Van Morrison - Astral Weeks
My list isn't in any particular order, but if it was, Astral Weeks would be number one. It's interesting that you say this album comes up a lot. There's a kinship with anyone else who likes this. I know a lot of people who found it in some way, came across it. My first encounter with it was, I had a Swedish girlfriend when I was 18 years old, and I went to visit her in Sweden. It was an amazing summer, boiling hot, and she had this apartment. And I remember laying in the apartment and having this sense of new freedom and adventure, which I've always looked for in life. And she put this record on, and it completely entranced me in this weird hypnotic way. I heard it on vinyl in one go, and didn't want it to end. I couldn't work out what it was. I still can't work out what it is. I don't even know what genre it is or what's going on. I know it's very transportative, but I don't know where it's transporting me to, if that makes sense. It doesn't take me back to a place. It's transcendental. Even now, I still speak of it with such fervour, because I find it really exciting. And since then, it's soundtracked so many great moments, of that feeling: sunsets and open roads, and being away. Moments where you'd sit and drink a whiskey, or smoke a cigarette, and reflect. It's all in that record. It's so romantic, and emotional. It's melancholy, and some people I know find it too melancholy, but I never see it in a sad way, weirdly. It's nostalgic for a time that didn't really exist. I really want to listen to it now...