Going to do a speedy run through my top fives of the year. Starting with my favourite albums of the year, no long wordy explanations this year just a straight list. I found lots of great new music but found it really tough to put them in order (with the exception of my number one) so I've listed my top 30 so if I want to change my mind at some point in the future I'll remember what the other options were.
1. Meilyr Jones "2013"
2. Leonard Cohen "You Want it Darker"
3. The Blind Shake "Celebrate Your Worth"
4. Charles Bradley "Changes"
5. Julia Jacklin "Don't Let The Kids Win"
6. Eleanor Friedberger "New View"
7. Mogwai "Atomic"
8. Angel Olsen "My Woman"
9. David Bowie "Blackstar"
10. Conor Oberst "Ruminations"
11. Tindersticks "The Waiting Room"
12. Field Music "Commontime"
13. The Wave Pictures "Bamboo Dinner In The Rain"
14. Slowcoaches "Nothing Gives"
15. Kiran Leonard "Grapefruit"
16. Laura J Martin "On The Never Never"
17. Emma Pollock "In Search of Harperfield"
18. Pixies "Head Carrier"
19. PJ Harvey "Hope Six Demolition Project"
20. Thee Oh Sees "A Weird Exits"
21. Cowtown "Paranormal Romance"
22. North Sea Radio Orchestra "Dronne"
23. Savages "Adore Life"
24. She Makes War "Direction of Travel"
25. Wild Billy Childish & CTMF "SQ1"
26. Palehound "Dry Food"
27. Giant Burger "Giant Burger Forever"
28. Ultimate Painting "Dusk"
29. Weaves "Weaves"
30. Conrad Keeley "Original Machines"
.
Wrapping up my review of 2015 with a repeat of my Top 5 Albums of the year. I got a bit carried away with the Songs & Albums run down before Christmas and ran out of time to write my own words so here are my favourite albums from a remarkable year in music. The top three here were all contenders for number one and the other two entries snuck ahead of at least ten contenders for a top 5 spot.
5. Sleater-Kinney "No Cities To Love" - The first album in 10 years for one of my favourite bands was bound to strike a chord with me and this was no disappointment. It's a little difficult to be objective so soon after release but I think No Cities To Love compares really well with Sleater-Kinney's best albums. A clear successor to their last LP, and the album that really got me into the band, 2005's The Woods. There are 10 songs on here and they all sound fantastic. I really love Sleater-Kinney and if you've not heard them this is a good a place as any to start.
4. Thee Oh Sees "Mutilator Defeated At Last" - Thee Oh Sees have been on the periphery of my music radar for quite a few years. They sounded like the sort of band I ought to like but for whatever reason I'd not managed to go and investigate further. When 6music started playing The Web, the first single from this album (at least I think it was a single, are they still a thing or do we just have playlist tracks now?), I wasn't blown away. But, Marc Riley in particular kept playing it and it began to seep into my consciousness. By the time I bought the album I was very much on-side but that still didn't prepare me for how preposterously great the album would be. I've started working backwards through their catalogue now and it's not a one off. Another amazing band to add to my collection.
3. Ezra Furman "Perpetual Motion People" - Ezra came to my attention in 2013 with the Day of the Dog album. That blew me away and led to me catching him live early the following year. The songs on Perpetual Motion People took a while to win me over. Perhaps they're not quite as raucous as the previous LP (and I'm a big fan of raucous) but they grew on me pretty quick and show a real maturity in Ezra's songwriting. Though the musical vibe is very upbeat some of the lyrical themes are both personal and soul baring. In particular Body Was Made which hints at the Ezra's non-binary status and, my favourite tune on the record, Ordinary Life which gives clear indications about coping with depression. Ezra deserves to be a huge star and if you ever get the chance to see him live I guarantee you'll leave with a massive smile on your face.
