Rather than making lists on community websites and blogs all the time I thought I'd just make one list of music I like. That way there's only one thing to update when I find out I like stuff I didn't know about before. It's a table with band names on the left hand side and other verbiage on the right. Go out and buy all this stuff immediately, it's great.
I also have a profile page on the Audioscrobbler website, which might give you some idea which of these bands I play more than others. However, Audioscrobbler only sees the music I play via computer, so it misses stuff I play on my CD player or stuff that I only have on vinyl.
| Adam & the Ants | I guess you'd say I'm a child of my generation. Hang on, no, I'm a child of my parents' generation. Anyway, a lot of people liked Adam & the Ants back when they released stuff like Stand And Deliver in 1981. I still like listening to it, though I don't seem to remember to put it on much. |
| Alien Sex Fiend | Quirky music but fun. Another band that seems especially named to shock people. And for no good reason too, as far as I can see. Well, whatever floats their boat. |
| All About Eve | My favourite song of theirs is The Garden of Jane Delawney which is one of the 'B' sides of What Kind of Fool. |
| Tori Amos | She's a really talented musician, and if her on-stage persona is anything to go by, a really nice person too. She lives in Cornwall. I'd like to live there too, but I don't - partly because I love living within reach of a city so much. |
| The Art of Noise | They produced a surprisingly large number of albums for the surprisingly small number of tracks they actually recorded |
| Daniel Ash | Ex-Bauhaus |
| Bauhaus | The Sinister Ducks! |
| Big Black | Not something I put on very much to listen to. Fun in clubs though. |
| Bjork | Good music, though probably doesn't score as highly in the what-a-nice-person stakes. |
| Blondie | What can I say? I think almost everybody my age - at least the boys - liked Blondie. I still do. |
| Bolshoi | Contrary to what you might have been led to believe, they made more than two songs. |
| Buffalo Daughter | Weird all-girl Japanese band playing experimental electronica. I bought it after hearing it on the radio (no, not the John Peel show). |
| Kate Bush | I suspect that the videos might look a bit dated now. I have a friend who's a big Kate Bush fan. Less so myself. |
| The Buzzcocks | I don't listen to them a great deal. |
| Nick Cave | Possible contender for the most depressing lyrics, certainly up there with Leonard Cohen, Joy Division, Swans and P J Harvey. |
| The Chameleons | One of the finest bands ever to emerge from Manchester |
| Children On Stun | If you haven't heard of them, there must be a few compilation CDs aroud with them on. They'll contain the good stuff anyway. |
| Clan of Xymox | I'm only really very keen on the stuff they recorded with the 4AD label (in fact I like almost everything 4AD have done) |
| Clannad | I used to like them a lot, but less so now. Maybe they're overplayed. If you like this, listen to Dead Can Dance. |
| Cocteau Twins | That reminds me, I must listen to some Harold Budd stuff |
| Leonard Cohen | I hope I'm as cool as Leonard when I'm that old. |
| Julian Cope | Possibly Tamworth's most famous export, after Martin Cloones. Unless you count Sir Robert Peel. |
| The Creatures | |
| Cruxshadows | |
| The Cure | They produced a lot of albums, but for some reason I think I only have about two. |
| Danielle Dax | Great music, but a terrible performer live. She came on stage 45 minutes late, and mimed to a tape. But on the plus side, the cocktails in the bar were cheap. |
| Dead Can Dance | This is the band I most regret never
having been able to see live. They've split up now, unfortunately,
and the two components (Lisa Gerrard and Brendan Perry) are pursuing
solo careers. STOP PRESS: They've reformed. See their website for details of their tour. Hooray! |
| Depeche Mode | |
| Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft | I've got a lot of this as I used to like it a lot. These days I find it a bit embarrasing in a madcap-camp-cowbell way. If you like DAF, you know the song I mean. |
| The Doors | |
| Duran Duran | Child of a certain time, maybe. No, I mean me. |
| Eurythmics | I think Annie Lennox has an amazing voice. |
| Faith No More | Mainly club classics like We Care A Lot |
| Faithless | |
| Fat Boy Slim | |
| Fields Of The Nephilim | Not these ones |
| Franz Ferdinand | I prefer their first album. |
| Frankie Goes To Hollywood | I can't believe that sound effect is a sponge. |
| Front 242 | I only have "Front By Front" |
| Front Line Assembly | I think I've only got early stuff. No idea what they're like now. |
| Gene Loves Jezebel | Great buy in Power Cuts for 29p. |
| Lisa Gerrard | One half of Dead Can Dance. I hope she moves away from the rather bland film scores she's been producing recently. |
| The Glove | This was such an interesting collaboration, it's a shame there's only the one album. |
| Goldfrapp | |
| Debbie Harry | Still, of course! |
| P J Harvey | Favourite album is To Bring You My Love |
| Human League | Another one I like but don't seem to play much. |
| Hungry Lucy | Somewhat ethereal. |
