no surprises in my record collection....

5 randoms of the pile..........

jason and the scorchers-fervour
new order-low life
shack-zilch
david bowie-live in santa monica 1972
bobbie gentry-way down south


the light was off in thre front room,i don`t really know the purpose of this thread,i suppose it may be just five pulled out of the rack that i might play,what they are doin in my house,and the reasons i have them,i`ll work backwards...the bobbie gentry album is down to geoff,when he first went on bout"arl fat arse"it were a bit of stick he took,he can take it(i mean the stick)cause he knows that its good,i can`t say i`ve listened to this much,its prob cost me 20p so i`m in a good position just to try stuff....when i did play it though i enjoyed it,and now with mornin glory bein on one of the comps,and i know the standards of it,i`ll prob play it more...this is the beauty of the compilation......you may hear the brent randal &and his pinecones track on a comp,then discover the album....then go out an buy it,i`ve bought every jens lekman album after hearing"sweet summers night"on one of geoffs comps...and they are fantastic,next bowie,ah well i can see this was maybe a bad idea for a thread,bowie is the boss,you thought it was bruce didn`t ya,wrong....this is the worlds greatest band at the time,at the top of their powers...err forget labrynth......all of bowies albums up to 1979 should be on ya shelf,amazin stuff....shack,hmm where do i start,well its just happened to be the synthetic masterpiece in me hand,much has been made of the overall sound of this immense album.......its lost nothin really over the years,even though its stuck in a broudie time warp...a masterpiece,and "our"band........next new order,i loved new order,i even wanted and succeeded to look like them,it was the look of the day,all those years ago,they prob robbed it of paul simpson,the look that is,can`t remember the last time i played this....it`d prob sound great,and the memories would come floodin back...lastly,jason and the scorchers.....this is a great mini-album,i put the best tracks off it on many tapes for people,they will know the songs,they will love the songs....this`ll prob be an end to this idea...........

this`ll be a bad dea for geoff,they`ll all be in alphabetical order.........

graeme wrote:

this`ll be a bad dea for geoff,they`ll all be in alphabetical order.........

ha ha - no, I like the look of this thread

I'm going to bed now - but will remind myself to post 5 random-ish albums from my collection tomorrow evening and what they mean to me.

The bands/artists will begin with five random letters....K,Y,C,R, & S (first five random keys I tapped on my keyboard)

goodnight all

all?there`s only you an me here,ya blirter........

it`ll be kiss,yes,cameo,ringo and shackattack..........

graeme wrote:

yes you can kiss my ring..........

You've been bossanova'd...haha...

Anyhow.....here goes...

Ramsey Lewis - Piano Player (1969)
Can't emphasise enough the impact this album has had on me. Last few years I have gotten into jazz more and more and in the process developed a worrying obsession with the Cadet label. So when I heard this album I nearly flipped. It's full of contemporary 'pop' versions of the time but I don't want anyone to think that makes it a lame 'muzak' album. It's anything but....it is sonically as good as music gets. The production duties are taken on by the genius Charles Stepney (the greatest record producer of all time?) and he just fills the gaps with heavy beats, lush strings and the odd vocal ala Minnie Riperton at her Rotary Connection best. This album and Maiden Voyage which was effectively made back to back and has been the source of samples galore for the hip-hop consengenti. The piano has become an instrument that I have grown more and more fond of as years have passed. Bacharach , Jobim and the stellar singer-songwriting of Paul McCartney, Todd Rundgren and more recently The Pearlfishers David Scott have given me a great appreciation of piano balladry and songwriting. Ramsey Lewis is simply the Don of them all.

China Crisis - Difficult Shapes & Passive Rythyms (1982)
I haven't listened to China Crisis for years but there was a time when they were very important to me. Used to listen to this album and Heaven 17's Penthouse & Pavement on heavy rotation during the evenings after school around 1982. There are many tracks that offer fond memories, No More Blue Horizons, Temptations Big Blue Eyes and the gorgeous instrumental Jean Walks In Freshfields. I particularly remember one night at the school disco when a girl named Kerry who was pretty, but not someone I had my eye on came up out of the blue and asked for a slowie to Christian - being a gent I obliged. I remember walking home that night and couldn't get her out of my head. Someone who I had never really bothered to think about had suddenly engrained herself on my memory. Happy days.

Yellow Balloon - Yellow Balloon (1967)
God 'Y' is a difficuly one - I resisted Neil Young because I'd already gone with christian names and I thought that would be cheating. So I plumped for this Sunshine Pop album - a genre I have always liked with the sun-kissed vocal harmonies. This album is good - not a classic of the genre but enjoyable.

