Have I still got anyone's attention? Sorry it's taken ages for the next part of this. I'm going to at least try to get us to the halfway point tonight. MrsJ has flaked out on the sofa so I'm going to put on one of my mear misses, Aphex Twin's Selected Ambient Works 85-92 and have a go at at least the next 3 on the list.
28. Beth Orton - Trailer Park
There are certain albums that are bedtime albums, and there are certain types of bedtime albums (if you know what I mean). For me at least, this is definitely a going-to-sleep bedtime album.
MrsJ has worked nights for quite a few years now, on and off, and she is most definitely a night owl even when she isn't working, so I have a tendency to put some music on when I got to bed and I have a few core albums that I turn. Usually Spiritualized's Lazer Guided Melodies, Bonnie "Prince" Billy's Master & Everyone or this one.
Sadly this means that the vast majority of times that I've listened to these albums I have only heard them to about half way through. Trailer Park though is an album that gets its regular daytime airings too.
Beth Orton's voice is one that has a sadness to it, and there are songs on here that show that off to its full potential. The epic closer Galaxy Of Emptiness has a bit of a shuffling beat to it to take the edge of the desolation, but the track before it, the stunning, haunting cover of The Ronettes' I Wish I Never Saw The Sunshine takes you a whole different level of heartbreak. Believe me, there are times in your life when it's not altogether healthy to listen to that song, but you still have to hear it to make things better in a weird kind of way. I put that track in my all-time top 100 tracks last year here and you should go and listen to it right now.
I find it hard to recognise that the album ends after Galaxy Of Emptiness as for so long I only ever had a copy of the album on a mini disc with b-sides etc tagged on the end, so I have to stop myself from including the heartbreaking It's Not The Spotlight as part of the album.
27. Pet Shop Boys - Behaviour
We all love the Pet Shop Boys don't we? They've provided us with some of the greatest pop songs of the last 25+ years but albums haven't necessarily been their strong point with early albums Please & Actually having great singles, but a few weaker moments to fill the gaps. Behaviour though is a different proposition.
Although I had been a fan for some time I didn't properly start avidly buying PSB stuff until Introspective and its related singles (I know I have about 4 formats each of Left To My Own Devices & It's alright).
I'm pretty sure I rushed out and bought So Hard when it was released, and the album itself on release day too from what I remember (both Rhyl Our Price). This is Neil & Chris at the top of their game and yes, Very has its moments, but I've got Behaviour so I'm happy thanks.
26. Kristin Hersh - Hips And Makers
Now, as I'm sure I've mentioned already Throwing Muses are one of my favourite bands so when main Muse Kristin Hersh released the acoustic solo single Your Ghost with its Michael Stipe backing vocals I was pretty much as excited as it was possible to be. Hips And Makers is a departure from Throwing Muses usual fare in as much as it's an acoustic album but there's no dip in the quality of Hersh's songwriting or musicianship. In fact some of her finest work is included on here.
The CD of this album has some gorgeous 4AD packaging & when I asked Dave in Kavern Records to keep a copy for me while I went to the bank to get the cash out to pay for it he told me that he wouldn't, the swine. I pretty much sprinted to that cashpoint.
I was lucky enough to see Kristin & Vic Chesnutt on the tour when this album was released and to meet her after the show at Warrington Parr Hall. As many of you who follow her on Twitter will know, she officially one of the nicest people in indie and she obliged with autographs & small talk. That autographed KH t-shirt I got that day got me a discount on a Throwing Muses Dizzy 10" from the record shop on Colwyn Bay pier a few years later. So thanks Kristin for the tunes, and for the autographed-with-added-fish-picture t-shirt.
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Right MrsJ has woken up. See you next time for more pointless ramblings.
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