Martin Creed

Known for winning the prestigious Turner Art Prize in 2001, Love To You is Scottish artist and musician Martin Creed's debut album. Consisting of 18 songs on the theme of love and hate, ranging from just a few seconds in length to a few minutes, the resulting album screams "art school." Simple, humour-laden tracks are built upon pared down instrumentation and modest ideas. Creed riffs on a count-in with "1234" and in "Alphabet" he stutters breathlessly through "the ABCs." Playful and throwaway, Creed's faux-naive pop songs exude the same irreverent and humorous approach to songwriting as Scottish poet/comedian Ivor Cutler. Filled with silly word games, "Words," for example, consists of just one lyric: "words." Likewise, "Fuck Off" consists of that charming phrase repeated for a solid minute. It's not the kind of album to get heavy rotation for most listeners, but it is a unique and fun release that sits somewhere between the Wire-infused antics of Art Brut and the quirky silliness of fellow artist-turned-musician (of sorts) David Shrigley.