Reservoir Dogs - Various Artists

Year Released: 1992

Label: MCA

Year Bought: 2001

You know a film or TV soundtrack has done it's job when you can't hear the songs from it without thinking of a particular scene.

Reservoir Dogs delivered two such iconic moments, thanks to Quentin Tarantino's ear for matching the sublime with the ridiculous.

Is there anyone out there who doesn't wince a little when they hear 'Stuck In The Middle With You'?

Has there been a group of lads wearing suits since 1992 where one of them didn't start singing the opening bars of 'Little Green Bag'?

The rest of the songs on this compilation are pretty much all spot on. 'I Gotcha' by Joe Tex is a brilliant slice of soul, Blue Swede's cover of 'Hooked On A Feeling' sounds as bonkers today as it did when it was released in 1973, while 'Fool For Love' is a yee-haw country song.

Bedlam's cover of Steppenwolf's 'Magic Carpet Ride' isn't particularly one for me, but even so, it still sounds huge.

The soundtrack has clips from the film, with US comedian Steven Wright's laconic radio DJ getting an outing alongside dialogue, such as the famous 'Madonna Speech'.

The only issue is the soundtrack only has 8 songs on. I'd have loved more.

7/10

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Franz Ferdinand – Franz Ferdinand

Year Released: 2004 Label: Domino Year Bought: 2004 January 2004. I'd just quit uni. Was back at the family home in Bishop's Stortford. The place I'd been so desperate to get away from, and I was back and already bored. And then things got a bit less boring. I remember this so clearly. I was having a shower and the radio was on, and on came 'Take Me Out'. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. At first I thought it must be an old tune that had passed me by, but no, it was announced as a new song by a band called Franz Ferdinand. It sounded glorious. It sounded interesting. After the staleness of the post-Britpop years, and beigeness of Coldplay, Travis et al, there was actually a British band doing something interesting. I loved it, and when the album came out the next month, I gobbled it up with glee. Listening back now, and I still love it. The hushed opening of 'Jacqueline', the sleaze of 'The Dark of the Matinee', the homoeroticism of 'M...

The Bends - Radiohead

Year Released: 1995 Label: Parlophone Year Bought: 2000 Some records I'm going back to for the first time in a while. Others, like 'The Bends', are still in my regular rotation. What to say about this album? The crashing piano chords of opening track 'Planet Telex' give an immediate indication that this is not the same band that made 'Pablo Honey'. The album is a quantum leap from that record, which – while it has its fans, including me – is by-and-large the sound of just another guitar band. 'The Bends' is different. From the slowing-down-time intro of the title track, to the how-high-can-you-go guitars on 'Just', the album constantly delights. 'Fake Plastic Trees' is a magisterial effort, while 'Black Star' contains one of the great opening lines: "I get home from work and you're still standing in your dressing gown, well, what am I to do?" The recording process for this record was inspired by seeing Jeff Buck...

NME Awards 2004 - Various Artists

Released: 2004 Label: NME When I bought: 2004 In ye olde days before streaming, and even YouTube, it wasn't possible to hear within a matter of moments pretty much every song ever released. Therefore, compilations like this by the NME actually had a degree of value. Take 'Paperbag Writer' by Radiohead, a b-side from 'There There', the lead single from 2003's Hail to the Thief. I bought the album but not the single, so I'd never heard this tune. It's a brilliant track, with its electronic shuffle beat and muffled vocals making it sound like a left over from Kid A, or the starting point for Thom Yorke's debut solo album which would be released the following year. Likewise, 'See You Soon' by Coldplay. A true delight from a 1999 EP, with delicate guitar playing, scarce production, and honest vocal delivery. It's a reminder that once upon a time Chris Martin et al were able to operate with that oft-neglected trait: restraint. As a snapshot o...

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