30 albums: 2 and 1
02. sleeper - the it girl
this may catch people off guard. i had no idea what i was getting into the first time i even heard sleeper. see, while a member of the bmg cd club i ordered a free alternative sampler disc with four or five bands on it. it was free so i had nothing to lose, plus hum was on it and i really liked the song stars at the time. the other hum song was good also (i hate it too....in fact, wh* used to cover it) but the next two songs, by sleeper had me falling in love. the songs were full of tension and full of hooks. also i think louise wener may have my all time favorite voice. in the last verse of stop your crying, the way she sings "you don't care / you're unaware" is one of my favorite things ever. so, i ordered the first sleeper album (smart) and enjoyed it enough. it's not consistently strong but the good songs were good enough to get me excited for the follow up. and something about this record hits me like none other. and perhaps the strangest thing about this as opposed to all the other albums on my list is that the record i fell in love with isn't even the "real" version. the album was retracked for the united states and one song was even dropped (glue ears). i did get an original british version on vinyl though but it's still hard to get my head around listening to this in a different way (note: allmusic lists the us track listing). part of the reason this record and the band appeals so much to me is that i discovered them pretty much by accident. i can usually trace exactly how i got into most of the music i like, either through friends' recommendations or shows or allmusic "sounds likes" or really liking a label...but sleeper came out of left field. the name seems almost too appropriate to me. also the song what do i do now is another tearjerker like belly's the bees. just a beautiful song. when she says "now i'd like to phone you but i'd feel too awkward" i get goosebumps. it's so matter of fact. louise wener started writing novels after the band broke up (they had one more album after this) and those are pretty good too. however, my all time favorite song lyric is in the song dress like your mother. "oh well, have you seen her face / she actually believes in haricuts". this record has been with me through a lot.
and now, the (not so) big reveal
01. the beach boys - pet sounds
yep, pretty predictable, but still totally and completely brilliant and beautiful in every way. perfect, perfect, perfect. it's also the only album i own five copies of (original vinyl, reissue vinyl, cd, dvd audio, and the sessions box set) and two books about. there's not much more i can say about an absolute classic, so instead i'll apologize for taking so long to do these entries. i'll probably put up a recap list also, so everything's in one place, but for now i hope everyone enjoyed.