Bright Eyes And Neva Dinova - i'll be your friend, 2004

"Conor Oberst began his musical career in his early teens, issuing self-recorded solo albums and founding Saddle Creek Records with his brother, which helped to kick-start a burgeoning Omaha, Nebraska scene. Propelled by a powerful collaborative spirit, the label and its bands grew significantly over the next 15 or so years, especially Oberst’s career. Setting his neurotic insecurities, mental instabilities and melancholy romanticism to equally fraught – and, for his age, mature and ambitious – music, he released his first record as Bright Eyes in 1998 and burned brightly. 2000’s Fevers & Mirrors is one of the great albums of the last decade."

The Goon Sax - strange light, 2018

"the slow loneliness of ‘Strange Light’ is soundtracking the views from the train I’m commuting home on"

Shout Out Louds - go sadness, 2003

"Shout Out Louds' debut record, Howl Howl Gaff Gaff, is a blast of sparkling energy from start to finish and a contender for best out-of-the-blue debut of 2005. Coming from the angle of the pure pop sound of the '60s filtered through the indie pop of the '80s and '90s and the Beach Boys-worshiping chamber pop of the early 2000s, the Swedish quintet has crafted an album loaded with great songs, exciting performances, and an unerring ear for arrangements. In fact, a better combination of arrangement, emotion, and melody is hard to find anywhere in the early 2000s to date. Saturday Looks Good to Me, for sure."

Damien Jurado - lou-jean, 2018

"The one-two combo of “Lou-Jean” and “Florence-Jean” are both love songs, but each carries its own feel. “Lou-Jean” is a more traditional folksy ballad, and before the listener can fully process the end of the song Jurado launches into “Florence-Jean,” with a much faster tempo and a more lively acoustic track as Jurado comes the closest to belting as any track on the album."

Car Seat Headrest - los borrachos i don't have any hope left but the weather is nice, 2012

"the wall of sound effect he builds at the end is perfect, plus it overlaps into souls. thats one of my favaorite points on the album"

Seapony - i really do, 2011

"The music of Seapony is refreshing in its simplicity. Most songs on Go With Me use no more than three chords, with an average running time around two-and-a-half minutes. In lieu of a human drummer, the Seattle trio entrusts time-keeping to a vintage gizmo the size of a desktop calculator. The lyrics to “Dreaming,” the track that catapulted them into the spotlight, are just six lines long. Like Young Marble Giants and Beat Happening before them, this young three-piece has generated excitement that belies their music’s modest means. And their back story is just as no-nonsense."

Bright Eyes And Neva Dinova - i know you, 2004

"This song right here just does something to my brain. It’s like a lucid dream."

Saint Etienne - dj muddyloop remix, 2012

"I grew up in Croydon, and Brighton trips were a special treat. I’ve got three brothers, and to mark if someone passed an exam, or did something, we’d have a trip to Brighton, and I always loved it. It hasn’t really changed, well it has but it’s still got the same appeal. And it doesn’t have that thing like many seaside towns of shutting down and getting scary when it’s not summer."

Shout Out Louds - circles, 2013

"I’ve got my big hair on, my fluorescent spandex ensemble, and my rubber bracelets. The year is 2013, but when I listen to Shout Out Louds it’s the 1980’s all over again and that makes me very happy. I am going to get on my 80’s kick and I’m going to enjoy it. It is so refreshing, uplifting, a soaring feeling of “ahhhhhh” to hear good old straightforward pop-rock music, with beats and a melody, it’s that simple. Shout Out Louds are a new wave blend of Boy George, The Cure, and The Thompson Twins and I couldn’t love it more."

James - getting away with It live, 2001

"Getting Away With It (All Messed Up) is the twelfth track on the 2001 James album Pleased To Meet You and was the first and only single to be released from that album. It was previewed on the 2000 Autumn tour under the title Daniel’s Saving Grace and in press pre-release promos as just Saving Grace. It started life as an upbeat romp and is apparently one of Tim’s favourites on the Pleased To Meet You album and very similar in style to 80s classic unreleased track Gregory’s Town. It was slowed down and was released as the first single reaching number 22. It has been a stalwart of James’ live shows over the years and according to Tim their ‘unofficial theme’ song."

