#17. The Swell Season - The Swell Season (2006)
Fact about the album
Marketa Irglova was 18 when this album was released. 18! Glen you ol’ dog, you.
Why it makes the list
I encountered The Swell Season rather fortuitously, although I guess that charge could be leveled against most on this list. I was flicking through a friend’s mp3 player one day in college (something I usually do to make rapid judgments on someone's character), and inquired about Glen Hansard and how good he was and so forth. Knowing my penchant for melancholy music, The Swell Season was recommended to me with confidence, and it proved to confidence well-founded.
I instantly fell in love with ‘Falling Slowly’, and so after overdosing on that track I delved into the rest of what the album had to offer. Most of the songs didn’t depart from what made ‘Falling Slowly’ such a success on me, and I for one was okay with that. There was a chemistry to this album -- no doubt owing itself to the two lead performers -- that you can’t buy or manufacture at will. Sometimes it is there, sometimes it isn’t. It was in this album in abundance, and it found its full expression on the wonderfully simple film Once, which featured Hansard and Irglova as something like musical soul mates. The songs on The Swell Season took on a whole new life when accompanied by moving pictures, but the album alone stands as one of the finest duets of the past decade, and certainly my favourite.
Memories it evokes
Marketa Irglova walking a hoover down a busy Dublin street as if it were a dog.
Favourite tracks
Falling Slowly, Lies, When Your Mind’s Made Up
#16. Parachutes - Coldplay (2000)
Fact about the album
Parachutes was banned in China because the government detected anti-Communist vibes from the song ‘Spies’.
Why it makes the list
I was originally dismissive of Coldplay. ‘Trouble’ and ‘Yellow’ came on the scene in the midst of my “If a song doesn’t have a good guitar solo then it’s rubbish” phase, so I retreated back to the confines of Dire Straits, Thin Lizzy, and all the rest of those artists with a propensity for guitar solos, safe in the knowledge that I wasn’t missing out on much.
The opening track, 'Don’t Panic', proved I was wrong. Enchanted with that little number, I was forced to give the rest of the album a fair cop, and I was not disappointed. Aside from brilliant tracks like 'Shiver', 'Everything’s Not Lost', and 'Sparks', this album also provided me with a new lens with which to view the guitar. I discovered for the first time an alternate tuning, and the value of the simple and economical as opposed to the complex and prodigal; a riff like that found in 'Everything’s Not Lost' can be just as effective as something by Jimmy Page, and is much more listenable than the show-boating of virtuosos like Al di Meola or Steve Morse.
Parachutes was nothing short of a catalyst for my musical tastes throughout the decade (for better or worse), and so while clearly not my favourite album of “the noughties” (nor even my favourite Coldplay album), it is perhaps the most significant.
Memories it evokes
This album always bring me back to Christmas ’02, when I listened to it -- and especially 'Don’t Panic' -- incessantly. I also remember there being this weird adaptation of Snow White (starring the peerless Kristen Kreuk) on Channel 4 at the time, and so while taking in the soothing Fmaj7’s of ‘Don’t Panic’ with my ears I was looking at one of the most beautiful women of the decade. Delightful.
Finally, I can’t listen to ‘Yellow’ without recalling our band’s second and final gig. It was a top, top night and I think we did a bang up job of the song. If only people weren’t too drunk to remember any of it.
Favourite tracks
Don’t Panic, Shiver, Everything’s Not Lost
#15. Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes (2008)
Fact about the album
The cover art is a painting by Pieter Bruegel the Elder called ‘Netherlandish Proverbs’, which features -- amongst other things -- the carving of a live sheep.
Why it makes the list
Fleet Foxes’ eponymous effort needs no justification to be on this list, given that it’s basically on every similar list you’re likely to read. It’s like some kind of modern day Jefferson Airplane album, full of surrealism, reverberation, and soaring melodies. Every time I listen to Fleet Foxes I get sucked into their world, and what a peaceful world it is.
Memories it evokes
I first listened to this album during one of my cleaning binges. There I was, up in the attic sorting though all the clothes I had flung carelessly on the ground, but enjoying the experience solely because of what my ears where hearing.
Favourite songs
Oliver James, Quiet Houses, Tiger Mountain Peasant Song
Fact about the album
Marketa Irglova was 18 when this album was released. 18! Glen you ol’ dog, you.
Why it makes the list
I encountered The Swell Season rather fortuitously, although I guess that charge could be leveled against most on this list. I was flicking through a friend’s mp3 player one day in college (something I usually do to make rapid judgments on someone's character), and inquired about Glen Hansard and how good he was and so forth. Knowing my penchant for melancholy music, The Swell Season was recommended to me with confidence, and it proved to confidence well-founded.
