Was only aware of Marianne via Nick Cave, and don’t think I’d ever heard any of her own music before. This is a very interesting album - I feel like I’m using that word way too much in these reviews but I truly mean it here in terms of there’s a lot to be interested in. It’s quite unusual, from her voice (with its interesting rasp, lisp and cracks) to the structure of the songs and some of the sonic effects. I’m not sure how I feel overall, but Witches’ Song and Guilt were my favourite tracks.

It’s impossible for me to be objective/unbiased when it comes to Nick Cave because he’s easily in my top 10 artists of all time and I’ve been a bit obsessed with him for many many years. It’s also impossible for me to separate this from its context (the tragic death of his 15-year-old son) and therefore it’s an album I very rarely play as it’s totally devastating. It’s almost more spoken word in parts too, but hauntingly beautiful. Sparse, stark, slow, spiritual and so so sad. I put on its successor (last year’s Wild God) straight after in order to kind of progress the story, move on to a sliver of healing and joy again, as Nick has begun to do.

As much as I love Nick Cave to death, I’ve always kind of wrestled with and never been able to reconcile how to feel about the violence (and sometimes misogynistic or homophobic violence) in his (earlier) music. I think there has to be a place for storytelling of all types (including the vulgar, aggressive, uncomfortable, etc.) in art and media, but also acknowledging some of it is pretty awful to listen to and not to be celebrated or excused. As I said, I don’t really know and probably never will, but interesting to consider. Anyway, Straight to You is always gorgeous, a perfect song. (3.5 stars)

Very smooth but I did wish I was listening to Smooth feat. Rob Thomas (1999) because Smooth feat. Rob Thomas (1999) is one of the smoothest songs of all time and when I hear Smooth feat. Rob Thomas (1999) life just feels so smooth.

Catapults me back to when I was 17 and living in Brooklyn and used to listen to this all the time on my old iPod, alongside Florence & the Machine and MGMT’s early albums. Very floaty, vibey, chill. Somehow makes me feel a bit cold temperature-wise. I like his voice better than hers, but they do work well together.

3. First hearing. Listened to a fair whack of jazz like this with my Dad over Christmas. I’m developing a real taste for it in many ways but also still tend to prefer lyrics-driven music over instrumental at this stage I think. Enjoy the little trills and flourishes, makes me want to laze around on a boat.

Familiar with half a dozen Jefferson Airplane songs but had never listened through an album before. Fun, funky. Sometimes almost childlike (in a good way). I like the narrative/literary nature of many of the tracks (like Alice in Wonderland). Go To Her probably slaps the hardest.

First time listen. Only marginally familiar with Yes. Great vibes, episodic and journeyish, from some bluegrass-like guitar noodling to harder more psychedelicky sections. Put me in mind of Grateful Dead, The Who, Pink Floyd, The Doors, America. Favourite track was Your Move.

Effortlessly cool and jammy, influential on so much of what was to come. There are some sounds on it I don’t particularly enjoy (like production-wise) but obviously you can’t help but groove along. Made me want to rewatch the documentary ‘Summer of Soul’.

Sorry but I’m not going to listen to this one. I don’t do Taylor Swift. I did used to quite like this album when it came out because we used to dance to Shake It Off at the Zumba class my friend ran. I can’t deny there’s some super catchy pop tunes here. But I don’t want to pay it a revisit in the slightest.

First time listen. Loved this! Cool, fun, quintessentially 90s, interesting lyrical content (especially spiritually). My favourite track was definitely Children Play With Earth. “Dig your hands in the dirt” indeed! Words to live by.

Not for me. Didn’t mind some of the songs in a ‘dad rock’ kind of way, like Hard to Handle was pretty cool. But I wouldn’t listen to this again.

I’m sure I remember listening to this back in my uni days as study focus music. I might crack it out again for the new course I’m starting because I seriously enjoyed the vibes. Pulsewidth was my favourite.