2. BC Camplight "How To Die In The North" - This was my record of the year for so long, in many ways it's still first equal. Brian Christinzio has been around for some time but relocated to Manchester in 2011 after a period of health issues. Having nearly quit music he rediscovered his passion in the UK and the songs that make up this album began to take shape. I'd heard some of these tunes as far back as 2013. You only need one listen to work out why the album took so long to arrive. It's immaculate, hints of Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys in both vocal style and instrumentation but still very much a work that speaks volumes of its creator.
1. LoneLady "Hinterland" - Although I'm sure the influences might be there, to my ears this sounded like something new and fresh. LoneLady is another solo project, Julie Campbell originally performing genuinely solo with just a drum machine for company. For this album she has added a full band and the songs sound all the better for it. Julie's spiky, angular guitar lines are the seam that run through the whole album but there's a real groove to the sound. It's not dance music but it's music you can dance to. I'm not sure I've found the words to explain why this is number one but throughout the year this has been the one album to remain a constant on my playlist.
.
The final part of my Top 25 Albums of 2015 neatly provides my first Top 5 summary of 2015. All five of these albums were contenders for the number one spot at some point in the year. The fact that Sleater-Kinney, one of my very favourite bands returning after a ten year hiatus, only come fifth underlines this.
5. Sleater-Kinney "No Cities To Love" - Pitchfork review - No Cities to Love is a disarming, liberationist force befitting the Sleater-Kinney canon. Fervent political leftism has been implicit to this Olympia-born trio since they first inverted Boston's "More Than a Feeling" on a 1994 comp and that goes on here as well; we desperately need it. It is astonishing that a radical DIY punk band could grow up and keep going with this much dignity and this many impossibly chiseled choruses. No Pistol, Ramone, or unfortunate mutation of Black Flag could have done this.
4. Thee Oh Sees "Mutilator Defeated At Last" - Pitchfork review - Thee Oh Sees have one type of song that is consistently great. It’s the fast and heavy track that combines the creepy and ugly sensibility of the Cramps with krautrock's streamlined sense of repetition. Mutilator delivers plenty of these songs. "Withered Hand", "Lupine Ossuary", and "Rogue Planet" each strikes that perfect balance of druggy alienation and soothing forward motion, of sublime rhythmic focus and freaked-out guitar violence.
3. Ezra Furman "Perpetual Motion People" - Guardian review - It rages along at a cathartic intensity that perfectly matches the lyrics. Haunted Head evokes the tumult of a bipolar mind in manic mode, the opening Restless Year and Lousy Connection are part painful self-examination, part triumphant Rebel Rebelish rallying cries.
2. B.C. Camplight "How To Die In The North" - The 405 review - This will be a lot of people's first encounter with BC, so let's get one important thing out of the way: he sounds a lot like Brian Wilson. Not just in voice, but in tone, delivery and arrangement too. It's a little disconcerting at first, but go with it: there is treasure in abundance on this record. The theatrical influence is undeniable, from the torch-song opening of 'Good Morning Headache' to the deliciously overwrought chorus of closer 'Why Doesn't Anybody Fall In Love'. It is light years ahead of his previous two albums.
1. LoneLady "Hinterland" - The Quietus review - Hinterland is playful – a vibrant and urgent combination of genealogy and vision – and it is this that truly makes it a masterpiece. Not only does Julie Campbell have the creative chops to create such richly evocative music, but she does it with a wink and a smile. Hinterland feels like a thesis on Manchester and its musical lore. By simply adding the rhythm of her shoes hitting the pavement, she's transformed a nostalgic archive into tightly executed, profoundly new, dance music.
.
Into the top ten now and proof that 2015 really was an exceptional year for music. This batch of records would stand up pretty well to previous years top fives and I've played all of them a lot.
10. Sauna Youth "Distractions" - The Quietus review - If you're coming to London-based post-punk four-piece Sauna Youth as a new listener, then the first thing to point out is that their name is something of a misnomer. Although definitely too young to remember first-hand the DC hardcore scene that occasionally perforates their sound they're probably old enough to recognise that Loud & Quiet's recent comparison of them to Parklife-era Blur might be more than just a music journo shorthand.
