and make my way up to the holiday house in South Creake.
There may be a few changes this year however to make things
easier so it may not be that bad as expected.
But as it's my last blog post before I head back to 1955 for a week,
a warm up to my Review of 09 audio download with my favourite
LPs of the Decade from 20-11.
In no way whatosever do I view these as "generation defining" or whatever,
I've done my best to scour from the last 10 years, of what records
I've found hard to remove from my CD player or my audio application
of choice.
So much has happened, oh yes.
Numbers 10-1 will be revealed in audio form in either late December/early January but I hope it will give you an idea to the sort of stuff to expect.
And possibly an opportunity to give certain stuff a go that hasn't been
heard before, and you know what, I bet there's still a lot of stuff
I haven't listened to that I'll kick myself for not including here
in a few years time.
Nah, that goes for any decade really. Life's not long enough.
The rules I've set myself are no re-issues, no compilations, and no artists
to be included twice.
Will I stick to those requirements?
Let's get things going;
20: Justin Timberlake - "Justified" (2002)
One of the biggest surprise albums for sure.
You'd never expect something as superb as this to come from
an ex boyband member embarking on a solo career.
It's all down to the top producers Justin got to work with on this LP
with the overall standouts being a couple of fellas called Chad Hugo
and Pharrell Williams.
It was when "Rock Your Body" came out as the third single that I immediately
became well and truly obsessed with the album as a whole although
all the usual cynics kept on saying he was copying Michael Jackson.
That's because "Rock Your Body" was originally penned for Jacko's "Invincible" album and if he had gone ahead with that as the lead single as opposed
to the flat and uninspring "You Rock My World", that would have been
a comeback and a half.
And it wouldn't have dented JT's career in any way whatsoever
as tunes such as "Like I Love You" and "Cry Me A River" earned him
the status he's now known for.
I was just a tiny bit disapointed with the follow up LP as it appeared Justin
had ditched The Neptunes in favour of a full on Timbaland produced album.
And that wasn't a bad thing at all, they have been very prolific and distinctive throught this decade, even writing a couple of really good tunes on "Justified",
just a case of "Futuresex/Lovesounds" not meeting personal expectations.
i.e. lack of strings, fancy Rhodes piano chords and so on.
But whichever way, I had to include one of the albums by Justin
in this rundown of the decade, no questions.
19: M.I.A - "Kala" (2007)
How shall I describe this?
Chaotic.
But very creative at the same time.
One of the most underrated performers from our British shores
made a name for herself with her second studio album where
quite literally you had no idea of what to expect next.
Musically it covered several influences ranging from soca drums
and percussion on tracks such as "Boyz", Indian shades on "Jimmy",
and samples of eighties acts such as The Clash and New Order on "Paper Planes" and "20 Dollar".
Lyrically it's amazing too, promoting awareness of gun culture, and that of other cultures from places she's travelled; "I put people on the map, that have
never seen a map"
Overall the album's amazing.
Just don't play it or whatever if I've got a bloody headache.
18: The Coral (2002)
This was the perfect LP which was a refreshing change from other stuff
at the time, and instantly reminds me of a summer of just general anarchy
and messing about.
Well, to be honest it wasn't like that at all.
I barely did anything prior to my first visit to Venice.
But the tunes on the album will always remind me of the amazing weather
we got including the crazy "Skeleton Key", the trippy almost ethnic sounding
"Simon Diamond" and the dub influenced "Shadows Fall".
The album got quite a lot of exposure on the then newly launched
BBC 6 Music and fitted in well to proceedings singalling a return of
"indie becoming fun again" which acts such as Hot Club De Paris, Rumble Strips, and Skint and Demoralised soon caught onto.
One song from the album made quite a resurgence during my final week
at Smoke Radio that being "Goodbye" which was played by quite a few people
on their departing shows and matched the mood of not being overdramatic,
and just getting on with it and moving on to other things.
Best way to do so, and it will remain one of my most fun times at University.
17: Alicia Keys - "Songs In A Minor" (2001)
I first saw this woman performing on the 2001 MTV Video Music Awards
in September that year, quite a short while before she got any UK exposure.
The performance itself started off with a short burst of "Fur Elise"
joined by her backing band and the unexpected key changes
blended nicely into a superb live rendition of her breakthrough hit "Fallin".
Hearing the single release wasn't as good as the one at the MTV VMAs
but that goes for all live tracks on that scale to be honest, and I was
just amazed at seeing a young female R&B performer actually
singing and playing piano at the same time.
I finally got round to buying the album about a year later and there's plenty
of gems on there, some of which weren't even released as singles
including "Butterfyz", "Caged Bird", and "Jane Doe".
Best of all was that my album was a special edition copy with another amazing live performance and one that almost had me in tears when hearing her cover
of Donny Hathaway's "Someday We'll All Be Free".
I almost thought that she couldn't do any better than "A Minor" and was almost proved right until only recently when "The Element Of Freedom" was released
and for me has to be one of her strongest to date.
There will be plenty more of her to come, I'm fully certain.
16: Daniel Austin - "Confidence In You" (2004)
Unbelievably there haven't really been any male solo soul acts
who have blown me away this decade to a major extent.
This being an exception, Daniel Austin a little known musician
and vocalist from California who I was brought to the attention of
via Peter Young's Jazz FM show around the time of it's release.
This was amazing, sugar coated soul at it's finest, and it's not really cool
to use analogies or titles, but I'd see Daniel as a male Brenda Russell.
You just have to listen to his ability at providing catchy sounding tunes
even if they sound like they were composed on a toy piano or whatever.
Highlights include the nicely structured "Dreamers Know" and the ultimate
crush song "Something About You" with brass and a beat to match.