Damien Jurado - percy faith, 2018

"Percy Faith (April 7, 1908 – February 9, 1976) was a Canadian–American bandleader, orchestrator, composer and conductor, known for his lush arrangements of instrumental ballads and Christmas standards. He is often credited with popularizing the "easy listening" or "mood music" format. He became a staple of American popular music in the 1950s and continued well into the 1960s. Although his professional orchestra-leading career began at the height of the swing era, he refined and rethought orchestration techniques, including use of large string sections, to soften and fill out the brass-dominated popular music of the 1940s."

The Big Moon - barcelona, 2020

"Barcelona is the long-player’s new single. It starts with a flute, followed by a melody as sunny as the capital city of Catalonia itself. Lyrically however, it’s about Jackson’s anxiety to grow older. A wonderful pop song and a great step forward."

Shout Out Louds - my companion, 2022

"Sometimes it’s easy to get fooled by the youthful spirit of the Shout Out Louds songs … but yes, the Swedish indie rock formation has indeed been active for two decades now and have also crossed the magical age-mark of 40 by now. But once you fall into new music by the four-piece these things become quite relative anyway because there’s a certain timelessness that surrouns their music anyway. The sweet indie pop gems of the Swedes are carried by a certain longing, warm melancholia and a reflective notion that just gets better and better with age."

Coldplay - a sky full of stars, 2014

"Quite honestly it sounds more like a Zedd or Avicii offering than a Coldplay one, and it's certainly the loudest and most joyful cut we've heard from the album so far"

Belle And Sebastian - sister buddha, 2019

"Days of the Bagnold Summer encapsulates the best of Belle and Sebastian whist simultaneously narrating the key themes of the film. The gentle approach of the album and the complementary nature of the band’s rerecording’s and the new tracks are hard to fault. Belle and Sebastian have truly found a beautiful sweet spot on Days of the Bagnold Summer between a film soundtrack and a signature sounding album."

The Shadows - atlantis, 1963

"Atlantis" is a rock music instrumental by British group the Shadows, released as a single in May 1963. It spent 17 weeks on the UK Singles Chart, peaking at number two for two weeks."

Jome - mountains, 2017

"Jome's 'Mountains' conveys a message of redemption and growth, using the metaphor of transforming a city into gold and rising above obstacles to signify overcoming past mistakes and achieving greatness together."

James - sometimes live, 1993

"Vocalist Tim Booth left the band after their December UK tour; the final show of which was released as the Getting Away with It...Live live/video album in early 2002."

The Coral - something inside of me, 2005

"Singer James Skelly - now 24 - still resembles a schoolboy given detention. Their fans come for their musical spells, haunting melodies that have survived a re-alignment further left-of-field. She Brings the Mourning perhaps over-references Can; Something Inside Me sounds like Madness and madness. The night's highlight, Late Afternoon, is an affecting slice of regret for lives left behind. "The place where we meet, tears in our eyes," sings Skelly, and the band leave the stage to be whisked off by Tardis, or tour bus."

Belle And Sebastian - jill pole, 2019

"Cave has the more challenging role. Rejected by his father, Daniel’s character is an unapproachable combination of rage and inertia. But gradually we realise that he’s a child who is plunged into depression without the vocabulary or the life experience to navigate it."

Mojave 3 - after all, 1995

"Ask Me Tomorrow starts and ends with its best songs; "Love Songs on the Radio," also the band's debut single, sets the tone perfectly, Goswell's sweet but strong voice and Halstead's guitar in perfect balance. "Mercy," meanwhile, concludes things on a dramatic, powerful note; without completely exploding, it's the most fiery song hands down, with Andrews' steady, doom-laden piano and the ever more strung-out guitar the bed for an at once soothing and warning vocal duet, Goswell and Halstead closing the album with a final a cappella singing sigh."

