Favourite Artists - Favourite Albums - Favourite Songs
Introduction
On this page I keep an overview of my favourite music. I present my favourite
artists (or composers), albums (or long pieces) and songs (or short pieces). I do this separately for old
music (medieval, renaissance and classical) and modern music.
The artist names and album titles link to external pages with more information, mostly on the excellent All Music Guide. The song titles link to the lyrics.
Favourite Artists
Modern music
These are my favourite bands, in more or less chronological
order. The years between brackets are those of their first and last album releases.
(1969-1979) - Official
site
The late 60s and early 70s were perhaps the best years in the era of modern
music (maybe my birth in 1973 ended it...), with bands like the Doors,
the Velvet Underground, Deep Purple, the young David Bowie and others
taking off and of course the Beatles and the Stones still going strong.
But the greatest band of this great period was in my opinion Led Zeppelin,
who released four classic albums titled I, II, III and IV in only three years time (1969-1971). Led Zeppelin are often
labeled the granddaddies of heavy metal, but what I hear is a unique mix
of blues and rock.
(1979-1980) - Fan
site
Joy Division were the heirs of the Velvet Underground
and the bridge between punk and new wave. Their songs are about as depressing
as music can get, and I mostly listen to them when I'm in a sad or foul
mood. That doesn't just get me more depressed though; on the contrary,
hearing sorrow sublimated to music so beautiful and intense lifts my mood.
Joy Division only made two full albums: Unknown Pleasures (1979)
and Closer (1980). Then singer Ian Curtis hung himself and the
rest of the band continued as New Order.
(1981-2001) - Official
site
I already got to know and like Depeche Mode in 1984 when I was only 11 and
they topped the charts. Unlike all my other favourites of those years
(too embarassing to mention ;-) ) I never stopped liking them. Depeche
Mode are often ridiculed by music critics who are unable to look beyond
DM's teen idol image or can't get over their ballads, but I don't make
excuses for being a fan. No other band has made great music over such
an extended period of time - 20 years now - and I don't know any
other song writer than Martin Gore who has written such a huge
amount of great songs.
(1982-1993) - Official
site - Fan
site
Front 242 pioneered the electro-industrial genre (a.k.a. EBM) with their
cold and somber but at the same time dancable and often loud electronic
music. They were among the first to incorporate samples into their tracks and their music evolved further as technology advanced,
until their sound got commercialised in the early 90s by bands like the
Prodigy and later the Chemical Brothers. Front 242 tried to reinvent itself
but after simultaneously releasing two totally different and not too strong
albums in 1993, they quit. Since then they've worked on other projects
but still performed regularly as Front 242 - I've seen them 5 times, still
an excellent live act.
(1987-1995) - Fan
site
Nitzer Ebb made the most dance-enticing music I know. Their music consists
entirely of energetic synth beats without any melody, with sloganesque,
repetitive lyrics on top which are angrily shouted, especially in their
earlier work. There's nothing else quite like it. I like to think that
if cavemen had had synthesizers, they would have sounded something like
this.
(1986-) - Fan
site
Pitch black electronic music from my home town Antwerp; moody and ambient,
sometimes dancable. Until 1991 the Klinik was a cooperation between Mark
Verhaeghen and vocalist Dirk Ivens. When Ivens left, the Klinik
became Verhaeghen's solo-project and he continued to make good albums,
at first mostly ambient but gradually evolving towards a techno sound.
(1984-1996) - Official
site
Dead
Can Dance offers a mix of medieval European, oriental and modern music
with amazing vocals by core members Lisa Gerrard and Brendan
Perry. The sound of their songs varies from sorrowful or moving to
spiritual or intensely religious. I discovered Dead Can Dance during the
summer of 1994 when I started studying for my first philosophy exams and
listened to nothing else for weeks while studying 24/7. No music could
have better set my mood for philosophy, and I'll always associate Dead
Can Dance with that. All but the last of their 7 albums are fantastic.
(1987-2002) - Official
site
Madredeus combines Portuguese fado with classical (and other) influences
in their intimate, delicate songs. Latin guitars dominate the music which
also features violins and other classical instruments, but it is Teresa
Salgueiro's sentimental, slightly hoarse and sorrowful voice that
draws all attention. For some reason Madredeus is especially successful
in Belgium.
(1994-1997) - Official
site
Portishead has the perfect sound, combining Geoff Barrow's somewhat
jazzy trip hop with the highly emotional yet serene voice of Beth Gibbons.
Their songs are moody but moving and made all the more beautiful by sounding
so breakable. Portishead have made only two albums so far, Dummy (1994) and Portishead (1997).
