I don’t remember how I was introduced the Portico Quartet, possibly through Stuart Maconie’s BBC 6 Music show, but something about their...

As a long time Steely Dan fan, the flurry of activity in the early 2000s both from the Dan, and Donald Fagan solo was much appreciated,...

This is the HMHB album where I saw the band and bought the t-shirt in Cambridge with the family. They were, as you’d expect, superbly...

While he’s still one of my favourite musical artists, I think that by the time this was released my obsession was subsiding, and this was...

Another band who seemed to be everywhere for a short time, then went away. Taking the minimalism of the garage band right down, this duo...

Yes, they’re silly and their big furry animal-clad fans are an embarrassment, but they do make some nice music. I first encountered the...

I bought this based on reviews at the time, and I’m not sure I’ve listened to it for a decade. Everyone raved about this album, as the...

I went through a bit of a Primal Scream phase at the turn of the century, bought this when it first came out and don't recall being...

I don't know what attracted me to Sigur Rós. The bleak look of the CD cover? The Icelandic mystery? The fact that their CDs were £1 in...

It's chill out time, with Air's debut, Moon Safari. I was introduced to this by a friend the year after release, and heard it a lot at...

I'm a big fan of Japanese author, Haruki Murakami. The strange thing I find about his books is that while I really enjoy reading them,...

Beck's Odelay album, his most successful in UK, is the 1996 entry in this section. I'm more familiar with its successor, Mutations , and...

We're 30 years on from his debut, Scott (already reviewed) and it's safe to say Scott's teenage heartthrob days are behind him. This...

I didn’t go wild for Nirvana at the time. They seemed to personify something of a back to basics approach to rock music, which was...

I first heard this album, probably the year after release, on a coach while accompanying a party of sixth form students to Paris, and...

I first came across Bob Mould in the mid 1990s and wasn't really aware of Sugar until then. Having heard some solo stuff, a friend lent...

I don't remember how I stumbled across Massive Attack, as on paper they certainly wouldn't have been my thing. Possibly after getting...

They Might Be Giants' quirky songs appealed from the first time I heard Birdhouse In Your Soul, and I bought this in a sale quite soon...

I don’t recall the first time I heard Different Trains, but it made a massive impression. I clearly remember hearing a performance from...

I'm sure I was aware of the Pixies by the mid 1990s, and had a 'best of' CD (which we'll come to in good time), but in the mid 2000s, I...