2. Moving Waves Focus
My brother and I had very different musical tastes growing up. We detested each other's music. Moving Waves was my dad's, but my brother played it constantly. I must have been tortured by this a few hundred times so know it off by heart. Years have passed and I recently bought a copy after seeing Focus on Sounds of the Seventies on TV. It is actually Scando-rock-tastic.

3. Street Sounds Electro 1 Various
Up until a school friend lent me a tape of Electro 1, my musical tastes were pretty mainstream. I rarely even heard music that wasn't in the top 40. This introduction to hip-hop that wasn't of the pop chart variety changed things forever.

4. Meat is Murder The Smiths
First Smiths album I owned. Was converted by my first gf. My time at university was spent hiding under a giant quiff because of her.

5. Yo Bum Rush the Show Public Enemy
The best hip-hop act ever. Should qualify for any top ten of best rock and roll groups. Proved that hip-hop wasn't just about throwing down but could be serious.

6. Friends The Bolshoi
Trevor Tanner gets pissed off that he was brought up an abused catholic. I wasn't either catholic or abused, but could still empathise in the midst of my teenage angst years. I actually got to see The Bolshoi some time in the early 90s. Old and bald.

7. Blue Joni Mitchell
Mitchell's best album. Soaring heights and plumbing depths of despair, the album charts the progress of relationships from the anticiaption and hope of the singleton to the emptiness and cynicismof looking back on lost love. Beats listening to The Smith yet again when you're feeling cynical about love and stuff.

8. From Her to Eternity Nick cave and the Bad Seeds
Nick stops puking his guts up after the Birthday party split and settles into ripping religion, death, sex and the American south to shreds.

9. The Music The Music
Psychedelic rock for the 21st century. I'd run out of superlative cliches if I tried to describe this. If you like swirling guitars, you'll love this.

10. The Revolution Will Not Be Televised Gil Scott-Heron
Jazz, soul, embryonic hip-hop. One of the greatest unsung artists.

11. Devil is a Girl lab
The best Scandinavian guitar pop ever. Probably. Lifts me up anyway.

12. Horses Patti Smith
You can either view this as pretentious arty wank or twisted genius. I fall into the latter camp. Every track a work worth more than the output of most artists alone, the recycling of themes ties the whole together as one big trip that makes me want to punch anyone who dares interrupt me while I'm listening. Shouldn't be a problem marooned alone on a desert island.