I instantly fell in love with ‘Falling Slowly’, and so after overdosing on that track I delved into the rest of what the album had to offer. Most of the songs didn’t depart from what made ‘Falling Slowly’ such a success on me, and I for one was okay with that. There was a chemistry to this album -- no doubt owing itself to the two lead performers -- that you can’t buy or manufacture at will. Sometimes it is there, sometimes it isn’t. It was in this album in abundance, and it found its full expression on the wonderfully simple film Once, which featured Hansard and Irglova as something like musical soul mates. The songs on The Swell Season took on a whole new life when accompanied by moving pictures, but the album alone stands as one of the finest duets of the past decade, and certainly my favourite.
Memories it evokes
Marketa Irglova walking a hoover down a busy Dublin street as if it were a dog.
Favourite tracks
Falling Slowly, Lies, When Your Mind’s Made Up
#16. Parachutes - Coldplay (2000)
Fact about the album
Parachutes was banned in China because the government detected anti-Communist vibes from the song ‘Spies’.
Why it makes the list
I was originally dismissive of Coldplay. ‘Trouble’ and ‘Yellow’ came on the scene in the midst of my “If a song doesn’t have a good guitar solo then it’s rubbish” phase, so I retreated back to the confines of Dire Straits, Thin Lizzy, and all the rest of those artists with a propensity for guitar solos, safe in the knowledge that I wasn’t missing out on much.
The opening track, 'Don’t Panic', proved I was wrong. Enchanted with that little number, I was forced to give the rest of the album a fair cop, and I was not disappointed. Aside from brilliant tracks like 'Shiver', 'Everything’s Not Lost', and 'Sparks', this album also provided me with a new lens with which to view the guitar. I discovered for the first time an alternate tuning, and the value of the simple and economical as opposed to the complex and prodigal; a riff like that found in 'Everything’s Not Lost' can be just as effective as something by Jimmy Page, and is much more listenable than the show-boating of virtuosos like Al di Meola or Steve Morse.
Parachutes was nothing short of a catalyst for my musical tastes throughout the decade (for better or worse), and so while clearly not my favourite album of “the noughties” (nor even my favourite Coldplay album), it is perhaps the most significant.
Memories it evokes
This album always bring me back to Christmas ’02, when I listened to it -- and especially 'Don’t Panic' -- incessantly. I also remember there being this weird adaptation of Snow White (starring the peerless Kristen Kreuk) on Channel 4 at the time, and so while taking in the soothing Fmaj7’s of ‘Don’t Panic’ with my ears I was looking at one of the most beautiful women of the decade. Delightful.
Finally, I can’t listen to ‘Yellow’ without recalling our band’s second and final gig. It was a top, top night and I think we did a bang up job of the song. If only people weren’t too drunk to remember any of it.
Favourite tracks
Don’t Panic, Shiver, Everything’s Not Lost
#15. Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes (2008)
Fact about the album
The cover art is a painting by Pieter Bruegel the Elder called ‘Netherlandish Proverbs’, which features -- amongst other things -- the carving of a live sheep.
Why it makes the list
Fleet Foxes’ eponymous effort needs no justification to be on this list, given that it’s basically on every similar list you’re likely to read. It’s like some kind of modern day Jefferson Airplane album, full of surrealism, reverberation, and soaring melodies. Every time I listen to Fleet Foxes I get sucked into their world, and what a peaceful world it is.
Memories it evokes
I first listened to this album during one of my cleaning binges. There I was, up in the attic sorting though all the clothes I had flung carelessly on the ground, but enjoying the experience solely because of what my ears where hearing.
Favourite songs
Oliver James, Quiet Houses, Tiger Mountain Peasant Song
Going to see The Swell Season at Vicar Street on Tuesday?
ReplyDeleteAssuming the tickets cost money, probably not. Another time perhaps, when money once again becomes no object for me! Looking forward to listening to the new album though. That's definitely on my to-do list.
ReplyDeleteYou have to make other people's hazy drunken memories work to your advantage. Try saying something like 'But, don't you remember when we played the Dark Side of the Moon perfectly, from start to finish with four instruments and no recognised singer??'. A statement like this requires the acccompaniment of a look of sheer incredulity on your part. Finish with 'You should probably get help, man. Seriously.'
ReplyDeleteHow cool would it have been to play Dark Side of the Moon in its entirety, with the Wizard of Oz playing in the background? Still, when I sang Great Gig in the Sky acappela right at the end of the night and blew the house down - magnificent. You don't remember that? Dude, you should probably get help. Seriously.
ReplyDelete