Comedy and film may seem like my first love, but truthfully, the only reason I got into stand-up was because I’m a failed rockstar, and the only reason I got into scriptwriting was because I realised I was never got to be the next John Lennon. If I could trade in every good stand-up gig I’ve ever done to be a rock frontman, I would do it in a heartbeat.
What I’m saying is I really love music.
I try and listen to around 100 new albums and 200-300 older albums every year between 350-500 albums a year, I spend most of my time making Spotify playlists instead of working, and if you ask me what music I like, I will inevitably say, “I listen to a bit of everything actually…”
Yes, I am a bellend.
With that in mind, as well as sharing a link to my Spotify so you can see all the brilliant playlists I’ve made and admit that I really do have the best taste, I’ve also decided to start randomly adding albums I love to this page.
I might make it a slideshow, I might make it a list, I don’t know, I’ve given it very little thought. You’re literally reading me trying to decide as I type.
Either way, these albums will be in no particular order and will feature a healthy mix of established classics and a few gems you might not have heard. Hopefully you’ll find a few you enjoy.
Elliott Smith is my favourite artist by some distance. I discovered him as a depressed teenager and have been obsessed ever since Even now, I rarely go more than half a year without listening to everything he ever recorded. My favourite song, ‘A Fond Farewell’, is on his posthumous album ‘From a Basement on a Hill’, but his greatest record – my favourite of all time – is ‘Either/Or’. If I was to make a list of my top 10 Elliott Smith songs, at least half would come from this album. 
I once read a review of Guided by Voices’ ‘Bee Thousand’ that said “I now love everything I hated about this album on a first listen”, and that basically sums up my love for the band. GBV sound like The Beatles if The Beatles were alcoholics who played in a garage using broken equipment and didn’t feel the need to write songs into pop perfection. Main singer/songwriter Robert Pollard is one of my biggest inspirations, a man who will write 10 mediocre songs to create one gem, then release them all. Of the 40+ albums GBV have released, this is still my favourite. 
Most people haven’t had their minds blown by Yves Tumor yet. Their 2020 album ‘Heaven to a Tortured Mind’ was my favourite of that year, and its lead single ‘Kerosene’ was my track of the year. I can barely describe this music, which is sort of like Prince at his most sexy mixed with avant garde pop and sleazy rock. I think Yves Tumour might end up being huge in the next 5 years. 
What happened to Ohtis? They released ‘Curve of Earth’, a magnificently dark and simple alt-country album in 2019, followed up with the terrific electronica-tinged duet ‘Schatze’ in 2021, then dropped off the radar. Hope they come back. 
Somehow I waited until its 40th anniversary to hear The Go-Go’s 1981 classic ‘Beauty and the Beat’. This is about as good as pop rock gets, with every song sounding like a single. The Go-Go’s seem to be a bit forgotten about, at least in the UK (maybe because people are familiar with Belinda Carlisle’s solo career), but this is one of the catchiest albums any band have released. Chorus lovers, unite! 
Thanks James Acaster for naming his book Perfect Sound Whatever after the closing track of Jeff Rosenstock’s punk masterpiece WORRY. The album’s lyrics touch on getting old, selling out and gentrification, while the music ranges from immensely catchy gang vocals to bouncing ska to insanely fast hardcore. 
Ever since I was 17 and I caught my reflection in a bus stop whilst listening to ‘Fuck Tha Police’ by N.W.A., I have been self-conscious about listening to rap music. Some artforms just aren’t meant for you. However, I still love it. It took me a few listens to properly love Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers), but it’s now solidly my favourite rap album of all time. If anyone ever saw me driving to a gig, pumping myself up by shouting along to ‘Wu-Tang Clan Ain’t Nuthing ta F’ Wit’, I would probably retire out of shame. 
I’ve appreciated Bob Dylan since I was a teenager, but only once I was in my mid 20s did I become properly obsessed. For the last couple of years, I’ve been going through each of his 40 studio albums and I’m yet to grow bored (even if his 80s period was bleak). I’d love to be a hipster and go for something like Nashville Skyline or Dirge, but there’s a reason Blood on the Tracks is considered his best. It’s a sad, angry, romantic album that represents a master songwriter at the peak of his powers.
Harry Ford - Comedian 