Saturday, October 10, 2026
500 Greatest Albums of the 2000's # 35 Beck - Sea Change
Beck's latest album Ride Lonesome is widely seen as a return to form. I'd agree. What critics generally mean by this is that it's full of Cosmic Cowboy balladeering like 2002's Sea Change. This is a road he's travelled well.
It Starts With a Birthstone - 200 Albums for 2026 # 78 Radiator Hospital - Distorted Time
Radiator Hospital have built up a healthy audience for their ragged and disjointed Garage Rock sound over previous releases. Distorted Time sees them sticking to their guns with a sound that finds the missing chord between 13th Floor Elevators and modern operators like Black Lips, Spirit of the Beehive and The Lavender Flu.Distorted Time gathers momentum and rattles along the rails of destiny for 13 songs and 36 minutes like Dylan the stoned rabbit from The Magic Roundabout with merry effect.
Song(s) of the Day # 4,536 Teenage Fanclub
'Straight off the door to the factory door...I was looking for something to do.'
Teenage Fanclub are a wheel that just keeps turning. If you buy into what they're doing you'll buy into this. I do and I did. They're old school in some ways. Do Not Dare To Dream sounds like a record that might have come out in 1972. That's not a slur on any level. It's intended as high praise.
Friday, October 9, 2026
It Starts With a Birthstone - 200 Albums for 2026 # 79 Monochrome Set - Lotus Charm
Change and peoples approaches and responses to it is one of the most fascinating subjects. Particularly when applied to Bohemians like The Monochrome Set.. Who surely advocate risk but stick to their essential palate record in record out.
But as the man said if it ain't broke.... (you do the rest). Lotus Charm is a glassful or two of your very favourite things. Absinthe without the hangover. Herman's Hermits are still together. The Prisoner has been comissioned for another season and Sean Connery is forever shaken and not stirred. A marvellous record
Song(s) of the Day # 4,535 Personal Trainer
Friends and loved ones who have past are a difficult eternal ache in life. They take aware a part of you with them. More so than lovers who you have gone your separate ways for specific reasons. But with loved ones who have departed , the wound will never entirely heal.
Matt left about ten years ago. We spent a lot of time together listening to music. Now I listen to something and think Matt would appreciate this. Matt would definitely like Personal Trainer's Human Assholes. It's off the beaten track, Dutch (Matt, not coincidentally, lived in loved and died in Holland) and looks at the strangeness of the world from the margins. From the edge of the pitch.
Personal Trainer are led by Willem Smit, the band's singer and principal songwriter. Human Assholes finds him resetting the compass, this is disimilar in nature to previous records and the effects are altogether glorious. in any number of ways. It has a wonderful record sleeve.
A boy in a red sweater is standing, in fact on the verge of falling, blidfolded and balancing an egg on a spoon. It is a sleeve which defies coherent explanation just as Human Assholes is an album lasting fifty minutes crammed with songs which defy coherent explanation. It's an altogether glorious cacophony.
Precedents; Beefheart, DEUS, Surrealism and Dadaism, Kevin Coyne, Beck , Blur, David Thomas, Pavement, The Nits, Syd Barrett, Kevin Ayers, Bonzo Dog. This is charm and inspiration by turn. itself and refusal to be of the herd. It's a set of astonishing fairground rounds. A true standout record
Thursday, October 8, 2026
It Starts With a Birthstone - 200 Albums for 2026 # 80 Maria BC - Marathon
Monday afternoon. A good time for a Marathon. The latest album from Maria BC. Threadbare folk songs from Oakland, California; exhaustion, resignation and uncommon beauty It's a record that yearns and emotes as the earth turns.
Coveted # 17 James Brown - Black Caesar
'Born in New York City on a Monday...' Well actually James Brown wasn't. But never let mere detail get in the way of the legend. A mean, bad man fronting a slick tight black band. Heavy input from Fred Wesley here. The OST for a cool looking Blaxploitation crime drama.This is layers of period atmosphere and cool melodrama.
500 Greatest Albums of the 2000's # 37 Eminem - The Marshal Mathers LP
It's about a mindset and entering that mindset. Without doing that you won't really buy into the journey
Song(s) of the Day # 4,534 Vanishing Twin
Calling your album Archives and housing it in a plain-ish, nondescript sleeve is not always the best way to attract attention. In the case of Vanishing Twin's latest album I discovered to my great surprise and delight yesterday evening that this wasn't a set of demos and songs rejected for previous releases but a new album, their fifth, and a pearl.
Vanishing Twin have been a firm friend of It Starts With a Birthstone going back a good seven years now. since I heard and fell under the spell of The Age Of Immunology their second album. They're a cosmopolitan collective, (currently operating as a trio), based in London and are experimental by nature though essentially they operate in the slipstream of Stereolab, Broadcast, Pram, Kosmische Rock and Psychedelic tropes such as Tropicalia and Kosmische Rock.
