I love it but I hate the taste....

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>>>>>ST's ALPHABETICON - Part vi: F<<<<<


Previously in the Alphabeticon: A, B, C, D, E

Right. Time for the weekly trawl through the dustier parts of my record collection. As always, this is not an attempt at a definitive list... it excludes all the stuff that sits exclusively on my laptop, for one thing.... as well as all the CDs lying around in the car or next to any of the stereos. Rather it's a journey through one particular set of shelves that houses the bulk (but not all) of my CDs. Feel free to gasp and say "whatno....." all you like.....The Flaming Lips, the Feeling and Fats Domino all reside somewhere else, for starters. Or you can just point and laugh.

And yes, I am going all the way through the alphabet now. I've started so I'll finish. And yes, it is quite anal to be quite so methodical about it.

171. Ella Fitzgerald – Gitanes Jazz vol. 1
172. Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong – Ella & Louis Again

No record collection complete without the odd classic artist like this. Sometimes there's just no substitute for a really classic voice... and in the case of the second album there, two classic voices.

173. Faithless – Outrospective
174. Faithless – Reverence
175. Faithless – Sunday 8pm
176. 1 Giant Leap – 1 Giant Leap

I remember having a long debate with one of my erstwhile colleagues at HMV York as we were standing behind the counter during a brief lull in customers. One of those general chart compilation things was on the stereo and we ended up arguing over which was the better song: "Kevin Carter" by Manic Street Preachers or "Insomnia" by Faithless. Simon was adamant it was the latter, and more than ten years later, I can still see the look of outrage on his face when I suggested it was "shit". Now, I like "Kevin Carter, but I suppose he had a point. I've sort of accumulated Faithless albums over the years. They're good, although I'm sometimes vaguely disappointed that the album versions of the singles are often different to the one that I'm most familiar with - "Insomnia" being a case in point. They're still good though, and when I saw them at Glastonbury, just before Coldplay came onstage for their famous set in 2002, they were bloody brilliant. 1 Giant Leap are filed here because of their Faithless connection (Jamie Catto) and because of the Maxi Jazz song on there (slightly bizarrely in a duet with Robbie Williams).

177. The Fall – Middle Class Revolt

Not a classic Fall album by any means, and perhaps a slightly odd one to have sitting here in isolation. I think it dates from when I was an NME reading student and when this came out, I thought that you had to start somewhere with a band like the Fall. I suppose that's true enough, it's just that after this, I never really felt like digging out any of their other stuff.

178. Fatboy Slim – You’ve Come A Long Way Baby

Meh. I can only assume that the long run of hit singles eventually ground me down.

179. Franz Ferdinand – Franz Ferdinand
180. Franz Ferdinand – You Could Have It So Much Better

I think it's fairly predictable that I would have these in my collection... and here they are. Good albums both. I still vaguely regret not buying the long-sleeved stripy t-shirt that they were flogging at the last gig of theirs that I went to.

180. The Futureheads – The Futureheads
181. The Futureheads – News & Tributes

A debut album that I absolutely adore, and a follow-up that I find incredibly disappointing.... especially after the success of their glorious cover of "Hounds of Love" seemed to put them in a great position for chart glory. What the hell were they doing singing about the Munich air tragedy? Sad, yes... but aren't they from Sunderland? They were subsequently dropped by their record label too, which was very sad.

182. Feeder – Echo Park
183. Feeder – Comfort in Sound
184. Feeder – Pushing the Senses

To be honest, I'm not quite sure how I have ended up with quite this many Feeder albums. They're not really an albums band, are they? "Comfort in Sound" is the best of these, but they're all about "Buck Rogers" really, aren't they?

185. Foo Fighters – One By One
186. Foo Fighters – The Colour and the Shape
187. Foo Fighters – There Is Nothing Left to Lose
188. Foo Fighters – Foo Fighters
189. Foo Fighters – In Your Honour

A good band, the Foo Fighters... top of the list of bands that I most want to see live (a wish that is finally going to be fulfilled at the NEC on 6th November). I'm not entirely convinced that they've ever really released a classic album though - and the new album doesn't seem to buck the trend either. Oh sure, they're going to have one hell of a Greatest Hits CD, whenever that comes out, but alongside the killer singles, all of the albums seem to have a bit too much filler for my liking. Still, everyone loves Dave Grohl, and there's an awful lot to like here.

190. Aretha Franklin – Respect

A greatest hits collection. Very good.

191. Fratellis – Costello Music

Hmm. Not sure about this one, to be honest. Fast and furious singles, but not a lot else going on in there, I think. I picked this up for a fiver, I think. Given that I've just paid a grand total of £0 for the new Radiohead album, even this figure seems ridiculously big now. "Chelsea Dagger" is one hell of an earworm though.

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Shuffleathon 2007 update.

There's a postal strike in the UK at the moment, so we're having a bit of a slow start.... but keep working on those compilations. We've already had our first review in.... Stevious really setting the benchmark for everyone else with a very thorough critique:

Shuffler	Posted	Received
1. Tina
2. Sarah
3. Cody Bones	yes
4. Mark	yes
5. Michael
6. Hen	yes
7. Cat
8. bedshaped
9. Pynchon	yes	yes
10. J		"examined by customs"
11. The Great Grape Ape	yes
12. Ian
13. Martin
14. Monogodo
15. Threelight
16. Paul	yes
17. Charlie
18. LB	yes
19. Katyola
20. Lisa	yes
21. Graham
22. Del
23. Spins
24. Ben
25. Dragon
26. Adem
27. Mike	yes
28. JoeInVegas
29. Wombat
30. Max Bob	yes
31. Stevious		review
32. Asta	yes
33. Alan
34. Russ L
35. E.
36. Mike T-D	yes
37. JamieS
38. Briskate	yes
38. Me		yes