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Thursday 26 May 2011

My favourite albums: My favourite albums

It had to be done. I'm now going to lay my cards on the table so that you can all judge me. Not that you will be able to, of course, because as you are about to discover I have impeccable taste.

Presented strictly in the order I thought of them.

Air - Moon Safari
Moon Safari is the most perfectly named record you could hope to find, redolent with images of the future as seen from the past. It also gives a good indication of the contents of the music. Analogue electronica, completely swoonsome and lovely.

Bob Dylan & The Band - The Basement Tapes
Originally one of rock's most famous bootleg recordings, finally released 9 years after it was recorded. 24 completely timeless, ageless songs which manage to sound both ancient and modern.

Bob Dylan - Time Out Of Mind
I could easily have populated this list with Dylan records alone. This one is very special to me. Clever, funny, sad, poignant and brave.

The Velvet Underground & Nico - The Velvet Underground & Nico
I think The Velvet Underground are my all-time favourite group. The audacity! The noise! Beyond the clatter, though, Lou Reed is responsible for some really beautiful lyrics. This album would have made the list for I'll Be Your Mirror or the trilling piano of I'm Waiting For The Man alone.

Dusty Springfield - Dusty In Memphis
Maybe the loveliest record ever made. I can't imagine anyone not liking it.

Isaac Hayes - Hot Buttered Soul
Along with Time Out Of Mind and Dusty In Memphis, my favourite album of them all. Powerful, delicate, funky, soulful and immaculately played. A masterpiece.

The Beatles - Rubber Soul
I could easily have picked almost all of the Beatles albums. But I always come back to Rubber Soul because it is the only record they ever made which I consider to be completely flawless. By extension, it's surely one of the greatest albums ever made.

Primal Scream - Screamadelica
A unique, sprawling and extraordinary piece of work. Nothing has ever sounded quite like it before or since, a very rare quality.

Elvis Costello and The Attractions - Get Happy!
This is Elvis Costello's self-appointed soul album. Aside from the few covers of classic soul songs, I've never really heard it as such. What I do hear is a magnificent collection of memorable songs. I could literally listen to this record at any time on any day and still enjoy it.

The Beach Boys - Wild Honey
The first record they released after the breakdown of Smile and its limp cousin Smiley Smile, Wild Honey was wilfully pared down and under-produced. A simple, straightforward collection of wonderful songs. What more could you want?

The Clash - Sandinista!
The Clash's eponymous first album is as pulsating and thrilling as anything ever recorded, and London Calling deserves its place in the rock 'n' roll pantheon of the greats. However, nothing that they - or anyone else for that matter - ever made can match the sheer ambition of the brilliant, sprawling, epic Sandinista!. A masterstroke and a masterpiece.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Where best to comment on a list of lists than here?

What a fantastic idea and depository of lists you have created. Reading through some of these lists reminds me of great albums I have still not bought. I shall immediately repair to the nearest record emporium and rectify my forgetitude.

Thank you

p.s. The answer to the above question is: "Nowhere"

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