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Post by greendemon on Sept 1, 2020 12:05:25 GMT 1
I've been really enjoying following the many personal rate and review threads that have sprung up on here over the past few months. So naturally, it was only a matter of time before I started my own I hit upon the genius discovery that there are exactly half as many letters in the English alphabet as there are weeks in a year, and so this thread is going to be a year-long endeavour. I have picked 26 of my favourite artists on the planet - one for each letter of the alphabet. Every two weeks, I will post a bit about one of them - how I discovered them, which albums I like, if I've seen them live, that sort of thing - and will also post my personal top 10 favourite songs by that artist. I'll stagger the top 10 posting over a couple of days, just so that this thread doesn't go completely dead in the 2-week intervals - though of course, people are welcome and indeed encouraged to post their thoughts A few notes: - I'll start every new letter by talking briefly about other artists I could have selected, but didn't. For some letters I'm very oversubscribed; others... less so This is all about my favourite music, so I won't pretend I haven't been predictable at all in my choices, but there may be one or two curveballs in there. - You will see that I have been a bit... creative in a couple of cases This was mostly done so I could fit in as many of the artists I wanted as possible. In general, the rule I'm following is that, for singers who perform as Firstname Lastname, it's the letter their last name starts with that's relevant. For singers who perform under made-up names, it's the first letter (as it would be for a band), so Lady GaGa would come under L, not G. I ignore 'The' at the start of bands, so The Fray would be F. - Yes, this thread is going to be including artists that haven't yet appeared in Haven Factor (as well as some who have). I was a little anxious about this, but I asked a few people in our mod and admin team for their thoughts, and the consensus was that we shouldn't plan every little thing around HF. Also my top 10 for any given artist is a) probably not going to be anyone else's top 10, b) in some cases, a recipe for an early exit if used as a template for a HF campaign. - I'll be revealing the artists as I go, rather than all at the start, because it's more fun that way. - Finally - ultimately this is a project for my own sad amusement but would love to hear people's thoughts on the artists and songs I've picked, even if you think I'm completely wrong (which you probably will!) I'll be revealing my choice for 'A' soon. If you want to have a guess, feel free! This was one of the years where I had a few options - probably more than people realise, as I'm sure people who know my music taste quite well will have an idea... A: ASHB: BIFFY CLYROC: CROWDED HOUSED: DIRE STRAITSE: ELBOWF: tbc
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Post by Shireblogger on Sept 1, 2020 12:33:39 GMT 1
How can you possibly choose just one of ABBA, ABC and Altered Images ?
...Aah. By choosing none of them. I know who my money's on for A, and he/she/they would probably be 5th on my list.
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Post by Whitneyfan on Sept 1, 2020 12:45:05 GMT 1
Interesting idea. It's always nice to have new ideas from people of different music to listen to!
As for A - Ash maybe?
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Post by greendemon on Sept 1, 2020 13:15:17 GMT 1
Let's start by eliminating some of the competition... First to go from my shortlist was Audioslave. I had a bit of a moment with this rock supergroup back in the mid-noughties, and being in something of the mood for heavier rock recently, I did think it might be a good opportunity to revisit them. But ultimately, they don't have that much in the way of music full stop, so I thought I'd be making up the numbers a bit with the top 10. Still, I really enjoy their debut album, and 'Show Me How To Live' remains an excellent song. RIP Chris Cornell
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Post by greendemon on Sept 1, 2020 13:29:48 GMT 1
Being complete trash for 80s pop, I did give some serious thought to A-ha, but realised that while I like a lot of their music, I'm really not all that familiar with it - I don't have any of their albums, which I do need to correct at some point! Also... my choice for number one would have been very obvious, to say the least A pretty decent guess would have been Arctic Monkeys. I absolutely loved their first couple of albums. But I haven't really been keeping up with their more recent material, and what I have heard has been hit-or-miss for me. - which applies to another band I also considered. But the Arctics are a great band and I look forward to their inevitable appearance in Haven Factor at some point. As with A-ha, there is an incredibly obvious choice for #1, though I always preferred the other huge song from that album:
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Post by suedehead on Sept 1, 2020 13:36:22 GMT 1
Arctic Monkeys would definitely have been on my short-list for A - or should that be short A-list?
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Post by Razzle Dazzle on Sept 1, 2020 13:38:32 GMT 1
my guess is Arcade Fire
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Post by greendemon on Sept 1, 2020 13:38:57 GMT 1
The next-best guess to the artist I eventually chose is Arcade Fire. They're probably one of my favourite extant bands who I have never seen live - they are close to the top of my list. They are also responsible for 'Funeral', which might be one of my favourite albums of all time.
And therein lies the problem - I love 'Funeral' so much that my top 10 would, quite possibly, have consisted of almost all of 'Funeral' with a couple of token additions here and there. It's not that their other albums aren't great: I also have 'Neon Bible', 'The Suburbs' and 'Reflektor', and enjoy tracks on all them. But 'Funeral' is just... well, it's just amazing. So I thought doing a top 10 might be a bit redundant.
Everyone knows what the best track on 'Funeral' is so I won't tell you - but here's another one that I've always loved for its combination of calm stillness from the music and unsettling subject matter in the lyrics.
