An iPod odyssey - a recap of A

One of the joys of this exercise has been rediscovering old favourites, and digging out of the metaphorical record crate those albums I listened to once and moved on from.  From this, I’ve got myself all hot and flustered thinking about what might be the best albums from A (and yes, it does include A).  So, here goes, my top ten albums of the As – not the best, but my favourites:

A – Hi-Fi Serious: ticks all the boxes.  I actively enjoy listening to it, I can remember good tracks, and I’m definitely going to go back to this a lot.

AC/DC – Back In Black: I’m listening to this as I write.  Can’t say much more than that, as in between sentences, I’m too busy ROCKING OUT.

Al diMeola, Paco de Lucia and John McLaughlin – Friday Night in San Francisco: all I urge is that everyone who ever reads this goes out and buys this album, listens to it on headphones and just revels in the sheer chops of these guys.  It’s worth investing in high quality audio equipment for this album alone.

Alex Clare – The Lateness Of The Hour: it’s a singer-songwriter album, but one filtered through the twisted minds of Diplo and Switch, and for that, it has head-nodding, sing-along cachet.  I love the first half, and like the second; basically, I enjoy it for what it is, which is intelligent, modern pop music.

Alicia Keys – Songs in A Minor: while it drags in the latter parts, the first six or seven songs are just knockouts (and have something in common with Alex Clare… bonus points (or an iced bun) for whoever gets the connection).

The Allman Brothers Band – At Fillmore East (Deluxe Edition): one of the most celebrated concerts in live-recording history gets the treatment it deserves, and the first time I listened to it, I finally understood the hype around Duane Allman.  That boy could play, and to be cut down in his prime was a sad loss to rock ‘n’ roll.  This album is a brilliant, lasting testament to an exceptional talent.

The Antlers – Hospice: from a lasting testament to a great talent, I’ve moved to a lasting testament to an ordinary person, who may exist (or may only be a character in Peter Silberman’s head).  Whether autobiographical or not, I can only listen to this when in a very steady emotional state, and that alone puts in it a category of one: albums that make me cry.  Truly, this is more emo than emo; where boys whine about how they didn’t get pocket money or their girl walked out on them for stealing their eyeliner, here, someone goes into the harrowing details of dealing with a loved one’s terminal illness. It’s not for the faint-hearted.

Arctic Monkeys – Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not: their best album, their best songs, and one of the truest documents of life for the not-particularly-gangster end of working class/lower middle class British youth of a certain vintage. Get your harringtons on and dance the night away.

Art Brut – Bang Bang Rock and Roll: either a giant joke, or brilliantly unironic, it doesn’t matter, because Eddie Argos and co have tapped into what rock’s really about – sex and dancing.

Artful Dodger – It’s All About The Stragglers: the accessible dance music of my youth, and some bloody brilliant songs (and singers).  The ‘original’ version of Woman Trouble is a great bonus (track 99…) but the whole thing is full of anthems (and the occasional banger, too, Mike Skinner).

There you have it – ten albums for the pantheon.