Spiritualized

in response to the sacred cows i was wondering what bands stand up so much that you always go back to them (hats off to angelsighs) as a form of comfort 'yes there's bad music, i had a bad day etc but i still have .... to listen to'


dylan
leonard cohen
the velvets/lou reed solo

these four have never let me down

The Durutti Column
The Spacemen 3
The Heads

The Jesus and Mary Chain
Spacemen 3
Early Spiritualized / 'Soul Kiss'
Velvet Underground

I rarely listen to any of them these days but when I do they still kick the shit out of everything else.

Good idea! For me it's:

The Smiths
Belle & Sebastian
Spiritualized
Simon & Garfunkel
Paul Simon
The Beatles
Bob Dylan
The Who
The Jam
edited to add:Love - "Forever Changes", "Your Mind and Me/Laughing Stock" & "August" (1st track from "Four Sail")


All have brought comfort to me in difficult times, and continue to do so. At the moment when I fall back on familiar music, having had any rough period - my default listening is:

Any Simon & Garfunkel, early or live Paul Simon, and also the Graceland period.

Belle & Sebastian - mostly good quality live boots, plus the Push Barman To Open Old Wounds compilation.

And if I feel particularly angry or enraged - anything by The Smiths usually placates my mood, though in all my years interpreting and writing about music - I've singularly failed to satisfactorily put the reasons why into words.

When I'm under the influence of whatever recreation(s) takes my fancy (or was available and cheap) - I think there is no better tonic than Spiritualized or Spectrum studio material.

When I want to relive great memories, as well as effectively stimulate my senses - I usually choose either the fantastic live boot of Spiritualized from the amazing RAH gig in 2011, or for more mellow occasions - I prefer one of the really good quality Acoustic Mainlines gigs - especially the 1st night Union Chapel, which was both the the best and last Acoustic Mainlines concert of all I experienced - though every one of those gigs was both a life-changing and life-affirming experience!

for me i'll try and limit it to five-

the cure
my bloody valentine
spiritualized
spacemen 3
cocteau twins

trying to stick to bands i've been listening to longer than 10 years.

Townes van Zandt
"Breaking even is ending up in Purgatory as far as I can tell. I figure there's heaven, purgatory, hell and the blues. I'm trying to crawl up from the blues, purgatory for me would be... Home Sweet Home!"

combination here of bands I reach for when I'm anxious/down, and bands that have stood the test of time and I don't think I will ever get bored by.

Spiritualized (obviously)
The Verve
Explosions in The Sky
Durutti Column
Yo La Tengo
Bob Dylan

Could go into a seriously long list here, but one band certainly springs to mind - I;'ve mentioned them before in other threads, but I still really rate Lowlife (the band that ex COcteau Twin Will Heggie was in, not the Welsh band or the more metal one!).

Early Spz too, Bunnymen, Cocteau Twins.....

Spiritualized
Spectrum
Spacemen 3
Boo Radleys
Lift To Experience
Led Zeppelin
Pink Floyd
Bardo Pond
The Heads
The Asteroid No4
Rory Gallagher
BMX Bandits
Teenage Fanclub...

...and sooo many others! I would feel a large part of me would be missing if i didn't have the luxury of being able to listen to any of the great music i have discovered over the last 25 years. Every album i have heard or owned has been sought out, tracked down, held in admiration and listened to with love. Yeah, there are plenty that i would turn to only on occasion, and maybe more than a handful that i listen to on an almost weekly basis, but i know that putting any one of them on will start a journey of remembrance and nostalgia that will take me right back to where i first heard it or found it - be it in a dusty, old record shop or when something has dropped through the door from the internet.

Apart from unconditional love, i think its possibly the great feeling in the world!

Of all the music I own and adore, the five bands/artists I couldn't live without are:

R.E.M.
Spiritualized
Eels
Lou Reed
Bruce Springsteen

This list would be enormous if I chose everything that's really important. I mean - how do you include an artist like Lee Perry when he doesn't actually play much - if anything - on many of his greatest works...? Or bands like the Ruts, Opal or Sex Pistols who only actually made one record?

But for the mean time a fairly obvious selection.

Spacemen 3, Spiritualized, Spectrum
Talking Heads - 1977-80
Beatles
Led Zeppelin
Rolling Stones 1965-72
The Heads
The Grateful Dead 1970-77
The Black Crowes
The Damned
Plasticland

The Holy Trinity

The Fall
Spacemen 3 / Spectrum
Brian Jonestown Massacre

Good shout for Talking Heads.
Plus Bowie.

Off the top of my head...
If I was sent to a desert island, and had only 11 seconds to choose 11 bands to listen to forever:

Dylan
The Beatles
The Clash
The Stones
Bob Marley
Pink Floyd
Howlin' Wolf
Spiritualized
Jimi Hendrix
Dead Kennedys
Led Zeppelin
Neil Young

Spacemen 3, Spiritualized and Spectrum (obviously)
Pink Floyd
The Grateful Dead 66-77
Hawkwind
John Coltrane
Miles Davis

Spiritualized
Talking Heads
The The
Massive Attack
The Jesus & Mary Chain
Orbital
New Order
The Cure
Tricky

Leonard Cohen

There is a Great Box Set of 10 LPs called "SOUNDS", sold as "the music you would take to a desert island", released on German Polydor, c. 1981. A Wonderful Box set, very well done; very heavy slipbox construction with a protectant material I have seen ONLY on German Polydor, (such as the 12 + 1 (12" single) Box Set of Hendrix from 1980, among others.

But after all this time, and the energy I have spent, I cannot see a single recording sliced away from my collection; it would seem, well, incomplete. Plus, there are those pieces I have not even obtained yet!

1882 - Now.