Off The Record have launched a campaign in collaboration with Help Musicians to raise money for musicians who are out of work and unable to tour due to Covid-19 asking for your #isolationalbums that you recommend people enjoy while we all have a little more time on our hands. I’ll be sharing a few rounds of these over the Easter weekend. Partially because limiting to just 3 records was stressful and partially because the campaign matches the spirit of this blog to simply share good music for others to enjoy.

Round 1 – Dance

Old

You’ve Come a Long Way Baby – Fatboy Slim

I’ve been a fan of Fatboy Slim since I was young with his remix of Cornershop’s Brimful of Asha being the gateway drug. While familiar with the singles, I never got into the albums (I didn’t have them! Oh pre-streaming days when you had to go to HMV with your pocket money). I heard this in full for the first time along with the rest of the Radio 1 listening nation when Zane Lowe featured it as a part of his Masterpiece series. I had no idea until that point how full it was with classics. Also Fucking with Heaven was fun to hear on the Radio at 8pm on a weeknight!

New

Suddenly – Caribou

At the time of posting, I’ve yet to do a full write up for this album yet. Once I have I’ll come back and link it. Daniel Snaith has returned in 2020 with the long awaited follow up to 2014’s Our Love. It was most certainly worth the wait. Expect his signature soulful electronic sound where multiple ideas are weaved together to create an album of tracks that are simultaneously good for the dance floor and chilling out on a lazy afternoon.

Curveball

We’re New Here by Jamie xx and Gil Scott-Heron

Did this count as Jamie xx’s debut album? In Colour get’s that accolade I because this was a collaboration with the late Gil Scott-Heron who passed away soon after it was released. It showed off the Midas touch Jamie has and played no small part in the hype for his first full solo effort. For me this is the best version of the record – Scott-Heron’s original I’m New Here and the recent jazz reimagining by Makaya McCraven being the other two. It creates a lush, explorative bed for Scott-Heron’s distinctive tones and words. When taken with his original version the pair of records create a fitting swan song for the man. It is also densely packed with dancy goodness in its short 35 minute run time.

Please do share this post with friends along with your own New, Old and Curveball records with the hashtag #isolationalbums and tag or mention me in return so I can see what albums you are recommending. I will then compile them all in about a week or so, so we have a treasure trove of hive-mind musical wisdom to look through.

Of course this blog is a place for all this type of stuff too so follow on the socials and get in touch, I’d love to hear from you.

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