The Durutti Column - the missing boy live, 1984

"Reilly is incredibly softly spoken. Despite my efforts to catch every word, sometimes the gentle gusts of wind whisk them away. At times he speaks so quietly, it’s as if he has swallowed his words before he can let them out."

Death Cab For Cutie - binary sea, 2015

"Binary Sea in the end is about trying to swim in a "binary sea" of an ever-changing world and about preserving memories."

Lee Scratch Perry - scratch the dub organizer, 1981

"When the stones clash, I hear like the thunder clash... and I hear words... These words send me to Kingston. Kingston means King's Stone, the Son of the King... the stone that I was throwing in Negril send me to King Stone for my graduation."

John Murry - the ballad of the pajama kid, 2012

"There is more than a touch of Cave's brooding darkness about Murry, whose rumbling voice and preoccupation with mortality place him in a genre somewhere between Mark Lanegan and Mark Linkous"

Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever - talking straight, 2018

“The concept came about when I heard someone talking about the possibility of us, humans, being alone in the universe, and how sad that would be. The idea in this song is that we might be lonely, but we could be lonely together.”

Lee Scratch Perry - autobiography of the upsetter, 2019

"As well as his music, he was known for his eternally youthful and chaotic dress sense, and his mythical statements about himself. “I am an alien from the other world,” he has claimed. “I live in space – I’m only a visitor here.” He was also devoutly religious, telling the Guardian in 2016: “God is the teacher, the high priest, the coach, where we are coming from,” and in 2015: “There is no better teacher than Christ … Christ’s words are perfect.”

The Four Tops - reach out i'll be there, 1966

"Make sure your taxes are taken care of – because we're going to release the biggest record you've ever had."

Beach Novels - home movie, 2024

"The tune first enters your ears with the otherworldly sounds of an oscillating synth, effectively setting an ethereal tempo. Like explosive magic, the full band production begins, complete with lively drums and a bass that tethers down an upbeat foundation."

Bad Lieutenant - sink or swim, 2009

"On 11 March 2011, the group announced that they would be headlining Friends of Mine Festival at Capesthorne Hall on Friday 20 May alongside The Charlatans, The Lightning Seeds, Buzzcocks, The Fall, The Cribs, The Farm, John Cooper Clarke, Mr Scruff and Goldblade. The band are now on an indefinite hiatus since Sumner and Cunningham's return to New Order. Evans is currently working on new solo material and supported New Order on their tour in early 2012."

Beirut - the rip tide, 2011

"During a quiet moment at the beach between shows, a rip tide took me out pretty far — I was struggling to get back in"

Scott Matthews - cinnamon, 2018

"The pain and self revelations that he captures in this single are shared in an incredibly beautiful way with the audience, and the feelings that he sings are shared by way of bittersweet memory. The piano and guitar are slow and played as a ballad, which highlights his empowering vocals."

Isobel Campbell - four three one six, 2024

"Isobel Campbell was partly responsible for many of the best moments on early Belle And Sebastian records. She left that band in 2002, and she’s put together a pretty great solo career, often working with her late collaborator Mark Lanegan."

Real Estate - somebody new, 2024

"The first four songs are absolute vintage RE, with sunny melodies and intricate, polished guitar lines. The lyrics are whimsical ('Flowers inside my head / Everywhere, all the time'), meandering (Water Underground; Somebody New), with just a hint of darkness under the cheery veneer ('The sun is shining through the world / This haunted world is killing me')."

Simon And Garfunkel - america, 1968

"Many other empty, aching, and lost souls are on the highway, each on their own journey alone even if someone is traveling with them."

Fleet Foxes - in the morning solstice version cover live, 2021

"Despite its billing – “a very lonely solstice” – this live stream doesn’t start lonely at all. Dressed all in white, a masked, socially distanced choir fills the pews of this gothic-arched New York church. These angelic figures are members of the Resistance Revival Chorus – female and non-binary singers whose aim is to motivate and uplift."

