mmitII

The routes by which I find music have changed dramatically in the last 35 years. It used to be occasional things on the radio and rummaging around in record shops (when you used to have to base an album on its cover). Word of mouth is still important. But there are now entirely new ways. … Continue reading 51 for 50 – 2017

Sometimes I find that a tiny element of a song can transfix me. A riff. A lyric. A voice. Here, for example, are my all-time top three snare drums in pop music: 3 - Swing Out Sister - Breakout Apparently not about the hit computer game, SOS provided a top notch bit of smooth 80s … Continue reading 51 for 50 – 2016

I think I first came across Belle and Sebastian when hearing their song The State I'm In whilst in The Fox Reformed wine bar in Stoke Newington in the late 1990s. The first album that really got me hooked was Dear Catastrophe Waitress, particularly after the song If You Find Yourself Caught in Love shuffled … Continue reading 51 for 50 – 2015

With the exception of opera, I have had a number of fascinations with songs sung in other languages. There are vast swathes of Brazilian music I adore where the musicians could be singing about the price of frozen peas for all that I know of Portuguese. I have absolutely no idea what Sigur Ros are … Continue reading 51 for 50 – 2014

Pharrell Williams, Nile Rodgers, silly hats and Giorgio Moroder. What's not to like?Random Access Memories is a cracking album. https://open.spotify.com/album/4m2880jivSbbyEGAKfITCa?si=0qoVAqvARHSNCy3xWS1ToA You can see the #51for50 project to date here: https://mmitii.mattballantine.com/category/projects/51-for-50/