Quarta-feira 3 Jan 2007, 2h:10

OK clearly I'm a bit obsessed with last.fm right now :)

Well, I'm gonna list the albums that I've sort of grown up with. I can put them on at any time and never get tired of them. These are the artists that made me want to sing and I will be forever grateful.

Breath From Another
My very first girl crush. From the first moment I saw her red hair in the astronaut suit in "That Girl," I knew this was something special. There is still no female singer whose voice can make me so crazy. I love her and she will always be my number one favorite artist. She could cough in the studio and it would be tight.

Older
This man has the voice of an angel. The first song that I really ever wanted to sing was "It Doesn't Really Matter." I was 12 years old and my dad would play the album in the car. I didn't understand that I was listening to the beautiful yet painful expressions of a man suffering the loss of his partner. I didn't fully get what "Fastlove" was really talking about either ;) But somehow, I really felt that I wanted to feel it, you know? Teenage angst and all that.

Travelling Without Moving/The Return of the Space Cowboy
Yes, we all saw that beguiling video for "Virtual Insanity." And while everyone was wondering how that skinny British guy slid around the room, I was struck by the quality of his voice. Off I went to buy TWM, and I fell in love. I got Space Cowboy when I was in London for a summer, and it blew me away. Literally, one of the best albums ever released, period. "Just Another Story"–I mean, damn.

Groove Theory
Why, oh why, did you just make one album? I feel this way about Lucy Pearl too. I understand the star producer/talented vocalist combination doesn't always last, but in the case of Groove Theory, I really wish it had. One of my favorite memories of this album was singing along to "Did You Know" - "never wanted no man's money/didn't need no help/there was a time i was all for love/but all it took was one heartbreak and i'd had enough" Hilarious because I was in 7th grade. I still love "Hello, It's Me."

Seal
This might be the album I listened to at the youngest age. I used to take the tape from my mom's car and play it in my room. For some reason, I have a very strong memory of lying on my bedroom floor in 3rd grade near the radiator, wearing a sweater, listening to this album and reading the book The Giver. Anyway, Seal was interesting because he was Nigerian like me, and his music was extremely different sounding. The scars on his face never bothered me, I have to say.

Flood/Apollo 18
My parents must have thought I was so weird. I guess when you're a kid, it just seems really funny. I was thoroughly amused by songs like "Istanbul (Not Constantinople)" and "She's Actual Size." Did adults actually consume their music?