The Slits - Cut

The Slits’ infamous debut album is a master class in pure attitude. Merely touching the record will imbue you with the kind of witty, slightly weary cynicism that’s always seemed so unobtainable.

And when you realise that The Slits were the UK’s first all female punk/ post-punk band, you suddenly understand why ‘Cut’ is infused with such authenticity. Not only is The Slits’ sound a rebellion against the musical landscape of the time, it’s also a reaction to the almost exclusively male punk scene.

The sounds are raw. The vocals are raw. The dub-base - all chopping guitars and reggae rhythms interspersed with keys and the occasional recorder - is loose. Songs speed up and slow down. It’s all at once awkward and vital and unconventional, which just makes it all the more powerful.

As you might expect from three women very much operating in a man’s world, most of the songs offer razor-sharp (if you’ll forgive the pun…) insight mixed with some truly awesome scorn. ‘Ping Pong Affair’ is a real stand-out in this respect, “life with or without you, so I spend an evening, without getting my face cut, and another evening, without getting run over”. But even the former is trumped by the sardonic genius of ‘Typical Girls’, with its “don't create, don't rebel, have intuition, don't drive well” refrain.

The political nature of the record doesn’t stop there. Ari’s shrill of “I can’t but wonder what’s feeding my screen, what’s feeding my screen?” during ‘FM’ is an observation on media culture that’s as pertinent now as it was back in the late 1970s.

Consumer culture gets the treatment too, ‘Spend Spend Spend’ and ‘Shoplifting’ are as amusing as they are astute, in fact, the opening of the latter is immortal: “put the cheddar in the pocket, put the rest under the jacket, talk to the cashier, he won’t suspect… ten quid for the lot, we pay fuck all!”

Released in 1979, the record is as crucial now as it ever was. ‘Cut’ absolutely reeks of cool. It’s a wry, intelligent and entirely organic snapshot of a band at the very top of their game, and the very height of their genre.

PJ Harvey - Rid of Me

Polly is honest; you need only listen to ‘Ecstasy’ to understand just how honest. Polly is also (whisper it…) neurotic - the dark suggestion of cutting off your lover’s legs to stop them from leaving in ‘Legs’ is somewhat of an indication. And Polly is candid: “I’m calling you weak, getting even” she confesses on ‘Rub ‘Til it Bleeds’.

But most of all, Polly is ANGRY. “Damn your chest-beating, just you stop your screaming” she yelps on ‘Me Jane’. This is a record that doesn't sugar-coat anything, least of all the feminism.

Title track and opener ‘Rid of Me’ sets the mood for the record: simultaneously disturbing and magnificent. The stark contrast of the quiet intro and the loud (and I mean really, really loud) chorus is frankly unsettling in its power. I defy anyone to not feel instantly filled with some kind of mercurial energy after screeching “lick my legs, I’m on fire” a few times. And if, like me, after such seismic beginnings, you feel unable to stop yourself, ‘Man-Size’ and ‘50ft Queenie’ are more than enough to satisfy.

Yet the record isn’t all yelling and pushing. ‘Missed’ weaves off-kilter rhythms with enviable purpose to create one of the melodic high-points of the album. And the string section in ‘Man-Size’ sextet would make the Brodsky Quartet jealous (not just about the two extra members either).

By far the most primal and polarising of all Polly’s records, Rid of Me cannot be described as anything other than a glorious work of art. It took a pasting from a lot of critics, and true enough, it is abrasive, it is visceral, and you will have to work at it. But I quite simply don’t care. This album is monumental.

Dry was the sort of debut that most artists can only dream of producing. The fact that Rid of Me is actually a superior record both lyrically and musically should be impossible. But not for Polly.

To do list

Roberts

• Neutral Milk Hotel - In the aeroplane over the sea
• Isobel Campbell and Mark Lanegan - Ballad of the Broken Seas
• Eels - Daisies of the Galaxy
• Bob Dylan - Blood on the Tracks
• Jeff Lewis - It's the ones who are cracked that the light shines through
• Frou frou - Details
• Bright Eyes - Lifted
• Nick Drake - Five leaves Left
• Alisha's Attick - Alisha Rules the World
  
• Paul Simon - Graceland
• Simon and Garfunkel - Bridge Over Troubled Water
• Anthony and the Johnsons - I am a Bird Now
• Willy Mason - Where the Humans Eat
  
