Rational Youth ‘Cold War Night Life’ (YUL, 1982)
The accepted history of electronic pop music that I was spoon-fed, via compilation cassettes and CDs, ran a well-worn patch cable back to 1981.
Kings of Convenience ‘Versus’ (Source, 2001)
‘Quiet Is The New Loud’, the debut album from Norway’s Kings Of Convenience – Erlend Øye and Eirik Glambek Bøe – is the gentlest strum and pluck of a record, and the Bergen duo were cast very much from an old school folk tradition.
Prop ‘Small Craft Rough Sea’ (Silent, 2001)
If, like me, you were a teenager in Australia in the early 2000s, the album everyone was listening to at house parties, on the radio, and on swapped burned CDs was the debut record by The Avalanches.
Boom Boom Satellites ‘7 Ignitions’ (R&S, 1998)
In 1997, R&S Records’ UK head honcho, Bob Fisher, persuaded me to check out a new band from Japan at a small venue in Camden.
New Muzik ‘From A To B’ (GTO, 1980)
New Muzik’s ‘From A To B’ is one of those albums you love, but very few other people seem to know about.
Space Raiders ‘Don’t Be Daft’ (Skint, 1999)
Prince said we should party like it was 1999, and, as far as we know, he hadn’t even heard the debut album by Middlesbrough’s Space Raiders.
Mother Mallard’s Portable Masterpiece Company ‘Like A Duck To Water’ (Earthquack, 1976)
Imagine a time when, as a concession to your audience, you’d show them cartoons while you were busy repatching your synthesisers between songs.
Bashung ‘Play Blessures’ (Philips, 1982)
Alain Bashung is a tough enigma to crack.
Mount Florida ‘Arrived Phoenix’ (Matador, 2000)
Held every Sunday between 1997 and 2010 at Glasgow’s Sub Club venue, the ferocious hedonism of Optimo Espacio was set off by the non-partisan tastes of DJs Keith “Twitch” McIvor and Jonnie Wilkes.
TJ Lawrence ‘Illuminations’ (Eagle, 1985)
Since you can’t peel back the YouTube algorithm, there’s no telling how we wound up staring at western Canada circa the mid-80s.