Radiohead – In Rainbows (2007)
When I first heard it
A Saturday night in November 2007, drunk and wondering where I was (incidentally: on the 13th floor of a skyscraper in Taipei, Taiwan at about 3am).
Why I love it
I have to admit, I'd almost forgotten about Radiohead. After obsessive listening to OK Computer, Kid A etc. as a college student, I developed new obsessions and Radiohead slipped my mind for a while. So I wasn't even excited when they released a new album, though it captured my attention for its unusual payment options (what? You can pay as much or as little as you like to download it?!) which clearly worked to their advantage as it entered the US Billboard charts and UK album charts at number one.
I heard about all this and yet I still didn't download it as I was living approximately 6,000 miles from home without the internet. And then I went to an indie disco (appropriately named Idioteque after the Radiohead song) and found someone who owned it. Initially I listened to it not once but several times in a row.
I was shocked and slightly ashamed. How could I have forgotten about Radiohead?! They were always impressive, let's face it, and now... an album of exquisitely beautiful songs which are both interesting and oddly accessible. Not proggy experimentalism or guitar-heavy rock (though they do those impeccably well too) but pared down, lyrically astounding platforms for Thom Yorke's voice and the band's ability to create an atmosphere.
What it reminds me of
A strangely unfestive yet magical Christmas in Taiwan, listening to it on repeat forever and never getting bored.
Standout track
Reckoner
Beirut – Gulag Orkestar (2006)
When I first heard it
When exploring a friend's computer for exciting music two or three years ago.
Why I love it
Zach Condon's voice, the instrumentation, the melodies, the atmospherics and the fact that it's a ridiculously impressive debut. Surely at 20 Condon didn't have the life experience to make music which sounded like it had been recorded by a seasoned, virtuoso Eastern European gypsy... but somehow he pulled it off.
What it reminds me of
My friend Lewis bragging about how he was going to listen to it on a solo trip from Poland to China by rail. It seemed the perfect setting and I was insanely jealous. Although he got his MP3 player nicked by Manchester United fans in Russia so it didn't all pan out.
Standout track
Postcards from Italy
Geoff Muldaur - Private Astronomy: A Vision of the Music of Bix Beiderbecke (2003)
When I first heard it
When I raided my dad's CD collection a few years ago.
Why I love it
It introduced me to the music of Bix Beiderbecke and has its own delightful take on the 1920s jazz musician's work. Featuring the likes of Loudon Wainwright III and Martha Wainwright alongside Muldaur's chamber arrangements and extraordinary vocals, some jazz purists hate it simply for not being Beiderbecke. But it manages to avoid gimmickry and is respectful in its tribute while injecting something new into the diverse mix of instrumentals and vocal tracks. Muldaur employs a mix of exceptional classical and jazz musicians and the album as a whole is a creative, intelligent homage to the jazz innovator.
What it reminds me of
Family Christmases in York and adding my favourite track – There Ain't No Sweet Man, with guest vocalist Martha Wainwright – to every mix CD I made for a while.
Standout track
There Ain't No Sweet Man
Low – Things We Lost in the Fire (2001)
When I first heard it
At university in Leeds in 2005. Someone put Sunflowers on a compilation for me and I went out and bought the album immediately.
Why I love it
They do so much with so little, and make melancholy beautiful. This record should be depressing, it should be too slow for comfort. But instead it's chillingly ambient and engaging. The songwriting is weirdly brilliant and the sparse instrumentation perfectly fitting.
What it reminds me of
Being blown away by their live set at All Tomorrow's Parties in 2007.
Standout track
In Metal
Feist – The Reminder (2007)
When I first heard it
On a Singapore Airlines flight to Taiwan in September 2007, having just bid goodbye to my friends and family for the last time in what would be over a year.
Why I love it
Leslie Feist's voice and the elegant simplicity of her melodies. Also, The Reminder was written on the road and inspired by brief stays in various global hotels, a theme which was particularly easy for me to identify with at the time.
What it reminds me of
The beginning of my time in Taiwan. The plane journey as I drifted in and out of sleep, catching occasional glimpses of pretty Singaporean air hostesses and far-away seas. Sitting outside a restaurant in the intense October heat as my friends plugged in their speakers to the outdoor power supply and The Reminder soundtracked our meal. Settling into my new apartment with its huge balcony and views of temples, rundown skyscrapers and misty mountains.
Standout track
So Sorry
Choice Cut Video: Beirut - Postcards From Italy