Mike Oldfield - moonlight shadow, 1983

"It was originally inspired by a film I loved – Houdini, starring Tony Curtis, which was about attempts to contact Houdini after he'd died, through spiritualism... it was originally a song influenced by that, but a lot of other things must have crept in there without me realising it."

Khruangbin - may ninth, 2024

"a funky short story about the circle of life and the interconnectedness of all things"

Bear's Den - hiding bottles, 2019

"Lead singer Andrew Davie spent time at Al-Anon meetings following experiences of addiction within his own family, and needed to speak to others from a similar background. Al-Anon is a charity that helps to support family and friends who have experienced the struggle of addiction, and these meetings form the spine of 'Hiding Bottles'."

Neil Young And Crazy Horse - broken circle over and over, 2024

"In the spirit it’s offered, we made this for the Horse lovers. I can’t stop it. The Horse is runnin’. What a ride we have. I don’t want to mess with the vibe, and I am so happy to have this to share.”

Robert Wyatt - the age of self, 1985

 

"the targets he has chosen are slippery, ambiguous ones; the treacherous duplicity of political language, the lies that democracy depends on, the so-called plurality of thought that Western culture contains and the infectious spread of cultural amnesia. Behind this array of inter-related topics lurks the spirit of Marxist writer Noam Chomsky, that most mischievous disseminator of Western capitalist mores and guiding light in Wyatt's current way of seeing." 

"They say the working class is dead, we're all consumers now

They say that we have moved ahead – we're all just people now

There's people doing 'frightfully well' there's others on the shelf

But never mind the second kind this is the age of self

And it seems to me if we forget our roots and where we stand

The movement will disintegrate like castles built on sand

They say we need new images to help our movement grow

They say that life is broader based as if we didn't know

While Martin Jacques and Robert Maxwell play with printer's ink

The workers 'round the world still die for Rio Tinto zinc

And it seems to me if we forget our roots and where we stand

The movement will disintegrate like castles built on sand

Castles built on sand"

Genesis - the carpet crawlers, 1974

"The Genesis song, whose lyrics were written by Peter Gabriel, has a dense, religious imagery leading to considerable discussion over the years as to what is the meaning of the The Carpet Crawlers lyrics. Here I’ll offer an interpretation that it is, at heart, addressing a terrible truth: that our world is hellish and those whom we believe we are following out of our own choice are keeping us trapped in illusion."

Spain - you and i, 2014

"the album marks an artistic departure for the band and is arguably their finest work since 1995's The Blue Moods of Spain."

The Flaming Lips - after the gold rush cover, 1989

"The Bridge: A Tribute To Neil Young is a 1989 tribute album that features alternative rock bands covering songs written by Neil Young."

Mia Loucks - body, 2024

"In “Body,” Mia Loucks confronts the complexities of living with a rare connective tissue disease. With hauntingly delicate vocals, she sings, “It’s weird how my body feels like a boulder.” The song serves as an ode to her body before everything changed."

Au Revoir Simone - all or nothing live, 2009

"Borrowing their name from a minor character in the Tim Burton comedy Pee-Wee's Big Adventure, the Casio-centric group came together in late 2003, when Forster and Hart befriended one another while traveling by train from Vermont to New York."

The Mountain Goats - andrew eldritch is moving back to leeds, 2017

"First single “Andrew Eldritch Is Moving Back To Leeds” is a sort of story-song about the frontman of goth overlords the Sisters Of Mercy."

Daniel b - driving, 2024

"Following on from the rousing response to his much-loved debut EP 'tidal wave' back in 2021, Slovakian singer-songwriter daniel b is now looking to cement his vibrant legacy to date as he releases his eagerly-awaited debut album 'songs of youth & innocence'."