Coldplay - lost+ jay z, 2008

"Lost!" is a song by the British rock band Coldplay. It was co-produced with Brian Eno and Markus Dravs for the band's fourth album, Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends. The song was released on 10 November 2008 as the third official single from the album to generally positive critical reviews. A live version was released via download following a performance of the band and Jay-Z at the 2009 Grammy Awards, spurring high digital sales and giving "Lost!" a new peak at number 40 in the United States. There are several versions of the song, including a piano recording (known as "Lost?") and a remix featuring Jay-Z (known as "Lost+"), which appears on Prospekt's March (2008)."

Shout Out Louds - jumbo jet, 2017

"Shout Out Louds is a Swedish indie rock band from Stockholm. The band formed in 2001 and five years after its inception, it played many festivals throughout Europe and slowly gained quite a following."

Club 8 - i give up too, 2002

"The second U.S. release by the Swedish duo Club 8 is more of the same kind of floaty dream pop that predominated on their self-titled American debut. Only this time, the floaty/dreamy aspects are emphasized, largely to the exclusion of the Saint Etienne-like electronic dance pop that lurked around the edges of the first album. Multi-instrumentalist Johan Angergard doesn't forgo his synths and drum machines entirely ("The Chance I Deserve," right down to its processed vocals, is pure late-'70s Eurodisco), but the songs are mostly based on subtle layers of acoustic guitars, hand percussion, and rubbery, surprisingly melodic electric bass. However, the real appeal of the album comes from Karolina Komstedt's pillow-soft, slightly accented vocals, which have the kitschy allure of Claudine Longet, only with better enunciation and much less tendency to go off-key. (As on the debut, the two songs sung by Angergard are the weakest on the album.) The songs are melodic, sweet, melancholy - the duo ended their romantic relationship during the writing of the album - and just this side of twee. Club 8 do the warm'n'fuzzy indie pop thing as well as anybody."

Cliff Richard And The Shadows - please don't tease, 1960

"To decide upon the release of this track as a single, Richard's record company recruited a teenage panel to listen to and vote on a selection of his unreleased tracks. "Please Don't Tease" won the vote and was duly released, "Nine Times Out of Ten" came second and was the follow-up single."

Belle And Sebastian - there is an everlasting song, 2018

"This track is about the folksiest that Belle & Sebastian get on this project – it’s laid-back, toe-tapping acoustic music with a vaguely bluegrassy bass line and a little bit of finger-picking to sweeten the deal, but nothing too show-offy about it. Stuart and Stevie are singing close enough harmony vocals hear that I mostly just hear Stuart, except for an odd little part in the last verse where Stevie splits off to sing a few beat behind Stuart, who kindly stops to let him catch up. That sort of hints at a bigger finish to come than what the final few seconds of the song end up delivering, but it’s still an interesting way to think outside of the box in terms of how their vocalists can play off of each other."

Jome - thread, 2017

"a dreamy, atmospheric track with a runtime of 2:42, blending indie pop and electronic elements"

John Murry - southern sky, 2012

"Before his death, Albert Camus sent a letter to his wife – the remembered portion being when he wrote, “ I cannot find a comfortable place to lie in this bed.” This was at the height of French disdain for him and continued attacks on his insistence that we ought give a damn about one another and do away with ideologies that “fix” the world in some psychotic Hegelian way (Sartre, in all his stardom, didn’t agree – because he was the fraud Camus understood too well – the Cartesian in sheep’s clothing). His work wasn’t well loved in France at the time. He was despised by most. Not Faulkner, removed from the world of intellect-as-weaponry, who wept when he heard of Camus’ death."

Cat Stevens - hard headed woman, 1970

"Mona Bone Jakon had been full of references to death, but Tea for the Tillerman was not about dying; it was about living in the modern world while rejecting it in favor of spiritual fulfillment. It began with a statement of purpose, "Where Do the Children Play?," in which Stevens questioned the value of technology and progress."