#706 The Human League – Dare

As Pulp were the sound of Sheffield in the 90s, The Human League (I always forget there’s a ‘the’) were the sound of Sheffield in the 80s. Dare was their third album, the one where singer Phil Oakey took over the reins as main songwriter and turned this slightly experimental electronic outfit into a commercial …

#157 Björk – Post

Post is Björk’s second album, self-produced and written and recorded after she’d move to London following the success of Debut. It bears her characteristic style of vocals and lyrics but is less ‘indie’ and more experimental, already pushing against the boundaries of pop music. And certainly challenging listeners’ expectations from a ‘female singer.’ She was …

#1151 Radiohead – Kid A

I remember very clearly the buzz and excitement around this record’s release in 2000. Except I was in Australia at the time and the buzz was somewhat dimmed by me not having a radio or any means of playing CDs. I’ve written about my two-year round the world trip before, and how my partner and …

#1266 Silver Apples – The Garden

Silver Apples are an entirely unique entity, there’s no one else that sounds quite like them and that’s a rare thing in the world of ‘popular’ music and should be cherished. Not that Silver Apples achieved much popular success in their late ‘60s heyday, when a series of misfortunes befell their second album Contact, following …

#799 Lemon Jelly – Lost Horizons

A band like Lemon Jelly wouldn’t have existed without the likes of Jean-Jacques Perrey in the world, and across the 30 year time-gap there’s a lot these two albums have in common. Aside from the focus on synthesized electronic music, jazzy lounge pop and “Music to Chill Out To” there’s the humour. Perrey prefers musical …

#1007 Jean-Jacques Perrey – Moog Indigo

Jean-Jacques Perrey was a key figure in the popularisation of electronic music during the 1960s to 70s. Though rather than the avant-garde sounds of his countrymen Pierre Schaeffer and Pierre Henry, his work, particularly in collaboration with Gershon Kingsley focused, on the lighter side of musical entertainment. From the early 1950s he became somewhat obsessed …

#965 Beth Orton – Pass In Time: The Definitive Collection

I’ve seen Beth Orton twice in concert, both times by accident. A happy accident, I hasten to add. The first time was in 1999 and I was in Barcelona for my girlfriend's 30th birthday. It was the end of September and by chance we were there for La Merce Festival with its famous fire runs, …

#1388 United Future Organisation – 3rd Perspective

According to Wikipedia UFO’s music is ‘nu-jazz’ or jazztronica. I have no idea what that means. But I like it. It’s similar to the Acid Jazz sounds of mid-80s London from the likes of the James Taylor Quartet and Jazzanova. United Future Organisation are, however, Japanese and their style, at least on this album (I …

#1551 White Noise – An Electric Storm

This album is Delia Derbyshire’s New Adventures in Hi-Fi following her departure from the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. It’s a curious beast, a collaboration between her and David Vorhaus. Her one-time compatriot Brian Hodgson also appears, assisting with the electronic knob-twiddling on the last track, along with vocals from John Whitman, Annie Bird, Val Shaw and …

#821 Massive Attack – Protection

I wasn’t really into Massive Attack at the time. Somehow their brilliant debut album, Blue Lines, passed me by when released in 1991. Maybe because I was focusing on my A levels at the time, but most likely because I just wasn’t cool enough. I recall clearly the brilliant video for Unfinished Sympathy but they …