#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 …

#1058 Pink Floyd – Dark Side Of The Moon

I was wondering when one of the most critically acclaimed records of modern popular music was going to turn up on the randometer. Pink Floyd’s eighth album regularly appears at the top, or at least top ten, of best albums ever, and remains the 4th best-selling album of all time, with 45 million sales. When …

#464 Brian Eno – Ambient 4: On Land

My Eno entry point was Talking Heads Remain In Light album which I bought on vinyl after hearing Once In A Lifetime on the radio. It was one of the first records in my collection and it’s still one of my top five favourite albums. After that I tracked down My Life In The Bush …

#725 Joy Division – Unknown Pleasures

This has been perfect lockdown listening. Joy Division are masters of channelling isolation, despair, loneliness and a general sense of discombobulation. I’ve been feeling a bit discombobulated recently and listening to this certainly helped. It didn’t alleviate it, but it solidified it somehow, made it more tangible and that’s almost as good in these shapeshifting …

#581 Goldfrapp – Felt Mountain

I bought this on its release having heard the lead single Lovely Head. I loved it instantly. A little like Portishead’s debut in 1994, when this came out in 2000, it sounded like nothing else around. It sounded the voices in the head, the music and mood in mind and an untapped yearning for something …

#528 Brigitte Bardot & Serge Gainsbourg – Bonnie and Clyde

Gainsbourg was/is a god, a genius, a prolific master of multiple musical styles and art forms. He recorded over 500 songs, wrote and produced multiple albums for other artists as well as himself, wrote a book, directed a film, acted in over 50 TV and film roles and composed the soundtrack for another 50+ more. …

#717 Basil Kirchin – Mind on the Run, A Basil Kirchin Sampler

Basil Kirchin is a unique and fascinating soul. I confess I had never heard of him until I received this free sampler from Trunk Records because I’d ordered several other CDs from Jonny Trunk’s emporium of the weird and wonderful world of sound. This sampler was produced by Trunk as part of Hull’s City of …

#1463 Scott Walker – The Drift

Be careful what you wish for! I made a joke about listening to this if you like Scott Walker’s more accessible late 60s solo output, when his Boy Child compilation came up on the randometer a few weeks back. The Drift is the middle record of Walker’s trilogy of ‘difficult inaccessible’ albums starting with Tilt …

#1208 The Space Lady – Greatest Hits

This is one of my most recent purchases. The compilation dates from 2013, but I only came across the Space Lady a couple of months ago when listening to a wonderful mix of women pioneers in electronic music by the always fascinating Open Culture. I was transfixed by her track Domine, Libra Nos / Showdown …

#1465 Scott Walker – Boy Child: 67-70

Well this is altogether a more calming proposition than the previous record, but no less intense in its emotional coverage and musical arrangements. Clearly, I’ve always been one for a bit of drama in my life (and music). I’ve written a little about Mr Walker (nee Noel Scott Engel) before, when Scott 3 popped up …