Number 40‘Come Away With Me’ by Norah Jones
Trotter’s Top Ten position : Top Ten in 2002
UK Chart high : 1 in 2002
Might as well complete this 'fairly-easy listening' triptych with the ultimate example of the decade. Ever so slowly this album took over the world in the same way as it's atmospheric, velvet vocalising and smokey-late night bar strummings crept into my head. It's so laid back, dreamy and chocolatey that it might as well be advertising Cadbury's Flake (actually it probably did at some point). I'm no big fan of jazz, country and western or the blues (understatement alert!) but the songs on display here shied away from self-indulgence and just were...well, indulgent in the best sense. Norah, no doubt, will spend the rest of her life trying to get out of the shadow cast by this debut and the public may question whether they need more than one Norah Jones album in their collection. But everyone certainly has this one anyway. I'm no record producer but every now and then a piece comes out that makes you marvel at exactly _how_ a certain mood was captured and put down for the listener to feel transported elsewhere effortlessly - this is one of the finest examples of that at work. It's an old cliche, but even the spaces between the notes seem to be laden with atmosphere and the video for 'Come Away With Me' captures that wide, expansiveness beautifully without a coffee table in sight.
UK Chart high : 1 in 2002
Might as well complete this 'fairly-easy listening' triptych with the ultimate example of the decade. Ever so slowly this album took over the world in the same way as it's atmospheric, velvet vocalising and smokey-late night bar strummings crept into my head. It's so laid back, dreamy and chocolatey that it might as well be advertising Cadbury's Flake (actually it probably did at some point). I'm no big fan of jazz, country and western or the blues (understatement alert!) but the songs on display here shied away from self-indulgence and just were...well, indulgent in the best sense. Norah, no doubt, will spend the rest of her life trying to get out of the shadow cast by this debut and the public may question whether they need more than one Norah Jones album in their collection. But everyone certainly has this one anyway. I'm no record producer but every now and then a piece comes out that makes you marvel at exactly _how_ a certain mood was captured and put down for the listener to feel transported elsewhere effortlessly - this is one of the finest examples of that at work. It's an old cliche, but even the spaces between the notes seem to be laden with atmosphere and the video for 'Come Away With Me' captures that wide, expansiveness beautifully without a coffee table in sight.
Listen to a sampling of the Top Fifty on Spotify as we go
Number 41‘Parachutes’ by Coldplay
Trotter’s Top Ten position : Top Ten in 2000
UK Chart high : 1 in 2000
Okay, I can hear your trendy groans from here, but before Chris cut his curly hair, took up a macrobiotic diet and married a weeping actress, Coldplay released a fine atmospheric, moody debut that promised much and delivered a fine array of indie anthems, not least the universal 'Yellow' which is unarguably the student disco-crossover hit of the decade (tm) despite it's wilfully discordant guitars. It was their appearance at Glasto in 2000 showcasing songs from their debut that hinted at the stadium-filling future to come. 'Shiver' was the track that made me take notice of these unremarkable-looking indie posho's and demonstrates the 'you either like it or you don't' nature of Mr Paltrow's falsetto warblings to a tee. For those who can't stand the band, you'll enjoy the video for 'Trouble' which has Chris tied to a chair and beaten up. See! I cater for all your tastes here.
Look at Yellow ; Trouble ; Shiver
Listen to a sampling of the Top Fifty on Spotify as we go
Number 42‘The Optimist LP’ by Turin Brakes
Trotter’s Top Ten position : Top Ten in 2001
UK Chart high : 27 in 2001
Balham's finest as Mr Teasdale would no doubt remind us. They were (unfairly) highlighted in a renowned music mag's review of the decade as exactly the sort of band that were swept aside by the arrival of a certain set of New Yorkers in the early days of the new century. However, with Mumford and Sons and recently Bombay Bicycle Club taking an acoustic folk angle into the top ten it seems as timely as ever to sing the praises of Turin Brakes. 'The Optimist LP' is another great example of an album standing up to scrutiny as a whole, not just having a few hits and album fillers. They'd get a bigger hit with Ether Song's 'Painkiller' a few years later, but their debut is better if you ask me - particularly 'Slack' (even with a terrible 'story' video) and 'Mind Over Money' - still a favourite track of mine ten years on complete with it's 'windy day at Center Parcs' video. And we haven't even mentioned the force of nature that is Olly's hair!
Look at Mind Over Money ; Underdog (Save Me) ; Slack
Listen to a sampling of the Top Fifty on Spotify as we go
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