Monday 7 March 2011

OOFT!’s Top 5 Non-Dance Albums

Scottish Deep House maestro OOFT drops by the South West Seven blog to let us know what artist albums have truly inspired him over the years!

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I always find this type of thing really hard to do as there’s so much great music out there, so for this list I’ve stuck strictly to 5 albums that I’ve felt a strong emotional connection with upon listening. Be it 80s pop from my childhood to obscure acoustic picks, I think the thing that binds this group of albums together is the sheer musicality, and I hope if you’re reading this you’ll give them an airing.


Fleetwood Mac – Tango In The Night [Warner]
We’ll start with one that was always on in the house when I was growing up. Tango In The Night was the ‘Macs second-biggest selling album after Rumours and is jam packed with power pop songs like Big Love, Everywhere, Family Man, Little Lies and a whole host more. I’m a sucker for that polished 80srecording-studio sound which this epitomises and it’s still a great party-starting album.





Marvin Gaye – Here My Dear [Motown]
Recorded as part of Marv’s divorce settlement (his ex was to get part of all future profits) this was meant to be a quick job but turned into some serious personal deep-soul shizz (track titles such as Anger, You Can Leave But Its Going To Cost You and Is That Enough give you an idea!). This contains two of my all-time favourites: A Funky Space Reincarnation and Time To Get It Together as is an often overlooked but great album. Check out the recently remastered expanded edition for even more strung-out cosmic takes on all the tracks.




My Latest Novel – Wolves [Bella Union]
This one sits funnily in my collection as I’m not generally a huge fan of “Indie” music. Add to that the fact that I went to school with one of the guys in the band and didn’t really like him too much its surprise that I ever listened to it full stop. However I’m glad I did as Wolves is a beautifully-musical selection of songs which ally personal lyrics with pretty out-there folky, emotional instrumentation. The band has been struggling to break through to bigger things for several years but here’s hoping they do. You always want talent to rise to the top.



Fat Freddy’s Drop – Based On A True Story [Sonar Kollektiv]
Hailing from New Zealand, this was FFD’s debut album and is a great selection of reggae-infused songs with great vocals from lead singer Joe Dukie. This one always gets played during the (somewhat short here in Glasgow) summertime and is the perfect accompaniment to overcooked meat from the barbecue and a mild case of sunburn.  






Emiliana Torrini – Fisherman’s Woman [Rough Trade]
Fisherman’s Woman is a haunting, painfully-beautiful collection of acoustic songs from the Icelandic songstress Emiliana Torrini. I think she makes a living from writing Pop songs for people like Kylie but this album is so moving I wish she recorded herself more. It was released in 2005 but it’ll probably sound even better in another 10 years time.

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