HELL YEAH. Makes me want to fight everybody but also love everybody. Insanely powerful, classic for a reason.

Crazy how avant garde some of this still sounds 40 years on. Unusual, creative, unsettling. At times genuinely offputting, at others enticing and enchanting, even comforting. He truly has one of the world’s most unique voices. I think because I love Nick Cave so much and there’s quite a lot of similarity, it’s almost surprising I haven’t been more into Tom Waits before, I’ve only ever dipped my toes, so I think I’m going to get into him properly now.

Otis became one of my all time favourite artists last year, when I happened to buy a vinyl at the record store near my house and couldn’t get it off repeat. The definition of soul! Such a timeless voice, such rhythm and swing and heart. Always devastated the world lost him at just 26 years old.

Goes hard. Interesting how much heavy punk today still sounds like this. Like I could even throw on a bunch of different local bands from 4ZZZ or wherever and their songs could almost be Black Flag and vice versa (I mean that in a positive way, like the genre is strong). Dug the track TV Party the most, it’ll be going in my playlists.

Drum and bass isn’t for me. Makes me think of Letterkenny and the skids. I started listening to this driving down Mt Tamborine late last night but it was putting me into too much of a trance, making me feel like I was in Mario Kart or something, and I got worried I was gonna crash, so I had to stop and take it back up this morning in a safer environment! Also makes me want to do drugs? Anyway, I like the tracks with more vocals better, like Heroes and Share the Fall. But overall not something I’d ever listen to again.

Like most of the world, I’ve always been super familiar with Shout, Head Over Heels, and most importantly the classic Everybody Wants to Rule the World (for which my sister and I have a high score on the old karaoke video game SingStar, by the way) and loved those songs, but I’d never heard the rest and must say they definitely weren’t as good. Cool vibes throughout but also some of the sounds are a bit grating. I wish there were half stars because this is definitely not as low as a 3 but I can’t really give it a 4 overall, so consider this a 3.5 and I will be revisiting this album.

This, dare I say it, kind of sucks. And not in a sexy way. It’s a far cry from the big hits like Good Vibrations, Kokomo, etc. The song about feet? Garbage. The song about Disney? Tripe. Pretty much the only track I didn’t mind was Day in the Life of a Tree, and even that feels kitschy and crap (but put me a little in mind of Sufjan Stevens, who I love). Actually, Till I Die is decent too, mostly for the harmonies (and I could hear a tiny bit of Fleet Foxes in that one). But overall, a disappointment from a band I thought I liked but apparently don’t actually know that well. (1.5 stars)

Was only aware of Marianne via Nick Cave, and don’t think I’d ever heard any of her own music before. This is a very interesting album - I feel like I’m using that word way too much in these reviews but I truly mean it here in terms of there’s a lot to be interested in. It’s quite unusual, from her voice (with its interesting rasp, lisp and cracks) to the structure of the songs and some of the sonic effects. I’m not sure how I feel overall, but Witches’ Song and Guilt were my favourite tracks.

This seems an odd choice to me, the score to a film I will never watch (because I read the Wikipedia synopsis after seeing Coppola’s Marie Antoinette and Priscilla and decided it would traumatise me too much). I found it all a bit samey, a bit droney and dull, but I can certainly see how it would work well in a film and a few moments reminded me of Tame Impala or something like that. I didn’t mind The Word Hurricane or Dead Bodies, but overall I just think I’ve heard many better scores and as a standalone album it really didn’t give me anything. (1.5 stars)

Funky and smooth. Can’t think of much more to say! Favourite track was Never Found a Girl, although as a massive fan of the Bee Gees, the cover of Mend a Broken Heart was extremely welcome and appreciated too. (3.5 stars)

Not bad but not much stands out. Really liked West of the Fields a lot, but didn’t find any others particularly memorable. At best, made me think of The Tragically Hip or even Crowded House and then I just kind of wanted to listen to them instead. (2.5 stars)