• Rufus Wainwright - Poses
• The Decemberists - Picturesque
• Iron and Wine - Our Endless Numbered Days
• Stars - Set Yourself on Fire
• The Beach Boys - Pet Sounds
• Brian Wilson - Smile
• The Beach Boys - Wild Honey
• Bob Dylan - Hard Rain
• Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - No More Shall We Part
• Tom Waits - Closing Time
• Warren Zevon - A Quiet Normal Life
  

Didymus

• Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin II
• Morrissey - Vauxhall and I
• The White Stripes - White Blood Cells
• A - A vs. Monkey Kong
• Radiohead - OK Computer
• The Smiths - The Smiths
• Muse - Origin of Symmetry
• Terrorvision - Regular Urban Survivors
• The Libertines - Up The Bracket
• The Strokes - Is This It
• Doves - Lost Souls
• Green Day - Dookie
• Franz Ferdinand - Franz Ferdinand
• Klaxons - Myths Of The Near Future
• Muse - Absolution
• Art Brut - Bang Bang Rock And Roll
• Oasis - (What's The Story) Morning Glory
• Stone Roses - Stone Roses
• Air - Moon Safari
• The Horrors - Strange House

Hamblin

• Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds- The Boatman’s Call
• PJ Harvey- Is This Desire?
• Brighteyes- Fevers and Mirrors
• Songdog-Time of Summer Lightning
• The Clash- Combat Rock
• Damien Rice- O
• Jamie T- Panic Prevention
• Jeff Buckley- Mystery White Boy
• The Smiths- The Queen is Dead
• Amy Winehouse- Back to Black
• Ryan Adams- Heartbreaker
• Manic Street Preachers- The Holy Bible
• Imogen Heap- Speak for Yourself
• Rilo Kiley- More Adventurous

Legg

• Interpol – Turn On The Bright Lights
• The Knife – Deep Cuts
• PJ Harvey – Rid Of Me
• PJ Harvey – To Bring You My Love
• Kate Bush – The Kick Inside
• The Cure - The Head On The Door
• Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Fever To Tell
• Blondie – Eat To The Beat
• Weezer –Pinkerton
• Television - Marquee Moon
• Architecture in Helsinki – Places Like This
• Fleetwood Mac – Rumours
• Modest Mouse – The Lonesome Crowed West
• Arcade Fire - Funeral
• Joy Division - Unknown Pleasures
• Bjork – Debut
• Bob Dylan - Desire
• Saturday Looks Good To Me – Sound On Sound

True

In no particular order:

• Belle and Sebastian - Fold Your Hands Child You Walk Like a Peasant
• Cocorosie - The Adventures of Ghosthorse and Stillborn
• Rufus Wainwright - Want (One and Two)
• Willy Mason - Where the Humans Eat
• The Carpenters - A Song for You
• Crowded House - Woodface
• David Kitt - The Big Romance
• Dolly Parton - Country Girl
• Eels - Electro Shock Blues
• The Folk Implosion - One Part Lullaby
• Guillemots - Through the Windowpane
• Joanna Newsom - The Milk-Eyed Mender
• Kristin Hersh - Hips and Makers
• Muse - Absolution
• Pulp - We Love Life
• Radiohead - In Rainbows
• The Smiths - Hatful of Hollow
• The Strokes -Is This It
  

Just to clarify my philosophy, these are not necessarily the albums I consider to be exemplary for each artist, but they are the albums I would save if all the music in the world was being burned.

Brown

• The Kinks – Kinks are the village green preservation society
• The Zombies – Odessey and Oracle
• Big Star – Number One Record
• The Flying Burrito Brothers – Gilded Palace of Sin
• Buffalo Springfield – Buffalo Springfield
• Leonard Cohen – Songs of Love and Hate
• Bert Sommer – The Road to Travel
• The Velvet Crush – Teenage Symphonies to God
• Phil Ochs – Live in Concert
• The Byrds – Sweetheart of the Rodeo
• Richard Thompson – The Old Kit Bag
• Dillard and Clark – The Fantastic Expedition of Dillard and Clark
• Kelly’s Heels – Blunt Cut
• The Shins – Chutes Too Narrow
• The Jayhawks – Tomorrow the green grass
• Bob Dylan – Bringing it all back home
• Sufjan Stevens – Seven Swans
• Beau Brummels – Bradleys Barn
• Antony and the Johnsons – I am a bird now