(1993-2001) - Official
site
Tool's music is an organic ebb and flood of quiet rock and
loud metal. They create unpredictable compositions rather than structured
songs, and that puts them on a level of their own. Like the music, Maynard
James Keenan's lyrics are intelligent and mostly disregard conventional
patterns like rhyme and chorus. The suppressed anger in his voice matches
the powerful but controlled music perfectly. The last two albums, Aenima (1996) and Lateralus (2001), are both superb. Tool is my favourite
band of the moment.
Classical and old music
- Middle Ages: There's a wealth of music that few people know
about: medieval songs, especially those of the of southern France like (c.1140-c.1195), (c.1138-c.1220) and (c.1140-c. 1215). They sang in Occitan, a beautiful
Romance language that was something between Italian and French.
- Renaissance: In a spiritual mood I love to listen to polyphonic
music (13-16th century) of composers like (c.1410-1497) and (1532-1594). I mostly
listen to the recordings of 's .
- Classical & Baroque: The composers I like most are (1756-1791), (1685-1750) and (1770-1827), in that order. I wish I was more original but they
just stand out. I also love the work of (1955-), the contemporary Polish composer most famous for
his music for the movies of his compatriot Krzysztof Kieslowski (the Dekalog series, La double vie de Véronique, the Trois Couleurs trilogy).
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Favourite Albums
There are many albums that I love, but there are only a few that provide
a perfect listening experience. Those are the ones that contain nothing but great songs/tracks, without any weaker moments.
Below I present these perfect albums. I've limited myself to one album per artist though.
Modern music
Sorted by release date...
(1969): Led Zeppelin's first album featured nine
rock and blues songs, most of which became classics. My personal favourites
are Babe I'm gonna leave you and Dazed and confused, but there are also Your time is gonna come, Communication breakdown, How many more times and the blues songs You shook me and I can't quit you baby.
(1969): Bowie's second album, of which
only the title song is famous. All songs combine psychedelic music with
heart-breakingly naive but beautiful lyrics. Memory of a free festival,
in which a bunch of hippies meet with majestic aliens, is the perfect
illustration. My other favourite is the angry but fragile Cygnet Committee,
in which the bitter old Thinker (a leader/prophet/god/guru of some sort)
recalls the struggle and betrayal of his followers - the lyrics are a great read.
(1979): Joy Division's first.
The band's piercing psychedelic funeral sound and Ian Curtis' desparate
hollow voice combine in 10 gloomy songs about betrayal, regret, despair
and death. It's not cheerful but it is intense and amazingly beautiful
if you're receptive for the esthetic side of sorrow. Ian Curtis' lyrics are unique in style, describing situations and scenes that are not explained
but invoke a sense of loss, as if they're only scratching the surface
of some deeper pain. 9 of the 10 songs are favourites of mine, with New
Dawn Fades on top. This is the best album of all time.
(1986): actually the combination of
the Klinik's first two EPs. Most of the tracks combine a dark, slow beat
with industrial noise (Feel the evil), whining synths (Sick
in your mind) or both (Hours + Hours). There are also three
ambient tracks, including the classic Nautilus (which later got
sequels on other albums), and two techno-ish tracks, of which Braindamage is truly superb. This is a little-known but monumental album in which
the Klinik excels in three different genres.
(1987): This album defines Nitzer Ebb's
unique sound: very fast, poppy beats with angrily shouted repetitive slogans
and no melody except in the beat itself. All songs follow this formula
and are quite equal in quality; Let beauty loose is the one I like
best. Alarm was one of the songs that started the New Beat craze
in Belgium when some DJs started playing it on a lower rpm (i.e. slowed
down).
(1988): Front's 4th album established
them as the leading industrial band. The album has two classics, Headhunter which was succesfull even beyond the alternative music scene, and Welcome
to Paradise, in which samples of American TV preacher Farrell Griswold
are superbly put together to form insane lyrics. Im Rhytmus bleiben,
with cries sampled from Das Boot, is another favourite.
(1988): Lisa Gerrard's and Brendan
Perry's voices star in 10 spiritual songs, each of which is a master piece.
Gerrard's chanting often has a fanatically religious tone, with clear
Arab influences (The Host of Seraphim, The Song of Sophia).
The songs sung by Brendan Perry sound more philosophical and subdued but
are equally beautiful (Severance, In the kingdom of the blind,
Ullyses).
(1993): As the title indicates
(with ironic exageration) this is DM's 'religious' album. Most of the
songs have a religious tone or use religious alegories and some even have
a gospel choir for backing vocals (Condemnation, Get right with
me). It all fits very nicely with DM's usual melodramatic style. I
only really discovered this album in 2001, after all other DM albums.