9. The Wave Pictures "Great Big Flamingo Burning Moon" - Pitchfork review - Great Big Flamingo Burning Moon is roughly their 16th album, their gnarliest yet, and it’s another collaboration, this one produced and co-written by beret-wearing punk artiste Billy Childish. The garage-rock primitivism marks the first time they’ve really glamourized their limitations. The slight redirection is likely thanks to Childish, who was expelled from art school for having "an attitude of total rejection" and has since devoted his life to demystifying the pompous institutions of modern art and music.
8. Courtney Barnett "Sometimes I Sit and Think, Sometimes I Just Sit" - Pitchfork review - Sit is Barnett's first album, the follow-up to two EPs collected on The Double EP: A Sea of Split Peas. Its music is descended from 1990s grunge, descended in turn from '60s garage and psychedelia—the rocks to the balloons of Barnett's thoughts, which blow back and forth above the distorted guitars buoyed by gas we can't actually see. Without her words, the music would sit there; without the music, Barnett would drift away. Half the time, she doesn't even sing, but talks, slipping into melody mid-line as though she just remembered she was playing music.
7. Joanna Newsom "Divers" - Guardian review - A lean, compact summary of the joys of Newsom, still an acquired taste to some, but to others, one of the undisputed greats working in our lifetime. Here are 11 tracks, none of them outstaying their welcome, in which glee and sorrow and erudite lyrical puzzles worthy of Araucaria come wrapped in music of breathtaking agility, conjoining eras and textures without a care.
6. Low "Sixes & Ones" - Guardian review - Ones and Sixes is an ear-pricking listen, particularly on headphones. It’s not just the death watch beetle tick of the programmed drums on Congregation, either. The discrete potato-chip crunch of Parker’s drum beats, and the space around each instrument on first single No Comprende, are two more ways in which producer BJ Burton has brought Low’s music into crisp resolution.
.
The next batch of five includes a band releasing they're first album for almost 50 years and a band who include a member who's main on-stage involvement is drinking cans of Red Stripe.
15. The Sonics "This Is The Sonics" - Pitchfork review - If garage rock was conceived in the ’60s as the primal sound of teenage boredom, frustration, and angst, what does it mean when men in their seventies attempt to play it? There’s probably a deep and worthy discussion to be had somewhere in there, but the Sonics don’t give a shit about that, nor should they. The Tacoma band’s new release This Is the Sonics is their first studio album of all-new material in 49 years, and that fact alone is staggering. What’s even more remarkable, though, is how one of garage rock’s most legendary bands has dared to test their legend by making a record that spits, snarls, drools, honks, wails, and screams as if it were 1966 all over again.
14. Godspeed You! Black Emperor "Asunder Sweet & Other Distress" - Quietus review - 'Asunder, Sweet And Other Distress' is exceptional in the GY!BE canon in a whole heap of ways. Firstly, it's a mere 40 minutes long - which is short by anybody's modern standards, let alone for the band which popularised the 20-minute plus track time for a whole generation. What's more the four tracks that make up the album play through as one single suite, resulting in a potent statement that it's tough to argue against always sitting through in its entirety.
13. Primitive Parts "Parts Primitive" - Short punky blast that wears its influences on its sleeves but leaves you smiling and wanting more. Featuring Lyndsay from Sauna Youth and Kevin & Robin from Male Bonding this is an album full of catchy hooks and no nonsense tunes that wouldn't sound out of place on a Stiff Records compilation.
12. Sleaford Mods "Key Markets" - Clash Music review - One-dimensional. Exhilarating. Crude. Hilarious. Gritty. Perplexing. These are just some of the words that have probably been used to describe Sleaford Mods in the last 12 months. All of them may be true, but 'Key Markets' is some of the most invigorating, honest and vital music you will hear this year.