This was released around the same time as Incognito's "Adventures In Black Sunshine" album and actually reached a point where I was listening to this
more than Incognito.
I suppose it just had that unique special touch that I never saw coming.
It's synthy, full of sweet stuff (almost syrupy), but definitely one for those
who like it extra smooth.
15: Pink - "I'm Not Dead" (2006)
It was hard deciding which one of Alecia's albums to include but
in the end it was more or less a no brainer for this one as it was there
with me pretty much throughout 2006 over many turning points.
The title of which hitting back at the critics who assumed that this was
a "comeback album" of some sorts.
Which was pretty much rubbish as an assumption as that had already
been done with really with "Missundaztood" five years earlier.
This was probably one of the "non soul albums" that helped me through
pretty awkward times in the first half of my second year at University,
when I didn't really know which way to turn or whatever.
Especially the song "Nobody Knows" as I'm instantly back in flat 14B
on a rather dark winter night in Harrow Halls.
Other album highlights included the perfect "Bush bashing" song
"Dear Mr President" with The Indigo Girls, and one that should have been released as a single "Fingers", co-penned by the one and only Cathy Dennis.
There's a song writer who's been an unsung hero this decade.
As for P!nk overall, there really hasn't been as ballsy but ever delightful
female vocalist and performer this decade who's been ever-present throughout.
14: Foals - "Antidotes" (2008)
I thought I'd give this album a go to see what the fuss was about
a few months after the release and after listening to it in full
it all blends in together nicely.
Almost to the point where I feel as if I'm at a live performance
and the raw racousness instantly conjures up images of either a University
night out, or an epsiode of Skins.
That's what this music has all become insanely tied in with,
pretty much to the same extent as Gavin and Stacey.
"Cassius" was the first one that drew my attention and many of the
first 5 or 6 tracks do sound identical but the second half of the album
takes a more bizarre direction in unexpected places, not least with my
favourite "Big Big Love (Fig. 2)" the opening of which sounds almost
identical to that of the Grandstand theme.
Again, it's one of quite a few defining University albums.
13: Zero 7 - "Simple Things" (2001)
This was one of the best escapism albums during all my four years at College,
whenever anything got too hard to deal with, and understandbly so
when having to deal with a load of others who simply didn't care.
Towards the end of my time there I soon found out that I wasn't
the only one who had a liking for the well produced offerings from Henry Binns
and Sam Hardaker.
My personal favourites include the almost rousing "Likufanele", "In The Waiting Line", and "This World" which sounds a tiny bit indentical to "Glory Box"
by Portishead.
Which in turn sounds similar to the intro to The Sweeney.
The album lead to an equally amazing follow-up in 2004 "When It Falls" with Sia returning to provide vocals, and Sam and Henry came up with
more soothing gems.
Just a shame they had to spoil it from their third album onwards.
12: Pipettes - "We Are The Pipettes" (2006)
Before Amy, Paloma, Adele, and so on started cashing in on
the "Wall Of Sound Revival" for the sake of it, this amazing well dressed
trio from one of my favourite places in the UK released an album
which at the time sounded like a standout, no doubting that.
This band from Brighton had balls and the rawness to make them one of
the finest yet underrated acts blending in indie, with classic 60s pop and
despite their manufactured formation, that's no hindrance whatsoever.
I certainly wouldn't have assumed it from my first listen due to the
superb arrangements with strings, guitars, basses and so on.
I like how most of the songs on there are under three minutes in length,
adding to the fast paced manner and changes in tempos when you least
expect them.
The standout song was of course "Pull Shapes" which brings back
many a happy memory of the 2006-2007 year at University which I've
probably established was the best year in terms of musical consistency
and having a good time, despite the ongoing rollercoaster, and
great big dip near the end.
It also instantly reminds me of another of my favourite girls
from University who I ended up graduating with, as I can instantly
imagine her singing that very song.
Or dancing like crazy to it at least judging by the record number
of live performances she's been too by other bands.
Also worth mentioning are "Dirty Mind" which ended up becoming a very
popular bed on television to the same sort of extent as "Chicken Payback"
by The Bees.
That being the fact that more people recognise the intro more than the song
as a whole.
Overall it's just a 100% happy guaranteed album throughout,
from who I'd consider to be the best girlband of the decade.
11: The James Taylor Quartet - "Hammondology" (2001)
Yes, I've broken one of my rules.
This is a compilation album, but without it I wouldn't have got
through a very awkward period in late 2001 of starting college
when there was no one else I knew, no one else really I could
talk to and like the Zero 7 record was really one that
could me to be me.
Musically it's nothing like Zero 7, it's a fantastically documented
selection of just about all phases of JTQ from the rough and action
packed cover of "Blow Up" with influences from Booker T and The MGs,
to the early 90s dance era with vocalists such as Alison Limerick and
Noel McKoy, the latter was partly responsible for the band's
1993 chart hit "Love The Life" which I can actually remember
seeing the video for on television on a Saturday morning
when I was very ill.
I discovered this album by accident to be honest, hearing it played
in the HMV in Canterbury and the delightful "Shelter" with
vocals by Rose Windross who had performed with Soul II Soul.
It definitely set the standard into going even deeper in the sort of
music I was really enthused about and that there was more to just disco
and it that sort of stuff didn't stop being made straight after 1986.
I've more or less been a fan of JTQ ever since with four studio albums
released since that compilation and superb live performances in Canterbury
proving that they're stronger than ever.
So from JT, to JTQ that's the discs of the decade from 20-11.
Expect the top 10 to come hopefully in the next week or by mid January
at latest if worst comes to worst.
Hopefully not, we'll all be bored of reminiscing by then.
No comments:
Post a Comment