The Radio Dept - the new improved hypocrisy, 2010

"Any day is a good day for a new song from Swedish indie-pop act the Radio Dept., and that day is today. According to the band, "The New Improved Hypocrisy" is their second specifically political song (the first, "Freddie and the Trojan Horse", surfaced in 2008); the song is meant to commemorate the Swedish elections that are being held on Sunday and is about "the present government".

Cat Stevens - oh very young, 1974

"Its lyric is a gentle response to Don McLean's hit "American Pie" released two years previously. Like McLean, he stops short of mentioning Buddy Holly directly, but questions the ill-fated songwriter's "Not Fade Away" (the last song Holly performed) lyric "a love to last more than one day, a lover's love, not fade away" with Stevens' own "denim blue, fading up to the sky, and though you want him to last forever you know he never will, and the patches make the goodbye harder still". Stevens then mentions the young American's mould-breaking work "Words Of Love" in the line "will you carry the words of love with you, will you ride the great white bird into heaven, and though you want to last forever you know you never will, and the goodbye makes the journey harder still."

The Lemonheads - mrs robinson cover, 1992

"And then everything comes to the horrible “Mrs. Robinson” thing, which we did for the reissue of the movie. Someone bought the rights to the video cassette, it was the 25th Anniversary, to get the kids into The Graduate, and they released it as a single. I never would have done that song. I hate that song. I hate Paul Simon."

The Lightning Seeds - pussyfoot reprise, 1999

"Until now, the Lightning Seeds have been a byword for pristine, crystalline pop. Here, Broudie scratches the music's frictionless surface with distortion, hard dance beats, faster, more active drumming - courtesy of Ringo Starr's son - and some of his strongest, most affecting melodies"

Laetitia Sadier - une autre attente, 2023

"Lætitia Sadier (born 6 May 1968), also known as Seaya Sadier, is a French musician best known as a founding member of the London-based avant-pop band Stereolab."

Alvvays - dreams tonite live, 2017

"Dreams Tonite" forms the basis of the album's "fantasy breakup arc," with the protagonist questioning whether or not they would still be attracted to their significant other if meeting in the present, rather than the past. The song first became a part of the group's live setlist in early 2016. The band debuted the song online as a pre-release single for Antisocialites on July 25, 2017. The band promoted the song with a performance on CBS Sunday Morning in the U.S. "Dreams Tonite" became one of the band's most popular tunes; as of September 2024, the song has over 105 million streams on Spotify."

Coldplay - wotwpotp, 2019

"That atmospheric angle comes back several times throughout the album such as on WOTW/POTP which is an acoustic instrumental track about the confusion of the modern world and the track mixes in what sounds like natural sounds like birds chirping and the sound of water flowing. It’s a very calming and ambient track and has this 60s feel to it which is really different and while only about a minute and 15 seconds the track does work for what it is. It also contrasts nicely with the following song on the album Arabesque which opens with sounds of a city and people."

Bee Gees - massachusetts, 1968

"There are two different memories, Robin remembers us doing it in a boat going around New York City. And I remember us checking in at the St. Regis with Robert, going to the suite, and while the bags were being brought in we were so high on being in New York, that's how 'Massachusetts' began. I think we were strumming basically the whole thing, and then I think we went on a boat round New York. I don't know if we finished it, but I think that's where the memories collide. Everybody wrote it. All three of us were there when the song was born."

The Radio Dept - the video dept, 2010

"I'm a big fan of indie music for these past years and this album fits like a glove for me "The Video Dept." is one of my favourite songs of the year because its catchy and fun tune I can enjoy, same goes for songs like "David" and "This Time Around".

Belle And Sebastian - beautiful, 1997

"The most beloved indie pop band since The Smiths"

Darksoft - less is more, 2023

"I’m using a lot of “thought-terminating cliches,” or beige phrases as I’ve come to call them,” says Darksoft, a singer/songwriter/producer/polymath from Portland, Maine, when asked about the title on his excellent new LP, Beigeification. ” These overused phrases have the effect of ending a conversation, because they are vague, universal truths. What’s also interesting is that grammatically they say absolutely nothing, and they lack uniqueness, but they can carry a lot of weight in context.” Simple statements conveying complex thoughts and emotions – it’s a tidy metaphor for Darksoft”s distinctive blend of shoegaze-/dream pop-infused bedroom pop."

Supertramp - hide in your shell, 1974

"I was 23 when I wrote Hide in Your Shell. I was confused about life and like a lot of people are at that age, I was very shy and tried to hide my insecurities. I’ve always been able to express my innermost feelings more openly in song and Hide in Your Shell came to me at a time when I was feeling very lonely – both in life and within the band – with no one who shared my spiritual yearnings. It’s a song that speaks to that place in all of us that feels alone or misunderstood, that place where we just want to hide from the world, that longs for connection yet doesn’t feel safe to reach out for help."

Alvvays - pharmacist live, 2023

"It feels like so many similar "guitar-dream-pop" artists end up just going "pop" before long, so I appreciate Alvvays sticking to their noisy, shoegazey guns, at least on this track."

