The following list is not in order of preference, it's simply the order of which I thought of them:
1. Paul Simon Graceland, 1986
Favourite Track: Diamonds On The Soles Of Her Shoes
Why I love it: This was one of about five cassettes that my dad used to keep in his car for approximately a decade so it reminds of me of going on fun road trips through France, to Cornwall or to my Grandparents and I remember always being so proud of myself when I could get all the words to the verses of You Can Call Me Al correct. I love the pop ditties on the album such as I Know What I Know and Graceland and the harmonies on Homeless too. I love the bass solos and the odd lyrics and the fact that is surpasses genre expectations (jeez I sound like a pretentious music writer here).
2. Vampire Weekend- Vampire Weekend, 2008
Favourite Track: Campus
Why I love it: It's no secret that this album was directly influenced by the album mentioned above, which is perhaps why I love it so much, but choosing this album simply comes down to the fact that it is such a pleasant listen. The combination of African & Classical inspired songs with light hearted lyrics is an absolute winner and again I think it is impossible to attach this album to a specific genre.
3. Fleetwood Mac- Rumours
Favourite Track: Second Hand News
Why I love it: This album was another one in Dad's limited cassette collection from my childhood so it holds a lot of nostalgia of time spent with my family. The album is like a pick and mix of musical tastes, you've got the folky Songbird the rocking Go Your Own Way and the almost 'duelling banjos' guitar type playing on Never Going Back Again, so it is near impossible for anyone to not like at least one track on this great album and the fact they wrote it at a time where they were barely speaking to each other is just unreal- I applaud their honesty (something that I only came to fully appreciate as I got older).
4. Kings of Leon- Youth and Young Manhood, 2003
Favourite Track: Red Morning Light
Why I love it: This album reminds me of being at Sixth Form aged 17- 18 and not having a single care in the world. It was the soundtrack to bbqs all summer and road trips with whoever could borrow their parent's car last minute, it reminds me of having a large group of friends and it being the soundtrack to a time just before we all split off to various parts of the country for University. In terms of musicality, I remember being blown away the first time I heard Caleb's strange Southern drawl and their twangy guitars and when I saw a photo of them looking so far away from the indie boys from the Arctic Monkeys and The Strokes at that time, I knew that I had a found a band that I really loved.
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5. Ryan Adams- Gold, 2001
Favourite Track: Firecracker
Why I love it: I didn't actually find this album until I started University in 2007 and it is just so full of wonderfully catchy country tunes with harmonicas aplenty on Firecracker and mellow folk stories such as Answering Bell and The Rescue Blues and after listening to New York New York for the first time I remember wanting to pack everything in, get on a flight and just fly to this nirvana that he sang of.
6. Jamie T- Panic Prevention, 2007
Favourite Track: Sheila (obvious yes but brilliant)
Why I love it: This was literally like nothing I had ever heard before and still to this day stands alone in a genre all by itself in my eyes. In 2007 indie rock bands were reigning supreme and although I enjoyed a few odd songs here and there, I always felt like I wasn't really getting that scene, it all seemed a little pretentious to me and I knew that I was never gonna be a cool kid that fit in with that sub- culture. That was until I listened to Panic Prevention and I listened to lyrics that were not only quite funny and relatable but that were kind of rapped and sung (badly) to me, there was Brand New Bass Guitar which is simply a song about a brand new acoustic bass guitar that he bought and there is If You Got The Money about being broke and then I heard Sheila with the screaming sound clips throughout ('Laaaaaaaandan') and Bob Hoskins in the video and with that I was sold.
7. Sigur Ros- Takk, 2006
Favourite Track: Saeglopur
Why I Love It: This album could not be further away from the crudeness of Jamie T's album above, this is my ultimate 'go to' album when you just need to slow the world down a little bit. This and the We Bought a Zoo OST by Jonsi/ Sigur Ros are the only albums that I will listen to when I'm writing and they honestly are just so good for your insides. If you walk away feeling nothing after listening to the crescendos of Saeglopur or Hoppipola then y'all need to get yo head checked because they are simply beautiful. I saw Sigur Ros headline Latitude festival in 2008 and I don't know if euphoric is too strong a term to describe witnessing them live but it was pretty darn close to that.
8. Ben Howard- Every Kingdom, 2011
Favourite Song: Old Pine
Why I Love It: This came out whilst I was living in New Zealand and was going through a bit of a tough time, these wonderful folk songs about love; Only Love and losing love and trying to move on; Keep Your Head Up were just spot on.
9. Paramore- Paramore, 2013
Favourite Song: Proof
Why I Love It: Now I would probably getting dragged out into the street by my hair by Paramore 'purists' about this next statement but I genuinely prefer this band as a three- piece. Don't get me wrong, I loved their previous 3 albums and I loves me a bit of pop punk brilliance but I so so so love the poppier sound of this album even more. The ukulele interludes are fab and the bassy part in Ain't It Fun just gets me in a tizzy. Some people will say they sold out but that's a load of hooey in my book.
*I'm going to kind of cheat here and pick two EPs instead of full albums for No.10- technically it's as many tracks as one full album anyway.*
10a. Ed Sheeran, Loose Change, 2011
Favourite Song: Homeless
Why I Love It: Not to sound like a hipster claiming that I discovered Ed Sheeran before he was famous because that is not the case AT ALL but this was his EP that he released right before he got famous with The A Team. The home drawn front cover and the rappy/ sung tales of moving to London and not being able to afford cheesy chips just seem so organic and it feels like it could only have been written exactly at that time by this person. Ed Sheeran is also from a town close to mine and we are all very proud of our homegrown talent.
10b. Set Sail, The Riley Moore EP, 2011
Favourite Song: Home
Why I Love It: I mentioned this band in my previous blog entry and I first encountered them busking on the streets of Sydney where they drew in a huge crowd and it didn't take me long to find a spare $10 in my purse to buy their CD. I listened to this EP non- stop when I road tripped around Australia and it reminds of a feeling as close to unadulterated freedom as I have probably ever had in my life. This band have used social media to their advantage by crashing at international fans' houses to save money on their tour and their youtube series of their World Stage Tour is enough to give anybody the urge to book the next flight out of London.
Hello and welcome to This Ruth Is On Fire, a UK blog which is a haven for random thoughts and sarcastic observations.
I'm also into books, clothes and visiting places too.
