10. Bettie Serveert - Palomine
I knew nothing about this band when I bought this from a stall on a makeshift record fair in the student union bar at Coventry Uni, other than the fact that they were on Guernica Records, an offshoot of the usually impeccably cool 4AD.
I can't even pinpoint what made me buy it. I like to think I have some miraculous ability to sort the wheat from the chaff, but obviously it was just pure dumb luck. Or maybe I just liked the nodding dog on the cover.
And dumb luck can be a great thing. In the intervening 20+ years there has barely been a month go by when I haven't reached for this beautiful, orange-sleeved, Dutch wonder.
So many great tunes (including a Sebadoh cover for crying out loud) and so much emotion on this album, an album that isn't afraid to rock, that you surely can't help but love it.
9. Pavement - Brighten The Corners
Right, here's my deal with Pavement. Pavement are "one of my favourite bands", but there are times when I'm not sure why.
I still don't get Slanted & Enchanted or Wowee Zowee, but their other albums are enough to earn them that accolade.
The more off-kilter, less tuneful stuff doesn't really do it for me I'm afraid.
Brighten The Corners is the one though. From the opening squall of Stereo, through to the closing Fin, they don't put a foot wrong.
Throughout the album Stephen Malkmus' lyrical prowess is at its most memorable. Such couplets as "What about the voice of Geddy Lee? How did it get so high? / I wonder if he speaks like an ordinary guy" (Stereo) and personal favourite "One of us is a cigar stand / And one of us is a lovely blue incandescent guillotine" (Type Slowly) can raise a smile to this day.
But it's not just the lyrics. They can rock out when required, such as on Stereo and Date With Ikea, but the lovely, almost Hawaiian guitar outro to Shady Lane, and the aforementioned Fin particularly show off their range.
So this one shades it from Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain, but it's REALLY close.
8. The Lemonheads - It's A Shame About Ray
From that short period when Evan Dando had the world at his feet, and all the best tunes in his pocket.
Of course I liked it BEFORE they went and tagged Mrs Robinson on the end. It still feels weird if it doesn't end with Frank Mills.
7. The Breeders - Pod
This was always going to be a winner. Kim Deal? Tanya Donnelly? Happiness Is A Warm Gun? Tick, tick, TICK!
We'll come to the genius of Steve Albini again later, but his quiet production here almost feels like it's deliberately trying to make you listen harder.
Cramming twelve wonderful songs into barely thirty minutes, it's over before you get the chance to over-think it, and sometimes that's just what you need.
6. The Go-Betweens - 1978-1991
6. The Go-Betweens - 1978-1991
This one is clearly a big fat cheat, but look at my face - I really don't care.
Right, the top five are below, and I can't really find the words right now to express what they all mean to me. They're pretty much interchangeable in these top five positions from one day to the next. I mean, how can Worst Case Scenario only be at 3?
Maybe one day I'll revisit this and write something about each of them, but today isn't that day.
5. Sugar - Copper Blue
4. Spiritualized - Lazer Guided Melodies
3. dEUS - Worst Case Scenario
2. The Wedding Present - Seamonsters
1. Teenage Fanclub - Songs From Northern Britain
