My #essential20

I have a good friend called Justin, from London now Perth. He goes by the name @londonjustin on twitter.
He loves music, but basically wants to discover more bands. He blogged about it here.

As a result, a bunch of us have compiled our #essential20 tracks. 20 songs that we love, still love, never get tired of listening to. The only rule is that they have to be on Spotify.

This is my list.




JCB - Nizlopi

This song hit Number 1 in the UK not long before I made my permanent move to Australia. It's just a really nice song, it makes me think about my childhood.

A Town Called Hypocrisy - lostprophets

I used to play this at 24 on the car stereo (11 isn't loud enough), whilst powering down the streets of Perth in the Summer. Never gets old.

Baba O' Riley - The Who

I first heard this track whilst camping in Trentham Park in the early 90's. Not by The Who but a live version by Pearl Jam. I pretty much fell in love with the track then. It was great to see The Who play it live a few years ago.

Learning to Live - Dream Theater

I first discovered Dream Theater in 1992. Take the Time was on heavy rotation on MTV, and my buddy Rich had bought Images and Words on cassette. This is the closing track from the album, and is also the strongest memory I have of their show that we saw on the Images and Words Tour. Great times.

Monkey Wrench - Foo Fighters

Sod all the ballads. This is where the Foo Fighters excel. Balls to the wall rock!

TV Tan - The Wildhearts

Not my first choice "The Wildhearts" track for my list, but Weekend(5 days long) isn't on Spotify.
This is still a great song. Fun lyrics. Catchy chorus. I have great memories of dancing to this on stage during a Nottingham Rock City Beach Party All Nighter back in 1995.

Change - Blind Melon

I love playing this on my acoustic guitar. This song reeks Summer.

Heartspark Dollarsign - Everclear

I once during  an icebreaker session on a crappy training day had to say what my favourite song was and why. I picked this track because I thought I would sound cool and was listening to this album on heavy rotation at the time. It still is my favourite off the album.

Disarm - The Smashing Pumpkins

Just a great song by a once awesome band.

Slide - The Goo Goo Dolls

The Goo Goo Dolls have more than one great song (are you listening 'Australian Idol'), and this is my favourite of the lot.

Rusty Cage - Soundgarden

The intro to this track sounds awesome through headphones. Definitely the highlight from the best Soundgarden album.

Machinehead - Bush

Another band I managed to catch live in the nineties, this song is catchy as hell.

Soul to Squeeze - Red Hot Chili Peppers

The best ever Chili Pepper B Side, cruelly left off the BSSM album. I had to buy the "Under the Bridge" Single from Mike Lloyd Music for £3.95 just so I could own this track. I first heard it on the Funky Monks VHS and had to get it. I still find it strange that it was originally hidden away.

The Bucket - Kings of Leon

I used to love this track, but never knew who had recorded it. It wasn't until I saw KoL support Pearl Jam in 2006 that I realised who KoL were and immediately went out and bought their back catalogue.

Domination - Pantera

The UK used to have a late night heavy metal show called "Noisy Mothers" hosted by DJ Krusher and some other people which I used to video and watch on a Saturday morning whilst eating my cornflakes. It was on "Noisy Mothers" I saw Pantera perform a live version of Domination at some Russian music festival and it immediately became my favourite Pantera track.

Hunger Strike - Temple of the Dog

A Seattle super group with a a super song, in tribute to the late Andrew Wood.

The Bitterest Pill - The Jam

The Jam Greatest Hits was on the jukebox in the student union bar, 5 tracks for a pound, and I always used to play this last. I still love it.

Jumper - Third Eye Blind

I didn't discover 3EB until I met my wife and I listened to her copy. I immediately fell in love with the album and had to learn how to play this track on the acoustic.

Yellow Ledbetter - Pearl Jam

Hauntingly beautiful. Pearl Jam buried their best track away on a B side. Now a live favourite.

Day 17 - Favourite antagonist

My favourite gaming antagonist is the same in film, comics, television. Until Arkham Asylum came out two years ago, my favourite could easily have been someone else. The only game I had played with this character was Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe, and he wasn't really the antagonist in that, or very good.
After a superb outing as Arkham Asylum's main villain and voiced magnificently by Mark Hamill it can't go to anyone else. My favourite is The Joker.

Day 16 - Game with the best cut scenes

Whenever I think of cutscenes, the first game that comes into my head is Metal Gear Solid 4. Crikey, that whole game is just one massive cutscene. I remember falling asleep whilst playing it one Sunday afternoon during one, and waking up 400 years later and the goddamn thing was still going.

It doesn't have the best cut scenes though. For me, I would have to go with Uncharted 2. That game is pretty much perfect in nearly every way. If they manage to finally make a movie from the game, everything they need is right in the cutscenes. Why they would need to deviate too much away from the story is beyond me. Take note Neil Burger.

Day 15 - Post a screenshot from the game you’re playing right now

I'm currently playing Star Wars: The Force Unleashed. There is no screenshot save function on this game, so I had to take the picture with my trusty iPhone.

Day 14 - Current (or most recent) gaming wallpaper

This is quite easy. I've never had a gaming wallpaper on my computer, at home or at work.
My current home desktop wallpaper is of The Dark Knight Rises poster artwork, and my work desktop is of my two sons, just in case you're interested.....

Day 13 - A game you’ve played more than five times

If this question is which game have you played more than five times, I would have to list most of my games, because it is rarely I play a game once, then never go back to it. Especially as most games nowadays are story games and you really need a few days on them to get through to the end.
But if the question is which game have you played through to the end more than five times, I can probably only say that about one game. Super Mario Land on the Nintendo Gameboy. It is still my favourite Mario game, but to tell you the truth, I haven't played many of them.

Day 12 - A game everyone should play

Everyone should play Portal. I'm pretty new to this game even though it's been around for a while. If Valve hadn't bothered with a sequel, maybe I wouldn't even have entered the Aperture Science testing labs. But I am so glad I did.

After playing Portal 2 which I had picked up after getting swayed by all the hype, I so desperately wanted to play the first game. I started looking around all the local video game stores, but it's pretty much out of print for the PS3 in Australia and I'm too lazy to buy it online, though I know Ozgameshop has copies.Steam had a recent sale on, and I managed to pick it up for the PC for less than $7. Bargain!

Portal 2 is the better game. It's harder, is funnier, and has an excellent 2 player mode. The first game is a little easier though, and I'm a fan of playing, watching, reading things in order. So if I am going to recommend you a game, start at the beginning, play Portal!