The Doors - unhappy girl, 1967

"The band explored musique concrète techniques during the album's recording sessions. While recording "Unhappy Girl" for example, keyboardist Ray Manzarek played his keyboard introduction backwards, and the corresponding overdubs were later made."

Fanfarlo - tunguska, 2012

"In this song they are singing about mysterious event in 1908 that destroyed 80 million trees in Siberia with a force 1,000 times more powerful than the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima."

The KVB - happy xmas war is over cover, 2024

"Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" was the culmination of more than two years of peace activism"

Saint Etienne - last orders for gary stead, 2005

"After a somewhat deceptive, slow piano intro, “Last Orders For Gary Stead” suddenly locks into a two-chord glam rock groove, complete with electric guitar, pounding piano and Cracknell sounding like the love child of David Bowie and Dusty Springfield."

Tom McRae - wonderful christmastime cover, 2004

"a cover version of "Wonderful Christmastime" to a Christmas compilation album: Maybe This Christmas Tree released in 2004."

The Smashing Pumpkins - appels oranjes, 1998

"Appels + Oranjes" has the distinction of being the first song written for Adore, demoed out during a session with Matt Walker, as other music was being put together for what became the Ransom Soundtrack. And here lies another story, as the famed composer I was to share the album's cover with had me summarily kicked off it. Why? Because he claimed the work I'd done was not 'music,' and he would not be sullied by it. To him, and to you, I say it is better to make original noise than luke-warm, adopted themes trolled from the greats. To he, I dedicate this hymn. For what if his shining, erstwhile baton refused to shudder at our collective rebellion?"

Bad Lieutenant - this is home, 2009

"It's all rather strange actually as Bad Lieutenant' are essentially just New Order without Peter Hook. I suppose it's less about what's technically been lost and rather something more esoteric."

Scorpions - wind of change, 1991

"Wind of Change" is a song by German rock band Scorpions, recorded for their eleventh studio album Crazy World (1990). A power ballad, it was composed and written by the band's lead singer, Klaus Meine, and produced by Keith Olsen and the band. The lyrics were composed by Meine following the band's visit to the Soviet Union at the height of perestroika, when the enmity between the communist and capitalist blocs subsided concurrently with the promulgation of large-scale socioeconomic reforms in the Soviet Union."

Pet Shop Boys - you choose, 2002

"Neil has himself noted that this song expresses the exact opposite philosophy from that of "Love Comes Quickly." That is, the earlier song maintains that love happens to people unwillingly, without their consent. It's not a matter of choice. "You Choose," by contrast, states matter-of-factly that people do choose to fall in love. As a result, those who fall in love must accept responsibility for the measure of pain and sorrow that almost inevitably comes with it. "Choosing to love is risking a lot.… You take a chance and see it through."

U2 - where the streets have no name, 1987

"Lead vocalist Bono wrote the lyrics in response to the notion that it is possible to identify a person's religion and income based on the street on which they lived, particularly in Belfast."

Wild Nothing - bend, 2018

“Bend” is the goodbye this album deserves; huge harmonies, skyscraper highs, and a melodic uplift that sounds like the credits should start rolling any second."

The Style Council - luck, 1985

"Time has not been kind to The Style Council. Heck, I don't think the 1980s were kind to The Style Council. They were a pretty polarizing group, especially to Mod folk then and now."

The Rolling Stones - under my thumb, 1966

"It's never about a real woman, but simply about this instrument that the guitarist has to tame, which probably gets him into trouble at first, but which he finally manages to dominate with his fingertips—under his thumb!"

Wishy - spinning, 2023

“Spinning” is a warm, shimmery dream-pop jam driven by a propulsive breakbeat and some incandescent, reverb-heavy vocals from Nina Pitchkites, who also wrote the track. In a press release, she says, “This song is purely about self-discovery and letting yourself have fun even in the midst of uncertainty. I wrote it during a time of confusion in my early 20s. I was very inspired by the jangle-pop nature of the Sundays, which is a band that inspires a lot of my songwriting.”

The Flaming Lips - waitin for a superman remix, 1999

"When the Flaming Lips first appeared in the mid-80s, there was little indication of the stunning sonic masterworks that lay ahead."

Wim Mertens - no testament, 1989

"Welcome to the select and intimate world of Belgian minimalism. Never heard of Belgian minimalism? This is not entirely surprising, since Wim Mertens has long been its lone representative and one-man pioneer."

