A lot of people I know use Spotify a lot. If you don’t know, Spotify is a music streaming service. It is great if you want to listen to an artist before you buy any of their work. It is also good for building playlists to share with friends.

Building playlists always reminds me of making mix-tapes, like I did when I was younger. Where you would copy a selection of your favourite music for friends, and you would swap tapes. It was great, and was always a good way to get new music. Anyway, I have spent today thinking up of a playlist to share, so here it is.

1)Tori Amos- Professional Widow

One of my favourite singer/ songwriters, this song is one that became very popular during my school days. It was the song that got me interested in Tori Amos, and it is forever known as her biggest hit. Released in 1996, the song was remixed  by Armin Van Helden and found it’s way to the clubs, and became on of the most successful dance remixes of the 90s.

2)Bad Brains- I Against I

Reggae infused hardcore. A brilliant band, one of the pioneers of hardcore punk, this band’s big success came in the late 80s.  I Against I, was the album where Bad Brains became popular, and is also the title of my favourite song by them. The influence of many current rock bands, and they are aiming to release an eagerly awaited new album in 2011.

3)Belle & Sebastian- Expectations

A Glaswegian indie band, started in the mid 90s. Expectations is mostly recognised for being on the highly praised soundtrack for the motion picture, Juno, starring Ellen Page. The music is very light in sound, but has a strong lyrical content. The lyrics are very emotive, which gives them the chance to be depressive or humorous, depending on the mood of the song. Regularly voted as one of the most influential Scottish bands in music, something well deserved.

4)Black Flag- Padded Cell

Another highly influential punk band, also noted as helping start the genre of hardcore punk. Padded Cell features on the album, Damaged, the first Black Flag album I owned. I was given it at school on cassette by some random. And at the time, I knew I loved music, but I hadn’t ventured out of the mainstream, pop market. But the tape was going to get thrown out, so I took it, as I had this funny attachment to tapes and things getting thrown out. I remember listening to it on my walkman, and it blew me away and began to open me up to more music. I wish I could remember who was throwing the tape away so I could thank them for letting that album into my life. Padded Cell has always been my favourite song of Damaged.

5)Care Bears on Fire- Barbie Eat A Sandwich

Cute pop-rock fun. Three American teenagers who write and record all their music themselves. Reminds me of early Avril Lavigne, where it has serious bounce, as well as some good technical aspects. It is very similar to a lot of the Disney singer which release cute pop rock, like Demi Lovato. Whilst I am sure many readers will squirm at the mention of the Camp Rock star, I know a lot of kids listen to her, and that is who would love Care Bears on Fire. Bright, harmless and written by teenagers for teenagers. If you like your music fun, light and very poppy, you will love singing into your hairbrush with this.

6) Moral Majority- Circle Jerks

80s hardcore punk is a bit of a soft spot for me, and here is another band who kicked it all off in the 80s. Circle Jerks’ was created by original Black Flag singer, Keith Morris. Wild in the Streets was an album I bought about 10 years ago on CD. It was in a charity shop, and cost me £1, and was never opened. Well worth the money, and helped steer me further towards punk rock, and the passion that this band have is immense. Really brilliant band.

7) The Creepshow- Rue Morgue Radio

This band is a more recent find, and I started listening to them with in the last few years ago. This Canadian band play psychobilly that packs one hell of a punch. Influence by horror movies, and a style of a bygone era, like many similar bands, they are frequently on the road, and have been reccently playing a lot of festivals in Europe.

8 ) Melanie C- Northern Star

Like many girls of a certain age, I was a Spice Girls fan. I became obsessed with the voice of, Sporty Spice, Mel C. Her voice seemed really unique, and when she started releasing solo material, it was a chance to listen to her sing, without the other 4 Spice Girls intruding. Because of her unique voice, Mel’s voice has a tendency to divide opinion. Some people love her sound, others hate it. I think people with unique sounds should be praised, which is why Northern Star is here. The song used to always make me cry when I first bought the album.

9) Dead Kennedys- Kill The Poor

Who likes heavy music and doesn’t rate the Dead Kennedys? Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables is one of the best albums EVER, in my opinion. Widely accepted as being parody, on the American political shift of the 80s to the right, where the rich were looked after, and the poor were left to rot. It hit the nail on the head, and became one of DK’s most popular songs.

10)Fat Boy Slim- Gangsta Trippin

The 90s were a period where dance music had depth, and wasn’t all about girating half naked women. I was a bit of a Fat Boy Slim fan in the late 90s. It was music I could draw and paint to, and that is something that is still important to me. It’s music I remember dancing to at school discos, although I couldn’t dance at all. It has happy memories, because it was on all the compilation albums, that were on the rage. I think I had 2 or 3 compilation CDs with this song on it. Great for parties, even if it is just for the memories.

11) Lady Sovereign- Love Me or Hate Me

There is something really honest about Sov. The self-dubbed ‘biggest midget in the game’, is a rapper who sings about what she knows. A lot of her songs talk about issues facing her growing up in an East London Council estate, and it is her honesty within her songs, which has seen her get a huge following on both sides of the Atlantic. Sov is a rapper who always seems to have had a strong sense of self, and is not afraid to speak her mind. This was the first of her songs I heard on the radio, and I was not disappointed when it lead to purchasing in her albums.

12) Manic Street Preachers- A Design For Life

A Welsh band who enjoyed popularity in the late 90s/ early 2000s. I think I first saw the Manics on BBCs Top of the Pops, which was on every Friday night. It was the way I found a lot of music at the time, as I never saw MTV at all. So it was music magazines and Top of the Pops/ the Offical top 40 on Radio 1. This song became a number 2 hit in 1996, and was acknowledged for its lyrical content. It is about the time where I did start to listen to lyrics more, so it appeared to be a very deep song to me.

13) Melody Gardot- Baby I’m A Fool

A jazz singer/ songwriter. Melody turned to music after being severely hurt, after being knocked off her bicycle by a Jeep in 2003. She was bed-ridden for a year, and was left with neural problems leading to her being hypersensitive to light, which leads her to wearing sun glasses all the time. A doctor treating Melody advised that music could be a way to help aid her recovery. Humming or singing music, is thought to help repaired neural pathways, which helped Melody recovery. She frequently visits universities talking about music as therapy, and is a successful recording artist. I found her through Last.fm, and was astounded by her voice. A truly inspirational artist.

14) Nirvana- Rape Me

Nirvana is widely accepted as one of the best rock bands of all time. Kurt Cobain, the frontman for Nirvana, is a fantastic lyricist, and you can feel his pain. The lyrics are so wonderfully written, and, on their own, can  make someone feel uncomfortable. This is good writing. This honesty and emotion, is what helped Nirvana become so successful, and become the band for a generation of disaffected teenagers.

15) NOFX- Hobophobic (scared of bums)

NOFX are a band that rose to popularity in the 90s with other bands such as The Offspring, Rancid, Green Day and Blink 182. Their music always has a strong sense of humour, and they are a band who don’t take themselves too seriously. They frequently mock their peers, and seem to seek out to be as troublesome as they can be. A brilliant band, and this is them at their hilarious best.

16) Rancid- Ruby Soho

Rancid are the band responsible for my music taste. It was 1997 when I first heard …And Out Come The Wolves, and it blew my mind. It’s punk sensibilities with aspects of ska, and the lyrics. A fantastic album, and Ruby Soho is one of the many highlights. Good for a drunken sing-a-long. I do hold Rancid responsible as being the band who introduced me to punk rock, and I love them for that. Always will be a favourite song, by my favourite band.

If you would like to listen to this playlist, it is available on Spotify here