I’ve never really liked RHCP and I still don’t. I’ve tried to get into them before, largely because one of my friends is a fan, but ultimately I don’t enjoy the sound of his voice nor the structure, cadence, rhythmic patterns, whatever you want to call it, of the songs. And there’s only so many times you can hear the word California! Scar Tissue is good though, and I didn’t mind Purple Stain or Right on Time either. (1.5 stars)

Loved this! Dreamy, floaty, floral, relaxing. Had always intended to check out Cocteau Twins but never got around to it before, so I’m glad this finally forced my hand and I’ll be seeking out their other albums immediately. Made me think of Kate Bush, Kate Miller-Heidke, even Magdalena Bay. Also this is a strange reference but I Wear Your Ring reminded me of a piece from the Donkey Kong Country soundtrack called Aquatic Ambience which I listen to probably too often. So many great tracks, I can only understand like 2% of the lyrics (and frequently wondered what language I was even hearing) but it’s all so melodic, maybe how mermaids would sound.

Firstly, since this was not available on Spotify I had to listen on YouTube and having to listen to ads in-between every track really interrupted the flow. That aside, this is very early-00s rock, a bit like The Strokes or White Stripes in places but much more noise-y. Some great guitar work but not something I’d revisit. Spike Island was my preferred track. (1.5 stars)

Very middle of the road. I’m starting to feel there’s too many 80s/90s rock albums on this list already. That’s not to say I didn’t like this, it’s easy enough to listen to and the songs about rain were fitting as I was driving through rain, it’s just mid, as the kids would say. Very forgettable. Top tracks were Happy When It Rains (more for agreeing with the title’s sentiment than anything) and April Skies.

It’s impossible for me to be objective/unbiased when it comes to Nick Cave because he’s easily in my top 10 artists of all time and I’ve been a bit obsessed with him for many many years. It’s also impossible for me to separate this from its context (the tragic death of his 15-year-old son) and therefore it’s an album I very rarely play as it’s totally devastating. It’s almost more spoken word in parts too, but hauntingly beautiful. Sparse, stark, slow, spiritual and so so sad. I put on its successor (last year’s Wild God) straight after in order to kind of progress the story, move on to a sliver of healing and joy again, as Nick has begun to do.

I’ve never been a Lennon girlie, I’m pretty much ride-or-die for Paul, so I don’t particularly enjoy John’s solo work. Some songs do slap, like unfortunately the infamous Paul diss-track How Do You Sleep is the coolest song on this album, while most of the rest kind of rubs me the wrong way. Still, even if I don’t really like it, you certainly can’t deny the enduring reach of Imagine. (2.5 stars)

A jaunty, enjoyable jazz outing. The opening track Mandela was my favourite, I’ve already caught myself whistling the refrain. And I mean this in a complimentary way, most of this sounds like it could be the score to a children’s cartoon, like a kind-vibe 90s-00s PBS show along the lines of Curious George or Martha Speaks. (3.5 stars)

As much as I love Nick Cave to death, I’ve always kind of wrestled with and never been able to reconcile how to feel about the violence (and sometimes misogynistic or homophobic violence) in his (earlier) music. I think there has to be a place for storytelling of all types (including the vulgar, aggressive, uncomfortable, etc.) in art and media, but also acknowledging some of it is pretty awful to listen to and not to be celebrated or excused. As I said, I don’t really know and probably never will, but interesting to consider. Anyway, Straight to You is always gorgeous, a perfect song. (3.5 stars)

I’ve always enjoyed this sort of stuff. Classic, simple, super singalongable even if you’ve never heard it before. Reminds me of Burl Ives who I listen to a lot with my sister as well as others of that era and ilk. Makes me want to pick up the guitar again. (3.5 stars)

