His 'n' Hers by Pulp

This is a great album, featuring the glorious "Do You Remember The First Time?" which stood out so prominently at Pulp's Glastonbury performance. Unfortunately, I was late to the party and hardly listened to it as a result. Who needed to when the singles had become so ingrained from hearing them on the radio.

Chris Morris played "Babies" a lot on his Radio One show, which I'd listen to in the car with a friend as we travelled down to Hampshire to visit his girlfriend.

I haven't seen her lately and I don't know that I remember the first time either.

Pulped by Pulp

Bought cheaply from a colleague who learned his lesson about acquiring CDs far sooner than I, this was never going to fetch the slightly ridiculous thirty quid Amazon apparently thought was the going rate.

Sad to say, I've never actually got around to listening to it, which is nothing to do with the quality of the work and all to do with the amount of music I own and the time it takes to listen to it.

No, I don't want you any more.

Encyclopedia of Albums - 1000 best ever albums by Paul Du Noyer

Another selection of writing on albums which is long on personal opinion, short on facts.

Perfect for someone who knows nothing about music, tedious for anyone who does.

Fixed by Nine Inch Nails

A friend was downsizing his collection so I bought this off him. It's of relatively minor interest to me, but perhaps I should've paid more attention - flicking through "Fixed" now it sounds great..!

I really don't anticipate listening to it a great deal though. Throw this away? Not quite...

Ill Communication by The Beastie Boys

This CD doesn't belong to me... it belonged to Jim who left it in the office prior to departing for Thailand... no, that can't be right - I left the company several years before that. So I must've picked it up at some point to listen to.

A surprisingly good album, but I really don't play it at all. Another album I really just wanted to hear rather than own, so it's got to go.

Do it.

The It Girl by Sleeper

Sleeper first caught my attention with their "Inbetweener" single, a clever, hummable song about living in suburban Essex. Sadly, the rest of the album didn't quite measure up.

This follow up featured a four great singles which soundtracked the summer of 1996 and were hardly off the radio... and that's probably how I'll remember them. I certainly don't play this much any more.

What Do I Do Now?

Click... off... gone.

String 'a' Beads by Rose of Avalanche

Another biz-era freebie, though I knew well enough who Rose of Avalanche were. My best mate had been a fan since their first EP, "L.A. Rain", in 1985. When we formed a band, their flanger-drenched psychedelic sound became a template for our own sonic experimentations. Later, around the time of Never Another Sunset, we saw them at ULU supported by Claytown Troupe.

This album was more forward-looking. Goth was no longer flavour of the month, being supplanted by indie-dance Madchester and bands who experimented with samplers, like Pop Will Eat Itself, Jesus Jones and EMF. This album was an attempt to respond, and even includes a remix by Hacienda DJ Jon Dasilva.

What's going down? This CD's going to a better place...