A to Z - P is for Perfection

Not all the P's, I did a small selection in the O's post but there's lots more to come.

First up is a collection from the Pet Shop Boys. Definitely a good one to start off a Perfection post because they don't have much to take advantage of in the voice department but what they have, they take full advantage of and then polish it to perfection in production. The highlight here is definitely their breakthrough track : West End Girls.

I wonder if my waitress last night was a West End Girl ? She hailed from Belfast and it was wonderful hearing that accent again. I haven't lived in Northern Ireland for almost 30 years now so my accent is pretty much gone but it's great to hear it again. Miss L at work still has her's and it was good to run into her again the other day at the lunch queue.

Peter Gabriel had a habit of giving his early albums numbers instead of titles. I didn't think much of his 2 or 4 albums but numbers 1 and 3 were exceptional with varied, quirky and very well composed music that fit together well as albums. I'd pick out Moribund the Burgermeister from the first album and Games Without Frontiers from the third.

Edie Brickell comes in with her solo album, Picture Perfect Morning. This album closes out with the wonderful Lost In A Moment, which ... tears warning.

Next is a pair of albums from the ever divine Katie Melua, Pictures and Piece By Piece which I think is the better album. Pictures has some sickly sweet tracks including What I Miss About You. Piece By Piece has wonderful track after wonderful track including the amazing Thank You Stars, I Cried for You, Nine Million Bicycles and may I someday be some lovely lady's special Shy Boy.

Next up is a soundtrack - Planescape Torment was another Dungeons and Dragons rules set game, this time set in hell. It's one of the better regarded ones and how come I haven't played it yet ? Yep. No game time but I've thoroughly enjoyed listening to the soundtrack. Here's the trailer.

Gorillaz came back in with the very strong Plastic Beach album. It's their strongest yet with plenty of variation and some very special songs. My highlight is Empire Ants, which builds up gradually and then explodes.

Moby's Play is possibly a little too perfect. Yes, it's very good but it's so polished it gets cold. Still good but not one I enjoy as much as the Katie Melua or Edie Brickell albums here.

Talking of perfection, here's a bit of Nordic angelic astounding singing in the shape of Lene Marlin's debut album. The track that originally caught me was Sitting Down Here but I think the strongest is Unforgivable Sinner.

Sleeper's Pleased To Meet You comes in with the P's. Again, a fairly decent album but not quite as special as their debut. Still, it gives a decent first impression with the opener Please, Please, Please.

Hello Air - if I get married, their tracks All I Need and You Make It Easy will definitely get played on the day. But those are on Moon Safari (I only mention them because they are SO special). Air's Premier Symptome and Pocket Symphony are the P albums. They're ok but the polish is probably taking away from the Gallic character and inspiration.

And if there's a singer I fell in love with as soon as I heard her, it's Mindy Gledhill. Wonderful singer, wonderful person. She's the truly innocent, beautiful of face and spirit girl next door with the voice of an angel. Her latest album is Pocketful of Poetry and it's ... wonderful. Check out Little Red Bike.

Some old school ? The Police had a turbulent passage but that may have generated some of the best songs, led by that perfection of Sting's voice. I know one person who I thoroughly believe Everything She Does Is Magic and the Little Cupid Lady is joining her. I look forward to her messages tremendously.

Going the other way is a voice that's so imperfect, it has a special beauty of it's own. It's Portishead with the unique Beth Gibbons. Their P is their second album, which has Mourning Air. I challenge you to play that and not get your attention caught.

Bjork sneaks in with Post, which is another album that shows off the character of the artist. She's totally unique, adorable and spiky at the same time. The famous tracks are Army Of Me and It's Oh So Quiet but my highlight is the magical Possibly Maybe.

Heavy Metal time ! I bought a Nightwish cd yesterday to check it out but here it's Iron Maiden with Powerslave. Good but not their best to be honest although it has a cracking opener with Aces High.

If you ask anyone what their favourite fantasy movie is, there's a good chance that they'll pick the Princess Bride. And the soundtrack backs up what's on screen. It's a Mark Knopfler special and ... that swordfight ...

Talking of great movies, there's Pulp Fiction which is loaded with amazing tracks. My favourite is Dusty Springfield with Son Of A Preacher Man.

And it's that time again ... last album and it's another soundtrack. You'll see another from this artist in the R's. It's the Puss In Boots soundtrack which is another that matched the film really well. But it's the guest artists that shine - Rodrigo y Gabriela. Check out Hanuman.

And that's all for the P's ! There won't a Q post cos I don't have any Q's. I do have a couple of Queen's Greatest Hits cd's but those come in under G ...

Cya next time !