Wild Nothing - rheya, 2012

"Tatum’s biggest accomplishment is that Nocturne can’t really be measured against the high expectations everyone had for his follow-up. He’s adopted a cerebral approach to these songs; simple as they are, they have a directness that people don’t expect from music like this. Platonic almost, like Stephin Merritt’s writing. Living up to his platform’s reputation for insincere dismissals, the reviewer in Vice referred to a “blankness to his vibe,” man."

AC Newman - elemental, 2009

"One issue I have—I don't know if it's a very common thing—but I have so many unfinished songs that I've begun to wonder if I'm going to get them all out before I die. That's an honest thought I'm having. And I thought, if I'm only releasing ten songs every year or two, I'm never going to get them all out before I die. So I thought, I've got to figure something else out here."

Beach House - on the sea, 2012

"I had this song on repeat all day and went through all the theories on songmeaning and genius. Of course, Victoria will say it's whatever you derive from it, but that's just what every artist says"

Praia pequena, hoje, 1 de janeiro de 2025

Tindersticks - the secret of breathing, 2024

"you struggle to find a contemporary artist to compare Tindersticks to in 2024, but then, it was hard to see where they fitted in 30 years ago. They seem content to inhabit a quiet space some distance away from the main action and understandably so: it’s a place that’s a pleasure to visit."

U2 - new year's day, 1983

"It would be stupid to start drawing up battle lines, but I think the fact that 'New Year's Day' made the Top Ten indicated a disillusionment among record buyers. I don't think 'New Year's Day' was a pop single, certainly not in the way that Mickie Most might define a pop single as something that lasts three minutes and three weeks in the chart. I don't think we could have written that kind of song."

Ladytron - all over by xmas, 2023

"They're the kind of band that really only appears in England, with this funny mixture of eccentric art-school dicking around and dressing up, with a full awareness of what's happening everywhere musically, which is kind of knitted together and woven into something quite new." Ladytron described their sound as "electronic pop", while music journalists have also described their sound as synth-pop, electronic rock, post-punk, and new wave, among other genres. Some of the group's songs contain lyrics written by Aroyo in her native Bulgarian."

Fukushima Dolphin - talking with the bears live, 2023

"This excellent!!"

Asobi Seksu - trance out, 2011

"There's an Antoine de Saint-Exupéry quote I'm wont to mention that "Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away." As we all know, it's easier to change an extant thing than to create something new from scratch. My hunch is that in working on extant things, and doing so with enough distance to gain perspective they were able to distill the essence of their best work and build on it from there."

Neil Young - cortez the killer live, 1979

"Live Rust is a live album by Neil Young and Crazy Horse, recorded during their fall 1978 Rust Never Sleeps tour. Live Rust is composed of performances recorded at several venues, including the Cow Palace near San Francisco. Young also directed a companion film, Rust Never Sleeps, under a pseudonym "Bernard Shakey", which consisted of footage from the Cow Palace. The CD version of the album was slightly edited to fit on a single compact disc, which were limited to 74 minutes at the time this album was first issued on CD. In 2014, a remastered, high-resolution download was made available on the Pono store, restoring the album to its original length. Between tracks 2 and 3 on side 2 there is a stage announcement calling for people to get off of a tower and comments on an ongoing rainstorm. This is actually taken from Woodstock, almost a decade prior where Young performed as a member of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young."

Riley's Mountain - plead, 2024

"Seattle, Washington"

El Perro Del Mar - how did we forget, 2004

"As we recall from high school Spanish class, El Perro Del Mar translates to “the dog of the sea” and sounds like it should be a quartet of jolly Mexican mariachis, but is actually comprised solely of the the lovely platinum blonde Swede Sarah Assbring. This tune sounds like it’s coming to you on a very old radio, wafting in from another room where it’s been playing all along. There is a timeless quality to the music – the coy bittersweetness of the blues, modern Swedish ambience, and moments where it feels like a gentle lullaby. From The Valley To The Stars is due tomorrow on fellow Swedes The Concretes‘ label Licking Fingers."

Gerry Rafferty - right down the line, 1978

"Rafferty grew up in a council house in the town's Ferguslie Park, in Underwood Lane, and was educated at St Mirin's Academy. His Irish-born father, an alcoholic, was a miner and lorry driver who died when Rafferty was 16. Rafferty learned both Irish and Scottish folk songs as a boy. He recalled, "My father was Irish, so growing up in Paisley I was hearing all these songs when I was two or three. Songs like 'She Moves Through the Fair', which my mother sings beautifully. And a whole suite of Irish traditional songs and Scots traditional songs". Heavily influenced by folk music and the music of the Beatles and Bob Dylan, Rafferty started to write his own material."

The National - pink rabbits, 2013

"I don't care how many times I've heard "Pink Rabbits" it's an absolutely beautiful song"

Allo Darlin - wonderland, 2012

"As an Australian based in London, Morris obviously has a traveller’s eye, and it gives a lot of her songs a naturally observant feel, with themes of journeys and distance cropping up often. She goes back to her roots on ‘Capricornia’, double-tracked vocals recalling Kirsty McColl as Morris wistfully remembers the area she grew up, while ‘My Sweet Friend’ closes the album with a reflective tribute to records themselves. It’s a bittersweet nature that’s essential to any music like this, and Allo Darlin’ seem to have captured it on Europe, with wisps of lap steel guitar and hazy harmonies used artfully throughout."

Pet Shop Boys - leaving, 2012

"Despite this song's origins with the passing of Neil's parents, that's not what it's "about." Rather, Neil takes advantage of his recent personal experiences with such great loss to apply what he has learned to another situation altogether: the death not of loved ones but of love itself."