11. Samantha Crain "Under Branch & Thorn & Tree" - Guardian review - Samantha Crain has been championed and invited on tour by folk sisters First Aid Kit, though where their music supplies ringing harmonies and dappled sunlight, something more solemn broods within hers. Crain’s songs are often peopled by outsiders struggling against bitter circumstances; Elk City imagines a woman eking out a life in a crumbling town, You or the Mystery addresses a reclusive neighbour found dead in his kitchen. But though many of these songs are racked with sadness, their effect is strangely uplifting. The richness of Crain’s voice and the elegant simplicity of the musical arrangements bring drama to these stories. And the striking imagery of her lyrics finds beauty and pathos in the details of downtrodden lives.
.
Continuing the countdown from 20 to 16, this section provides a nice mix of Folk, Pysch and Garage Rock. Time is getting the better of me so rather than struggle over the words I'm quoting from online reviews.
20. Föllakzoid "III" - Drowned in Sound review - It’s the band’s stated aim with this record to show what can be done with a minimalist techo approach to their craft, and as the lead guitar swirls in and out during this track’s sixth minute it is impossible to say anything other than that Föllakzoid have scored a resounding success.
19. Dead Rat Orchestra "Tyburnia" - The Dead Rat's have been on a run of fascinating projects recently and show no signs of slowing down. Tyburnia is the soundtrack to James Holcome's film of the same name, charting the history of public execution and the echoes of those events on contemporary times.
18. Trembling Bells "The Sovereign Self" - Line of Best Fit review - A glorious collage of musical artistry, drawing from darker regions than did any of its predecessors, it’s a work of extraordinary ambition, integrating aspects of Classical Greek tragedy, unorthodox religious imagery and some of the more jagged, acid-tinged pastoralism of drummer-vocalist Alex Neilson’s late 1960s psych-folk heroes the Incredible String Band.
17. Barrence Whitfield & The Savages "Under A Savage Sky" - Allmusic review - The production captures the raucous sound of the Savages' live show with good and greasy accuracy, and when Barrence sings "It's no sin to lose control," he's neatly summed up what's great about this band -- and this album. Those who still believe that rock & roll can and should make you move ought to put Under the Savage Sky on their playlists pronto; it's the raw real thing
16. Moon Duo "Shadow of the Sun" - Pitchfork review - Although Shadow of the Sun is rooted in psychedelia, there are elements of proto-punk all over it, darkening the songs and making them more human. "Wilding", the album's standout opening track, resembles one of Jonathan Richman’s more uptempo songs, tinged with a tinny Haight-Ashbury tambourine and some wigged-out synths. Johnson’s solos, which can occasionally wander, are concise and focused here, setting an energetic stage for what’s to come.
.
2015 was a fantastic year for music. I don't know if there was something special in the water or I just managed to hear a lot of good stuff but I don't remember a year in which I discovered so many new albums that I loved. For the first time since I started this blog I've got enough for a Top 25 (and plenty more beyond that).
25. Speedy Ortiz "Foil Deer" - Punk infused Indie rock that never fails to put a smile on my face. Their second proper album (third if you count Sadie Dupuis' self recorded debut) is the perfect combination of spiky guitar and well crafted lyrics.
24. La Luz "Weird Shrine" - An album of Garage Rock influenced tunes with Sixties Girl Group harmonies was always going to lure me into it's charms and seeing them live at the back end of October removed any doubts I had.
23. Beirut "No No No" - Zach Condon's full band version of Beirut continues where the excellent Rip Tide left off in 2011 with another wonderful album. It didn't fair so well critically anyone who counts a rotary valve flugelhorn and a ukulele as his main instruments is going to get a lot of slack from me.
22. Fuzz "II" - Few bands could be quite so well named. Fuzz are yet another string in Ty Segall's many bows. There's more than a hint of Sabbath here and, though I don't actually own a copy yet, this was too good to leave out of my top 25.
21. Deerhunter "Fading Frontier" - Bradford Cox's first release since recovering from being hit by a car. It's a beautifully fragile release that reveals more each time I listen. They played a session for Marc Riley which really opened my ears to their music, Bradford was particularly erudite that night and I was drawn in as much by his enthusiasm as anything else.
