Top 12 Albums

A pal asked me & others to pick our favourite 12 albums. Here's my response:

Dear Mike. My top 12 albums. Thanks for asking me to join in the fun.

The way you have always lived your life Mike for the 33 years I've known you has been one of wonderment, kindness and care. Your embracing likeminded souls through your musical choices obviously says a lot about you and I was not surprised to see such a gentle folk lilt to what you chose.

I will pick 12 albums for the purpose of this post but would add that in a month or year it could and does clearly change. Such is the beauty of choice and the freedom to have it.

1. The White Album by The Beatles. I could have chosen this album for its breathtaking panorama of music alone but it is such a joyous double record with utter wonderment pulsating through its veins. You forget what's in there but then you visit again to find 'Back in the USSR,' 'While my guitar,' 'Bkackbird,' 'Mother Natures Son,' 'Goodnight,' 'Sexy Sadie' and so much more. I mean, my god, what a record!

2. Let it Be by The Beatles. Any record that includes 'Let it Be,' and 'The Long & Winding Road' can't possibly not be in my top 12. This and the fact that Stevie & I played it to death as youthies means it will always matter to me. Add in 'Two of Us'and 'Get Back' and I'm already wetting myself.

3. After the Gokdrush by Neil Young. It's 1970 and Neil Young releases this pure gold. From the soft calling of 'Tell me Why' to the pulling beat of 'Southern Man' to the glory of 'Cripple Creek Ferry' - outstanding.

4. Kind of Blue by Miles Davis. I came to jazz properly in my late 20's in falling into Miles Davis. This album really is as good as it gets. It's best listened to late at night with your doors into your garden wide open and your speakers turned up loud. Sumptuous.

5. 50 Words for Snow by Kate Bush. I saw Kate Bush at the Hammersmith Apollo and if you doubted what all the fuss was about, it was as clear as the nose on my face seeing her live. My Grandma would have called her as mad as a box of frogs. Kate would probably agree. This album is a relative newcomer and it's simply sublime. Music to curl up into a ball to and think of life on a better level.

6. Grand Prix by Teenage Fanclub. This was the first record I downloaded on to an early iPod in an early incarnation in full. I couldn't leave any song out because they all scream of innocent beauty. Melodies to wrap around your ears for a lifetime.

7. Royal Blood by Royal Blood. It's hard to choose a first album by a dirty rock band in my top 12, but this screeching filthy record has blasted through my head since it was released and I think will stand the test of time. Anthems are a hard thing to write but huge riffs were there from the off. A stunning tour de force loud record.

8. Songs for Swinging Lovers by Frank Sinatra. For pure, unadulterated joy, this album can't be beaten. Many have tried to better this vocal master, but Sinatra is an utter legend. The way he holds the notes in just the right way is unequalled in my book.

9. I Speak because I Can by Laura Marling. I've seen this lady live quite a few times now and what you can't help but notice is that it is all about the music. She reminds me so much of the incredible Joni Mitchell, but in Laura Marling there is just something more local to me, more earthy to me. That and the fact that this record included the delectable 'Goodbye England (Covered in Snow).

10. The Trials of Van Occupanther by Midlake. This album in 2006 seemed to come from nowhere. It's a real throwback to early Neil Young, Crosby Stills & Nash, Jackson Browne, James Taylor et al, and yet it has its own vibe, it's own connection to their state, their upbringing. It reminds me of early Kings of Leon in the sense that the music was as much about what they'd been through and where they'd been through it, as the music itself. The heartbreaking harmonies are amazing and this album includes the legendary 'Roscoe.'

11. OK Computer by Radiohead. I don't know what was happening to the band when they wrote then recorded this album but this is Radiohead at their anthemic best. It's 1997 and whilst most bands around then were doing brit pop and dance, Radiohead just cut through all the crap and produced an all time classic. One song here always breaks my heart.

12. The Bends by Radiohead. I know Radiohead have straddled the genres and done so much utter brilliance. This album is probably their most accessible but I just adore it. A record this good deserves to be saved up and listened to when you are there all alone with a drink of your choice and nothing but a pitch black sky sprinkled with silver bullet stars over your head.

Anyone reading this - I'd love to see your choices too.

Mike - it's been emotional.

A X