2008年 12月 11日 木曜日 06:46

Top 30 from the past 12 months. Some of the questions (*) had repeats, so I changed the numbers to the ones that weren't used. I am a sucker for a quiz.

1 of Montreal
2 The Magnetic Fields
3 Tori Amos
4 Fleetwood Mac
5 Belle and Sebastian
6 The Fiery Furnaces
7 R.E.M.
8 Buzzcocks
9 Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band
10 OutKast
11 Leonard Cohen
12 David Bowie
13 Françoise Hardy
14 Placebo
15 Radiohead
16 Pixies
17 The Shins
18 The Go-Betweens
19 Animal Collective
20 Ramones
21 Neutral Milk Hotel
22 Beck
23 At the Drive-In
24 Brian Eno
25 Simon & Garfunkel
26 Tarnation
27 múm
28 Travis
29 Felt
30 Sonic Youth

1. How did you get into 21? (Neutral Milk Hotel)
I can't remember. Someone (probably Laura, all my good music comes from her) recommended In the Aeroplane Over the Sea to me, I listened and loved it.

2. What was the first song you ever heard by 22? (Beck)
"Loser" - every radio station plays it, it's unavoidable, like chicken pox.

3. What's your favorite lyric by 2? (The Magnetic Fields)
Oooh, too many! A few good ones:

"100 000 Fireflies": "Sounds like a mountain range in love", "Why do we keep shrieking ,when we mean soft things? We should be whispering all the time…"

"Candy": "And I know you'll find a better man they're all too easy to find / and I'll just go away somewhere and slowly lose my mind."

"Strange Powers": "Under more stars than there are prostitutes in Thailand", "In Las Vegas where the electric bills are staggering"

"All the Umbrellas in London": "All the umbrellas in London couldn't stop this rain / and all the dope in New York couldn't kill this pain"

"All My Little Words": "Not for all the tea in China / not if I could sing like a bird / not for all North Carolina"

And the whole of "I Don't Want to Get Over You", and "(Crazy for You but) Not That Crazy".

4. What is your favorite album by 29? (Felt)
Their singles are brilliant, so I would say a compilation (Stains on a Decade), but of the proper albums, Forever Breathes the Lonely Word (the obvious answer). The entire album just flows out so perfectly.

5. How many albums by 13 do you own? (Françoise Hardy)
None, but her singles are really good.

6. What is your favorite song by 10? (OutKast)
"Gasoline Dreams" (I love how Andre 3000 spits out the words of the chorus), "Hey Ya!" or "ATLiens".

7. Is there a song by 4 that makes you sad? (Fleetwood Mac)
This is really corny, but "Landslide" makes me cry.

8. What is your least favorite song by 15? (Radiohead)
"Fitter Happier". What was the point of that? Conceptually interesting, but even listening to it once seems like too much.

9. What is your favorite song by 5? (Belle & Sebastian)
Argh. I suppose I really like "Dirty Dream Number 2" at the moment.

10. Is there a song by 6 that makes you happy? (The Fiery Furnaces)
Many, but "Sweet Spots" is my favourite.

11. What is your favorite song by 20? (Ramones)
"Judy Is a Punk"

12. What is your favorite album by 30? (Sonic Youth)
Probably Sister.

13. What is a good memory you have involving 23? (Simon & Garfunkel)
Playing "Bridge Over Troubled Water" on the piano, and having it actually sound authentic :D

14. What is your favorite song by 17? (The Shins)
"Mine's Not a High Horse" - I love those ascending synth scales in the chorus.

15. Is there a song by 19 that makes you happy? (Animal Collective)
They're all pretty happy. "Grass".

16. How many times have you seen 24 live? (Brian Eno)
None. I would prefer seeing his early pop stuff live, I think part of the appeal of his later stuff is the production on the record anyway.

17. What is the first song you heard by 3? (Tori Amos)
"Cornflake Girl", it's excellent, but I'm starting to get sick of it.

18. What is your favorite album by 1? (of Montreal)
Hissing Fauna..., Icons... and Skeletal Lamping are all brilliant (especially in one hit), but Skeletal Lamping makes their old stuff seem boring. I have a really short attention span, and I love how it shifts between catchy melodies so frenetically. So, Skeletal Lamping, despite the tackiness (but hilarity) of the whole Georgie Fruit thing. I wouldn't recommend it as a first album though.

*19. Who is your favorite member of 6? (R.E.M.)
Michael Stipe, I suppose.

20. How many times have you seen 14 live? (Placebo)
None. I was going to go when I was 14, but back then the Enmore seemed too far away. I like them way less now, so I'm not sure if I'd bother.

*21. What is a good memory you have involving 25? (At the Drive-In)
Listening to Relationship of Command with Michael while drunk.

22. What is your favorite song by 16? (Pixies)
"I've Been Tired". "Losing my penis to a whore with disease!"

*23. What is the first song you heard by 27? (múm)
"Sleep/Swim", the first song off Finally We Are No One.

24. What is your favorite album by 9? (Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band)
I know I'm supposed to say Trout Mask Replica, but I really like Safe as Milk.

25. What is your favorite song by 18? (The Go-Betweens)
"Cattle and Cane".

26. What is the first song you heard by 28? (Travis)
"Why Does It Always Rain on Me?". It must be one of their worst songs. They're so underrated. They have so many brilliant songs that have just been eclipsed by the ones that sold well and boring boring Coldplay.

27. What was the first song you heard by 26? (Tarnation)
"Game of Broken Hearts". Also underrated! You have to be in a tragic heartbroken alt-country mood though.

28. What is your favorite song by 12? (David Bowie)
I've been listening to Low, so "Be My Wife".

29. What is the first song you heard by 11? (Leonard Cohen)
Probably "Hallelujah".

30. What is your favourite song by 8? (Buzzcocks)
"Ever Fallen in Love?"