Not only did I leave this until 2014 was completely over but I've left it to the tail end of my top fives of the year thereby ensuring I'm only eight months ahead of the major music publications Albums of 2015.
1. Sharon Van Etten "Are We There" - I first discovered Sharon Van Etten after her third album Tramp did well in the 2012 end of year round ups. Had I heard that album earlier I’m sure it would have done well in my own top 5 that year. My expectations for Are We There were, therefore, pretty high and initial listens a little disappointing. Are We There is a sparser record with some fairly downbeat themes so not the sort of album that you’ll instantly love. However, repeated listening proved rewarding. It is a heartrendingly wonderful collection of songs full of emotional resonance. Eleven tunes that I think are all superb and at least five of which were contenders for my song of the year.
2. Shellac "Dude Incredible" - This may well be my favourite Shellac album ever. It’s intense and loud and brilliant. I’m a big fan of Steve Albini’s ability as a sound engineer and he’s done an amazing job on Dude Incredible. It’s a bit of a cliché but the drum sound is particularly incredible. Every beat is crystal clear and resonates with the enormous power of Bob Weston’s sticks.
3. Thee Silver Mt. Zion "Fuck Off Get Free We Pour Light On Everything" - A bit like Shellac, this might be my favourite Silver Mt Zion album. It's certainly their most commercial, though this is a statement based on my fairly skewed idea of what might constitute commercial and with the understanding that TSMZ are about as far from commercial as you can get without reaching the outskirts of the Avant Garde.
4. Johnny Cash "Out Among The Stars" - I wondered whether this album was really eligible seeing as it was originally recorded in 1981. However, seeing as it was released for the first time in 2014 it surely does. Recorded when Cash’s career was on a downward path, his record company at the time refused to release it. In the nineties the American Recordings series reinvigorated Cash's career but also captured his gradual decline in health. Some of the later releases became quite an emotional listen as his voice became more fragile. What makes Out Among The Stars particularly enjoying is hearing Johnny Cash in his prime again. There’s some real joy in these tunes, a little cheesy in places perhaps but some proper high points too. Baby Ride Easy is a lovely duet with June Carter Cash, Tennessee has a chorus sung by school children that will melt your heart and both Out Among The Stars and She Used To Love Me are proper Cash classics.
5. Mogwai "Rave Tapes" - Mogwai just don’t release bad albums. Rave Tapes might not be quite as fantastic as Hardcore Will Never Die but it's still a fabulous record. I saw them live on this tour at an amazing gig back in January where my restricted view seat was almost as good as having a back stage pass.
.
It's been a long time since I had a guest post on here and this one is nicked directly from my friend Justin's blog. Over at Station to Station Justin has all sorts of music votes in progress which I've been contributing too (never one to pass up the chance of putting things into some sort of order) and his readers recently picked "Doolittle" by the Pixies as a contender for Ultimate Album. There's an extended blog about the Ultimate Album vote HERE which includes my top 5 moments from the same album but I've taken Justin's bit's out for the guest post below.
We decided to give a go at arguably the Pixies' strongest or at least their most consistently loved album Doolittle and give a proper inner Top 5 from the album. I voted for Stevie Wonder this round but I can't deny this 1989 release and its staying power as an album that was a precursor to the alternative explosion that happened in the following decade. And voters agreed. By one point it narrowly took down Wonder's tour de force double album a la kitchen sink and last night's leftover Songs In the Key Of Life. After wrestling with Wonder's shortcoming I quickly lightened up. Why? Because Doolittle is frankly a blast.
