Mountaineers ‘Messy Century’ (Mute, 2003)
Given the world we live in now, you might think an album called ‘Messy Century’ would be a prescient political statement.
Dreamies ‘Auralgraphic Entertainment’ (Stone Theatre Productions, 1973)
There are two types of Beatles fan in the world.
Ron Geesin ‘Electrosound’ (KPM, 1972)
The track titles alone sound like long-lost episodes of early 1970s ‘Doctor Who’.
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.”