The following lists appeared at manics.co.uk and then disappeared. As fans, we need to know these things, therefore I have reprinted the lists. There's also JDB's Top Ten from Observer Music Monthly. It may appear this fanzine is turning into a James Dean Bradfield appreciation but there's nothing wrong with that.
During their time in the studio here is what the band have been listening to, reading and watching:
MUSIC
Low Life - New Order
Scary Monsters - David Bowie
Tusk - Fleetwood Mac
Orange Juice - The Orange Juice
Grand Turismo - The Cardigans
Abba Gold - Abba
Black Cherry - Goldfrapp
Sulk - The Associates
Scissor Sisters - Scissor Sisters
Head On The Door - The Cure
The Graveyard and the Ballroom - A Certain Ration
The Voice of America - Cabaret Voltaire
Moving Pictures - Rush
The Last Film - Kissing The Pink
Same Old Scene - Roxy Music
BOOKS
Carol Anne Duffy
Elizabeth Jennings
Louis MacNeice
Emily Pankhurst
Richard Nixon
Oscar Niemeyer
WATCHING
Nighty Night
Newsnight / Newsnight Review
Top Gear
The Amp
Elephant (Gus Van Sant)
Inside the Actors studio
Ronnie O'Sullivan
La Liga
Monaco Grand Prix
BBC4
Lucian Freud Exhibition
Observer Music Monthly polled 100 critics, industry figures and pop stars, asking each for a list of the 10 records they consider the best of British, excluding compilations. James is one of the people who voted.
JDB's TOP TEN:
1. I Am A Wallet - McCarthy
2. Rattlesnakes - Lloyd Cole And The Commotions
3. Empires And Dance - Simple Minds
4. 8 Million Stories - June Brides
5. Scared To Dance - The Skids
6. Seventeen Seconds - The Cure
7. No Dice - Badfinger
8. Setting Sons - The Jam
9. Rigour '83-'86 - Big Flame
10. Bummed - Happy Mondays
MY Inspirations (Summer 2004)
