Ever since my elder sister made an eight-track mix tape for me aged 4 (the featured artists included Bon Jovi, Extreme and Inner Circle), I have collected records. As a kid, I religiously accumulated every Now That’s What I Call Music! compilation on cassette (Now 30 – Now 44 was the particular period in question) and then at age 12 I graduated to proper albums and received The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours by the Manic Street Preachers and um, Performance & Cocktails by Stereophonics (it was arguably the last decent album they made, in my defence) for my birthday.
As a teenager, I used the pocket money earned from my part-time job as an after-school cleaner (my school couldn’t find ready and willing adult cleaners so they employed us students instead) to bolster my collection of CDs (I had several hundred by the time I went off to university) and around 16, I began to take an interest in vinyl; initially collecting 7” singles and then graduating to full-length albums. I also took an interest in my Dad’s collection and would pilfer the occasional Beatles or Beach Boys album, not to mention a great blues and soul compilation featuring the likes of John Lee Hooker.
A snapshot of just some of my favourite albums throughout the years.
For years, I listened to music through an early 1990s hi-fi system that was very generously given to me by an uncle who worked for electronics company Phillips. He had upgraded his home system and with my interest in music had let me have his previous set-up (which would have been top of the range when it was manufactured). It was far too loud for my teenage bedroom and the volume annoyed my parents no end, but the fact it came with its own turntable, as well as graphic equaliser and CD and cassette decks was a major coup. It moved with me to London and took pride of place in the living room of my tiny flat on Stockwell Road and provided the soundtrack to many a late-night gathering.
After 17 years of continuous heavy use, the system finally stopped working in 2018 after my move to Brixton Hill and I decided it was time to treat myself to a new system. After nearly a year of reading audiophile magazines and gear reviews, I took the plunge early in 2019 and made a visit to Oranges & Lemons on Webbs Road in Clapham, South London, leaving with a Rega Elex-R amplifier and a Rega P3 turntable (Monitor 500 speakers, a Marantz CD deck and a vintage Nakamichi tape player were also added soon after, if you’re interested).
The new set-up taking pride of place in the living – either side of the fireplace.
The new set-up was the single most expensive outright purchase I have ever made (surpassing even guitars) and a present to myself to celebrate the first year of being successfully self-employed. However, it soon proved to be an excellent investment. Not only are the Rega units built like tanks, but I began to listen to records in an entirely new way, hearing details and nuances in the recordings that wouldn’t have been picked up before. On nights in, instead of turning the TV on after work, I would listen to albums instead.
As well as being so far away from family and friends, leaving my record collection behind in boxes was perhaps the second hardest thing about moving to Bari. I still buy the occasional vinyl in Italy and there are some excellent record shops in Bari, namely electronic specialist EXP, New Records for indie / new wave / alternative Italian, and the San Pasquale second-hand emporium Wanted Records. However, it’s frustrating not being able to listen to the new purchases (my current Bari set-up is a laptop or iPhone connected to a Bose Soundlink Bluetooth speaker – it’s not quite the same).
Records upon records, and particular bounties from Soho’s Sounds of The Universe, Sister Ray and Brixton’s Supertone Records.
During the second wave of Italian Covid restrictions in late-2020 / early 2021, I did rediscover the joys of streaming though and began obsessively curating a series of Spotify playlists based on genre and overall vibe. What started off as a way to pass the time during lockdown soon became a labour of love and many of these have been painstakingly created (in particular, ‘Non-obvious soul’ and ‘Eyeliner and Spraypaint FM’); not just in terms of the chosen tracks but also the running order (don’t play these on shuffle mode).
With a 2,000-km drive ahead of me later this week, some of these playlists will be on heavy rotation, along with a number of podcasts. Here’s a summary of some of the most interesting compilations I’ve put together and what you can expect. I hope you find something to your taste; sit back and give your ears a treat…
I’ve been a great lover of soul music since I was a teenager and this playlist focuses on the less obvious cuts. Sure, there are some famous names in there but the song choices are a little more under-the-radar. Starting off with some instrumentals from Young-Holt Unlimited and the Menahan Street Band, this collection takes you on a journey through early Northern Soul footstompers, gospel, Motown, Stax, ‘60s girl groups, disco, slick 1980s pop and then the titans of ‘90s soul such as Jil Scott and Lauryn Hill. It ends with some more contemporary artists such as Children of Zeus, Lost Horizons and Solange.
Listen to these: ‘Me and Mrs Jones’ – Billy Paul, ‘Center City’ – Fat Larry’s Band, ‘No Easy Way Down’ – Dusty Springfield.
Inspired by the Manic Street Preachers, Simon Price’s Stay Beautiful clubnight and a number of other provocative, sleazy, ‘eyeliner-friendly’ bands, this is the indie disco but with an edge. The New York Dolls, T-Rex, The Stooges and of course, the Manics all make an appearance but there are also nods to some often-forgotten noughties groups such as King Adora, Kinesis, Miss Black America and My Vitriol. Watch out for the disco and ‘80s pop interlude midway through.