5. Gouge Away - As far as closers go, Gouge Away is wonderful for the way it sets the tone for the album that preceded it quite nicely. Musically, Joey Santiago rips through this one on guitar like the world is on fire around him. And Frank Black's lyrics are quite violently disturbing but he delivers them on target being a bit more gentle in the main chorus then getting up to his frantic antics in the verses for extra effect. I've taken Gouge Away as being trapped to something tangible (a drug, a lifestyle, a habit, anything you can't break away from) and being unhappily set in its moribund path of destruction. But further reading for this five shows it's of biblical proportions. Black had written Gouge Away around the story of "Samson and Delilah" which I didn't know previously but makes sense. Do all these things to me (Gouge Away, Break My Arms, Spoon My Eyes...) and I won't break. Unless of course, you cut my hair. If the song ended on that refrain it may have been a bit...corny? Nonetheless, I've got "Gouge Away" at #5...mainly because "Gouge" is a pretty terrifying bad-ass word.
4. Debaser - Well if you told an average Joe "Hey I've got this album you might have not heard and the opening song AND closing song are both about getting your eyes sliced up and gouged" I wonder what his reaction would be? Excitement or Bewilderment? Maybe he asks if you should try a new medication. Cause basically that's the blueprint of "Doolittle" and its bookends. And both songs make my Top 5. Debaser slightly ahead of Gouge Away because Frank sounds like he's having a panic attack. It's on par with Bone Machine for me, the previous album's "Surfer Rosa" opener in that there is this oddball mentality prepared to rip your mind and rock out at its own digression. Lyrically I guess Debaser is simpler (and if you dig French silent films from surrealists from the 1920s, you're in luck here too) and Kim Deal's sweet female counterpoint vocals of the word DEBASER off of Black's snarl of DEBASER is one of my favorite moments on the album. And of course the "slicing up eyeballs" reference. Ha Ho Ho Ho! What a great opener!
3. Tame - Cause there is quite a good amount of 2 minute and under songs on "Doolittle" I feel the need to add one in here and Tame is hands down the cake taker. It's aggressive and a bit mean hearted...but it's in good fun right cookie? The way Black crawls into your space just screaming Tame isn't for the lighthearted but making references to Cinderella's hips and falling on your face in bad shoes, well, that's for the girl you want to see fail because their mean hearted to begin with. And the dynamics of the simple chord progression in Tame was used time and time and time again in any grunge outfit you can count on your hands and toes in the next decade. Also Black's scream is probably on par with any metal vocalist you want to reference. Not one to throw on for your kids because they'd probably feel their father has lost their mind. But for style points if their just at the right age, you'd probably be a genius in their eyes. "Mom, dad's playing that guy screaming "Tame" again! And he's smiling the whole time! I'm, worried!".
2. Monkey Gone To Heaven - This is probably my first memory of the Pixies seeing the video for Monkey Gone To Heaven on 120 Minutes back in my early teen days. It made for a dark and mysterious band at first glance (the black and white video or the whole devil is six, pick one they both fit the bill at the time). But there is a touching side to Monkey Gone To Heaven. There is a more conscious environmental flow and spiritual side to Monkey Gone To Heaven. First off, the under water guy who got killed by ten millions pounds of sludge from New York and New Jersey. What bastards we are as humans to kill Neptune with our sludge! Also mentioned is the hole in the sky which I imagine was the first talks of what we're doing to the hole in the ozone layer back in '89. I may not recycle as much as I want to should, but Monkey Gone To Heaven does a great deal in wanting me to help our Earth. (As Jim Morrison drunkenly mumbled "What have we done to our fair sister?") And now that the environmental part of the song is out of the way a quick tip of the hat again to Santiago for crafting a guitar line that matches the mood perfectly. And Deal again works the bittersweet side vocals to Black who is much more subdued for most of the song. Of course he can't help himself by the time "Then GOD IS SEVEN" comes round near the end. Most people think of Monkey as the number song but there is much more here when you dig deeper...there's even cellos for goodness sake.