'Postmodern Songcraft that finds transendence in the shared experience of creation.' I'll drink to that!!! Magical, mystical and frankly inspiring.
Wednesday, October 7, 2026
500 Greatest Albums of the 2000's # 38 Bjork - Vespertine
Bjork is an incomparable artist. Vespertine, her fourth album, seems to take her lead from Associates Sulk. It's incredibly sensual, textured stuff. a magical kingdom.
It Starts With a Birthstone - 200 Albums for 2026 # 81 Slow Pulp - Melodie
Sitting on a big oak tree. Yellow and green. At the age of nineteen. We've all been there. And perhaps aren't anymore. But that doesn't seem to matter or impact on the basic emotion. The feeling of being alive. It's certainly a long time in the other place. Lethe. The river of forgetfulness.
In the meantime there are worse places I might direct you than to Slow Pulp's Melodie. It's the stuff of uncertain Independent American dreaming.That will do for today. And tomorrow I imagine.
Song(s) of the Day # 4,533 Bullseye
Minnesota quartet Bullseye posit the frage 'what is Gene Clark had never made it to LA' and landed up in Brooklyn instead. Their self titled album is all dreamful chiming and romantic wonder. Cool Ghouls. Big Star and Tom Petty and many others have been here many times before but this is a seam which will never run dry.
Coveted # 16 Red Garland
A change in routine this morning. Forty minutes in the company of one of the Modern Jazz perennials and his 'block chording' ballardeering. There's something quite effortless and timeless about records like these. Perhaps I'm becoming the person I was always meant to be in my sixties. Yu realise that all of these guys at some point fell out with Miles Davis but that's not clear from the peace at play in records like these.
Tuesday, October 6, 2026
It Starts With a Birthstone - 200 Albums for 2026 # 82 Hovvdy
Hovvdy are a Texan Independent duo who have popped up intemittently on It Starts with a Birthstone over the years but I've finally found the album I'd nail to my mast with latest release, their sixth in all, Big World.
All their ingredients and influences seem to have fallen into place this time round and no mistake. Breathy laid back relaxed ballads and mid tempo chuggers that assimilate and triangulate The Shins, Elliot Smith and Alex G.
But the key spirit of this , at least to my ears, is that of Simon & Garfunkel. An interesting essay could be rewritten on these mavens of melody. As important in many respects as Beatles, Velvets, Love, and Byrds for the post millennial independent sound.
Coveted # 15 Gordon Lightfoot - Endless Wire
In some quarters Gordon Lightfoot is spoken in hallowed tones. Whereas to me he seem like schmaltzy MOR balladering with a dodgy moustache and dodgier perm. What do I know? Endless Wire is restful enough to lull anyone into wistful rest.
500 Greatest Albums of the 2000's # 39 Super Furry Animals - MWNG
As Creation hit the wall, Super Furry Animals went back to their native tongue. Inspired tomfoolery and a beckoning finger drawing us back to a childlike kingdom.
Song(s) of the Day # 4,532 TV Buddha - Hallelujah Anyway
Cometh the hour, cometh the sound and the scene. Chicago's TV Buddha's debut album Hallelujah Anyway is unhinged on any number of levels but rather loveable. Garage Nuggets if you're looking for a peg to hang this on. Beach Boys meet 13th Floor Elevators down by the corner. Post Pandemic Pop of the kind that young Chicagoans like National Photo Committee Horsegirl, Sharp Pins are highly conversant in.these days. Urgency, abandon and slightly tone deaf joy. This is loads of fun ! Playing New York next March. Be ahead of the herd.
Monday, October 5, 2026
Coveted # 14 Jessica Pratt - On Your Own Love Again
Modern Magic ! All the other worldliness so esteemed in the likes of Nico, Karen Dalton, Vashti Bunyin and their elfin kind. But in the here and now.
It Starts With a Birthstone - 200 Albums for 2026 # 83 Shearwater - The New World
There are records I think are slightly affected and I struggle while listening to them as to whether I like them or not. There's a line between ambitious and pretentious which can be akin to tightrope walking.
Shearwter's The New World is such a record. The band have two decades and seven albums behind them A long established artistic pedigree so it's probably a bit late in the day to take pot shot at them so I let it spin instead and it won me over presently and utterly. Orchestral Art Rock. But that's not always a bad thing. Daydream unbelievers.
500 Greatest Albums of the 2000's # 40 Low - Things We Lost In The Fire
Low plot a considerable and affecting musical narrative. White Sorrowful Noise .
