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Compilations & Soundtracks

Artist

Album

Information

Review

Highlights

Ash

Trailer

Released 1994

Debut mini album from Belfast's finest, Trailer captured the youthful spirit of punk with more tunes than Johnny Rotten could shake a stick at.

The infectious energy of live favourite Jack Names the Planets.

1977

Released 1995

Named after the year Star Wars was released, 1977 saw Ash explode onto the indie scene with Kung Fu and Girl From Mars. True to their go-get-it attitude, the band were waiting for their A-Level results when the album was released.

Hidden track Sick Party, for being possibly the most disgusting thing ever committed to vinyl.

Nu-Clear Sounds

Released 1998

Having discovered scratching and Led Zeppelin records, Ash put their ear for a riff to good use, with an album which was roundly acclaimed as their most accomplished do date.

The Pixies meet the Beach Boys guitar wizardry of Wild Surf.

Free All Angels

Released 2001

New album, new(ish) direction. Ash have abandoned the scratching and regained the pop sensibilities they so rightly became known for. Falling neatly between Girl From Mars and Jesus Says in overall sound, Free All Angels should see the four-piece experience, as the closing track puts it, World Domination.

Falling somewhere in between Iggy Pop and the Sex Pistols track of the same name, Submission is the sound of a band at their confident peak.

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Belle and Sebastian

Tigermilk

Released 1999

Twee? Twee?! Well, yes, but don't hold that against them. B&S's debut encapsulated the band's trademark acerbic lyrics and dainty folk to remarkable effect.

The wry self-deprecation of The State I Am In, and the slightly bizarre album cover.

The Boy With the Arab Strap

Released 1998

If your opinion of the last B&S albums was that they "suck ass", then this one probably won't change your mind. If, however, you have fallen for their winsome Dylanisms, then The Boy… should more than satisfy.

Seymour Stein for so blatantly criticising B&S's record label boss - punk rock!

Ben Folds Five

Ben Folds Five

Released 1995

But there's only three of them! How ironic. Ben Folds Five's debut is crammed with the kind of piano-based, storming tunes that will take up permanent residence in your brain. Resistance is ultimately futile.

Underground, a paean to the contradictions of "alternative" American music, with the most infectious piano riff ever written.

Billy Bragg

William Bloke

Released 1996

Everyone's favourite socialist returns with more political strummings. Think crusty without the dog on a string, or punk without the spittle. Now that's a thought…

Upfield - jangly trumpets and social commentary: why wasn't this a hit?

Blur

Modern Life is Rubbish

Released 1993

The post shoegazing, pre Britpop Blur were a contrary bunch. Almost pop, almost indie, Modern Life Is Rubbish blurred (sorry) the boundaries they so eagerly trod on in Parklife. For Tomorrow and Chemical World assert Damon's status as a master chorus composer, while Blue Jeans' omission from the Singles album saw its status as a "Best Of" rebuked.

A perennial favourite among the songwriting community, the "na, na, na" chorus is done with undisputed panache in For Tomorrow.

Parklife

Released 1994

Remember the days before Blur discovered lo-fi? With a list of singles which would make most bands weep (Girls and Boys, Parklife, End of a Century), this was the album that defined Britpop before it was even invented.

This is a Low: if Damon can sing the shipping forecast with such conviction, will the phone book be next?

Boo Radleys

Wake Up Boo!

Released 1995

The summer of '95: it was impossible to move for the summery shimmer of Wake Up Boo!. For that brief period, the Boo Radleys discovered pop, and eclipsed everything else in the process.

It's Lulu - the best description you'll ever hear of life as a young teenager.

David Bowie

Singles

Released 1993

More classics than you can shake a flamboyant stick at: Space Oddity, Changes, Starman, and that's only the first CD. Ignore the dodgy fashion sense and stick to the music.

Heroes' final chorus, where Bowie's vocals ascend to a spine-chilling scream of "We could be heroes / just for one day"

Broadcast

Work and Non-Work

Released 1996

Wibbly (see Word of the Week) Stereolab-esque debut from Bristol's finest non trip-hop band. The Krautrock revival starts here.

The Book Lovers: The Velvet Underground covering White Town's Your Woman with PJ Harvey on vocals.