1. Wave Of Mutilation - Leave it to my pop sensibility again, I love Wave Of Mutilation the most on "Doolittle". It's like a slap across the face with cold water on a July day. Sure there's nothing refreshing about driving your car into the ocean (a reference to failed Japanese businessman's answer to failed business deals) but it somehow pulls off a romantic feel to it in that chorus. Something about just being on a wave with Santiago upping the feeling playing that guitar a bit off from the rest of the song for extra punctuation. Can any Wave Of Mutilation have a good ending to it? No way. But the Pixies make that wave feel right somehow, Black's crunchy rhythm guitar leading the way in the verse to a seaport mariana. Yeah, that's where we'd all like to ride to sometime. Even if it is one defined by mutilation. It's slightly better than slicing up eyeballs, a little more refreshing than being referred to as 5 and a top notch song from an ultimate album.
.
The final year of the decade was a pretty great one on the album front if a rather miserable one in reality as the woman who had taken away our daily milk at school (not actually a bad thing in my experience as it was usually a bit off due to our school not having a fridge big enough to keep it cool) became British Prime Minister. This was probably the first General Election I remember and certainly created clear divisions in the play ground as we cheered on either Red or Blue with the same type of gusto we normally reserved for our football teams. In keeping with my lack of football success I was on the losing side with politics too.
In music news Iron Maiden, Samson, and Angel Witch shared a bill at the Music Machine in Camden, London, following which rock critic Geoff Barton coined the term "New Wave of British Heavy Metal" (this will be important knowledge should I continue this theme into the Eighties). Also the Sony Walkman went on sale for the first time in Japan.
1. Stiff Little Fingers "Inflammable Material" - The debut album from a brilliant yet under appreciated band. I discovered SLF thanks to a BBC drama called 'Iris In The Traffic' which was about a teenager growing up amidst the troubles in Ireland. It featured backing music and a live performance by the band as well as, lead singer & guitarist, Jake Burns in a cameo role. This would be both his first & last acting role. Inflammable Material is full of excellent song writing, taking punk to it's catchiest limits. It also includes two of my absolute favourite songs in Alternative Ulster & Suspect Device.
2. The Specials "The Specials" - An album I first discovered at my best pal's Blue Peter bring & buy sale but was unable to afford the £3.00 price tag! I tried haggling but seller wasn't interested in £1.48, an old pencil and a bit of string. It took me far too long to eventually buy it but having rectified that it has lodged itself as one of my all time favourite albums.
3. The Undertones "The Undertones" - Having described the SLF album as the catchiest limits of Punk was perhaps underestimating how ridiculously catchy The Undertones debut is. An instant shot of happiness. It's packed full of pop crackers and is an album for which almost every track could have been a single.
4. Motörhead "Overkill" - The second official album from the classic Motörhead line-up which nailed their sound and, I think, is the best of their career. Heavier than most Heavy Metal & punkier than most Punk.
5. The Fall "Live At The Witch Trials" - It took me ages to get into The Fall properly and I'm not sure I'll ever catch up with their complete catalogue but this debut LP is a great place to start. They have a fairly epic discography with as many difficult albums as brilliant ones but it's definitely worth the effort picking your way through them.
Near misses; AC/DC "Highway to Hell", Pink Floyd "The Wall", The Damned "Machine Gun Etiquette", Joy Division "Unknown Pleasures", The Clash "London Calling", Wire "154", Buzzcocks "A Different Kind of Tension", Magazine "Secondhand Daylight", Motörhead "Bomber", The Pretenders "The Pretenders", and Van Halen "Van Halen II".
Albums to try; B-52s "B-52s", Blondie "Eat To The Beat", Crass "Stations of the Crass", Gang Of Four "Entertainment", Magazine "Secondhand Daylight", Neil Young "Rust Never Sleeps", Nick Lowe "Labour Of Lust", Richard & Linda Thompson "Sunnyvista", Stranglers "The Raven", Swell Maps "A Trip to Marineville", Talking Heads "Fear of Music", The Jam "Setting Sons", The Only Ones "Even Serpents Shine", The Ruts "The Crack", The Slits "Cut", Throbbing Gristle "20 Jazz Funk Greats", Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers "Damn The Torpedoes", XTC "Drums and Wires" and, just for my pal Ian's benefit, The Pleasure Principle & Replicas by Gary Numan.