| Ian Dury & The Blockheads | RIP Ian. And Thanks. |
| Interpol | I bought a couple of CDs but don't seem to listen to them much... |
| In The Nursery | Saw them for the first time in Whitby in April 2005. I bought some albums on the spot. |
| INXS | I have the greatest hits album... |
| Chris Isaak | I can't define what I like about it... but I like it. |
| Jack Off Jill | I Particularly like their song American Made |
| Jane's Addiction | I used to like these guys a lot. Then I bought their albums (at Power Cuts). I still think I like them, but am less sure as time goes on. |
| Japan | Perhaps mainly because of the interesting qualities of David Sylvian's voice |
| Jarboe | Half of the fantastic (now defunct) group, Swans. |
| Jean Michel Jarre | I don't seem to listen to this a great deal, but was a big fan at around the time of Destination: Docklands |
| The Jesus And Mary Chain | |
| John Moore and the Expressway | A very underrated band. I wish I could get hold of some of their stuff on CD. If you happen to have some, consider selling it to me. |
| Howard Jones | On the list because the record is in my collection. I like it but don't think I'll buy any more. |
| Joy Division | Again, of course mainly the obvious songs. But I like Swans' cover of Love Will Tear Us Apart (Jarboe vocals) more |
| Nik Kershaw | I like it but don't expect I'll buy any more. |
| Killing Joke | |
| Kraftwerk | |
| Laibach | I have to be in the right mood to listen to them these days and I'm a bit dubious about their politics. |
| Annie Lennox | Because of her voice of course |
| Love and Rockets | If you haven't heard Sweet F.A. go out and listen to it immediately! |
| Love Spirals Downdards | Low-impact but in the same vein as Dead Can Dance / Cocteau Twins / This Mortal Coil in some ways |
| Madonna | 1980s stuff |
| The March Violets | |
| Martha And The Muffins | Canada's best export - along with maple syrup |
| Massive Attack | |
| Miranda Sex Garden | |
| The Mission | Don't tell anybody I said that |
| Alanis Morisette | Jagged Little Pill, of course. However, listening to the lyrics, who'd ever want to go out with her? |
| Giorgio Moroder | I only like the one song but it's the same one that everybody else likes. |
| Ennio Morricone | I spent a long time watching spaghetti westerns. Apparently there was some kind of permanent effect. |
| Alison Moyet | |
| Peter Murphy | Just Deep. Until I checked Amazon just now, I hadn't known he'd produced any other albums. |
| New Model Army | But no, I don't own any clogs. |
| New Order | |
| Nine Inch Nails | |
| Nirvana | Favourite Nirvana album is Nevermind |
| Nitzer Ebb | |
| Nurse With Wound | |
| Sinead O'Connor | |
| William Orbit | Another artist where I bought the CD on the strength of just one track. Not sure I'd buy anything else. |
| Orbital | |
| Pink Floyd | |
| Pixies | |
| Placebo | Their first album is the best |
| The Police | I must have seen a pop video before 'Walking On The Moon', but I can't remember it if I did. |
| Pop Will Eat Itself | They don't seem to play this in clubs any more. Why? |
| Iggy Pop | I like listening to Iggy, but thank God I don't have to look at him in his plastic trousers too. |
| Portishead | |
| Psychedelic Furs | Good music considering that the lyrics aren't really sung |
| Lou Reed | Good music, but when I saw him live he behaved really badly. Won't be seeing him live again. |
| Rosetta Stone | They should have done an insert lyrics sheet in several languages. That would have made me laugh at least. |
| Simon and Garfunkel | Bridge Over Troubled Water of course. Favourite track is (narrowly)The Boxer |
| Siouxsie & The Banshees | |
| The Sisterhood | A band only a Sisters completist could like, really. |
| Sisters of Mercy | I have quite a lot of this... |
| Skin | There are many bands of this name, but the one I like is the side project associated with Swans |
| Soft Cell | |
| The Stranglers | |
| Swans | There is more than one band of this name, but the link points to the one I mean (the one originating from New York in the 1980s). This is probably my favourite band, but it's partly a mood thing too. |
| T. Rex | |
| Talking Heads | |
| Tangerine Dream | I came to like Tangerine Dream quite late but I like them quite a bit. Particularly early stuff like Phaedra and Rubycon |
| This Mortal Coil | I like lots of 4AD stuff, but this is Ivo's 4AD supergroup. It's great. The Jeweller is particularly moving. |
| Tones On Tail | |
| Emilana Torrini | She's the most underrated female artist in my music collection. At least, she is now that Lisa Gerrard is famous. |
| Ultravox | Mainly Vienna, Quartet, Lament and stuff of that era. |
| Suzanne Vega | |
| Velvet Underground | Like the rest of the world, I have just the one album |
| Violent Femmes | If I had to throw away all the US music in my collection except for one band, this would be the band I'd keep |
| Visage | I'd be hard pressed to say that this was great and important music, but they did release some good tracks. It's a shame about Stevie Strange though. |
| The Wolfgang Press | Another little-known 4AD band. |
| World Of Skin | This is the other name for the Swans side-project previously known just as Skin (there are several bands named Skin) |
| Yazoo |