Words by

Bob Cluness

Sigur Rós – () (2002)
The world’s most infuriatingly enigmatic band. But man when they get it right they fucking get it right! I chose ‘()’ over ‘Takk’ as nobody in the world seemed to be making this kind of music at the time. Not so much ethereal, more occupying a completely different place in space and time. Plus for some inexplicable reason, track 4 (or ‘Njósnavélin’) seems to make me cry every time I listen to it. Shut up!

Mínus – Jesus Christ Bobby (2000)
An unyielding mass of spiteful noise that was the aural equivalent of firebombing your neighbour’s house and killing everyone due to a dispute over hedge boundaries. The thing with JCB was that at times it was more noise than rock, thanks to their clever decision to have Curver produce the album. Still gives me nightmares involving trolls with dildos.

GusGus – Attention (2002)
The first GusGus album I bought was 2007s ‘Forever’ and that is a great album. But somehow I just found this did the same stuff, better, and five years earlier as well. Sometimes on a Saturday night if I’m alone and before I go out, I like to put this on while dancing naked with a jar of pickles to get me in the mood. Nothing wrong in that is there?

Singapore Sling – Life Is Killing My Rock ‘N’ Roll (2004)
The group that is responsible for creating a whole brand of Icelandic death rock with numerous imitators but never bettered to be honest. Their whole sound can be perfectly encapsulated in the track, ‘Guiding Light’ a shimmering vehicle that blazes across the devils highway wearing shades. Allegedly.

Björk – Volta (2007)
The obligatory Björk entry. I found this album was her most listenable she had produced in a long time. There is something in there for every- body from tribal rhythms to avant-garde song structures, melodic pop hooks to fervent politics. She even made Timabaland work as a producer for a change, so it can’t be all bad!