My Top 30 Albums

OK - I have had a couple of weeks away from concerts, exhibitions etc so I decided to keep my blog going by making some kind of record of my favourite albums.

Being male and interested in music I frequently find myself compiling mental lists of favourite artists, tracks, gigs etc. Usually when lost in my iPod or stuck on a tube etc. Listening to 'I Trawl The Megahertz' a lot recently (see below post) led me to think about recording and organising these random thoughts.

I was only going to do the top 10 but this quickly progressed to 20 and then to 30. I haven't included any jazz or classical albums as that would have complicated it too much - I will list those separately on another occasion. It has to be said that a lot of these are interchangeable depending on my mood and what I have been listening to at the time (even the number one position).

So, after much deliberation, here goes:

1) ‘Pet Sounds’ The Beach Boys
2) ‘Deserter’s Songs’ Mercury Rev
3) ‘And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside Out’ Yo La Tengo
4) ‘The Boatman's Call’ Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds
5) ‘Bandwagonesque’ Teenage Fanclub
6) ‘I Trawl The Megahertz’ Paddy McAloon
7) 'Tindersticks II’ Tindersticks
8) ‘Either/Or’ Elliott Smith
9) ‘Spirit Of Eden’ Talk Talk
10) ‘Grand Prix’ Teenage Fanclub
11) ‘Treasure’ The Cocteau Twins
12) ‘Trust’ Low
13) ‘Ocean Songs’ Dirty Three
14) ‘Union Café’ The Penguin Café Orchestra
15) ‘Judee Sill’ Judee Sill
16) ‘Hawaii’ The High Llamas
17) ‘Meat Is Murder’ The Smiths
18) ‘Aw C’mon / No You C’mon’ Lambchop
19) ‘Lazer Guided Melodies’ Spiritualized
20) ‘Barafundle’ Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci
21) ‘Bryter Layter’ Nick Drake
22) ‘True Love And High Adventure’ Grand Drive
23) ‘Emperor Tomato Ketchup’ Stereolab
24) ‘Hats’ The Blue Nile
25) ‘Music Has The Right To Children’ Boards Of Canada
26) ‘The Soft Bulletin’ The Flaming Lips
27) ‘Penguin Eggs’ Nic Jones
28) ‘Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain’ Pavement
29) ‘Piper At The Gates Of Dawn’ Pink Floyd
30) ‘Gold’ Ryan Adams

I tried to keep it one album per artists but couldn't help include two albums by Teenage Fanclub. I could have easily included two albums by Low and Elliott Smith also.

Albums by Laura Cantrell, Sigur Ros, Godspeed! You Black Emperor, Vashti Bunyan, Midlake, Sufjan Stevens & Johann Johannson all closely missed out being included in the top 30.

Not a bad selection overall!