Bright Eyes And Neva Dinova - poison, 2004

"One Jug of Wine, Two Vessels is a collaborative split EP by Bright Eyes and Neva Dinova. It was released in 2004 on Crank! Records. It was also reissued on CD/LP/Digital by Saddle Creek Records on March 23, 2010, with four newly recorded bonus tracks not included on the original release, which were written/recorded in late 2009."

Arcade Fire - everything now, 2017

"Arcade Fire insists that even the frothiest pop can still reach deep and perhaps even save lives. Arcade Fire has always been acutely conscious of music history, using stylistic allusions to underline or tease against its messages."

Paul Weller - i'm where i should be live, 2015

"Saturn’s Pattern features a “kazoo through a fuzzbox” and was recorded with his usual bandmates Steve Cradock and Andy Lewis, and members of psychedelic jazz group Syd Arthur."

Noah Kahan - stick season, 2022

“I feel like I’m floating above myself and I come to this sudden realisation that I don’t feel like I am in the world – it’s like living in a dream. I think, looking back, that’s probably the first manifestation of my depression and anxiety.”

Tame Impala - patience, 2019

"It’s going to shape up to be fantastic driving music, or cooking music, or something to nod your head to when you’re lounging in the autumn sun with a glass/bottle of wine on a Sunday afternoon."

Sufjan Stevens - love yourself, 2019

"a delicate synthpop tune based on a four-track demo that Stevens first recorded in 1996. (Stevens is 43 now, so he would’ve been 20 or 21 when he recorded that.)"

Alvvays - in undertow, 2017

"In Undertow is a breakup song, albeit one set in the moment when the tears have started to dry out and the voice begins to calm after all the fighting and the shouting."

Bill Ryder-Jones - this can't go on, 2024

“rooted in love, loss, pain, heartache and often a deep darkness, but also one that frequently ends up in places of profound beauty, hope and joy”

Nada Surf - love goes on cover live, 2012

"I sometimes feel like adult life is just too much for me and there's just too much that can be upsetting"

Jet City Sports Club - sunny morning, 2024

"As the band’s first release for 2024, ‘Sunny Morning’ is a fitting track to reposition Jet City Sports Club as one of the most exciting names to be keeping your attention across as the year gets underway."

Neil Young And Crazy Horse - love earth, 2022

"how the songs like “Love Earth” came to be. “I was whistling it in the forest, that melody. And I recorded it on a flip phone. And I put it on my computer, and months later I wrote the song, just after hearing me whistle the melody, walking along through the forest. So that’s how I got that song, and 7 or 8 others that are on this record. I was just walking.”

Outros olhares: Bélgica, Bruxelas, ainda a 15 de Fevereiro de 2024

REM - man on the moon, 1992

“He’s the perfect ghost to lead you through this tour of questioning things. Did the moon landing really happen? Is Elvis really dead? He was kind of an ephemeral figure at that point so he was the perfect guy to tie all this stuff together as you journey through childhood and touchstones of life.”

Outros olhares: Bélgica, Bruxelas, 15 de Fevereiro de 2024

Mike Oldfield - moonlight shadow extended version, 1983

"A 12-inch single (later reissued on a 3" CD single) featured an extended version of the song with an extra verse. The extended mix also appears on his compilation album The Platinum Collection."

Stuart Staples - step into the grey, 2018

"Stuart Ashton Staples (born 14 November 1965 in Basford, Nottinghamshire) is an English musician best known as the lead singer of indie band Tindersticks, in which he also plays guitar."

Frans Asthma - disappear, 2024

"The latest track has a more mellow and dreamy vibe to it, with a touch of shoegaze that adds to its charm."

Guillemots - made-up lovesong forty-three, 2006

"Made-Up Lovesong #43" is a song by Guillemots, from their album, Through the Windowpane. It was released as a single; their first to be chart-eligible, reaching number 23 in the UK Singles Chart. An older version of the song appears on I Saw Such Things in My Sleep EP and From the Cliffs."