Impact Music #19: Mogwai Young Team

Mogwai Young Team by Mogwai

Post rock eh? What is it?

It was a toss up between this and Millions Now Living Will Never Die by Tortoise with which one to share. I've already changed my mind three times.

Tortoise was the first post rock album I got and is one of my favourite albums. I do, however have more records that fall into the "sounds like Mogwai" category than most bands. Some of them sound more like Mogwai than Mogwai do. Anyway, this is a slightly disjointed album compared to what came next, but it has two of the biggest tunes ever, the incredibly heavy Like Herod and the template for the future of post rock that is Mogwai Fear Satan. That's 25 minutes of your life right there.

As a side note, Mogwai Fear Satan had one of the greatest remixes ever, courtesy of Surgeon, which takes the definition of music to another sublime level at zero BMP.

Impact Music #18: Doolittle

Doolittle by Pixies

I loved the Chart Show. Surely EVERYONE loved the Chart Show. Not only did you get the main charts, but you also got the video vault and a peek at the dance, rock and indie charts. Indie was the most exciting of the three, each week throwing a new (to many) band out there with a low budget, high entertainment video. That's where I first met Pixies. 

A lot of people will claim Surfer Rosa is THE Pixies album, but Doolittle has the better pop tunes on it - incredibly weird and inventive pop tunes admittedly. It starts with Debaser, which should be enough to win most "best album" arguments and it is one of those albums where you're enjoying a song whilst also getting excited about the next song.

PS Hands up who still sometimes calls them "The Pixies"? There's always a temptation to make them the definitive article. Which they are.

Impact Music #17: The Faust Tapes

The Faust Tapes by Faust

The first Krautrock album I bought.

Forget your Kraftwerk - I didn't know what Krautrock was when I got into them - this is where it sort of started for me. Back in the days where you had to rely on recommendations for music when there was no other way of hearing it, this could've easily ended up being the worst purchase I've ever made.

Even if their sound isn't as recognisable as the ubiquitous sound of Kraftwerk/Can/Neu! in today's music, Faust were the ultimate Krautrock band - totally rejecting everything that went before them and totally uncompromising.

This wasn't supposed to be a proper album, it's a collage of sounds (moaning, power tools, someone going to the toilet), songs and improvisations that they put together and sold for the price of a single. It sold 50,000 copies in the UK and I suspect plenty of those copies were thrown away. Jim Kerr from Simple Minds apparently used his as a frisbee. It may not be a particularly easy listen, but it is massively entertaining and the few songs that are on it are stunning. After this all other Krautrock I heard sounded accessible.

It's also one of my favourite sleeves so I've included photos of both sides.

Impact Music #16: Queen Of Denmark

Queen of Denmark by John Grant

My next door neighbour lent this album to me shortly after it came out. He decided that I MUST hear it. 

Queen of Denmark could easily be dismissed as an Elton John pastiche until you notice the voice - the aural equivalent of caramel, albeit a bitter caramel that had had its heart broken too many times. Then there was the words, which are fantastic. He didn't hold anything back and displayed a level of honesty that is lacking in most songs - the most angry, sad, resentful and yet funny and hopelessly romantic lyrics I've heard.

I listened to this earlier today whilst trying to read. I had to put the book down and give the album my full attention, realiaing that I can never do anything but listen to this album when I play it. His voice and words are too much to be ignored.

Impact Music #15: The Soft Bulletin

The Soft Bulletin by The Flaming Lips

Another one of those records that still gives me that first-listen buzz whenever I put it on and is - hyperbole alert! - arguably the last great album of the 20th century, with songs that make you want to cry with joy at how beautiful and sad and uplifting it all is.

I bought it based purely on the reviews it got, with many claiming this was a game changing album. Turns out they were right, this sounded like a NEW music.nIt doesn't really sound like anything that went before it, but a lot of bands have tried to sound like it since.

Impact Music #14: Purple Rain

Purple Rain by Prince and the Revolution

I had some money saved to buy an album and  fancied getting something a bit different, but I was still in two minds about buying this album. I was so far removed from anything else iny collection and although I quite liked what I'd heard of Prince, would I like a whole album that wasn't synthpop or new wave played by white Brits? I was worried I might enjoy it for a few plays and then go back to my old records. A leap into the unknown.

Then I got it home and gave it a listen and was blown away. It rocked. it had ballads. It had soul and funk and genres I never knew existed. It even had a hint of synthpop and new wave and lyrics like I'd never heard before, which meant I'd not be playing it with my mum in the room.

The album felt daring and edgy and not what I should be listening to at all. It was truly remarkable and kicked down the door for me to fearlessly buy and listen to so many different types of music over the coming years.

Impact Music #13: The Kick Inside

The Kick Inside by Kate Bush

My parents didn't have the best record collection for me to discover, so I generally had to cut my own path (look how well that went!). But there were still a small selection of albums that became part of my life. This was one. I really didn't like Kate Bush at first, but I picked this out and stared giving it a listen when I was a teen and ready for it. I've never looked back.