Listen to these: ‘Personality Crisis’ – New York Dolls, ‘Don’t Speak My Mind’ – Miss Black America, ‘Always On My Mind’ – Pet Shop Boys.
I started compiling this playlist during what seemed like the endless Italian summer of 2020 – and the brief easing of the Covid restrictions. The soundtrack to many a summer’s evening, there’s a lot of disco, house and upbeat funk tracks, as well as some Italian oddities like ‘L’eroe di Plastica’ by Napolitano percussionist Tony Esposito. Put this one on as the soundtrack to a summer evening’s barbeque.
Listen to these: ‘Sempre’ – Marcos Valle, ‘Attack’ – Walter Ego, ‘Say Something’ – Emma Jean-Thackray.
Hip-hop is not a genre I can claim to having an encyclopaedic knowledge of. I appreciate its artistry and the impact it’s had on modern culture but it’s probably the genre I have the least records of in my collection. However, reading XL Recordings founder Richard Russell’s book ‘Liberation Through Hearing’ and the BBC’s documentary series ‘Hip hop: The song’s that shook America’, opened a new world to me and I started to listen to a lot of hip hop from the 1980s and early ‘90s. This playlist attempts to provide a chronological musical history of the genre over five hours, starting with The Fatback Band’s ‘King Tim III’ (mooted by many as the first-ever hip hop track) and finishing with a crop of current artists including Berwyn, Madlib and Slum Village.
Listen to these: ‘P.S.K’ – Schooly D, ‘Unity’ – Queen Latifah, ‘Brixton Baby’ – Ty featuring Mpho.
This playlist was created, mainly with the goal of helping to improve my Italian. It features a collection of classic Italian songs, alternative recommendations from Italian friends and some tracks I’ve found through my own research. Italian music icons such as Lucio Battisti, Fabrizo De Andre and Domenico Modugno are included but also young upstarts such as Venerus and Takagi & Ketra.
Listen to these: ‘Il Mio Canto Libero’ – Lucio Battisti, ‘Senza Luce (A Whiter Shade of Pale)’ – Dik Dik, ‘Da Sola / In the Night’ – Takagi & Ketra.
After nearly ten years of living in Brixton, it’s hard for reggae music not to rub off on you in some way. I’ve always had soft spot for the genre but exploring the area’s specialist record shops became a favourite weekend activity of mine – in particular Supertone Records on Acre Lane and Lion Vibes in Brixton Village. This playlist has developed and been added to over a couple of years and takes in classic reggae, earlier rocksteady, as well as some heavier dub moments. There’s an ace Discogs article on Brixton’s Supertone Records here.
Listen to these: ‘Born for a Purpose’ – Dr. Alimantado, ‘Gimme Gimme Your Love’ – Don Carlos, ‘Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner’ – Black Uhuru.
A playlist of wistful alternative folk, alt-country, Americana and psychedelia. Expect Crosby, Stills & Nash, Fairport Convention, Love, The Flying Burrito Brothers and some more tender moments from Shirley Collins and Jackie Leven.
Listen to these: ‘Whispering Pines’ – The Band, ‘Will To Love’ – Neil Young, ‘Hares On The Mountain’ – Shirley Collins & Davy Graham.
Partly inspired by my trips to Tennessee over the past few years, this playlist showcases a selection of the earliest rock & roll from the late mid-1950s until the early-60s. Bo Diddley, Billy Hawks, Carl Perkins, Gene Vincent and Link Wray all feature, as well as some of the more raucous blues tracks of the era.
Listen to these: ‘Fujiyama Mama’ – Wanda Jackson, ‘Have Love Will Travel’ – Richard Berry, ‘Get Down With It’ – Little Richard.
A collection of beautiful-sounding tracks that somehow make the listener feel happy and sad simultaneously. I spent a lot of last year’s road trip to Sicily listening to this playlist. Contains not one but two versions of ‘Strange Overtones’; David Byrne and Brian Eno’s original and an Americana-style cover by Chicago group Whitney.
Listen to these: ‘Love and Death’ – Ebo Taylor, ‘Do You Wanna Dance?’ – The Mamas and The Papas, ‘Til I Die’ – The Beach Boys (alternate mix).
Finally, this one is still a work-in-progress but focuses on music which is vaguely spiritual or uplifting; be it gospel or purely existential in its nature. Features the 1971 gospel-disco epic ‘Like A Ship’ and the Beach Boys’ hymn ‘Our Prayer’.
Listen to these: ‘Keep Your Faith To The Sky’ – Willie Scott & The Birmingham Spirituals, ‘Spiritual Eternal’ – Alice Coltrane, ‘Like A Ship’ – Pastor T.L. Barrett & The Youth for Christ Choir.
