Post by The Curmudgeon on Apr 14, 2016 13:21:04 GMT 2
All Time Favourite albums we've done before. But have there been any albums from the last, say, five or so years, that have managed to secure a position in that hallowed list?
Now, "new" albums is a tricky term. I would say that Simon and Garfunkel's flawless "Bridge Over Troubled Water" album is a shoe-in for my All Time list, and it's about thirty odd years old. It's new to ME though, and I love it. Way too soon to say it deserves a place just yet, but I'd say if we have this conversation this time next year it'll have earned a place.
Thanks to the iPhone, I'm now listening to more music on the move than I do in the house. Gone are the days of sitting in my bedroom listening to albums and ogling pictures of Geri Halliwell and Gillian Anderson (what can I say, I must've had a thing for red heads). Now, albums get bought and put on iTunes and then transferred onto my phone. For better or worse, that's really how I'm listening to music these days.
Not to say I haven't heard albums that have firmly cemented their place in my otherwise cold, dead heart, and can now sit alongside the other albums in my All Time list. Those albums?
These albums.
Belle and Sebastian - Tigermilk (original release date: 1996)
It's hard not to get caught up in Stuart Murdoch and co's untouchable debut, from the stark, confessional sounding lyrics ("my brother had confessed he was gay, it took the heat off me for a while, he stood up with his sailor friend, and made it known upon my sisters wedding day"), it's got humour, charm, great pop songs and even an electronic dance song that's more inventive and interesting than anything in the charts today.
I only recently got into Belle and Sebastian about five or so years ago, and even though I've got every album and single, this is the one I keep coming back to.
Adam Green and Binki Shapiro - Adam Green & Binki Shapiro (Original Release Date: 2013
Easily the most recent album here, and one that Mrs C will continue to remind me is one that she discovered because she knew "it was the sort of hipster shit you like", Adam Green has since become a permanent fixture on my playlist, but it's his most recent album that is the benchmark for his considerable talent. His other albums often have jokey, silly songs about drugs and girls and God knows what else, but his collaboration with Binki Shapiro, who's timeless, broken hearted vocal literally stopped me in my tracks the first time I heard her, sees Green at his most focussed, giving 10 songs of love, loss and lust. The third track "Casanova" may possibly be my favourite song of the last five years.
Arcade Fire - Funeral (Original Release Date: 2004)
It's maybe a cliche to include the debut album from Arcade Fire in here, because when you look up the album on Wikipedia it's in fucking EVERY Best Ever list of the last 10 years from any music website, blog or magazine you care to think of. And who am I to argue? It's ten years old now, and of all people it was my boss who introduced me to the magic and beauty of Arcade Fire. I've got and loved every album (even though Neon Bible is the weakest, in my opinion) but "Funeral" remains my go to album for the band. Skyscraper high songs, intelligent, heartfelt lyrics..the only downside are the song titles themselves, with four of the ten songs being called "Neighbourhood" ("#1, 2, 3, & 4"). It takes a lot of listens to remember which is which, but I think I got that bit down at least.
That's three albums I've got in the last five years that have managed to sit comfortably alongside the likes of Melon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, the Gold Experience and Blur.
What have you got?
Now, "new" albums is a tricky term. I would say that Simon and Garfunkel's flawless "Bridge Over Troubled Water" album is a shoe-in for my All Time list, and it's about thirty odd years old. It's new to ME though, and I love it. Way too soon to say it deserves a place just yet, but I'd say if we have this conversation this time next year it'll have earned a place.
Thanks to the iPhone, I'm now listening to more music on the move than I do in the house. Gone are the days of sitting in my bedroom listening to albums and ogling pictures of Geri Halliwell and Gillian Anderson (what can I say, I must've had a thing for red heads). Now, albums get bought and put on iTunes and then transferred onto my phone. For better or worse, that's really how I'm listening to music these days.
Not to say I haven't heard albums that have firmly cemented their place in my otherwise cold, dead heart, and can now sit alongside the other albums in my All Time list. Those albums?
These albums.
Belle and Sebastian - Tigermilk (original release date: 1996)
It's hard not to get caught up in Stuart Murdoch and co's untouchable debut, from the stark, confessional sounding lyrics ("my brother had confessed he was gay, it took the heat off me for a while, he stood up with his sailor friend, and made it known upon my sisters wedding day"), it's got humour, charm, great pop songs and even an electronic dance song that's more inventive and interesting than anything in the charts today.
I only recently got into Belle and Sebastian about five or so years ago, and even though I've got every album and single, this is the one I keep coming back to.
Adam Green and Binki Shapiro - Adam Green & Binki Shapiro (Original Release Date: 2013
Easily the most recent album here, and one that Mrs C will continue to remind me is one that she discovered because she knew "it was the sort of hipster shit you like", Adam Green has since become a permanent fixture on my playlist, but it's his most recent album that is the benchmark for his considerable talent. His other albums often have jokey, silly songs about drugs and girls and God knows what else, but his collaboration with Binki Shapiro, who's timeless, broken hearted vocal literally stopped me in my tracks the first time I heard her, sees Green at his most focussed, giving 10 songs of love, loss and lust. The third track "Casanova" may possibly be my favourite song of the last five years.
Arcade Fire - Funeral (Original Release Date: 2004)
It's maybe a cliche to include the debut album from Arcade Fire in here, because when you look up the album on Wikipedia it's in fucking EVERY Best Ever list of the last 10 years from any music website, blog or magazine you care to think of. And who am I to argue? It's ten years old now, and of all people it was my boss who introduced me to the magic and beauty of Arcade Fire. I've got and loved every album (even though Neon Bible is the weakest, in my opinion) but "Funeral" remains my go to album for the band. Skyscraper high songs, intelligent, heartfelt lyrics..the only downside are the song titles themselves, with four of the ten songs being called "Neighbourhood" ("#1, 2, 3, & 4"). It takes a lot of listens to remember which is which, but I think I got that bit down at least.
That's three albums I've got in the last five years that have managed to sit comfortably alongside the likes of Melon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, the Gold Experience and Blur.
What have you got?
