A to Z - H for Haunted

Or Heroes. Or Hands, or even Humbug.

There's lots of good H words. And a decent number of good H albums out there too. That's right ! Time for another A to Z ...

First up is an experiment - Ellie Goulding's Halcyon Days. I'm moderately interested in Ellie Goulding, she has a unique voice and some talent with song writing. But they don't seem together to make great albums. You get sick of that unique voice after a while. It outstays its welcome. Which is a massive shame cos it is a decent voice, in short doses.

Talking of supreme voices, we have the pop pixie Victoria Hesketh, aka Little Boots. She gradually emerged on to the scene thanks to bedroom youtube cover videos. Her first album was an absolute cracker, with songs like Remedy blowing away the rest of the performers when she did it on Late with Jools Holland. It's from the Hands album.

And talking of singers that blow you away live, here's Bat For Lashes with Laura from the Haunted Man album. I think part of the reason this is one of my favourites is that I knew a Laura and she was pretty special. She moved on though, we definitely miss her. (And I got a nice reply when I passed on a congrats ! Happy Pete Was Happy).

I've been keeping up with Maroon 5 as a bit of a diversion. They're in here with Hands All Over. Decent album, finished off well with tracks like Moves Like Jagger.

One of my favourite bits of music is on Goldfrapp's Head First album. It's Voicething, not really a song but it really shows off Alison Goldfrapp's wonderful voice. There's also Alive for a feel good pop song. People thought this was rushed but I like it. It's definitely one of their better albums for how it comes together.

Christina Perri was another gamble with Head or Heart. It's not a bad album but it ain't particularly special either. Well worth a listen but I don't know whether I'll get all her stuff like I do with Goldfrapp, Bat For Lashes and Nina Persson. Possibly a little overproduced taking the distinctiveness away. Highlight for me here is Human. That's a special song. And oh crap, her Lovestrong album is on iTunes right now for £5 - that's tempting ...

Morcheeba have always interested me as a rather different group. You never really know what you're going to get with them but you can guarantee it to be pretty well done. Head Up High was no exception there.

A-ha get in here twice for H's. There's their greatest hits collection (Headlines and Deadlines) and their very first album, Hunting High Or Low with songs like The Sun Always Shines On TV. Well, sometimes we wish it didn't, like when England are failing to draw a game like today - rainpls!

Paul Simon comes in here with Hearts And Bones. This is another album that's loaded with amazing songs. It's hard to think of a favourite here but The Late Great Johnny Ace speaks to me.

There's a couple of David Bowie albums in here, Heathen and Hours. They're ok. But with Bowie it's a case of when he's good, he's BRILLIANT. When he's bad, it's a horrible dirge.

Soundtracks ... You know they were in here somewhere ...
Heroes of Might & Magic 3 - decent game but not quite as good as some others I've tried. This was a cheapie from GoG.com.

ABBA were incredible when they were shining bright. 2 of the 3 Hits albums I have come in here. Favourites from these cd's are : Hasta Manana and of course, when I hear the drums Fernando.

A little bit of classical ? This one is in H because the Gracenote database added the composer to the album title. It's the Planets suite by Holst. You'd recognise a few of the planets here but the most recognisable is Mars.

Bjork adds in a little bit of insanity with Homogenic. She's the kind of singer you follow out of curiosity. Brilliant voice, you never quite know what it's going to do next. Genuine treasure.

This one's from when I was at school - Voice Of The Beehive only did a couple of albums. Their second was Honey Lingers, with magic tracks like Perfect Place.

One of my dad's favourite singers is Neil Diamond and ... I kinda agree (for a male voice!). His Hot August Night double cd is from a concert, which is where he's best. I have a greatest hits studio cd which I donated to my dad cos it's kinda cold. Anyway, Hot August Night has highlights like I Am, I Said.

Oh my - one of my favourite artists is Kate Bush, it's a shame that her best days are way behind her. But when those best days include albums like Hounds Of Love. This is an incredible album that transcends the sum of its songs. There's so much great music here and it tells a story as it goes through. There's the poppy songs at the start but there's also beautiful pieces like And Dream Of Sheep. EMI have spoiled the fun with the original but here's another goddess (Tori Amos) singing it.

Snow Patrol are very prolific. Their Hundred Million Stars was another great album from these guys.

Almost there. 3 to go. And a couple of houses ... Katie Melua's the House is another with some shining examples of that voice, I like Tiny Alien the best.

Arctic Monkeys are in here with Humbug. Not their best to be honest - Suck it and See is better.

And finally, Alisha's Attic didn't last long (3 studio albums, 1 b-sides collection) but they shone bright when they were together. My favourite from The House We Built is Dreaming.

It won't be too long before I'm through the I's ... Still just over 3000 tracks to go in the library.