AC Newman - the heartbreak rides, 2009

"To listen to the music of A. C. Newman is to be invited into an imaginary world. Not your typical sort of imaginary world with dragons and sorcerors or robots and spaceships, but the kind where words themselves are pulled and stretched, chosen more for the value of their alliteration or rhyme rather than their meaning in logically constructed sentences."

Del Amitri - buttons on my clothes, 2002

"check out “buttons on my clothes” by the oft underrated del amitri which is my unofficial theme song"

Travis - why does it always rain on me, 1999

"Fran Healy started writing the song while on holiday in Eilat, Israel. According to Healy, he was looking for some winter sun when his accountant suggested Eilat, which is known for its hot weather even during winter time. However, on the way to the hotel, it began to rain, which lasted until he left a week later."

Windows 96 - apartments, 2024

"Apartments is incredible"

Club 8 - something's wrong in my head, 2024

"Club 8 have long been the kind of restless band not content to keep making the same record over and over. Unlike many groups who strike out when they attempt new things, the duo of Karolina Komstedt and Johan Angergård pretty much knock the cover off the ball every time they take a swing. Previous albums have taken on trip-hop, African pop, sample-based electronic, and synth pop, to name a few. 2025's A Year with Club 8 delves into fuzzy punk-pop with big hooks, guitars that jangle and crash, and tempos that inspire dancing around the room with abandon -- or staring moodily into space on the slower numbers."

Moscow Olympics - second trace, 2007

"Born in the sticky Philippines summer of 2006, the five-piece known as Moscow Olympics produce music that has been described by Alistair Fitchett (on his Unpopular blog) as "Blueboy leaping from the clouds and snogging The Wake in the sunset whilst drifting down over the Oresund bridge." Indeed, the band's fuzzy, dreamy pop is deliciously reminiscent of our most favourite bands of past decades, but they have a genuine just-for-the-love-of-music spirit/sound that's uniquely their own."

Keane - silenced by the night, 2012

"Silenced by the Night" is a song by English rock band Keane from their fourth studio album Strangeland."

Voxtrot - raised by wolves, 2005

"a pleasant and breezy introduction to a group for which indie pop fans should have high hopes."

Tame Impala - eventually, 2015

"Eventually" is a song by Australian psychedelic music project Tame Impala. It is the fifth track on the 2015 album Currents"

Enya - book of days, 1992

"With her trademark understated drama in full flow many other places, especially on the wonderful "Book of Days" (replaced on later pressings with an English language version done for the film Far and Away), Enya shows herself to still have it, to grand effect."

The Radio Dept - in america, 2010

"I discovered them from the Marie Antoinette soundtrack and fell in love pretty hard with these guys. A year later I found myself at the actual Versailles and all I cared about was touring the grounds and listening to their music."

The Legends - no way out, 2004

"One of the most consistent independent labels in recent years has been Labrador. Initially formed in Stockholm by Bengt Rahm at the tail end of 1998, its first couple of releases being compilation seven-inch singles showcasing Swedish bands of the time. One of those bands were Acid House Kings, and it was through their involvement that main mouthpiece and songwriter Johan Angergård became involved with the label. Running his own label (Summersound) at the time, it was this merging of ideas with Rahm that built the foundations from which Labrador has grown ever since. Having been responsible for releases by the likes of The Radio Dept., The Mary Onettes, Sambassadeur, Club 8, The Legends, The Sound Of Arrows and Pelle Carlberg among a host of others, the label celebrated its tenth birthday in 2008 by releasing the 'Labrador 100: A Complete History Of Popular Music' boxset. Encompassing artists and songs from those first ten years, it also signified the label's 100th release."

Mike Oldfield - celtic rain, 1996

"The music on this album is the most overtly Celtic music Mike Oldfield has produced. The album was originally recorded using only acoustic hand-played instruments. After the daughter of a Warner Music exec said it sounded boring, Oldfield added synthesizers and more instruments to the album."

Pink Floyd - wot’s uh the deal, 1972

"Wot's... Uh the Deal?" is a song from Pink Floyd's 1972 album, Obscured by Clouds. The song features multi-tracked vocals by David Gilmour, who also wrote the music, and lyrics by Roger Waters that describe taking advantage of certain opportunities life gives and how they affect a person later on."

Stars - what the snowman learned about love, 2003

“What The Snowman Learned About Love” is a lyric book that I illustrated for a song of the same title by the band Stars. It’s a very short but beautiful song about how a snowman falls in love with the sun, but due to the sun’s heat begins to melt and eventually dies. While the story is quite dark, the song is written in a really sweet and almost lighthearted way. It is sad but beautiful."