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Catatonia

Way Beyond Blue

Released 1996

Even before the storming success of Road Rage, Catatonia were always destined for the charts. See Sweet Catatonia and Bleed for guitar driven pop at its most joyfully subversive.

Cerys's angelic vocals on Some Half Baked Ideal Called Wonderful.

The Charlatans

The Charlatans

Released 1995

Featuring arguably some of The Charlatans best work - the beat-driven onslaughts of Nine Acre Court and Toothache, to name just two - this eponymous album was an underrated highlight of the year.

The tinkling piano and twinkling vocals on Just When You're Thinkin' Things Over.

Tellin' Stories

Released 1997

An album lent unerring poignancy by the tragic death of keyboard player Rob Collins, Tellin' Stories saw a more sensitive side to The Charlatans repertoire. The nearly-number-one hit One To Another provided a fitting highlight to an album which nearly wasn't made.

"No matter how you're feeling, you know you're never on your own" captures Get On It's message of optimism.

Melting Pot

Released 1998

A chronological greatest hits compilation from Manchester's strongest survivors, compiling everything from the baggy resonance of The Only One I Know to North Country Boy's shaggy Britpop.

Weirdo's Hammond-pummelling riff and all out disco beat.

Us and Us OnlyCharlatans1.htm

Released 1999

Wearing his heart (and influences) on his sleeve, this is Tim Burgess's record. The echoes of Bob Dylan are brought to the fore in the most heart-achingly beautiful collection of love songs you'll hear this side of Teenage Fanclub.

The spine chilling intro to Senses, made ever more touching by its oblique references to Rob Collins.

The Clash

London Calling

Released 1979

The Clash's venerable double album is one of the few punk records which more than holds its own musically 20 years on. From the opening chords of London Calling to the last reverb of Train In Vain, this is one album not to be missed.

Highlight? Have you heard this record? To pick just one would be blasphemy of the highest order.

The Singles

Released 1999

An ideal introduction to The Clash's philosophy of rock, roll and politics, this collection showcases punk at its most subversive: simultaneously painfully caustic and commercially successful.

(White Man) In Hammersmith Palais, I Fought The Law, Rock The Casbah, Should I Stay Or Should I Go. To pick just four.

Clinic

Clinic

Released 1999

A collection of the early EPs on one album, Clinic's debut sees the musical surgeons dissecting the Pixies' back catalogue before sewing it back up with the organs in the wrong places. Or something.

Imagine what Joe Pasquale might have sounded like before his voice broke, and you've got a good idea of the vocals on Monkey on Your Back. Disturbing…

Cornershop

When I Was Born For the Seventh Time

Released 1997

Eclectic to the core, When I Was Born… is a sparkling collection of harmonious pop, blissful country and skewed folk. Inspired.

The original version of Brimful of Asha - before the Fatboy Slim treatment it was the perfect pop song.

Elvis Costello

The Very Best of Elvis Costello

Released 1999

The record the term "mammoth double album" was coined for, this Best Of contains everything from Oliver's Army to She, with more than enough obscurities in between.

Top five records to strut your stuff to: 1) T-Rex 20th Century Boy; 2) Primal Scream Rocks; 3) Oasis Rock 'N' Roll Star; 4) Rolling Stones Satisfaction; 5)Elvis Costello Pump It Up.

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The Delgados

The Great Eastern

Released 2000

The Great Eastern saw The Delgados gain some of the public recognition they so deserve with a nomination for the Mercury Music Awards. Following from a number one in John Peel's Festive Fifty, it looks like the only way is up. I hope.

American Trilogy: What Belle and Sebastian might sound like if they were brought up on Mozart instead of Morrissey.

Denim

Denim On Ice

Released 1996

Sounding like Helen Love's older (and wiser) brother, Denim's Lawrence mixed effervescent synthesisers with witty lyrics to produce the best eighties album of the nineties.

The Great Pub Rock Revival: the only song ever written to namecheck Reckless Eric, Nick Lowe and The Rumour in the space of one verse.

The Divine Comedy

A Secret History

Released 1999

A best-of compilation without a duff moment, A Secret History showcases Neil Hannon's development from lonely acoustic strummer to Britain's best-loved fop. The black humour of The Frog Princess stands proud in an album whose crowning moment has to be Noel Coward's I Went To A Marvellous Party. Yes, really.