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Hupin
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Post by Hupin on Sept 1, 2020 13:43:53 GMT 1
Everyone knows what the best track on 'Funeral' is so I won't tell you... Neighborhood#3 (Power Out) π youtu.be/0ozdCLrTrtA
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Post by greendemon on Sept 1, 2020 13:47:47 GMT 1
The answer to the question of 'what is the best track on Funeral?' is ALL OF THEM
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Hupin
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Post by Hupin on Sept 1, 2020 13:50:46 GMT 1
The answer to the question of 'what is the best track on Funeral?' is ALL OF THEM But mostly Neighborhood#3 (Power Out) ππ
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Post by greendemon on Sept 1, 2020 13:53:48 GMT 1
So if you've been following along thus far, you'll have worked out that the artist I chose for A is, of course, Ash! Well done Whitneyfan (and anyone else who worked it out; Smurfie may have suspected ) Of the various artists starting with A whose music I like, Ash have undoubtedly been with me the longest. I first got into them as a teenager - I can't remember how, but I think I heard 'Burn Baby Burn' and bought 'Free All Angels' on the strength of it. I loved the heck out of that album and got into their back catalogue, through friends lending me copies of '1977' and later 'Intergalactic Sonic 7"s'. I also picked up 'Meltdown' when it came out. I have seen them live once: in 2007, when they played my university graduation ball! Clearly that is far too long ago, and I should see them again when the whole live music situation has got back to something close to normal. In some ways, Ash are a surprising choice, because I've not bought an album of theirs since 'Meltdown' and have kind of fallen out of touch with them. For me, that was a great opportunity to catch up on all the music they've put out in the past decade or so. And there has been a lot of it! Another reason for my choice was the fact that they did their own A-Z years ago, so it seemed like a particularly apposite band to open this whole thing with First post of the top 10 to come later today... (And yes, I know Charlotte isn't in the band any more, but she was when I got into them!)
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Hupin
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Post by Hupin on Sept 1, 2020 14:00:31 GMT 1
I remember feeling like I was going to die from exhaustion at an Ash gig and cursing them for not writing enough slow songs; then next up... Kung Fu π³π΅
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Post by Smurfie on Sept 1, 2020 14:50:27 GMT 1
Ash are an excellent choice of course. I got into Ash around the time Goldfinger came out, and then my flatmate bought the 1977 album - and then followed them since. Didn't really pay attention to them before then, but knew of them.
Burn Baby Burn I definitely by a mile my favourite single of theirs. The Deep Blue and Grey Will Fade are also great albums by Charlotte (although I never got around to listening to her last one).
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Post by Whitneyfan on Sept 1, 2020 15:05:10 GMT 1
Ash are a band I don't know much about beyond the big singles, so I will be listening to your top 10 to see if it uncovers any hidden gems!
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Post by TheThorne on Sept 1, 2020 15:06:18 GMT 1
Well I remember my first Ash experience very well as I often raided the 7β section in our local FOPP and it would be filled with some weird stufff and I often discovered underground US bands through their box near the till, how sad am I. They would often come in loose paper in a plastic sleeve and when I saw βJack Named The Planetsβ I thought oh another weird us band, I could tell from the sleeve Iβd like it, so bought it. And I did what a perfect punk pop record. Later that night, they were played on Radio 1 and either Mark Goodier or Steve Lamacq canβt remember said. they were teenagers from Belfast I was like wtf. I have pretty much bought everything they have done since and I own more music in the A category by them than anybody else.
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Post by suedehead on Sept 1, 2020 15:15:05 GMT 1
The next-best guess to the artist I eventually chose is Arcade Fire. They're probably one of my favourite extant bands who I have never seen live - they are close to the top of my list. They are also responsible for 'Funeral', which might be one of my favourite albums of all time. And therein lies the problem - I love 'Funeral' so much that my top 10 would, quite possibly, have consisted of almost all of 'Funeral' with a couple of token additions here and there. It's not that their other albums aren't great: I also have 'Neon Bible', 'The Suburbs' and 'Reflektor', and enjoy tracks on all them. But 'Funeral' is just... well, it's just amazing. So I thought doing a top 10 might be a bit redundant. Everyone knows what the best track on 'Funeral' is so I won't tell you - but here's another one that I've always loved for its combination of calm stillness from the music and unsettling subject matter in the lyrics. I feel the same about Arcade Fire. Funeral set such a high standard that nothing they've done since then can match it.
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Post by suedehead on Sept 1, 2020 15:20:49 GMT 1
I've loved Ash since their early days when they were still teenagers! That means I was able to see them several times in fairly small venues before they really broke through.
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Hupin
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Post by Hupin on Sept 1, 2020 15:33:25 GMT 1
Another memory that has always stuck in my head about Ash is when Orpheus was released as a single and for some reason I saw Lorraine Kelly having a guy on her morning show to talk about all the latest music releases and her review of it was "ooh, that does have a good beat!"
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Post by o on Sept 1, 2020 17:48:18 GMT 1
I was 3 hours too late to guess Ash I know a fair bit of their music, they're a bit hit and miss for me, so will be interesting to see what I think of your choices
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