Ride - from time to time, 1994

"Carnival of Light is the third studio album by British rock band Ride, released in June 1994 via Creation Records. The album is named after a lost song by the Beatles."

Cocteau Twins - athol-brose, 1988

"the Cocteau Twins' approach to lyrics and vocals, driven by Elizabeth Fraser's unique style, was as revolutionary as their sonic innovations. By prioritizing sound and emotion over literal meaning, they opened up new possibilities for vocal expression in popular music, influencing generations of artists and changing how listeners engage with lyrics and vocals."

Saint Etienne - peach trees starlings, 2020

"While the theory that a frustrated rock star is trapped inside the body of every able music journalist could be debated until the cows come home, there have certainly been instances where ambitious members of the media have laid down pen – or laptop – and strapped on a guitar for the greater good."

U2 - lemon, 1993

"Lemon" is a song by Irish rock band U2. It is the fourth track on their eighth album, Zooropa (1993), and was released as its second single on 8 November 1993 by Island Records. Inspired by old video footage of lead vocalist Bono's late mother, the lyrics describe an attempt to preserve memory through film. More than any previous U2 song, "Lemon" showcases Bono's falsetto vocal range, aided by atmospheric backing vocals from the Edge and Brian Eno. Mark Neale directed the accompanying music video. At almost seven minutes, it is among the band's longest songs."

Wild Nothing - midnight song, 2012

"Nocturne invokes darkness, the night and the moon with frequency. It’s an apt muse, since the album often sounds like luminous orbs reflecting light in the darkness. Low, dark synths ride under flashes of bright guitar notes and shimmering production. Tatum’s voice is a wash of starlight, echoing from far away."

Pet Shop Boys - beautiful people, 2009

"I'm imagining I'm a woman waiting at the bus stop in the rain in London thinking about how shit life is and looking around and seeing a newsstand with magazines like Heat and OK and Hello with Victoria Beckham on the cover, thinking, 'Yes, I would like to live like that.'"

The Moody Blues - nice to be here, 1971

"Nice to Be Here" is a whimsical Ray Thomas song where he imagines witnessing a concert performed by woodland creatures on makeshift instruments. The song was inspired by Thomas' lifelong admiration of nature with additional inspiration from the children's books by Beatrix Potter. Thomas recalls, "I've loved fishing ever since I was a little kid. I used to camp out by a lake a week at a time fishing. At first all the wildlife buggers off but after you've been there for a few days they realise that you're not any threat to them. They run all over your feet, I've even had kingfishers landing on the end of my rod. So I got a great kick out of writing 'Lovely weather must climb a tree.' I was a little kid again. And I just went through a band really, 'Silver minnows were devising water ballets so surprising'." He remembers the session fondly: "The song was great fun to record. Particularly trying to get Justin to play a guitar solo using only one string, like the frog in the lyrics. He actually managed to get it down to two strings!"

Saint Etienne - leafhound, 1993

"Middle-Eastern accented melody creates a big enough hook for even the casual listener to hang on to. “Leafhound” is a playful whirlwind of Balearic guitar, orchestral synths and Cracknell’s sweet, conversational tone as she revisits a strangely familiar locale. She reminisces in the chorus, “Something about this place makes me lose a grip on time and space,” phonetically spelling out each syllable as if in awe. The tonal polar opposite of “Hobart Paving”, “Leafhound” cultivates a sense of return and renewal, with Cracknell concluding, “Yes, I know it’s strange / that you could be here with me now,” that last word neatly spiked with exuberance as if sung by the young girl on the album cover (who is actually Cracknell herself)."

Pet Shop Boys - love etc, 2009

"What most stands out in my mind is its bouncy but highly syncopated rhythm, halfway between a backbeat and a march. Interestingly, Neil's vocal and the background instrumentation place the emphasis on contrasting beats. The song's chanting call-and-response chorus further distinguishes it among PSB tracks."

Voxtrot - the future part one, 2007

"Voxtrot hail from Austin, Texas and peddle lush anthemic indie pop. I’ve fallen in love with the opening bars of_ ‘Introduction’_ and could happily listen to it all day. The soft guitars and strings and the gentle way the song builds to a crescendo is fairly American-indie-by-numbers, but that’s no bad thing in my book."

Damien Jurado - cinco de tomorrow, 2016

"Visions of Us on the Land is the exquisite period at the end of Damien Jurado’s wonderful musical sentence he started back in 2012. I’m sad to see this extended, trippy vision end, but excited to see where Damien Jurado takes us next."

Sam And Dave - hold on i'm coming, 1966

"Like many soul acts of their era, Sam & Dave faded after the 1960s. But Soul Man hit the charts again in the late 1970s when the Blues Brothers, John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd, recorded it with many of the same musicians. Moore had mixed feelings about the hit becoming associated with the Saturday Night Live stars, remembering how young people believed it originated with the Blues Brothers."

Crystal Castles - knights, 2008

"Both on the Toronto music scene and in the blog house community to which they kind of got (wrongly if you ask me) associated, Crystal Castles are an oddity. For instance, there is a definite clash between the way songwriter Ethan Kath and vocalist Alice Glass portray themselves (Emo-tinged half punk, half Goth kids) and the way they sound (bitter-sweet electro pop with a sometimes noisy edge)."

The Go-Betweens - bow down, 1986

"The shimmering “Bow Down” is Forster at his most gracious (“don’t you ever slow down”)"

The Housemartins - bow down, 1987

"In the mid-80s, The Housemartins were extremely important to me, combining jingly-jangly indie-pop records with leftie lyrics. Even more importantly, I was able to include loads of their songs on the mix-tapes I used to lovingly compile to be played in the 6th Form Common Room."