Otherwise known as the "Father Ted" theme, Songs of Love finally makes itself known as a tale of student poetry and other misdemeanours.

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Eels

Beautiful Freak

Released 1996

See The Bluffer's Guide to Miserablism

The split stereo vocals of Manchild, all tender pain and sweet sorrow.

Elastica

Elastica

Released 1995

Elastica's debut mashed a bit of Wire with a pinch of Hole and seasoned it with some Lust For Life. A furious record of should-be anthems for slackers and wannabes everywhere. Shame they took the Stereo MCs' leisurely approach to writing the follow up.

"I'd work very hard but I'm lazy/I can't take the pressure and it's starting to show…Make a cup of tea/Put a record on" - Waking Up describes my life in a nutshell

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The Fall

Smile - It's the Best Of

Released 1998

Confirming Mark E Smith's status as the Eeyore of Pop, this Best Of tracks just a few highlights from the grumpy one's prolific and seemingly interminable career.

Mark E Smith's deranged ranting on Totally Wired. Or on every Fall record ever, for that matter.

Fatboy Slim

You've Come A Long Way Baby

Released 1998

The acceptable face of dance, onetime Norman Cook took on the clubbers at their own game, and won. Fun and funky, this is Flowered Up for the Hollyoaks generation.

Beat crunching, head pounding, brain twitching: The Rockafeller Skank!

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Gene

Olympian

Released 1995

Perennial underachievers (have I written that before?), Gene are the reliable, festival friendly face of guitar-based indie-pop. Which is neither a compliment nor a criticism, now I come to think about it.

The title track's repetition of "I can only be normal with you, I've given my all for you" until Martin Rossiter's lungs sound like they're about to explode.

Revelations

Released 1999

Rising to the accusations of petty plagiarism, the New Smiths^TM have come back with a new sound and a new image. Oh, no, that was someone else. Sprinkled with a bit of politics, this album sounds like everything Gene have ever done: fans will love it, non-fans will probably remain defiantly indifferent.

Fill Her Up: a song about a) cars, b) girls or c) beer tankards?

Gomez

Bring It On

Released 1998

Recorded in a garage, and featuring (probably) the kitchen sink on drums, Gomez took indie music back to its feckless student roots. And with tunes this innovative (78 Stone Wobble, Get Myself Arrested), I for one am not complaining.

A true student anthem if ever there was one, Whippin' Piccadilly is the tale of one man's attempt to get very drunk in Manchester…

Dobie Gray

Out On The Floor With The In Crowd

Released 1999

One of the best voices in northern soul, this compilation charts the best of Dobie Gray, from humble beginning to minor celebrity via religion, blues and a little bit of dancing.

Out On The Floor could persuade the most ardent of wallflowers to boogie.

Green Day

Dookie

Released 1994

So they're not really a punk band, but as far as nineties takes on seventies social uproar go, Green Day do it miles better than the rest. For teenage rebellion see Welcome To Paradise, for DIY politics see She, and for three-chord pre-millennial disintegration read Green Day's entire career.

Basket Case: angst-ridden punk powerchords for the MTV generation. But in very a good way.

Nimrod

Released 1997

Nothing appreciably different to - or better than - their usual output, but if any of the singles (Hitchin' A Ride, Redundant) tickle your fancy, then the album holds a whole plethora of authority-baiting, anarchic gems.

Good Riddance (Time of Your Life) - Green Day in an introspective mood, and a glorious summer hit to boot.

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The Housemartins

Now That's What I Call Quite Good

Released 1987

Hull's finest^TM release a compilation of A's, B's, sessions and outtakes (possibly not the latter). The self-deprecating title speaks volumes about their status as perennial underachievers. Never quite as good as they should have been, nor as awful as they could have been, this is never much more than nice.

Happy Hour, pop's greatest ode to cheap drinks.

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James

The Best Of

Released 1998

Perennial Britpop favourites and Madchester rejects, James' Best Of contains a surprising number of forgotten gems and why-wasn't-that-a-huge-hit pop classics.

Obvious, yes, but Sit Down still sounds fantastic, even after all those years of "comedy" sitting down at every James gig.

