Charlotte Gainsbourg ‘Charlotte For Ever’ (Philips, 1986)
Serge Gainsbourg wrote music for lots of people.
Various Artists ‘The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou (Original Soundtrack)’ (Hollywood, 2004)
My introduction to Wes Anderson’s ‘The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou’ began when a friend passed me the film, newly-released on DVD. “You are going to love this,” he said, excitedly.
Element ‘Sourblaster’ (Creeping Bent, 2000)
Few music discovery anecdotes start with “I was rugby tackled by a man in a cinema because he liked my T-shirt”, but discovering Lancashire oddballs Element starts like that for me.
One Dove ‘Morning Dove White’ (Boys Own Productions, 1993)
The trio of Dot Allison, Ian Carmichael and Jim McKinven released a solitary album. There was apparently a second, but it never saw the light.
Will Sergeant ‘Themes For Grind’ (92 Happy Customers, 1982)
In 1982, I was too young to appreciate, or even know about, avant-garde side projects by members of my favourite bands.
Bo Hansson ‘Music Inspired By Lord Of The Rings’ (Silence, 1970) (Charisma, 1972)
Since the huge commercial success of Peter Jackson’s ‘The Lord Of The Rings’ movies, it’s been easy to forget the significance of the JRR Tolkien novel to the 1960s counterculture hippies.
John Fahey ‘Requia’ (Vanguard, 1968)
“If you’re very good I’ll invite you for tea and play ‘The Death Of The Clayton Peacock’, which would be the nicest thing that could possibly happen, and then we’ll go and feed the ducks.”
4,000,000 Telephones ‘4,000,000 Telephones’ (Bunker, 1985)
“You have to play this album,” says Vincent, a fellow record dealer in Lincoln where my secondhand vinyl store lives.
ACID CASUALS ‘Omni’ (Placid Casual, 2006)
Side-projects can be a complicated affair, particularly if you’re a fan of the precursory band. Acolytes find themselves talking up a lesser-known record they might not actually like very much, but a perceived obligation of support results in them writing cheques their misplaced loyalty can’t cash.
Die Doraus Und Die Marinas ’Blumen Und Narzissen’ (ATA-TAK, 1981)
Die Doraus was Andreas Dorau, who was only 16 when he recorded 1981’s ‘Blumen Und Narzissen’ (‘Flowers And Daffodils’) with Der Plan’s Kurt Dahlke and Frank Fenstermacher for their fabled Neue Deutsche Welle label Ata-Tak.