It quickly grew on me and now it's my favourite. The best known song of
the album is I feel you but my favourite by far is In your room,
a sexy song about domination.
(1994): Jeff Buckley's first album would also
be his last as he drowned while working on the next. It is a collection
of beautiful love songs, the highlight being a magnificent cover of Leonard
Cohen's Hallelujah that adds to the original. My other favourite
is Lilac Wine. It's hard not to love Jeff Buckley's voice. I once
skipped the opportunity to see him live because I didn't know him yet
at the time, shame.
(1994): The first and best of Portishead's two albums
with 11 intimate songs in their unique style. I'd like to name the best
ones but each single one of them is a gem and I'd have to name them all.
They fit together so well that it's sometimes hard to remember which sequence
belongs to which song, so I really think of this as one 50 minute long
masterpiece.
(1996): Tool's international break-through album with
9 tracks and 6 intermezzos. All of the tracks are precise compositions
in which the guitars and Keenan's voice rise up and down between tense
buildups and furious climaxes; alternative rock at its best. Highlights
are Stinkfist, Eulogy and the 14' long Third eye.
The intermezzo's are weird (a toy organ in Intermission, a crazy
German recipee in Die Eier von Satan) but somehow fit in well and
add to the album's unique atmosphere.
(1998): Massive Attack uses slow beats,
sleazy bass lines, occasional guitar riffs and a lot of reverb to create
a dark, brooding atmosphere. The brilliant opening track Angel is the perfect product of this formula. Guest vocalist Elizabeth Fraser
stars in Tear drop, the other highlight of this classic album.
I don't like the rapping on some of the tracks but the quality of the
music easily makes up for it.
(2002): My most recent discovery
in this list. It started with a friend recommending the 16 minute song Again. I loved it and checked out the whole album and was immediately
hooked. Goodbye and I'm finding it so hard, another massive
(15') song, are my other favourites. I've been recommending this album
to a lot of friends; like me they had never heard of Archive before but
fell in love with this album immediately.
Classical and old music
Sorted by the creation date of the music...
(12th century
songs, recorded 1997): Excellent introduction to the music and poetry
of the of southern France like and who
sang beautiful songs of love and chivalry in the beautiful Occitan language.
Still the best (but not necessarily the most accurate) interpretation
of the work of these medieval singer/songwriters that I know. Best's high
voice lends extra beauty to these romantic songs.
(17th century viol music,
recorded 1991): Music from the 1991 French movie about viol player and composer (1656-1728) and his teacher . Their viol music fills most of this album. It has a very
somber tone throughout, but the deep vibrating sound of the bass viol
and the piercing sound of the other viols form moving melodies that go
straight to the soul.
(1720): A series of four joyful
violin concertos (one for each season) with many extatic violin solos.
One hot summer day during my study years I lay in the grass of the Terkamerenbos
(a big forest) in Brussels and listening to the Four Seasons on my walkman
while enjoying the sun and watching the birds I realised I was having
a perfect musical experience.
(1792): A sequence of 15 movements,
some of them composed or completed by Mozart's students after his death.
Voices and strings dominate throughout, weaving a sad, melancholic atmosphere
rather than the sombre or gloomy funeral sound you might expect from a
requiem. Some of the best music ever composed.
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Favourite Songs
Once again I present only a small selection in which I limit myself to
one song per artist max - I'd have to list a dozen or more songs of bands
like Joy Division, Dead Can Dance and Portishead otherwise.
Modern music
The songs are sorted alphabetically by the performing artist. The song
titles link to the lyrics.
- (1969): the bitter old Thinker (a leader/prophet/god/guru
of some sort) recalls the struggle and betrayal of his followers.
- (1959): the most beautiful love song ever,
if you understand French.
- (1993; orig. by Leonard Cohen, 1985): great
lyrics from Cohen, great vocals from Jeff Buckley.
- (1970): moving song about attraction
and rejection, using the allegory of a siren drawing a sailor to her
isle. Chanted rather than sung by Tim Buckley (father of Jeff) whose
voice is emotional but powerful. Made famous by This Mortal Coil's version
which was used in the David Lynch movie Lost Road.
- (1993): philosophical
song about the unrewarded virtues of three men - Solomon, Caesar and
Socrates. One of DCD's more plain songs, with English lyrics that are
serenely sung by Brendan Perry, but it strikes a chord in me.
- (live, 1972): forget the studio version,
hear the live version and let Ian Gillan's "haunting falsetto wail"
(dixit AMG) blow you away.
- (1993): sexy song about surrender to desire.
I once sent this to a girl I loved and it became our song, which made
me like it even more :)
- (1986): ultra mechanic track about war.
