Post your favourite albums. Feel free to give an explanation if you fancy. This might not be completely accurate, but I'll list them as they come to mind.

I'll start.

1 - Michael Jackson - Off The Wall

This was the first album I ever owned... on cassette. When I was a wee lad, I used to have this album on repeat throughout the day - whether it was in the car, on my walkman, or on the boot-sale stereo I had in my bedroom, it would basically be on continuous repeat because I didn't have any other music. Michael Jackson is probably the most prevalent influence I've had on music throughout my lifespan thus far, and for that reason this has to be my #1.

2 - The Pharcyde - Labcabincalifornia

For me, this has to be my favourite hip hop album of all time. Every single song on it, disregarding Splattitorium, is an absolute tune. I first picked this up in my early teens, but when I got my driving license at 17, I barely took it out of the CD player. I used to wind my ex girlfriends up whenever they were a captive audience in the passenger seat, being a typical British white guy singing along to every lyric. Labcabincalifornia was the album which projected my hip hop taste in the right direction, and brought my attention to the conscious aspect of the genre.

3 - Black Star - Black Star

I first got my turntables when I was 16 if I remember correctly, and currently my record collection is roughly around the 2,000 mark. Of all those 2,000 or so storage-clogging vinyl, this is probably the most significant one. As it happens, I'd never even been made aware that Talib Kweli and Mos Def worked on something together, and this album found me in the unlikeliest of ways. I got my decks off of eBay, and the seller attached his god-awful 90's trance collection to the listing. Amongst those, Black Star was lurking in the shadows. I fell in love with this album from the first listen, and still listen to it regularly to this day. Immaculate collaborative work from two of the most revered vanguards within hip hop.

4 - Bonobo - Black Sands

I first became familiar with Bonobo's music around 2001 because my friend had Animal Magic. By the time Dial 'M' for Monkey came out, I was completely taken by the atmosphere Bonobo's music created. Every time a new album came out, I became more and more drawn in by Bonobo's work. I think Black Sands took its stage at the plateau of my interests. I managed to grab it the day it was released, but I was really busy and never truly got round to listening to it until I was heading to Hong Kong on a plane. I had no desire to sleep on that plane trip because I was so into this album, particularly 1009 as there was something about that song with regard to the stage I was at in my life. That, and Andreya Triana is an absolute goddess in Stay The Same. Beautiful album.

5 - The Smashing Pumpkins - Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness

I spent so long trying to figure out the drums to F*ck You (An Ode to No One), but I don't think I ever came close. Regardless, The Smashing Pumpkins were an absolute huge part of my teenage years, and even though I seldom listen to them anymore, I don't think I can ever really justify making a list of this nature without including what I felt was their best album.

Honorable mentions:

• Amy Winehouse - Frank
• Dr. Dre - 2001
• J Dilla - Donuts
• Madlib - Shades of Blue
• James Brown - Sex Machine
• Tool - Lateralus
• Wu Tang Clan - The W
• Nirvana - Nevermind
• Pixies - Doolittle
• MF DOOM - Madvillainy
• Jimi Hendrix - Electric Ladyland
• Craig David - Born To Do It
• KMD - Black B*stards
• Zero 7 - Simple Things
• TM Juke - Maps From The Wilderness
• The Cinematic Orchestra - Motion
• A Tribe Called Quest - Beats, Rhymes and Life
• Leftfield - Rhythm and Stealth
• 2pac - Me Against The World
• Frank Zappa - Joe's Garage
• Weezer - Weezer
• The Cardigans - Life

I'm sure I've probably missed some obvious ones, but oh well.