I adore the Bee Gees, they are a massive lifelong favourite that I grew up on and still listen to constantly (their greatest hits triple LP might be my most played vinyl) and my crush on young Barry Gibb will never subside, but taking this album honestly at face value, it’s not one of their better outings at all and I’m pretty surprised it’s on this list. Like there are several I’d give five stars but this is far from one of them. How Can You Mend and Don’t Wanna Live Inside Myself are excellent, and great examples of their songwriting prowess, but on the other hand you’ve got the total drivel that is Remembering which sounds like it’s from the Middle Ages or something, and a few others made me want to hit skip too. Interestingly, some of it also sounds quite Beatlesy, like It’s Just the Way. Look, I don’t really have any specific complaints except I guess that a lot of this sounds outdated in a not-fun way, whereas I could listen to their disco days forever. (2.5 stars)

Not to make the obvious joke, but for me it really is in the name: garbage. To quote a song on the album, “this is not my idea of a good time”. Truly did not enjoy this at all and in fact at one point genuinely yelled, out loud alone in my car, “I f*cking hate this!” I’ve committed to no skips so I stuck it out but it wasn’t worth it. Everything about it just annoyed me, the vocals, but I think especially the production and mix. The only track I found tolerable was Fix Me Now.

Very cool! A band I’m surprised I’ve never gotten into before because they align so closely with a lot of those I love so I’ll be checking out more of their albums now for sure. Favourite tracks were Overground, Carcass and the extra fun little Hong Kong Garden. (3.5 stars)

Truly having to seperate the art from the artist here. I’m gonna let that go without saying from now on. This album is so good. So funky, so smooth, so cool. Just an effortless listen. Don’t Stop Til You Get Enough is one of the greatest songs of all time and it keeps rolling on from there, with the only semi-low-point being She’s Out of My Life. (4.5 stars)

Unbelievably cool vibes from the cover alone! The outfit, the dog, the garden and of course the titular chicken. And gladly the music matches, just so chill and easy to listen to, like especially while making dinner.

This kind of music always reminds me of working in aged care, the oldies absolutely love songs like this and I don’t blame them. There’s a timeless sound here, although I do tend to get a little tired after several tracks. Favourites were 24th Hour and If She Could See Me Now.

Another one that reminds me of my aged care job, these are ‘golden oldies’ and I respect that, even if I don’t find them particularly riveting. Simple but sweet subject matter (love) set to simple but sweet melodies (two or three chords). Also, silly thing to say perhaps but I like that a lot of these older albums are under half an hour. I’m a big advocate for the 90-minute movie and now I’m gonna do the same for the 30-minute album. This is not one I’ll revisit though.

Glad I found this on YouTube because it is so unlike almost anything I’ve heard before. It reminded me at times of the Sparks musical Annette, of Eurovision, of circus/carnival adjacent films like Dr Parnassus and Nightmare Alley, and even a little of Kate Bush and Marianne Faithful. Obviously deeply political, with heavy hitting lines like “now you know how things can become, don’t you ever forget how it began” that sadly feel as relevant now as ever, I was captivated throughout. I don’t think I’d ever listen to it again but I’m really glad I did today because it was surprising and confusing in a thought-provoking way, like pondering a complicated painting or watching a multifaceted documentary.

Very smooth but I did wish I was listening to Smooth feat. Rob Thomas (1999) because Smooth feat. Rob Thomas (1999) is one of the smoothest songs of all time and when I hear Smooth feat. Rob Thomas (1999) life just feels so smooth.

There should be more educational albums like this! I would love to hear them from all different cultures around the world, gently explaining the rhythms and patterns to listen out for, building appreciation. I’ve always casually enjoyed traditional Indian music and can definitely see why the Beatles and so forth fell into it deeply, even if it’s not something I listen to often. Also cool to read that Norah Jones is his daughter!

Blood, sugar, sex, magic? Where did the Red Hot Chili Peppers find my shopping list! Bad jokes aside, I still don’t really like this band. There’s some moments of cool instrumentation and every now and then I’ll slip into a bit of a groove, but overall they just kind of bother me. It’s like teenage boy vibes somehow, plus all the songs start to sound the same.