A to Z - T is for Treble

Wow - I'm only 10 songs away from having listened to everything in the library.

That can only mean one thing - I need to acquire more music !

But first - to the T's.

First up is Simon and Garfunkel with a Tales From New York compilation album. This has all their best, some of their worst but all told, a lot of great songs from these two soft and beautiful male voices. Best ones for me are The Boxer, Mrs Robinson, Cecilia, El Condor Pasa and you could easily pick out a bunch of others.

Tori Amos is in here with a few, Tales of a Librarian is another mini-collection. She's brought out a lot of great albums, it's a little sad that she's raided the back catalogue with duplicates.

Goldfrapp's latest is Tales Of Us. This is them going back to a softer style with songs like Annabel. It's a lovely album to close the eyes and relax to, letting the music wash over you.

Air's Talkie Walkie is more distinctive electro-pop from these French guys. Highlight for me is Run.

Fleetwood Mac are one of the stars of old rock and they're in here with Tango In The Night. It works well as an album, with songs like Isn't It Midnight carrying it along.

Taylor Swift is one I picked up as a random. She's got a good voice, I was surprised it's put to use in these country type songs. I thought she was more a manufactured pop girl who sings instead of shouts. Her self titled album is a very pleasant album, although I didn't pick out any real highlights. They all kinda sound the same.

Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker somehow found it's way into my library. Where would we be without excellent classical music.

Gabriella Cilmi followed up an interesting first album with the less distinctive Ten. Still a decent album but she's not one I'll really follow from now.

One of the things about The Terminator movies is the outstanding soundtracks. I have the soundtracks for Terminator 1 and 2. They both set the character for and accompany the movies exceptionally well. Bit like the soundtrack for Babylon A.D, which I'm watching at the moment.

Michelle Shocked is an artist that I need more stuff from. Her Texas Campfire Tapes was an introduction to this vulnerable, pure, innocent voice. Highlight is Fogtown.

And talking pure, talking soundtrack, here's Vangelis with his Themes. It's another electronic style again for some unearthly, beautiful instrumental music. Highlight is the main theme from Missing.

River City People followed up their first album with This Is The World. It's more mainstream again but still leaves room open for lovely stuff like Mile High Cafe.

Michael Jackson was a bit misunderstood. A superstar with some very strange quirks. He had the gift of giving us some incredible music, although there was a lot of dire stuff in there too. He's in here with his Thriller album.

KT Tunstall is still bringing out a lot of great music. She has a lovely voice, shown off here with Tiger Suit. Highlight for me is very definitely Still A Weirdo.

Franz Ferdinand come in with Tonight. They're a characterful bunch. I like 'em. But they are a little guilty of everything sounding very similar again.

Tony Bennett - that's a quandary. He has his legend but ... for me he seems to wreck a lot of songs he sings. It's almost like it's about the singer and not the song. It should always be about making the song sound great, if the character of the singer is getting in the way of that, it's a bad singer. Bit like the modern people who shout instead of sing.

Tori Amos again ! I collected her cd singles a while ago, mostly for the great B sides on them. One of those is the lovely Flying Dutchman, which I'll happily sing along to.

All About Eve's last good album is Touched By Jesus, which shows off that voice again. Highlight for me is the closing track, Are You Lonely. A few of the tracks here are somewhat forced, this one holds its tempo well.

Tracy Chapman's debut introduced a distinctive voice again, singing of protest as well as every day life. Some of these songs will haunt you, some will lift you. Like For You.

Beth Orton is a singer I've been appreciating, she's in here with Trailer Park.

There's games that we buy for the game, there's games that we buy because their soundtrack is awesome. Then there's games that match the two together. Transistor is one of those games. The soundtrack is amazing, another stunning example of Darren Korb's work.

The Hoosiers are another weird bunch, with their first album, The Trick To Life. Highlight is definitely Worried About Ray.

Madonna's been around for ages it seems and one of her earlier albums was True Blue. Lots of highlights here, including La Isla Bonita.

Talking Heads have been around for ages too, here with True Stories. I must try and watch the movie again.

Last few - Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells is his signature album.

Lene Marlin has always had a voice I'll always keep an ear on and she's here with possibly her best, Twist The Truth. So many highlights here, including Here We Are.

Last but definitely best, Bat For Lashes with Two Suns. This album is ... incredible. So many good tracks but the best for me will always be Moon And Moon.

That's it for T ! Hopefully I can rattle through the rest of the alphabet quite quickly. Itunes tells me there's only 1000 or so tracks to go in them.

Cya !