Days gone by

Only fair you know where I'm coming from. The following is a brief *very* brief namecheck of some of the stuff I've liked over the years. This is NOT intended to be comprehensive, merely setting a flavour.

• Magazine - Howard Devoto's outfit from 1978 - 1983 produced some AWESOME work. First three albums were each outstanding in their way, but I think it's Secondhand Daylight (1979) that has kept it's flavour best over the past 30 years. Oh - and in one of his songs, a lyric said "Thirty years ago i used your soap..." - that prediction is now coming through.
• Wire - namechecked frequently, again three initial albums of sheer genius. Chairs Missing is the one for me, and I will recommend it whenever I can. 1978.
  
• Gang of Four - Bloc Party? Franz Ferdinand? Shitdisco? Yeah, terrific stuff and with their own individual sound... but without 1979's Entertainment! where would they be? Well, still there, but sounding a bit different. Sample lyric: "and the rubbers he hides/in his left hand pocket..." - ahead of it's time. Just so sad that nothing else they did even came close to matching up
• Neil Finn - OK - so I'm a Kiwi too, but really... can you beat "Try Whistling This" (1998) ??? I just listened to it again tonight accidentally and it is a sheer genius of an album.
  
• Duels - Bright Lights and What I Should Have Learned (2006)- what happened? This should have been huge but wasn't. Love it. Shades of Bowie, the songs just WORK
• The Rakes - Ten New Messages (2007) - I really wasn't a fan of their (generally well received) debut but this works. Available on emusic.
• Neil Young - the godfather of grunge has had some moments of gnius: born to live on Sugar Mountain? Down By The River? Oh, how about Hurricane? Sixties and Seventies, sure, but even this decade he remains more relevant than a 60-something should. Pure talent.