Graham's Essential Listening Page

Introduction

Here are the CDs that I keep coming back to all the time. They're obviously not the only music I'm listening too, but a list of my enduring favourites.

The collection has been updated again to reflect the passage of time and my changing tastes.

The A List

Air - Talkie Walkie - 2003

The long awaited follow up to Moon Safari did not disappoint. I think this album shows a growing confidence in themselves as musicians and writers. It's not quite as laid back as its predecessor but equally there is nothing here that will jar you in the way that a Mogwai track may.
Standout track: 'Venus'.

Coldplay - Rush Of Blood To The Head - 2002

Majestic second album from Coldplay and the one that made them an international force. Hearing the drums at the start of 'In My Place' still makes my neck hairs tingle - you just know that it can't get much better than this. I do like their newer album 'X & Y' but I still play this one more often.
Standout tracks: 'In My Place', 'The Scientist', 'Clocks'

Doves - Some Cities - 2005

At first I wasn't sure about this album. I really wanted to like it after seeing them at Glastonbury in 2003 and enjoying the previous two albums ('Lost Souls' & 'Last Broadcast') and the understated intensity of their songs. It took repeated listenings of 'Some Cities' before I could see where it was coming from. After seeing their 2005 performance at Glastonbury on the television it all started to make sense. The intensity was still there but they were having such a good time that it showed me a different way of listening to the album. Now I really like it.
Standout tracks: 'Snowden', 'Walk In Fire'.

The Durutti Column - LC - 1981

I recently acquired this one on CD after my vinyl copy was showing some serious signs of wear. Vini Reilly is/was a superb, unique guitarist and this is my favourite of his many albums. A brooding collection of mainly instrumental pieces - the album is both relaxing and full of interesting quirks. I still play this a couple of times a week. The original LP has a special textured sleeve (like many Factory Records releases) whereas the reissue CD has an imcomplete montage for no obvious reason.
Standout tracks: 'Sketch For Dawn', 'Jaqueline'.

Engineers - Engineers - 2005

Slow burning album of beautiful multi-layered guitar based songs and rich vocal harmonies. This album will gently caress you after a hard day at work and you'll feel fully relaxed. Only on the last song 'One In Seven' do things start to kick off - the ending makes me think of the intense ending to 'I Want You' from the Beatles 'Abbey Road' LP. I play this album most days.
Standout tracks: 'Home', 'Forgiveness', 'One In Seven'.

Keane - Hopes And Fears - 2004

A rock band without guitars? - surely that's not possible? Well amazingly it is. Apparently they used to have a guitarist but they could never get the guitar to fit in. The songs move along OK - some uptempo some slower ballads - all have strong melodies and feeling. I've tried playing the songs on a guitar and they don't really work right - I guess that's what makes them sound so different.
Standout track: 'Bedshaped', 'On A Day Like Today'.

Mogwai - Happy Songs For Happy People - 2003

In my view the most beautiful Mogwai album. The familiar Mogwai traits are here - soft, loud, soft, louder etc, but it just seems to hang together better on this LP. Perhaps due to my advancing years I can't listen to lots of feedback all the time so I prefer the understated energy on the songs here to the thrashes that exist on debut LP 'Young Team'. 'CODY' (Come On Die Young) used to be on this page and vies for attention on my mp3 player, as does the latest album 'Mr Beast' which I'm still getting the measure of. 'Kids Will Be Skeletons' was used as backing music for one of Carrie's monologues in an episode of 'Sex And The City'.
Standout tracks: 'Hunted By A Freak', 'Kids Will Be Skeletons'.

Muse - Absolution

Another Glastonbury conversion. I'd flirted with Muse after a friend lent me a copy of 'Origin Of Symmetry' which is a good album. Having seen clips of Muse live shows on TV I felt like they were a definite must-see at Glastonbury in 2004. Well they were very, very good and I got a copy of 'Absolution' straight afterwards. The album seems to alternate loud raucous songs and gentler more reflective pieces which I think help to prevent overload. Can't wait now for the next album this summer.
Standout tracks: 'Time Is Running Out', 'Sing For Absolution'.

Phil Thornton - Fire Queen - 1991

A bit of an odd-one-out in my selection, this is on the New World Music label and has absolutely nothing to do with normal rock/pop concepts. It is just an amazing album to relax too without being twee, and the hypnotic drumming of the 20 minute opening track ‘Laughing Wolf Madrigal’ is guaranteed to relieve any stress you may feel.

Madonna - Ray of Light - 1998

I had a brief interest in Madonna around the time of the ‘True Blue’ album, but then we took separate paths until this. I was immediately taken with the atmosphere of the single ‘Frozen’, and after ‘Ray of Light’ itself was released I took the plunge. There’s hardly a duff track on the album and I still play it regularly. The follow-up 'Music' was good in parts but I'm afraid I didn't like 'American Life' much.
Standout tracks: 'Substitute For Love', 'Frozen'.

The Verve - A Northern Soul - 1995

2nd album from the now defunct Wigan band, and what a triumph? From the opening ‘A New Decade’ you know they really mean it and the album restlessly expresses a sense of longing and something missing. Lyrically, the album could be seen as really depressing, but the music bristles with energy and beauty. This is still one of the most played CDs in my collection.
Standout tracks: ‘History’, ‘No Knock On My Door’

The Who - Who’s Next - 1971

I can’t remember the exact chronology, but I think this one came between the two double concept albums - ‘Tommy’ and ‘Quadrophenia’ and was itself supposed to be a ‘concept’ album. But luckily someone or something convinced Pete Townshend to produce a straight album of fine songs. There’s some innovative use of synth to create pulsing rhythms on ‘Baba O’Reilly’ and ‘Won’t Get Fooled Again’, and the beautiful acoustic start to ‘Behind Blue Eyes’ does not prepare you for the tortured life portrayed in the lyrics.