- (1979): Ian Curtis at his darkest in my
all-time favourite song.
- (1969)
- (1988): song about the deathwish of a soldier who lost all
his limbs, all perception and all ability to communicate. Inspired by
the movie . The video clip mixes the music with excerpts from
this movie to tell the story, great stuff.
- (1998): atmospheric track with an extremely dark
and brooding sound that culminates in dramatic guitar riffs.
- (1990): nonsensical and by Nitzer Ebb standards
unusually long lyrics; fragments of meaning that through their repetition
and angry vocalisation still convey a strong feeling.
- (1994): an almost random pick between Portishead' many
beautiful songs; sad, intimate and beautiful like all their others.
- (1992): angry, agressive,
very dancable metal / hip hop crossover.
- (2001): I love the 'nu metal' wave which has
produced many great songs already, but no classics - except for this
song, a very weird mix of rap, metal and religious fever.
- (1996): another almost random pick between many great songs
by the same band. Maynard James Keenan screams damnation at a dead leader
he once believed in: Get off your fuckin cross / We need the fuckin
space to nail the next fool martyr - pretty strong lyrics :)
Medieval music
- (orig. by , 12th century; from: , 1997): Sentimental a capella version of
the 12th century troubadour's most famous love song. The lyrics,
in Occitan, talk of unanswered love in an immensely romantic and vulnerable
way, and Martin Best's voice adds to their beauty. All the other interpretations
of this song that I've heard were mediocre, so he probably deserves
half the credit for its beauty in this version.
-
(orig. by , 14th century; from the album ): Sad medieval Flemish song in which the
singer laments the death of his friend Egidius. Most of us in Flanders
have learned about the poem in school as it is the most famous medieval Flemish / Dutch poem, but
few know the melody that goes with it. Paul Rans brings it to live beautifully.
Classical music
I categorise short works and parts of longer works (movements) as songs.
They are sorted alphabetically by the name of the composer.
- (1700?): About 8 minutes
of brilliant church organ music, at first solemn and dramatic, then
gradually more extatic. The Baroque equivalent of a mad guitar solo
- I'd really like to hear a serious attempt to perform it on distorted
electric guitars. Shame there were none of those in Bach's time, upon
hearing this you have to think that there was a lot of rock and roll
in the old fellow. I still haven't found a performance of this piece
that fully satisfies me, I always have the feeling it's being interpreted
somewhat wrong. When I bought a keyboard I made it my goal to learn
to play this piece, maybe I'll get it right some day. Here's the sheet music! (mail me if link is dead)
- (1801): Simple but brilliant
piano music with a sad, dramatic atmosphere. Here's the sheet
music! (mail me if link is dead)
- (1868, from: ): The second movement of Brahm's Requiem,
about 15 minutes long. The lyrics of this requiem consist entirely of
bible fragments in German. This movement begins slowly and solemnly,
but then over the course of a minute swells up to enormous proportions
until the choir finally bursts out in a powerful chant of the chorus: Denn alles Fleisch es ist wie Gras / und alle Herrlichkeit des Menschen
wie des Grases Blumen / Das Gras ist verdorret / und die Blume abgefallen (I Peter 1:24, my translation from German: For all flesh is like
grass, and all delights of men like the flowers on the grass: the grass
is withered, and the flower fallen off). The build-up and the outburst
are repeated in the second half, but then an extra line is extatically
chanted to conclude the chorus: Aber des Herrn Wort bleibet in Ewigkeit (I Peter 1:25; But the word of the Lord lasts for eternity).
An amazing piece of religious music.
- (1792, from: ): The 8th movement of Mozart's
Requiem, about 3 minutes long, begins with sad violins which continue
in the background as the female choir builds up tension (Lacrimosa
dies ilia / Qua resurget ex favilla / Judicandus homo
reus - Mournful that day / When from the dust shall rise / Guilty man to be judged) which, after a subdued intermezzo,
is finally released in a solemnly chanted conclusion supported by the
male choir (Dona els requiem - Lord give them rest).
(1993, from: ): Music from the brilliant movie of Preizner's Polish buddy Kieslowski in which
Juliette Binoche finishes the composition her husband was making for
the European Union after he dies in an accident. It is actually a song
not about Europe but about love, using parts of the famous bible passage I Corinthians 13 for lyrics, sung in the original language, the
beautiful old Greek dialect Attica. My Greek friend Eleni translated
the lyrics for me and understanding them in detail made me love this
song even more. The version I like most is the one in which the soloist
sings with a soft voice (track 1 of the album) rather than with an opera
voice, which contrasts nicely with the chanting of the choir.
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