Joy Division

Substance

Released 1988

Not a patch on Unknown Pleasures or Closer, but this collection album contains many of Joy Division's finest moments. Transmission, Atmosphere, and - of course - Love Will Tear Us Apart are just a few highlights in an album which will surely leave you emotionally drained - in the way Marilyn Manson's faux-controversial manipulation will never manage.

Stripped down and soul-bearing, She's Lost Control was Joy Division at their bleakest.

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Kula Shaker

K

Released 1996

Well, it sounded like a good idea at the time: Take a pinch of Eastern mysticism, add a tablespoon of Britpop, stir in four posh blokes with bad facial hair and voila! A briefly listenable album let down by the fact the singer was a bit of an idiot. Shame.

"Look to the creator, see the master of magicians fantasise" Kula Shaker lyrics: read them and weep.

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Manic Street Preachers

Generation Terrorists

Released 1992

As far as statements of intent go, you don't get much better than this: 16 tracks of raw emotion, intelligence and punk rock. One of the few promising debuts which was actually surpassed by its follow-ups. Flawed, but essentail.

Maybe the early Manics stumbled into rawk territory on occasions, but Motorcycle Emptiness was the sound of a band in their prime. And a very long prime it turned out to be…

Gold Against The Soul

Released 1993

You know you've made it when there is a question about you on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire. So, the Manics had which flowers …In The Hospital? Is that your final answer?

La Tristessa Durera's depiction of war veterans lives up to its title.

Everything Must Go

Released 1996

Few bands have enjoyed comeback success as grandly as the Manics, and with A Design For Life as the first single, they couldn't have done it better. Fortunately, the album which followed more than lived up to expectations, topping readers' and critics' charts equally.

Unsurprisingly, A Design For Life is more than an incentive to buy this album. Richard Ashcroft, take note: you need to return with something better than your back-catalogue, not worse.

Bob Mould

Bob Mould

Released 1996

Ex Sugar frontman Bob Mould has carved himself a angst-ridden niche in tuneful rock. And Mould is certainly at ease with his status: the sleevenotes' of this eponymous solo album state simply "This one is for me".

Deep Karma Canyon: Bad title, good song, great riff.

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Nirvana

Nevermind

Released 1991

Overplayed? Overrated? Overvalued? Or all of the above? Maybe so, but Nevermind's status as one of the most important albums in recent memory is nothing short of concrete. And with a tracklisting as good as this, it's easy to see why. Nu-metallers, take note.

Three guesses… That song, that intro - why ignore something this perfect?

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Oasis

Definitely Maybe

Released 1994

Debut album from the best band to come out of Manchester since, well, the last one. Kick-started Britpop, proving rock 'n' roll was still alive and living in Burnage in '94. Take your pick: Columbia, Slide Away, Cigarettes and Alcohol. A gem.

Even the baddest of bad boys love their mums - and Live Forever was as poignant a tribute as there can be.

What's The Story (Morning Glory)

Released 1995

Anyone who doesn't own this album probably knows most of the songs off by heart anyway - from the gentle Cast No Shadow to Rock N' Roll Star's blustering statement of intent. Not to mention Wonderwall, Roll With It… Funnily enough, I haven't listened to this in years.

Champagne Supernova - the epic which didn't fall foul of Be Here Now's pomposity.

Be Here Now

Released 1997

Hyped by Radio One until most of the country wanted to kill the next person who played D'You Know What I Mean?, Be Here Now unfortunately remains as pompous and leaden as its leading single. Despite the odd nod to on-form Oasis, the album as a whole is nothing if not disappointing.

I Hope, I Think, I Know - a reminder of the sheer force of Oasis in their prime.

The Masterplan

Released 1998

Validating claims that many Oasis B-sides were better than the lead tracks they accompanied, The Masterplan consisted of more cracking tunes than some bands would find on their A-side compilations.

Acquiesce, the only Oasis song to feature the Gallagher brothers on joint vocals, with its heartfelt "We need each other / we believe in one another". Shame Noel and Liam can't stand the sight of each other now.

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Primal Scream

Give Out But Don't Give Up

Released 1994

This much derided Primal Scream album pretty much holds its own 6 years on. Although nowhere near as ear-crushingly fierce as their recent outings, the gospel soul of Big Jet Plane and wig out pomposity of Rocks are still the sound of the Primals at their best.