The Lumineers - ho hey, 2012

"That song was an effort to get under people's skin at shows in Brooklyn, where everyone is pretty indifferent"

Rádio Macau - há dias assim, 1986

"In the age of innocence, a group of friends lived in a house in Algueirão, municipality of Sintra. The boys in their late teens. The girl a little younger. Everyone aspired to be something, it remained to know what."

The Cranberries - shattered, 1999

"The actual songs found on Bury the Hatchet, however, vary in terms of quality. On one hand, you have excellent cuts which include the likes of the blistering singe Promises; the upbeat Loud and Clear; Just My Imagination, a softer song which reminds me of the band's No Need to Argue album; and the laidback Shattered."

Pet Shop Boys - flamboyant, 2003

"The second previously unreleased track on PopArt, "Flamboyant" was the follow-up single to "Miracles." Co-produced by the German producer/remixer Tomcraft (Thomas Brückner), who generally works in an "electro" style, it's an uptempo, techno-oriented dance track"

Saint Etienne - milk bottle symphony, 2005

"Choosing a highlight from a concept album is always tricky. It could have been 'Relocate', in which Ms Cracknell and one David Essex argue about whether leaving London is leaving life itself. Having just done that very thing, my ears burned. But not as hotly as they did throughout 'Teenage Winter', where 'middle youth' is forced to accept that it's just middle-aged, and the local pub jukebox has been replaced by 'Aussie bar staff playing the Red Hot Chili Peppers'. But the vote goes to 'Milk Bottle Symphony', partly because it's the only pop anthem I own that stars the milk company Unigate, but mainly because it has the most fabulous melody of the year. The song simply introduces the album's central characters by waking them up and having them deliver and drink milk. That's it. But the symphony is the sum of all the melodies they are whistling and humming, making the morning bearable, transforming the mundane into the hope contained in every new day. It conjures memories of the early Seventies, when there was only one pop radio station and everyone emerged from their homes singing the same song in a silly symphony of human joy. Except, of course, that that never happened. Which is what this album is really all about, and what this song does its damnedest to redress."

AC Newman - there are maybe ten or twelve, 2009

"If you aren't familiar with the man's work, then I'd both urge you to make yourself so and also tell you that his work (particularly his solo work) sounds kind of like a mix between mid-period Kinks/Ray Davies (the sensibility), Randy Newman (the melodies), pre-Wild Honey Beach Boys (the harmonies), The Go-Betweens, and whatever other super-crisp power-pop records of which you can think. Maybe The Smithereens, from time to time? Lots of lazer (with a "z") guitars, lots of start-and-stop vocal melody lines, infrequent bouts of ornate and lush orchestration, etc.."

Fanfarlo - life in the sky, 2014

"Though seemingly complicated in theme, the London band, led by Swedish musician Simon Balthazar, makes it all eminently palatable with hook-laden choruses and a relaxed delivery. This strange but pleasing amalgam of sounds"

Lee Scratch Perry - dyon anaswa, 1978

"Lee "Scratch Perry" was never quite one of us mortals. Every word that came from his mouth was a spiritual or linguistic riddle or game and you’d be hard pressed to find any human being on the face of the earth who dressed more outlandishly cool for so long. When I first discovered his music I’d try to turn all my friends onto him by saying something trite like, “he’s the Sun Ra of reggae” or some such stuff."

New Order - mr disco, 1989

"platinum leftfield electronic pop, full of cool riffs & melodies, seamless production, and thumpingly good beats and bass. Being so spoiled for choice is a measure of the band’s (and indeed Technique’s) greatness. Mr Disco brings the groove on the album’s side-B trilogy of bliss, and there’s little left in the tank at the end. It’s a textbook example of top drawer late-’80s New Order electronica: wistful verse and punchy chorus vocals, over rolling layers of synth & rock bass, lush synths, bells & strings, plus superlative drum programming (i.e unlike most house/acid at the time, which was necessarily simplistic and repetitious)."

Everything But The Girl - twenty-fifth december, 1994

"the penultimate “25th December” is the album’s true centerpiece. Again, the music’s sparse—mostly gently chiming guitars (including an guest solo from Richard Thompson, another Fairport Convention member) backing Watt’s introspective, vulnerable, undeniably personal lyrics. The first verse reflects on how “my old man plays the piano for Christmas,” being surrounded once again by family for this most celebrated and often melancholy of holidays."