I'm starting to buy into the concept put forth by one of The Word guys either Dave Hepworth or Mark Allen a few years ago that all you really need or indeed actually want is only four albums from your favourite bands and singers who have recorded a truckload of albums. I mean am I ever really going to listen to every single one of my James Ferraro, Ariel Pink, Lou Reed, Swans or Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds albums ever again? I would say that's a hard no.
Do I ever listen to any Rolling Stones LPs outside of Beggars Bangquet, Sticky Fingers, Let It Bleed & Exile On Main Street no...
...or Cocteau Twins outside of Head Over Heels, Treasure, Blue Bell Knoll & Heaven Or Las Vegas nope...
...or Sonic Youth outside of Bad Moon Rising, Evol, Sister & Daydream Nation not really...
Royal Trux: Cats & Dogs, Sweet Sixteen, Thank You and yes I do sometimes listen to Twin Infinitives. Recently though I've finally succumbed to the insane charms of Accelerator which I thought was crap when I first heard it in the 90s.
...or Scott Walker with Scott 3, Scott 4, Tilt & Bisch Bosch. I mean maybe some Walker Brothers tunes and very occasionally The Drift.
Kraftwerk outside of Autobahn, Trans Europe Express, The Man-Machine & Computer World is unnecessary now or hang on maybe I'd swap out Computer World and put Radio-Activity in instead. I guess it's really just the first three listed then innit.
Mark Kozelek with Down Colourful Hill, Rollercoaster, Ocean Beach and Benji.
Steely Dan Can't Buy A Thrill, Countdown To Ecstasy, Pretzel Logic & Aja but then again I've been listening to Nightfly recently so now I'm wondering if I need to get a copy of Gaucho or The Royal Scam which I hated upon initial listen.
It's gonna be a bit tricky reducing Miles Davis's classics down to just four though. I'll give it a crack: Bitches Brew, Big Fun, Agharta, Dark Magus, Get Up With It, Live/Evil. In Concert, Black Beauty, Pangea... oh well that's ten and only from his electric period which is only one of his eras.
Autechre seems easier Tri Repetae, Chiastic Slide, LP5 & Cornfield. No worries.
...and Boards Of Canada only have three great albums so...
...and Radiohead have none.
I mean I've got a stack of Can cds but I rarely listen outside of Tago Mago, Ege Bamyasi, Future Days & Soon Over Babaluma.
Bowie seems like it might be tricky but lets see - Hunky Dory, Ziggy Stardust, Station To Station and Low at the moment but I am fond of at least five of his other albums.
With The Flaming Lips I never listen to anything but Hit To Death In The Future Head, Transmissions From The Satellite Heart, Clouds Taste Metallic & The Soft Bulletin and really in the last 20 years it's just those last two 90s classics.
Siouxsie & The Banshees' top four The Scream, Kaleidoscope, Juju & A Kiss Inside The Dream House are the only ones I ever really liked so...
Bardo Pond is also easy because I only ever rated four of their cds Bufo Alvarius, Amanita, Lapsed and Dilate. They however remain one of the world's most underrated rock groups don't they.
Depeche Mode is a bit trickier but the four would be Some Great Reward, Black Celebration, Music For The Masses & Violator. Haven't listened to Ultra since the 90s and really when it comes down to it I only ever watch the live One Night In Paris dvd. I mean I've been obsessed with that video since the 00s, probably watched it over 50 times. That's kinda funny to me because Dave and Martin are often cringe-y dorks during the concert but I can't help but love it, In fact I think I love it more because they are cringe-y dorks.
Cutting down Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds to just four albums seems absolutely sacrilegious. In the last ten years it has really only been Ghosteen that I've been listened to but my favourites from high school in the 80s remain Your Funeral My Trial and Tender Prey and for the 90s you can't beat the now surprisingly underrated Henry's Dream and the brilliant Let Love In. I gotta say though of the 18 records they've done 14 are absolute classics in my book.
I did solo Lou at the top so I should be able to give Swans a crack. Lets see: Children Of God, The Great Annihilator, White Light From The Mouth Of Infinity and The Seer. But that's a problem innit as it's missing the debut Filth and their original swansong (er, sorry) Soundtracks For The Blind. Maybe because I played Children Of God to death during my youth I'd put Soundtracks in instead. I'm much more likely to listen to Soundtracks, The Glowing Man or To Be Kind than Children these days.
AC/DC rule: Dirty Deeds, Powerage, Let There Be Rock and Highway To Hell. Sorry I'm Bon Scott era all the way baby.
Tangerine Dream is a bit perplexing. Zeit, Phaedra, Stratosphere and... I guess it would have to be Rubycon but I love and have listened to Force Majeure, Tangram, Ricochet, Sorcerer, Thief and Miracle Mile all very recently so...
Hang on what about The Fall. Geez I dunno. What about Grotesque (After The Gramme), Hex Induction Hour, The Wonderful and Frightening World Of The Fall and This Nation's Saving Grace but what about Dragnet, Bend Sinister and Extricate. I haven't listened to them in so long I haven't a clue. So I guess they've been reduced to a zero album limit in the last 15 years. Slates was also a good one.
...and I could go on and on... maybe there will be a part two to get to grips with The Beach Boys, Ed Kuepper, The Church, Ariel Pink, Cleaners From Venus, XTC, Manuel Göttsching, Roedelius, Roxy Music, Eno et. etc. etc. etc. etc.
*Most rock and or roll is pretty cringeworthy and down right embarrassing when you get down to it. I mean it's silly innit but we love it.
**My favourite thing at the moment is watching this daily karaoke live stream on youtube from a tiny pub in Liverpool. It is just the greatest, most fascinating entertainment I've found in the last coupla years. I just love how fearless, confident, unselfconscious and joyous these Scousers are.