Heartbreak record (I'm Gonna) Cry Myself Blind, for Primal Scream at their most fragile.

Prodigy

Music for the Jilted Generation

XL Recordings

With a thumping Their Law and scarily addictive Voodoo People, …Jilted Generation was just a hint of what the Prodigy were to achieve.

Voodoo People - you dance around your bedroom to this, don't you? DON'T YOU?

Fat of the Land

Released 1997

"I'm the fear addicted / Danger illustrated / I'm a firestarter / Twisted firestarter / You're the firestarter / Twisted firestarter / I'm the bitch you hated / Filth infatuated / Yeah."

The record which scared grannies everywhere on its TOTP debut, Firestarter was the musical equivalent of a temper tantrum. With knives.

Pulp

His 'N' Hers

Released 1994

Before Different Class propelled them into the mainstream, Pulp were doing, well, exactly the same really. Jarvis' lyrical musings frame an album of songs which have to be listened to to be appreciated. And that's a rare thing nowadays.

The archetypal Pulp track: Babies combined skewed lyrics with even more off-kilter guitars.

Different Class

Released 1995

The only band to survive Britpop unscathed, Pulp's 1995 release saw them catapulted to the top of opinion polls as Common People stole the accolade of 'Best Single of the 90s'. It's accompanying album was no less worthy, as Jarvis Cocker's knowing lyrics rubbed shoulders with some of the best tunes this side of the sixties.

"Is this the light of a new day dawning / A future bright that you can walk in / No it's just another Monday morning / Do it all over again" - the eternal Monday morning feeling is captured on, er, Monday Morning.

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Radiohead

The Bends

Released 1995

An album which has justifiably earned the label of best record of a decade, The Bends may take more than a few listens to reveal itself, but once it does the joys are many and rewarding.

One of the most confounding music videos ever, Just will never sound the same for anyone who's heard Ed Byrne's cabaret version.

OK Computer

Released 1997

Where do you go from an album as acclaimed as The Bends? Two ways: forward or backwards. Fortunately, Radiohead went for the boundary-pushing option, released a seven minute rock opera as a single, recruited Stephen Hawking on guest vocals and swiftly conquered the world.

Affecting records don’t come much more moving than Lucky's depiction of conflict as part of the War Child campaign.

Ramones

Ramones Mania

Released 1988

The band who hold the record for the most songs written involving the fewest chords (probably), the Ramones epitomised the 'no talent required' attitude to punk guitar playing.

Sheena Is A Punk Rocker - famously misheard as 'Sheena Easton, Pub Rocker' by someone who shall remain nameless.

Lou Reed

Transformer

Released 1972

Hmm. I think that's everything.

Did anyone else find it highly amusing that the BBC used Perfect Day to market their TV channels? Lou Reed has never sounded so fragile, so content, or so, well, stoned.

REM

Eponymous

Released 1988

Early compilation of relative obscurities from the band that refuses to die. And for once, that's a good thing. Interesting to trace REM's progression from unknowns to teetering on the edge of fame for fans, and a very listenable collection for newcomers.

The completely incomprehensible It's the End of the World As We Know It - "jelly bean boom", what?

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Sex Pistols

Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's The Sex Pistols

Released 1977

The punk album everyone should own. Makes Limp Bizkit sound, well, limp.

Anarchy In The UK - the sound of distilled anger.

Smashing Pumpkins

Melon Collie and the Infinite Sadness

Released 1995

Monolithic double album from the twisted genius of Billy Corgan. It's many highlights - the atmospheric 1979, violent Bullet With Butterfly Wings and country (?) tinge of Thirty Three - hid the fact that the rest of the album(s) was (whisper it) a bit dull.

With its soaring strings and epic vocals, Tonight, Tonight was the Pumpkins at their triumphant best.

Smiths

Singles

Released 1995

The most miserable band of all time^TM had enough cracking songs to fill a small lorry, but this singles collection is more than adequate as an introduction. They are all here, from This Charming Man to Panic and all in between. If you don't already have them elsewhere, go buy.

Death has never sounded so beautiful (or appealing) as it does on There is a Light That Never Goes Out.

