Music
This page features albums that I’ve been enjoying and would heartily recommend. They aren’t necessarily the ‘greatest albums of all time’ or anything so foolish, but as I find it harder and harder to discover albums that really musically excite me, when I do… I feel like I should share my discoveries. If you’re a Spotify user, just click the icon next to each album and it will take you straight to it. Enjoy….
Tommy Sims: Peace and Love at Amazon (UK)
Tommy Sims: Peace and Love at Amazon (US)
This album was recommended to me by Ola Onabule (an incredible British – Nigerian soul singer) and was he ever right. This album is chock full of beautiful songwriting, great playing (some awesomely funky, but understated bass) and the vocals are awesome. It echoes of his influences in a big way (there are overtly recognisable nods to Stevie Wonder, Al Green, Donny Hathaway et al..) but this isn’t a bad thing – recommended for those of you who with Donny was still alive and Stevie was still making awesome albums.
Favourite track: Comin’ Home
Hans Zimmer: Inception at Amazon (UK)
Hans Zimmer: Inception at Amazon (US)
My love of soundtrack music continues to grow, and as my movie of 2010, Inception’s soundtrack was a must-get. The listenability of these albums hinges on your interest in the tiny details, as well as the epic, sprawling lushness. Huge strings, sparse piano and guitar parts, electronica, ambience and all of the trombones in the world lined up next to some HUGE drums. Awesome.
Favourite track: 528491
Billy Joel: The Stranger (30th Anniversary Legacy Edition) at Amazon (UK)
Billy Joel: The Stranger (30th Anniversary Legacy Edition) at Amazon (US)
Billy Joel has been an artist that I’ve grown into over the last few years. In my youth, he was the guy that did ‘we didn’t start the fire’ and ‘river of dreams’. An album like ‘The Stranger’ reminds you what an essential songwriter he was, patricularly for pianistic singers. This special edition has a live gig tagged on and features some of his most incredible songs performed while they (and he) were still very young and fresh. Check out the live versions of ‘Angry Young Man’, ‘Miami 2017′ and the gentle simplicity of ‘Souvenir’, which makes me feel sad that artists these days have to set off fireworks and swing on trapezes, because back then, an extremely beautiful song was enough to bring a packed house to their feet.
Favourite track: Scenes From an Italian Restaurant
Sara Bareilles: Little Voice at Amazon (UK)
Sara Barielles: Little Voice at Amazon (US)
As a sucker for female singer-songwriters, this album pushes a certain button for me. It’s not going to be to everyone’s liking and is probably too mainstream and poppy for a lot, but for me, the songs range from good to magical, the performances are fantastic, the arrangements tasteful (but full of interest) and the production is fantastic. It’s great to see (and youtube will confirm this) that she’s a great live performer too, reminding us that there are ‘pop’ artists out there (in the US mainly) that underneath the sugar, can really cut it.
Favourite track: Between The Lines
Wallis Bird: Spoons at Amazon (UK)
Wallis Bird: Spoons at Amazon (US)
This was one of my favourite albums of 2008, without a doubt. Wallis is an awesome little lady, with a powerhouse voice, a great band and most of all, a selection of fantastic songs. There may be one or two tunes in here that I’m not mad about, but songs like ‘Blossoms in The Street’, ‘The Circle’ and ‘Just Keep Going’ give me goosebumps that still won’t let up on repeated listens.
It’s a crying shame that Wallis isn’t better known and that this album wasn’t touted as an ‘album of the year’ next to the usual tight-jeans pointy-shoe bullshit indie rock bollocks that people are convinced is so relevant, even though it’s disposable shite.
Favourite Track: ‘The Circle’
John Mayer: Continuum at Amazon (UK)
John Mayer: Continuum at Amazon (US)
This album is just incredible. The writing, the sounds, the players…. and the guitar solos. Wow. Each one is exquisitely crafted. Get it and learn them all.
Favourite Track: ‘Belief’
Hans Zimmer/James Newton Howard: The Dark Knight at Amazon (UK)
Hans Zimmer/James Newton Howard: The Dark Knight at Amazon (US)
An absolute masterpiece of composition. Brooding, dark and intense, this soundtrack has been my most listened album of the last year. The themes in it are beautiful, the orchestration magnificent and it doesn’t hurt that the Dark knight was my movie of the year. Most of it is in the same key (D min) but plays on rhythmic themes, timbre and pacing to create a soundtrack that never feels boring or monotonous. Beautiful.
Favourite Track: ‘A Dark Knight’
Gladiator: Music from the Motion Picture at Amazon (UK)
Gladiator: Music from the Motion Picture at Amazon (US)
Hans Zimmer is a masterful rip off merchant, borrowing wholesale from Holst, particularly from the Planet Suite, but he uses it to such good effect, that I almost don’t care. This soundtrack is one of my favourites ever and spans an incredible range of emotional geography from poignant and tender to downright vicious and the brooding orchestral arrangement of ‘Am I Not Merciful?’ is one of my favourite pieces of string writing – check it alongside Gorecki’s Symphony No. 3, and it seems like a close relative, perhaps a grandson of the epic Holocaust narrative.
Favourite Track: ‘Am I Not Merciful?’
Elbow: The Seldom Seen Kid at Amazon (UK)
Elbow: The Seldom Seen Kid at Amazon (US)
Elbow are, for me, one of the saviours of modern British music – they all play great, they write great songs and arrange and produce them beautifully. Watching their Live at Abbey Road Session reminds you what it’s like to hear a frontman who can really sing – with power, emotion, and that combination of tone and tuning that most of the throwaway Brit artists of 2010 struggle to get near. This album was written, recorded, produced and mixed by the band themselves and that fact in itself is further testament to their incredible level of musicianship.
Favourite Track: ‘One Day Like This’
Imogen Heap: Speak for Yourself at Amazon (UK)
Imogen Heap: Speak for Yourself at Amazon (US)
Imogen Heap represents a breakthough for me – an artist who embraces electronica but manages to make it feel warm and organic. To give a human face to all the machinery, if you like. From the first time I heard ‘Hide and Seek’ I was absolutely hooked. The fact that the rest of the album is full of diamonds has firmly cemented her in my favourite albums list. She has a production style that is unmistakably hers, a great range of songs, from the driving and dance-y, to the tender and introspective and with guest artists like Jeff Beck showing up to lend their talents, the album is enjoyable on many repeat listens from start to finish.
Favourite Track: ‘Just For Now’
Ryan Adams: Easy Tiger at Amazon (UK)
Ryan Adams: Easy Tiger at Amazon (US)
I struggled with Ryan Adams for a long time. Friends told me that he was a genius, a legend, one of the songwriters to check out. I just didn’t connect with him. Until I heard this album. Then I got it. As artists go, Adams is both prolific and to some degree inconsistent. I think he makes some incredible stuff and some that I can’t very easily leave. This album represents (for me) the most complete collection of songs that he has assembled. Ryan Adams fans will cut me to ribbons for saying that I prefer this to ‘Gold’ but to me… it just has more meat and less fat. Bruised, beautiful and real – the musicians make mistakes in the songs and they stay there, because they were part of a great take. Proper old-school, in that sense… and part of me really loves the sheer balls of that approach.
Favourite Track: ‘Two’
