"a warm feeling of
nostalgia"
Ludovico Einaudi - Le Onde
I can remember years of waking up on a Sunday morning to the smell of fresh coffee and the sound of classical music. This was - and still is, as far as I know - my Dad’s weekend ritual, and the thought of it conjures up fond memories of my family home in Manchester. Often played as part of this custom, Le Onde stood out to me as being ‘contemporary classical’, if that’s not too much of an oxymoron. Dad bought me the accompanying sheet music to encourage my piano playing, and probably to expand my repertoire; I’m not a naturally talented player and I can imagine weeks of bashing the keys in anger after messing up My Heart Will Go On for the umpteenth time must have taken its toll on the rest of my family. I practiced loads as I wanted Dad to be proud when he heard me playing, and eventually – after many more bouts of frustration taken out on the keys – I cracked it. The titular track, with its melody of ‘waves’ apparently inspired by Virginia Woolf’s novel, still transports me back to my early teenage years. Put simply, it is just the kind of music to soothe the soul.
The Beautiful South - Blue Is The Colour
Along with Welcome To The Beautiful South, this album to me is synonymous with a warm feeling of nostalgia. Mum would be ironing and barely visible behind the piles of neatly folded clothes - one for each member of the family - while the dulcet tones of The Beautiful South flowed from our bulky ‘90s stereo in the corner. I didn’t realise how ingrained the lyrics were in me until about twenty years later when I stumbled across ‘some duo’ called Paul Heaton and Jacqui Abbott at Glastonbury. I didn’t intend to go and see them, thinking I’d never heard of them. Plans changed, and I ultimately found myself swept up in the crowd singing along to every word. As soon as the penny dropped and I was belting out, “the whole place is pickled. The people are pickles for sure,” they were back as firm favourites on my playlist and have been ever since.
"a love affair that far
far oulived that of my
aforementioned relationship
Athlete - Tourist
This harks back to my uni days when I was first introduced to Athlete by an ex. I was instantly hooked, and it turned into a love affair that far outlived that of my aforementioned relationship. There’s such a range of interesting acoustics; the type that lull you into a sense of serenity. So much so that it became a routine for us to fall asleep every night to Tourist on random shuffle. I’m a light sleeper at the best of times, and without fail, just as I’d be dropping off, the switch in tempo and unexpected crescendo in the latter half of Chances in comparison to the soft tones of the majority of the rest of the album would make me wake with a start. This album is still my go-to when I need to just chill out and was chosen because it brings back a lot of happy memories for me, though Vehicles and Animals would come a very close second, were I to rate Athlete’s back catalogue.
Various - Save The Last Dance Soundtrack
Evidence of my ‘eclectic’ music taste – this album has it all. I was fourteen when the accompanying film was released and it was the perfect age to get swept up in a cheesy sentimental teen romance. Anyone who knows me knows that if a film doesn’t elicit enough of a response that I belly laugh or bawl my eyes out (and believe me it doesn’t take much to prompt a full-on flood of tears from me) then I generally see it as a flop. The soundtrack was instrumental in heightening my obsession with this film though. It’s fundamentally focussed on dance and I can still picture the scenes as Pink’s You Make Me Sick starts to play, or the characters bust out their moves in the club to Ice Cube’s You Can Do It. I may get ridiculed for my choice, but even to this day, I defy anyone to resist getting into the reggae vibes of Murder She Wrote. As a languages student I struggle to accept the spelling of Get It On Tonite, but all is forgiven when that beat kicks in and my toe starts tapping…
Snow Patrol - Eyes Open
In my eyes, Snow Patrol are hugely underrated, and it was only really by accident that I started to listen to their music properly... Oasis were one of my favourite bands of all time. I even remember a conversation where my Mum told my Aunt to guess which band I liked by “thinking of the worst band your child could get into” and she got it in two (after incorrectly guessing Pulp the first time round). I couldn’t pick just one Oasis album for this list so I’m cheating and mentioning them here instead. I was at V Festival (to my shame) in Chelmsford where Oasis were due to headline. I think it was the day before the big bust up when Oasis ceased to be Oasis… they played the Stafford site the night before, then cancelled Chelmsford. Despite having seen them live before, I was gutted that I missed their last ever performance by 24 hours! However, it all happened for a reason… Snow Patrol stepped in and were so incredible. Every song would start, I’d insist I didn’t know it and then we’d get a few more bars in and I’d instantly know all the words. It was a magical evening and it sparked my love of Gary Lightbody’s wonderfully unique singing enunciation. More to the point, who wouldn’t love a band with a song called Get Balsamic Vinegar…Quick You Fool?!
"My rebellious phase?!
Eminem - The Marshall Mathers LP
Not sure how this even came about – my rebellious phase?! I had the explicit version at 13 and I thought I was so cool playing it super loud, but then I’d trip over myself to skip the questionable Ken Kaniff Skit in embarrassment. It still makes me squirm listening to it now. I haven’t played this for years but in thinking back to see what albums provoke the most memories for me, this is up there as one of the top; I played it non-stop for weeks and was obsessed with its tongue-in-cheek monologues and clever social commentary. I can forgive the odd bizarre line. All these years later I remember every word - except the skits - and had forgotten what a lyrical genius he was. Such a talent for telling stories with catchy bridges and choruses that you can’t help but love. I was definitely not cool then (and it certainly didn’t get any better as the years passed), but I’m old enough now to admit that this is what I like; I will unashamedly defend this album in all its explicit non-pc glory because it’s just so damn good!
Boyzone - A Different Beat
No list of mine would be complete without a bit of Boyzone. They’re my guilty pleasure. Ronan’s crooning just melts me - I could listen to him singing in his distinctive Irish accent all day. I never liked Boyzone particularly but my Nana told me that my older cousin (technically my mum’s cousin but closer in age to me) was visiting from Ireland and that she was a big fan. Being desperate to have something in common I listened to a few of their albums and then I just never looked back. My cousin grew out of them and I carried on. I’ve seen them live multiple times, most memorably on the tour that accompanied this album when they introduced a “dance move” to the title track. It was so far removed from what we expected, and it added so much to the atmosphere, that my mum and sister who were with me still remember it all these years later too. There are many gigs I’ve been to that seemed incredible at the time but turned out to be unremarkable since I can’t remember a single detail. So to say this one is still so vivid in my memory must mean it was pretty magical. I can also recall very clearly having a party at the local ice rink for my tenth birthday where I requested the unreleased album track Strong Enough and just couldn’t understand why the DJ wouldn’t play it…
Christina Aguilera - Stripped
Genie in a Bottle was released in 1999 just as I was nearing the end of my first year at secondary school and I couldn’t get enough of it. I waited for it to play on the radio, taped it, and then proceeded to play the cassette and sing along every morning without fail before school for what must have been weeks. I feel like I grew up with Christina Aguilera and as she morphed from bubblegum pop into her more raunchy phase and the music matured with her, so did I. My friends will undoubtedly remember my ‘Dirrty’ dancing at parties, though the less said about that the better… good times! I’d progressed to CDs by the time her Stripped album came along and it was in the stereo on repeat for a long time. I have only recently realised that I know the Spanish for ‘I love you’ thanks to the track Infatuation, having sung along all these years without any clue as to the meaning of the lyrics.
"waited for it to play
on the radio,
taped it"
Bio
Originally from Manchester, Ciara is 35 and now lives in Harrogate with her fiancé and 4 month old son. She works in the tech industry and believes drinking gin is a legitimate hobby. Having travelled to Japan a few years ago after dreaming of it throughout childhood, she is now in need of a new life goal!