Soft Cell

Say Hello To…

Released 1996

Now is the time for honesty: I bought this album purely for Say Hello, Wave Goodbye, and haven't yet dared to listen to the rest of it. It was the Village People-esque front cover which put me off…

"Not Tainted Love, the other one": Say Hello, Wave Goodbye, as once performed (sans irony) in a bizarre duet between Marc Almond and Martin Rossiter on Channel 4's The White Room.

Stereophonics

Word Gets Around

Released 1997

In a fine storytelling tradition, Stereophonics' Kelly Jones chronicled life in his native Wales on an album of small-town characters and large-town chancers.

Summer anthem Local Boy in the Photograph - accidentally ruin it for your friends by telling the story of a boy being run over by a train which inspired the lyrics. I'm sorry, really I am.

Performance and Cocktails

Released 1999

Receiving more combined airplay than the Spice Girls latest, Performance and Cocktail was nothing if not an album of singles. But did that have more to do with the record label than the quality of the songs?

Following Ash's lead, the Led Zeppelin riffs come thick and fast on The Bartender and the Thief.

Stone Roses

The Complete Stone Roses

Released 1995

Their eponymous debut is ranked as one of the best albums of all time, while the follow-up, The Second Coming, is seen as one of the most disappointing. Nevertheless, the highlights on this compilation are too many to mention. It's a shame the backwards version of Elephant Stone included (a B-side entitled Full Fathom Five) doesn't reveal any satanic messages though.

With a bassline Peter Hook would kill for, She Bangs The Drums was the Stone Roses at their most genre-defining.

Suede

Suede

Released 1994

One of the few music press hyped bands to actually live up to their preceding reputation, Suede's grandiose debut combined the dark lyrics of suburbia with the riffs of Hunky Dory era Bowie.

The drum intro to debut single The Drowners, with all the power of the entire kit being thrown down an elevator shaft.

Coming Up

Released 1996

Wasted glamour: Check. Urban trauma: Check. References to asphalt, class A drugs and London: Check. That'll be the new Suede album complete then.

Trash: Could almost be a parody of Suede mark1 if it wasn't so, well, good.

Super Furry Animals

Fuzzy Logic

Released 1996

The cover photos of Howard Marks said it all: whatever this album was, it wasn't going to be sober. That it was a record of divine experimentalism and Welsh wizardry is testament to the pure genius of the Super Furries. Or their dealer.

Fuzzy Logic, the best song about hamster driven electricity generators, ever!

Supergrass

I Should Coco

Released 1995

Supergrass's debut comes complete with the indie kid image they have been so desperate to shake off since. And it is none the worse for that. They bound through all their (arguably) best singles - Mansize Rooster, Caught By The Fuzz - with an energy befitting an excitable five year old, wearing a cheeky grin to match.

Supergrass's equivalent to Creep, Alright will probably haunt them forever. And as a pop masterpiece as good as this one, quite rightly so.

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Tindersticks

tindersticks

Released 1995

Winner of the NME Album of the Year accolade, Tindersticks' debut album combined all of the traits they were to become known for: murmured vocals, dark melancholy, and those minor piano chords which unfailingly bring a tear to the eye. That's not to say this album is without humour, per se, but the depressed should probably avoid it like the plague.

Tiny Tears: Frank Sinatra meets Leonard Cohen on a very dark night.

Donkeys '92-'97

Released 1998

Six years of indecipherable mumbling from Stuart Staples, and what do we have to show for it? A best-of collection of some of the most heart-wrenching whisky-laced ballads this side of Leonard Cohen, that's what.

Whispering vocals surrounded by a gentle murmur of violins, Marbles is everything you want from a Tindersticks record.

Travis

Good Feeling

Released 1997

Upbeat guitar-driven indie such as the fashion-bashing Tied to the Nineties, or the sweet pop sensibilities of Happy and its anthem to cheerfulness? Accused by many of being "schizophrenic", Good Feeling saw the "mature" side of Travis signposted only by winsome ballads More Than Us and I Love You Anyways.

If Happy doesn't leave you with a big grin on your face and wanting to hug people, you've been listening to too much Joy Division.

