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| Cowboy Junkies |
| The Trinity Session |
| 1988 |
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The atmosphere they create on this is incredible. Their interpretation of other people's songs
is astonishing, but after all it's the quality of their own compositions which makes this so great.
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| Leonard Cohen |
| Songs Of Leonard Cohen |
| 1967 |
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At the age of 35 the then semi-successful writer and poet decided to put his words to music.
The result was a piece of work which gave a new depth and sincerity to the genre of pop which
still remains unrivalled to this day.
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Yet another gem from the vast cannon of the Throwing Muses/Pixies family. Bubble-gum
pop this was called and, yes, that's exactly what it is.
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| The Smiths |
| Strangeways Here We Come |
| 1987 |
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Their final album offers the widest range of instrumentation and the most complex arrangements.
On the second half they show a glimpse of what they might have been able to accomplish in the
future.
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| |
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| Go Betweens |
| Liberty Belle And The Diamond Express |
| 1986 |
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Probably the band with the highest number of "good" albums in rock history. But this (and maybe to a
slightly lesser degree "Oceans Apart") stood out with even "indier" songs.
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| The Beach Boys |
| Pet Sounds |
| 1966 |
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An obsessed and fanatic musician trying to create the perfect piece of music. And succeeding.
This does not top most best albums of all time polls for no reason.
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| Mogwai |
| Mogwai Young Team |
| 1997 Review |
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| |
Why the Scottish, of all people, were so fond of playing post-rock is not known. After all,
you can't get proper quiet-loud dynamics with bagpipes, can you? Never mind, great stuff, this.
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| Rain Parade |
| Emergency Third Rail Power Trip |
| 1983 |
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| |
The Rain Parade were part of the perfectly named Paisley Underground scene. This set of bands
looked back into the 60s whilst not looking sideways to US hardcore at all. Charmingly out
of time they were. |
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| Sigur Ros |
| Agoetis Byrjun |
| 1999 |
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| |
A record so out of time and out of sync with the rest of the world and so immersed in its own
universe it could only come from a faraway country. Iceland that is.
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| Porridge Radio |
| Every Bad |
| 2020 |
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| | |
A fitting start to a new decade in which rock music will probably solely be performed
by women. Fierce, angry and passionate this album introduced in their singer
and songwriter Dana Margolin a major talent on the rise.
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| Pavement |
| Slanted And Enchanted |
| 1992 Review |
|
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The quintessential Lo-fi band with their lo-fiest album. One wonders if it is
hard work for them to create songs that sound as half finished and fragmented as
those featured here. |
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They transported the indie ethos of the 80s into the 21st century. The very fine duetting on
some of the songs made the fragile compositions sparkle and shine even more.
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| |
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| Cowboy Junkies |
| The Caution Horses |
| 1990 Review |
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| |
The perfect synthesis of music, lyrics and voice. The difficulties of human existence have
rarely been portrayed better as in this set of songs.
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| Television |
| Marquee Moon |
| 1977 |
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| |
At first listen it sounds like your average New Wave record. It's the way they make guitar solos
sound cool that makes the difference eventually.
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After many good albums in the 70s and some not so good ones in the 80s this was
certainly the greatest comeback ever. Showing both his soft and his hard side he reached
his peak as a songwriter here.
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 |
| The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart |
| The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart |
| 2009 |
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| | |
This band could easily have been on a C09 cassette alongside The Drums and Crystal Stilts,
save for the fact that none of them are British. Nostalgia can be a good thing sometimes.
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| Avi Buffalo |
| Avi Buffalo |
| 2010 |
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| | |
As things look at the moment, the current decade will not yield that many classic albums.
And those few that will emerge will probably come from rather unexpected places. Like this one, which is
basically music for adults made by teenagers.
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| Pixies |
| Trompe Le Monde |
| 1991 Review |
|
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| |
More diverse and chaotic than their previous stuff but also slightly less
flawless. If you play this next to the first Frank Black album you will
seriously doubt that he was the only creative force in the band.
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|
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| Depeche Mode |
| Speak & Spell |
| 1981 |
|
| | |
The German version with 'Dreaming Of Me' on it of course. One of the few nearly
flawless efforts of the first wave of synthpop. The two Yazoo albums that
followed have also aged remarkably well.
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| Low |
| Things We Lost In The Fire |
| 2001 |
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| |
The slowest band on the planet. Each note, each chord comes in drops. All held together by the
harmony of two voices fitting together rather perfectly.
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