whole is a rather angry affair with loud thrashing guitars punctuating Holmes' production and the odd splurge of shouty vocals but it really shines for me on the more down tempo tracks also. The first single from it was '69 Police' which is an organ led work of genius, one of those tracks you'd recognise from BBC ads when they try to be cool - while the closing track 'Hey Lisa' is just beautiful as the standard sound of the album gradually slips away and lush sweeping strings make their way to the fore.
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Post by Laurence on Nov 25, 2006 21:50:36 GMT 1
That's my favourite Fiona album ('Extraordinary Machine' missed the cut this year due to me not being as familiar with it) - I don't have 'Tidal', should I purchase? Of course - it's less strange and quirky than the other two perhaps but isn't really poppy. It's more jazzy and torch songs and her voice is astonishing considering she was only 19 or so - it has some great tracks like Shadowboxer, Criminal and the epic ballad Never is a Promise (which is very like Tori's Silent All These Years) |
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Post by dandyhighwayman on Nov 25, 2006 23:42:35 GMT 1
#84 The Human League "Dare"
Top 5 keyboard sounds: Open Your Heart, Love Action (I Believe In Love), The Sound Of The Crowd, Don't You Want Me, The Things That Dreams Are Made Of
This is a classic album from the 80s. Surprisingly for an album from that era, there isn't a single bad track on it - accompany that with 4 absolutely huge singles and you get a classic. There's something very endearing about The Human League, they sound so very Northern and almost amateurish and yet they somehow managed to have #1s on both sides of the Atlantic. Their image was always very a-sexual and the make up covered face on the cover of this album typified this. All it would need is Phil Oakey's duet with Giorgio Moroder ('Together In Electric Dreams') and it would be absolutely perfect. If you were asking for an album to begin investigating the 80s with, you could do far worse than opt for this.
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Post by dandyhighwayman on Nov 25, 2006 23:48:19 GMT 1
Some great albums in there! I LOVE Mew's ... I just hope Ladytron will feature They've released 3 awesome albums their latest being their best... The Witching Hour! I only don't like MJ's... I've heard the 1st 6 songs and they all sound the same... :/ I almost forgot to say thanks for the comment - and you may be pleasantly surprised later... Really pleased to see you like so many, you should post here more often as we could do with people with taste!!! |
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Post by dandyhighwayman on Nov 26, 2006 0:02:43 GMT 1
#83 Jenny Lewis & The Watson Twins "Rabbit Fur Coat"
Top 5 laments: You Are What You Love, Rise Up With Fists, Melt Your Heart, Born Secular, The Charging Sky
This is one of this year's very best albums and it comes from the lead singer of Rilo Kiley, in fact only one more album from this year is still set to feature so it's done very well indeed. First and foremost though, how scarily 'The Shining' is the front cover?!!!! As for the music, well it's well written and well sung country/folk with absolutely fantastic backing vocals from The Watson Twins. All the tracks take a different approach to this genre though, 'The Big Guns' comes on with a traditional country twang, 'Born Secular' starts as a simple song before ascending into a 'Hey Jude' kinda of ending while the title track is a simple story about a mother and daughter's life around a mansion house and a rabbit fur coat... 'You Are What You Love' stands a very good chance of finishing in my top 5 singles this year and is utterly fantastic. This is bound to climb in future years, one of the essential albums of 2006.
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Post by Laurence on Nov 26, 2006 0:13:50 GMT 1
Oh I do own a Rilo Kiley album - Indieelectronica sent me it as I won a prize on his radio station. 'More Adventurous' - did like it but didn't think it was exceptional.
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... I just hope Ladytron will feature 
