Best Tracks: Daydreaming, Identikit, True Love Waits
Genre: Ambient Rock
Year: 2016

I was just turning 13 when U2 forced Songs of Innocence into my iPod. It was one of the first records I was ever exposed to, along with a copy of Slippery When Wet I bought on iTunes. Even as a 13 year old kid, I exhausted this music pretty quickly. I started to associate the sound of alt rock with this kind of extravagant yet substanceless music. Music that would turn the volume up until you start headbanging to whatever crap lyrics and riffs they threw together. I sifted through all sorts of rock music until I found Pink Floyd. Soon after, I checked out Radiohead, hoping they would be similar. To my horror, I heard the same alt-rock textures I had grown to hate, and pretty quickly passed them off. If you asked me then, I would’ve told you Radiohead was the best alt rock band, but an alt rock band nonetheless.

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Best Tracks: Now (Forever Momentary Space)
Genre: Post Jazz, Sound Collage
Year: 2021

Much like Red Burns, NOW is a record I’ve had to sit with for years before I could even articulate what I loved about it. The first time I heard it, I felt it was a rather unassuming jazz/hip hop record. For some reason though, it wasn’t forgettable. I kept revisiting it to try and form an opinion, and each time, something new would jump out and make me rethink how I felt about it.

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Best Tracks: Move Over and Let Me Dance, Pt. 1
Genre: Funk, Psychedelia
Year: 1971

Released in 1971, In the Beginning… was definitely designed to capitalise on Hendrix’s death. The record comprises of 26 minutes of old recordings from The Isley Brothers with Jimi Hendrix. It’s a shame Hendrix and the Isley Brothers never did a full album together, because this sounds incredible! This short-lived band featured the ‘greatest guitarist ever’ with some of the greatest singers ever. Even a cash-grab release like this is going to sound great.

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