Scott Walker - The Romantic Scott Walker (1969)
Not my favourite Scott album - but my first. It was my Dad's actually and it had been sitting in his vinyl pile all my childhood but I'd never bothered listening to it really. Until I spotted Scott Walker being interviewed on The Tube by either Muriel Gray or Paula Yates - must have been for the release of Climate of Hunter so that would be about 84. They played a clip of The Walker Bros singing The Sun Aint Gonna Shine Anymore - my Mum said how much she loved that song and I instantly loved it too. I remembered the album in the vinyl pile and went to play it. I was not convinced initially - sounded a bit too camp and dramatic - I guess I would have even called it almost classical at this point, but one song Montague Terrace caught my attention, so I played it , and played it, and played it - it had an almost magical effect on me because I'd never really listened to stuff like this before - eventually the other songs wormed their way in my brain and suddenly The Impossible Dream and I Have Dreamed, and Will You Still Be Mine were my favourite songs - I was hooked on Scott and I hadnt even heard Scott 2, 3 or 4 yet.....what joys I had ahead of me.

Kate St John - Indescribable Night (1995)
Not one of the best albums in my collection - very disappointing actually, but I want to give Kate a mention because I think she is fantastic. If I were a pop impresario and had the power to create a super group I would have Kate in the mix every time, adding magical flourishes with her oboe and cor anglais. I just love the way she used to add little snippets of magic to The Dream Academy records in a similar manner to what Andy Diagram did for the Paleys and Nigel with Camera Obscura - the little hidden gems of the band. Plus I thought she was simply gorgeous.

There you go batman.

okay,okay...the thread can stay(thinks,hope i dont drag some right demons outta the deck tonight).....i`ll have a delve later an see what comes out?

Entertaining reading as ever, BNC (as you shall be known henceforth). Will try and do something similar but i've got so much frigging work to do I doubt it will be before the weekend.. I thought about surprising you with 5 choices that you wouldn't expect me to hold in my collection... any guesses??

anthrax?

i just posted about a thousand words about these 5..a la geoff`s thread...saw nicks comment...forgot to save it...well thought i had...bastard,anyways,it took me an hour..i`m not doin it again....

astronomy for dogs-the aliens
play-magazine
live at the witch trials-the fall
nancy & lee-nancy sinatra & lee hazelwood
tigermilk-belle & sebastian

err i may revist this at a later date..an write about each one an what they mean to me....i`m quite pissed off about losin them words like...grim,ah well

oh i see what happened if someone posts,like clarky did then whilst your typin...in case your post has no validation in the thread anymore...thats why i lost the epic,shit.for fucks sake,what kinda fancy forum is this?

dodgy stuff that anthrax grae

Still haven't got the time to sort this post out, although I did used to have an Anthrax album once, around 1986 i think, i was into a bit of hip hop at the time (another surprise?) and they were kind of into the skateboarding thing if I remember..anyway it was shit so it has been lost / given away / stolen.

another thread dies a death...

mainly this week i`ve bin listenin to..

herb alpert & friends

an 8 album box set picked up in charity shop in west kirby....

its a box set put out by the readers digest which is a really nice thing,the actual album covers are amazin and of their time,conjours up an abigails party feel....it`s mainly,bacarach,carpenters,sandpipers,tijuana etc.....easy listenin while prancin about with the iron......i woulda frowned upon this can thing in my younger life....over the years i have with a struggle with acceptin this kinda music,in the same way i`ve grown to love a lot of say,sinatra`s stuff........i can enjoy the aliens etc as much as anyone too...its a whoppin spectrum,all bout the music aint it............

since yer trying to 'revive' this thread, I'd thought I'd contribute and give ya a dose of Canadiana (mostly indie but not all..). Five randoms for me (well actually, the top of the pile right now) are:

Nathan Wiley's "City Destroyed Me" (love the first track "One of the Worst Ones")
Danny Michel's "Feather, Fur & Fin" (stellar title track)
Tegan & Sara's "The Con" (my wifey particularly likes "Back in Your Head" - good tune)
Neil Young's "Harvest Moon" (i know i know - every Canadian has a Neil or two in his collection but cant help but love it)
Matt Mays self-titled debut (whole album is one of those faves that brings you back to the time you played it to death)

Sorry if my "top" 5 arent so artsy and obscure but i gotta do my small bit to expand the little Canadians into the world. Looking back on the list, I dont think any would be considered to be pop music - more like folk rock. Anyhow lemmie know if ya think my list sucks or not..

btw - Maudlin hasnt come out of my player since it arrived so thats why it aint on the list!

shouldn`t a canadians list have some leonard cohen n`all.....

i think canada is quite the happenin place aint it? secretly canadian an that....brent randall and his pinecones to name but one.........

Sorry if my "top" 5 arent so artsy and obscure that dont matter to us none........

cohen is most definately in my pile as is Bruce Cockburn...
i heard of Brent Randall (being from the Maritime provinces myself) but honestly never really gave a good listen..will do so now tho! thx for the recommend (..and the Canadian praise)

rather than albums... I thought I'd give 5 random songs that come up on my ipod on shuffle....