Song(s) of the Day # 4,531 Penelope Isles
I've long found Penelope Trees one of the most intriguing British bands going. Not easy to slot into an easy genre or category. Latest album, the self evidently entitled 3 continues the fascinating journey the band have committed to .
Siblings Jack and Lily Wolter divide up writing responsibilities and this leads to a consistentlysound and perspective. Noimally Shoegaze but actually stretching further back to Folk traditions. I've been listening to 3 for days and will continue doing so. It hits the spot and addresses my mood. .
Sunday, October 4, 2026
Coveted # 13 WITCH - Introduction
WITCH were an astonuishing Zambian Garage Nuggets Rock band. Psych, Folk, and Soul are all in the mix. Their Voodoo qualities are all extant and in your face on 1974 debut Introduction. . An incredible act of Genre hopping
It Starts With a Birthstone - 200 Albums for 2026 # 84 Jake Xerxes Fusell - The Old Beloved Path.
Jake Xerxes Fusell's The Old Beloved Path. A wonderful record to turn in on on a Tuesday evening. An even better one to wake up to on Wednesday morning. It's lonesome and evocative . Melodies and moments that are in our bones.
It Starts With a Birthstone - 200 Albums for 2026 # 85 Ravyn Levae - Blue Island
Blue Island by Ravyn Levae is a slightly Old School Dancefloor /Workout. Reminiscent of Janet Jackson and Janelle Monae. A familiar dream. It's undemanding but wholesome.
It Starts With a Birthstone - 200 Albums for 2026 # 86 Snail Mail - Ricochet
Slow wins the race. April is almost here. Ricochet, the third album by Ellicott City, Maryland's finest Snail Mail is on the doormat, I've got a large beaker of tea, Off we go.
It's a very 2026 sounding album. Marie Osmond was a little bit Country and a little bit Rock & Roll.. This is a little bit Indie with a healthy dollop of winsome, self ennui for dressing.
It's a trifle bland tbh. But sounds fine on a Saturday morning. I wonder about the lack of ambition of youthful product sometimes. Linsey Erin Jordon (for Snail Mail is she), is 26 and has three albums under her belt. Joni Mitchell had five at the same age. Including Blue and For the Roses .
There's nothing on Ricochet which would merit a starting slot on either but these are different times and there's plenty that you might like to add to a playlist. Fair to middling.
500 Greatest Albums of the 2000's # 41 Goldfrapp - Felt Mountain
Life as a dream or as an extended OST. Portishead in some respect set off this instinct and conceit in Pop Music and Goldfrapp and others ran with it. Felt Mountain was an album that was full of possibility.
Song(s) of the Day # 4,530 Helen
Helen. From the ashes of Grouper and a noir, deceptive album called Linda's Head which brings on the soft darkness. regardless of the hour it spins. I was reminded of many of my favourite things; The Chills. Young Marble Giants, Pale Saints. Mission of Burma. Enchantment. Comes on like the fall of evening.
Saturday, October 3, 2026
Coveted # 12 Milt Jackson - Jazz 'N' Samba
Vibraphones ahoy ! Milt Jackson is imposibly funky and soulful and one really worth following the trail to a leafy glade. He played with all the greats and understood the swing innately.
It Starts With a Birthstone - 200 Albums for 2026 # 87 The Hobknobs - Helmets Off
Reasons to be cheerful, Part erm..... well four thousand four hundred and seventy eight. And counting.... The Hobknobs and their debut a;bum Helmets Off takes the biscuit frankly !
From the Dutch Lou & Mo school of Indie strum. No lack of ennui and boho poetry. Every one's a monochrome winner baby !
It Starts With a Birthstone - 200 Albums for 2026 # 88 Sleaford Mods - The Demise of Planet X
So what to do on a gloomy Sunday evening when all news emissions seem to be trumpeting on every street corner about the end of the World. Listening to The Demise of Planet X the new album by the Sleaford Mods which to all intents and purposes appears to be all about end days. Any excuse for getting totally off your face.
So first the good news. It's very lively and very funny. Not one to play to your favourite Aunt perhaps but certainly a sparky forty one minutes, There are guest appearances from Aldous Harding and Life Without Buildings Sue Tompkins. It feels like being assaulted by hopped up junkies when you've only gone into your local bank to pay in a cheque.
There's a song called Don Draper about the serial Mad Men philanderer.Don Draper. It's about fear and obsession and addiction and imagining our modern age hosts new dangers when actually it's always been this way.Since the dawn of time. It's a lot of fun. It's Monday morning now ! Off we sail into the coming day,
It Starts With a Birthstone - 200 Albums for 2026 # 89 Momoko Gill - Momoko
Momoko Gill's debut album Momoko is clearly Jazz inflected but se herself is resistant to labels and it's an album that flirts with plenty of pigeon holes and genres. It's feather lite and cool and that will more than do for me.
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