I couldn't hope to put together a full list of all the music I enjoy in one sitting. This is the music that's "top of mind" when I have a few minutes at the computer. All great stuff, though.
Skylarking by XTC -- My first introduction to XTC. Back when MTV actually showed videos, I caught "Dear God" on one of the late-night alternative video shows and was immediately hooked. I bought the album at the first opportunity and nearly wore out the tape within a few weeks. Skylarking is inextricably linked with the summer of 1987 for me.
The first side of the album (tracks one through seven) blends together in a manner not unlike The Beatle's Sgt. Pepper and is so strong that I'm willing to forgive that the album runs ever so slightly out of steam with its closing tracks "Dying," and "Sacrificial Bonfire." (Not that they're bad songs, but as part of the larger picture, they're the weakest of the bunch by a long shot.)
"Dear God" was initially a B-Side to the album's first single, but was so popular that it was added to the U.S. pressings (and therefore on the album by the time I'd heard of it). "Mermaid Smiled" has always seemed like the B-Side to me, though listening to the album in its original order I can see how "Smiled" fits in more with the original.
"Earn Enough for Us," is as strong a pop song as I've ever heard. It kicks off side two (track eight) with a blaze of guitar and the catchiest lyrics about marital doubt you'll ever find.
Pop this one in the player and let it wash over you. Even though it's more than 20 years old, and steeped in Beatles-based psychedelia, it's a timeless album that is as fresh now as the day it was released.
Perspex Island by Robyn Hitchcock -- Not my first or favorite Hitchcock album, but I think it's his most accessible. If the universe was fair, this would have been a top ten hit.
"So You Think You're in Love" is one of the catchiest songs in the history of the world. It's also one of Hitchcock's few straightforward pop songs that would fit right in on mainstream radio. (Unlike, say, "My Wife and My Dead Wife," or "Uncorrected Personality Traits")"Ultra Unbelievable Love" is another that should be far more popular than it is.
R.E.M. fans get an added bonus with Perspex Island. Peter Buck plays guitar on several tracks, and Michael Stipe adds vocals to "She Doesn't Exist."
Hitchcock is a very mutable artist. Some of his albums are straightforward rock and roll, others acoustic and (more) experimental. He comes across like the bastard son of Syd Barrett, John Lennon, Bob Dylan, and the Byrds. That's a Good Thing.
Must-have music
I couldn't hope to put together a full list of all the music I enjoy in one sitting. This is the music that's "top of mind" when I have a few minutes at the computer. All great stuff, though.
Skylarking by XTC -- My first introduction to XTC. Back when MTV actually showed videos, I caught "Dear God" on one of the late-night alternative video shows and was immediately hooked. I bought the album at the first opportunity and nearly wore out the tape within a few weeks. Skylarking is inextricably linked with the summer of 1987 for me.
The first side of the album (tracks one through seven) blends together in a manner not unlike The Beatle's Sgt. Pepper and is so strong that I'm willing to forgive that the album runs ever so slightly out of steam with its closing tracks "Dying," and "Sacrificial Bonfire." (Not that they're bad songs, but as part of the larger picture, they're the weakest of the bunch by a long shot.)
"Dear God" was initially a B-Side to the album's first single, but was so popular that it was added to the U.S. pressings (and therefore on the album by the time I'd heard of it). "Mermaid Smiled" has always seemed like the B-Side to me, though listening to the album in its original order I can see how "Smiled" fits in more with the original.
"Earn Enough for Us," is as strong a pop song as I've ever heard. It kicks off side two (track eight) with a blaze of guitar and the catchiest lyrics about marital doubt you'll ever find.
Pop this one in the player and let it wash over you. Even though it's more than 20 years old, and steeped in Beatles-based psychedelia, it's a timeless album that is as fresh now as the day it was released.
Perspex Island by Robyn Hitchcock -- Not my first or favorite Hitchcock album, but I think it's his most accessible. If the universe was fair, this would have been a top ten hit.
"So You Think You're in Love" is one of the catchiest songs in the history of the world. It's also one of Hitchcock's few straightforward pop songs that would fit right in on mainstream radio. (Unlike, say, "My Wife and My Dead Wife," or "Uncorrected Personality Traits")"Ultra Unbelievable Love" is another that should be far more popular than it is.
R.E.M. fans get an added bonus with Perspex Island. Peter Buck plays guitar on several tracks, and Michael Stipe adds vocals to "She Doesn't Exist."
Hitchcock is a very mutable artist. Some of his albums are straightforward rock and roll, others acoustic and (more) experimental. He comes across like the bastard son of Syd Barrett, John Lennon, Bob Dylan, and the Byrds. That's a Good Thing.