Sinister: Oh no...lists on a list

[Matthew Henderson]

Goodness gracious me.  These top 10 lists are fun, but annoying at the same 
time.  How am I supposed to judge every album I have and place them in a top 
10?  Oh, it's difficult.  I'm going to take this time to just spout out ten 
of my favourites.  I'm really just...procrastinating, but whatever.

This is in no particular order:

Belle and Sebastian "Boy With the Arab Strap" - It's personal to me, because 
it was my first and it evokes a gorgeous mood that no other album has ever 
been able to do.  It's wonderful.

The Clash "London Calling" -  After years of indie-tweeness or whatever, I 
discovered this album, and found I like to rock.  It's absolutely amazing 
all the way through.  Each song gets me jumping or angry or sad or happy or 
whatever. It excites me everytime.  Plus "The Card Cheat" has some of the 
saddest imagery I've ever heard.

Radiohead "OK Computer" - This was very important to me as well.  I bought 
it the day it came out, and listened to it virtually every day for a year.  
I'm not sure why, but I did.  And I still love it.  To a Smashing Pumpkins 
fan, it was a huge kick in the face.  Well, it was for me.

Billy Bragg and Wilco "Mermaid Ave." - What can you say about this album?  
It's fantastic.

The Smiths "The Queen is Dead" - One of the first albums I ever heard that 
can be deeply sad, yet very amusing at the same time.

Tracy Thorn "A Distant Shore" - So sue me, this is one of the perfect albums 
for some reason.  She's got a great voice and the songwriting is terrific.  
Maybe it's just a personal thing.

The Clash "Sandinista!" - A bit long perhaps, a bit much as well, but 
brilliant anyway.  An incredible statement from one of the most impressively 
evolving bands.  Ever.  It makes me actualy enjoy reggae (although it's 
still only white-boy reggae, but give me a break).

Blur "Blur" - I know I know, but I'm still young and it was the first album 
I ever liked all the way through.  It turned me on to looking for stuff in 
magazines and paying attention to stuff critics mention.  That's how I got 
into all this stuff in the first place.

The Flaming Lips "Hit to Death in the Future Head" - Great, fuzzy, rock.  
Perfect for a hot summer day for some reason.  Taught me buying something 
I've never heard before can be a wonderful thing.

Tom Waits "Closing Time" - Is there a sadder, more beautiful song then 
"Martha"?  Probably, but I can't think of it right now.

Well, that was some pretentious wankery, wasn't it?  I had fun though.

I got pissed off about my papers and everything on Tuesday, so I just hopped 
in my car and drove the 6 hours to Athens alone to see Beulah.  I met some 
smashing people, and it was a lot of fun.  There's something oddly freeing 
about just dropping everything and driving on an open road for a long period 
of time.  Maybe it's because I'm American and we have some sort of fixation 
on driving across big spaces.  Is it a power thing?  Do you Non-Americans 
feel this way?

I can't wait until the belles concerts.  I hope I can make it through exams 
and final papers okay.

Peace out,
-Matt

P.S.:  Yes Ann, it was me.  You should still vent it anyway.  Just send it 
to me if you don't want to bug anyone else.  I love kindred spirits in times 
of despair.

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