-"I'm A Cuckoo" - Belle & Sebastian (from "I'm A Cuckoo" EP)
-"It's Never That Easy Though, Is It? (Song For the Other Kurt)" - Los Campesinos! (from "We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed")
-"Show Me The Way" - Dinosaur Jr (from "You're Living All Over Me")
-"Angel In the Snow" - Elliott Smith (from "New Moon")
-"Evelyn Is Not Real" - My Morning Jacket (from "The Tennessee Fire")

strange they were mostly "newish" tunes. I do have a bunch of old stuff on there. promise. those are all pretty sweet songs though.

thanka for the great song recommends - this is what i like about blogs like this - people with similar tastes in music (or whatever) and finding new and interesting gems. Had a listen to all of the above and particularly like the B&S song (never heard before and not as "obsessed" with them as CO) and Los Campesinos! again thanks..
also had a better listen to Brent Randall yesterday at werk - imagine good pop right under my nose! Im blinded by the good stuff coming outa the UK these days i guess...
bolony

all good things come to those who wait...like tracyanne discoverin karen dalton a few days ago...............keep searchin/keep findin.............its a trail of cookies.........music to move and make ya into what you are..........

can't let cool get in the way
there's some great music out there in unexpected places


in love with cat power at the moment
paul simon - paul simon / one trick pony
roger daltry - ?one of the boys?
bit of regina spektor
echo and the bunnymen - ocean rain
love - out there
neil young - neil young

the drive to my new place of work affords me a few more tracks a day!

Just pulled out 5 random vinyl LPs - once from each cabinet thing. And in order:-

The Selecter - Too Much Pressure
Astrud Gilberto - Look to the Rainbow
Psychedeilc Furs - Forever Changes
REM - Green
10,000 Maniacs - In my Tribe

Will probably play them all now

Nothing much to say about em mind.

okay five for me,i will also play them today,as i`ve finally played all 8 readers digest albums...really good coffee table music...

you are fee-cat power

i love cat power,i fell out with her a bit just after the greatest,ermm she didn`t notice or answer my letters,hahaha only kiddin...my friend neil(who is the catalyst for so much stuff i like,oh yeah he`s playin in brighton next weekend martin)put"nude at the news"on a cassette tape....anyways i then when about buyin everythin i could,this album has a great cover(it coulda bin taken in llangollen)and a beautiful gatefold pic..yeah thats all nice enough but what bout the music..best tracks

i don`t blame you
good woman
keep on runnin

she was best when she was fragile,she now trys very hard to appear confident,she is not..but i hope her life turns out right for her.......

the thin white duke-david bowie

this is a double bootleg at nasseau coliseum in 1976,i would have bought this at the bluecoat chambers record fair in about 1981,it would have cost about 15 quid....after lodger i gave up on bowie...he caught the publics imagination with the lets dance album and a few others,this is the man who is the daddy,his legacy will never be eroded,its a close call between he,dylan and young.....but he was the one,who pushed me by way of chance to all things new,and old,the people who quote him and his music...his first 12 albums are immense...this is mainly a hits live album,but a good selection..carlos alomar is quite indulgent on them though...best tracks...

word on a wing
station to station

duet with cher
can you hear me
young americans medley

carpenters-ticket to ride

geoff pointed this out at the booty,original a&m..its maybe their first album?i`ve always loved the carpenters,much to pete`s dismay...not in a trendy way,the way pete burns used to go on bout abba when he worked in probe...i dont know why,superstar came on,in the week on that herb alpert collection thing...what a great song...best songs...

ticket to ride
nowadays clancy cant even sing(bizarre)
turn away

the smiths-meat is murder

its gonna be hard to pick a best tracks on this,i craved the smiths,they were a fresh of fresh air,and all of a sudden like dave of shacknet,i had a new favourite band.....they were the bee`s knee`s...awesome,their songs hit home and became your own..live,they had taken the place of the bunnymen,the intro...that classical piece which name escapes me(the march of summit)...fantastic....much missed,dont get back together..best tracks...

rusholme ruffians
that joke isn`t funny anymore
well i wonder
barbarism begins at home

to the shores of lake placid-zoo compilation

well they are all on here,the signs of what was to come,all the early 80 liverpool legends..all beginnin their dreams..we watched a few get hung out to dry over the years......liverpool/glasgow...these were the places,this was the time..best tracks

society for cutting up men-big in japan
iggy pops jacket-those naughty lumps
when i dream-the teardrops explodes
pictures on my wall-echo and the bunnymen

some i have bin playin recently

god help the girl-g.h.t.g
illinoise-sufjan stevens
befriended-the innocence mission
dongs of sevotion-smog
yankee hotel foxtrot-wilco
seven swans-sufjan stevens
bbc sessions-b&s
please,please me-the beatles
the graduate soundtrack-simon & garfunkel