The Man Who

Released 1999

Following on where More Than Us left off, The Man Who brought out the tender side of Travis hinted at on Good Feeling. Admitting themselves to be better at "the slow songs", the band have honed their skills to perfection, with Fran Healy's aching vocals framing the acoustic beauty of As You Are and The Fear with spine-tingling effects.

"Oh God I hope I'm alright / cause I'm gonna cry" - Fran's heartbreaking vocals on Slide Show sum up the evocative effects of listening to music.

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The Velvet Underground

The Velvet Underground and Nico

Released 1967

As far as records go, this one is a cult classic, with artistic integrity (whatever that means) and a clutch of stunning tunes on its side. Why not erode the reputation of The Velvet Underground as an arty student band by forcing your Steps-loving friends to listen to it until they admit that Femme Fatale is The Best Record On The Planet. Sounds like fun to me…

Venus in Furs - if debauchery was a sound it would go something like this.

The Verve

Urban Hymns

Released 1997

An album which should probably be termed a "grower", from the angelic strings of Bitter Sweet Symphony to the fragile optimism of Velvet Morning, this one is still surprising me in its depth four years on.

The Drugs Don't Work - those spine-chilling strings mark the last time a decent record was at Number One. Probably.

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Various

Evening Session Priority Tunes

Released 1996

The radio programme which has been the saviour of indie kids everywhere for the past ten years spawns an album of sessions and cult classics. Worth buying for China Drum's raucous take on Wuthering Heights alone.

Kenickie's Come Out 2Nite - the best record to listen to before a night on the town…ever!

The Sound of the Suburbs

Released 1991

I bought this at a market for £5. And with choice cuts from the Undertones, Boom Town Rats, Teardrop Explodes and Psychedelic Furs, it would be cheap at twice the price.

The ultimate punk love song: Buzzcocks' Ever Fallen In Love (With Someone Youe Shouldn't've).

Untitled 2

Released 1996

Indie compilation albums are not exactly thin on the ground at the moment, but at least this one uses its imagination. With CD1 collecting current favourites (ranging from Supergrass to the Cure) and CD2 picking the best of the past 20 years, overall it makes a pretty good listen. Shame about Prefab Sprout though.

The sheer energy of The Wannadies' Might Be Stars. And they almost lived the dream, too.

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Soundtracks

The Blues Brothers

Released 1980

Cult classic The Blues Brothers was a rip-snorting musical comedy caper with a soundtrack to match. Chill to Minnie the Moocher, boogie to Shake A Tail Feather, sing along with Everybody Needs Somebody to Love. Ah, just buy it.

Aretha Franklin on perfect form, Think is what girl power should really have been about.

Grosse Pointe Blank

Released 1997

It reads like a who's who of the alternative 80s (The Clash, The Specials, The Jam). And as the soundtrack to such an impeccably cool black comedy, we would expect nothing less.

The blissful original version of Johnny Nash's sun-drenched I Can See Clearly Now.

High Fidelity

Released 2000

As far as compilation tapes go, this one's not half bad - with extra brownie points for inclusion of The Beta Band and Bob Dylan's heartbreaking Most of the Time.

The passionate repetition of "I need love" on The Beta Band's Dry The Rain. I defy anyone not to believe that the man means it.

O Brother, Where Art Thou?

Released 2000

OK, so I must admit I don't usually have a penchant for 1930s bluegrass, but after seeing the Coen brothers' latest cinematic musical opus, the soundtrack was a must. Spirituals, traditional country and Teenage Fanclub's Norman Blake jostle for space on an album of sumptuous rustic gems.

I Am A Man Of Constant Sorrow - one of the film's many highlights, and a stand-out track here.

Trainspotting

Released 1996

The cult film which spawned a cult soundtrack, Trainspotting was the album which redefined a genre. Never has cross-promotion made such essential listening.

Iggy Pop's Lust For Life - those drums will never be heard again without evoking memories of Renton's voiceover.

Velvet Goldmine

Released 1998

Featuring a number of bizarre collaborations (Teenage Fanclub and Elastica cover the New York Dolls? Are you sure?), and the odd classic track (Brian Eno, T-Rex), this is a slightly sporadic homage to the days when glamour ruled the streets.

Virginia Plain - Roxy Music's defining moment, and by far the highlight of this CD.