OO fun fun, I wanna play! Discovered a ridiculous amount of great music this year. Thank you Internets!
The Afghan Whigs - 1965 - 1998
Obscenely underrated. My album of the year. Mediocre grunge band pull out a drug damaged soul- rock masterpiece from out of nowhere. Like a forgotten and unlikely Stones album in which Jagger sounds bruised and vulnerable.
Ariel Pink's Huanted Graffiti - Doldrums - 2004
Lo-fi loner rock. Ariel is the most idiosyncratic songwriter in indie today. Probably not for everyone as this really is
lo-fi, but his oddball twist on 70's AOR is funny, fun and refreshing.
Can - Tago Mago - 1971
I avoided these for ages, always assuming they might sound like 70's Pink Floyd who I can't stand. But I was well wrong. This stuff is immense. 'Aumgn' is the most terrifying racket I've ever heard. Greatest white rhythm section of all time?
A Tribe Called Quest - Low End Theory - 1991
Yeah I know. I know. I'm not even fashionably late. But forgive me, for years the only ATCQ track I knew was 'Can I Kick It' which I'm still not a fan of, and I always associated them with the mainly toothless Hip Hop alternative underground. But this is full of immaculate, stoned jazz-funk beats, and Q Tip at his dizzying, abstract best.
Midnight Marauders is great too.
Joni Mitchell - Blue - 1971
Another artist I overlooked for years due to ignorance. I downloaded one of her albums in the Napster days. It wasn't what I expected and I deleted it off my IPod. Fortunatly my mind has opened over the years and out of curiosity I tried again. And it blew me the f**k away. Every track is so beautifully crafted. The greatest female songwriter of all time?
The Meters - Look Ka Py Py - 1969
Vintage New Orleans funk. Licks you up in all the right places. My fave funk LP.
Neu! - Neu!75 - 1975
More Kruatrock. Sometime It gives me the feeling of flying through space from the comfort of my bed. 'Leb' Woh' has been known to make me cry.
the JB's - Food For Thought - 1972
Funkiest funking funk from funks foremost funkers. I love James Brown but I like this above his LPs. Most 80's hip hop wouldn't have happened without it.
ABC - Lexicon of Love - 1982
80's pop thrills with brains. I've seen it described as 'Dylan goes disco' which is about right.
Stereolab - Emperor Tomato Ketchup - 1996
Hypnotic non-Kraut Krautrock, with delicious chanteuse vocals. Had
Mars Audiac for years and couldn't stand it except 'Ping Pong'. Listened to this a couple of months back and everything just kinda clicked. Don't you just love it when that happens?
I'd rate all of these amongst my favourites of all time. It was only this year that I really started downloading stuff and lovely new destinations have been added to my musical map. The only downside is that I sometimes feel overwhelmed with all this music and maybe not devouring a single album like I should. More to come . . . .