.
The year that I really got into football. Underdogs Ipswich won a thrilling F.A. Cup final 1-0 against Arsenal. The following month the World Cup kicked off in Argentina, introducing me to the greatest spectacle in International Football (typically without any involvement from England). The most memorable game for me was the final itself and I still have a vivid memory of the packed stadium being filled with ticker tape as the teams ran out. It was also the year Pope John Paul II was elected Pope, introducing me to the "white smoke Pope, black smoke nope" process of announcing the papal decision. 1978 was also the year Pope John Paul I was elected but his papacy lasted only 33 days before he unexpectedly passed away due to either a heart attack or some mysterious deviousness.
In music Punk was changing into New Wave and, as if to indicate the end of an era, the Sex Pistols broke up mid-tour in San Francisco.
1. Wire "Chairs Missing" - Wire were a fabulously inventive band who I only really discovered thanks to Elastica's blatant appropriation of one of their chord sequences. It's difficult to separate their first three albums but Chairs Missing just edges it for me. They've had a couple of periods of hiatus but their 2013 album Change Becomes Us was one of my favourites of the year and pleasingly shows they've lost none of their spark.
2. X-Ray Spex "Germ Free Adolecesants" - This album is brilliant, one of the most unique & fascinating albums to come out of the UK punk scene. Typically it was only after Poly Styrene's death that I properly listened to it, having only really known a few singles, and of course I now regret not doing so sooner. Poly's lyrical skills are the real draw for me, her powerful yet off-kilter vocals providing the perfect delivery and an alternative to all those shouty blokes who were popular at the time.
3. Magazine "Real Life" - The debut album from Howard Devoto's post Buzzcocks outlet. My love for this LP may be somewhat skewed by the fact Shot By Both Sides is one of my all-time favourite songs but the rest of the album doesn't fall far short. It's also worth tracking down the Buzzcock's song Lipstick which uses the same tune as Shot By Both Sides but with different lyrics.
4. Johnny Thunders "So Alone" - Another album that might have made the list due to my enormous love of one particular song. This was the first proper solo record from former New York Dolls guitarist Thunders. I discovered it fairly recently thanks to 6Music & Marc Riley. Featuring Walter Lure and Billy Rath of Thunders other band Heartbreakers and a cornucopia of well-known guest musicians, including Chrissie Hynde, Phil Lynott, Steve Marriott, Steve Jones and Paul Cook. It's a mixed bag of originals and covers (including a fabulous version of the Chantays' surf classic Pipeline) but it's the sublime You Can't Put Your Arms Around a Memory that makes it a favourite for me.
5. Kate Bush "The Kick Inside" - Kate Bush was one of the first artists I remember liking though I didn't actually own any of her early albums until splashing out on the This Woman's Work box set in the early 90s. This is her debut album and has many of my favourite KB tunes including Wuthering Heights, The Man With The Child In His Eyes, Kite & James and the Cold Gun.
Near Misses; Buzzcocks "Another Music in a Different Kitchen", Peter Gabriel "Peter Gabriel II", AC/DC "Powerage", Kate Bush "Lionheart", Van Halen "Van Halen", Buzzcocks "Love Bites", Ramones "Road to Ruin".
Albums to try; Alternative TV "The Image Has Cracked", Blondie "Plastic Letters", Bob Dylan "Street Legal", Bruce Springsteen "Darkness on the Edge of Town", The Clash "Give Em Enough Rope", Crass "Feeding The 5000", Elvis Costello "This Years Model", Jilted John "True Love Stories", John Cooper Clarke "Disguise In Love", Little Feat "Waiting For Columbus", Pere Ubu "The Modern Dance", Siouxsie And The Banshees "The Scream", The Jam "All Mod Cons", Tom Waits "Blue Valentine", UFO "Obsession", Warren Zevon "Excitable Boy".
.
