THIS IS A JOURNEY INTO SOUND

My unadulterated love of music in (nearly) all of its many diverse forms has guided me through some dark and lonely times, whether indulging or lifting me out of them, and no bands music has quite done it like that of Echo & The Bunnymen. That slightly mystical touch of "otherness" that their best songs have, expressing itself through the holler and croon of Ian McCulloch and his unusual, often opaque lyrics that simultaneously manage to be bleak, self-doubting, and dark yet all the time reaching for the heavens: the angular, scything, resolutely anti-rock guitar playing of Will Sergeant, eschewing traditional chords and guitar solos in a endless quest to see what sounds he could tease from his instrument: and, in their first incarnation, the elastic, inventive and fucking GROOVY bass and drums of, respectively, Les Pattinson and the late Pete de Freitas. Nothing they've done since, together or apart, has ever topped that. My first introduction to the Bunnymen was...

As 2004 dawned, my love of music became not just a passion, but a way to fill the hole in my life left by the unexpected loss of my Mum. There were some dark nights of the soul that year, and i increasingly tried to shut myself off from the world and bury myself in the sounds of whatever i was listening to at the time. Thankfully i had my new group of friends at work to stop me from sinking, and a whole new exciting explosion of bands to pick up my mood. Since the Garage Rock revival of 2002/03, a new crop of bands had emerged to take things in different directions, influenced by similar developments following the explosion of Punk in '76/77.  Post-Punk was the catch-all label for bands who took the energy of Punk and the Year Zero attitude in more individual and experimental directions, incorporating all kinds of genres into their varying sounds - Jazz, Reggae, Dub,  early Electronica, Metal, Psychedelia, Disco, World Music, Krautrock, even deeply unfashionable Prog - allied ...

When other people at school were raving about the Grunge scene in 1991-1992, i was less than interested: my listening habits consisted of mainstream Pop, some Dance, a bit of Indie, and from '92, Madness. I found the music and lyrics depressing, and the look of long hair, lumberjack shirts and scruffy jeans bored me. It wasn't until a few years after i had left school that i began to appreciate some of the music, and this was chiefly because of one band whose videos were constantly on MTV: Soundgarden. A much heavier and more metal-influced band than most of their contemporaries, their 1994 album Superunknown had become their biggest success yet, and the videos for its singles were how i heard about them, particularly "Spoonman" and the psychedelic metal classic "Black Hole Sun". They split up a few years later, but i gradually got to hear a few more of their songs over the years. Singer Chris Cornell had forged a solo career, and also fronted Audioslave, a ...

As 2003 began, i knew i had to make some changes in my life, chiefly getting off working nights on my own and getting out more. A job opportunity appeared on the horizon in the shape of a new supermarket being built in my town, and as nothing else seemed to be forthcoming i applied. It was still working in retail, but the prospects of better wages and working with other people were too much to resist, and i was soon employed in the petrol station. It was nice to be part of a team again, and their friendship would later prove important. My record buying that year was less busy and less current than the previous one, as i bought less singles and new albums. I was still basking in the brilliance of 2002's music, and although a few new acts entered my collection, i began investigating the past. I discovered a new (well, it opened in 2001) record store in Nottingham that sold CD's, DVD's, and books for as little as £5, and once i'd stepped through the doors i was in my own...

As i began discovering Indie music from 1994 onwards, my attention was inevitably drawn to the artists who had influenced the then current crop of bright young things. As a young 'un, i had been aware of a few Indie bands, but i was too young to appreciate or understand what i saw as "sixth former" music - the exceptions being Carter USM, Jesus Jones, and a few others from the "Indie-dance" contingent, although my knowledge of these acts was limited to a few hit singles and inclusions on NOW/Hits compilations. Now with available income and a host of music weeklies and monthlies to read, my education began. One of the most commonly mentioned influences was The Smiths. I'd been just 10 when they'd split up, and i'd heard a couple of their last few singles - i have very clear memories of watching them perform "Sheila Take A Bow" on TOTP,  and i'd seen the video to "Girlfriend In A Coma", but that was the extent of my knowledge of...

Following on from my last chart-related post, there was a disturbing development recently. All- conquering pop muppet Ed Sheeran released his new album - ÷ or Divide - and, due to chart rules that now allow any downloaded or streamed track to enter the SINGLES chart, every track from said album entered and took over the Top 20. Even Sheeran himself seemed a bit alarmed by this, commenting that something was not quite right. Indeed. Surely the compilers of the charts are failing to comply with the trades description act when the SINGLES chart is full of songs that are not officially released as singles, whether physical, downloads or streams? It's an appalling state of affairs, and it's about time that the people behind The Official Charts company either changed the rules or dropped the SINGLES part of the chart name and just called it the Top 100 Tracks or Songs.

Towards the end of 2002 an important anniversary took place - important, that is, if you love music and have a nerdy obsession with all the related facts and figures! On November 14th it was the 50 years since the first UK singles chart was compiled and published, in the pages of the newly relaunched New Musical Express. Initially a Top 12, created by Percy Dickins ringing around 20 major record stores and compiling their sales reports, it was devised as a gimmick to increase the sales of the NME, but quickly caught on. Other publications would create their own charts over the following years, as would various Pirate radio stations, leading to some differences in opinion - most famously The Beatles' "Please Please Me", which was their first chart topper according to most charts, but not in the now officially recognised Record Retailer (now Music Week) trade magazine - even on the BBC and Top Of The Pops charts. What it created was a national pastime and obsession - the Su...