Temples - slow days, 2023

"Slow Days" quickly emerged as my favorite track. It calls to mind an alt-country tune you might have discovered while scrolling through the radio dial in the late Seventies. Incorporating a pedal steel reverb effect adds a melancholy reverie."

Neil Young - lotta love live, 1979

"Nicolette Larson had kept a tape of some of the material from when she and Neil first met and sang together at her friend Linda Ronstadt’s house. When the phone call came from Nashville, she was ready. Young barely had to show her the songs before they were singing the duets that appear on the album. The Gone with the Wind Orchestra, as the entire conglomeration of twenty-two musicians was called, lasted throughout the album and for one live performance, on Young’s thirty-second birthday, at an outdoor benefit for children’s hospitals in the Miami Beach area."

Sufjan Stevens - blue bucket of gold live, 2017

“Blue Bucket of Gold” is a piano-led lamentation that finds Sufjan reaching out to friends, family, and God for support. The song ends with a meditative swirl of electronics that overwhelms the senses and commandeers the track. Of this song, Sufjan explained in an interview: “I didn’t know (my mom) well in a lot of ways, and I didn’t know how to say goodbye on the last track with articulation. So I quit playing piano and vocals and just stopped. I wanted to surrender her to the beyond with noises that sound bigger than just me.”

Sambassadeur - sandy dunes, 2010

"a defiant track that sees British Sea Power meeting Phil Spector in the confines of a chilly corridor. Though lyrically imperfect, and lacking that big enthralling rapturous chorus, the track summarizes the Achilles heel of a Sambassadeur song, in that there is always something missing, that extra ounce of melody that turns a decent song into a memorable life affirming one."

Tame Impala - patience live, 2019

"Patience" is a song by Australian psychedelic music project Tame Impala. It was released as a single on 22 March 2019 through Modular Recordings. It was written and produced by Kevin Parker, and was his first single since "The Less I Know the Better" in 2015."

Alvvays - in undertow live, 2017

"I was wobbling along a shore picking up stained glass, which is just something I really love. I have many glass bottles of it in my apartment of all different colors and I kind of just came up with the melody."

The Lightning Seeds - sugar coated iceberg, 1996

"Quite a metaphor, that, uncertain which is the dominant force, whether it is sugar sweetening the destructive power of an iceberg, or a the gulp of realisation following a swallow of something not quite so sweet after all. I am sure the lyric explains but I prefer the uncertainty, tending more towards the tune and the presentation. Both of which this band had, here and in general, in spades. And I notice they have some gigs lined up for next year, this late return surely worth a shout, pinned as it is on the back of the 25th anniversary of their third album, 'Jollification'."

Pet Shop Boys - bet she's not your girlfriend, 1990

"This fast-paced track was originally inspired, as the Boys have put it, by seeing a newspaper photo of George Michael with a woman (Chris: "We can say that now"). But then Neil turned it into a song about his close relationship as a teenager with an absolutely gorgeous young woman named Krysia, a longtime friend who eventually ended up running the early PSB Fan Club. But back in Neil's pre-fame days, friends and acquaintances couldn't figure out what Krysia saw in him, who was—as his own lyrics put it—"kind of shy and dry and verging on ugly." https://sintrabloguecintia.blogspot.com/2024/01/voyage-from-east-to-west-1977.html

Moby - slipping away, 2005

"Slipping Away" is a song by American electronic musician Moby. It was released as the sixth and final single from his seventh studio album Hotel on January 23, 2006. It served as the fourth single from Hotel in the United Kingdom, where it peaked at number 53 on the UK Singles Chart, and as the sixth international single from the album. The single version features British singer-songwriter Alison Moyet on backing vocals."

Cocteau Twins - seekers who are lovers, 1995

"Milk and Kisses, and therefore, the Cocteau Twins recording career, ends with Seekers Who Are Lovers. As the last song in a long and glorious career, you feel yourself willing Guthrie, Raymond and Fraser to produce a musical masterpiece out of the bag. This you want to be their Ulysses moment. They don’t disappoint. Out goes the wall of sound, in comes a much more subdued and temperate performance from Guthrie and Raymond. They hold themselves back, Fraser steps forward, and produces a performance that is brilliant. She sings the song with passion and feeling, as if knowing this is the end of their career. Not only is it one of her best performances on the album, but one the best in her career. Her voice soars, gracefully, its ethereal beauty apparent and transparent. It has a classical quality, a sweetness, a grace."

Saint Etienne - action, 2002

"I was reading a lot about the situationists and psychogeography at the time, which also fed into the film Finisterre."

Dido - slide, 1999

"Dido wrote this song to help reconcile her depression. It was the mid-'90s and she was in a panic over her management and publishing contracts she signed that she came to regret. Feeling trapped, she stayed in the house and ran through her conundrum over and over in her head."

REM - leaving new york live, 2005

"In early live performances of the song (September 2004), the band would play Michael Stipe's "It's pulling me apart. Change." album backing vocal during the chorus and bridge of live performances. As early as February 2005, however, as evidenced on the R.E.M. Live disc, the band worked up an alternative whereby the backing vocals would be shared amongst Mike Mills, Scott McCaughey and Ken Stringfellow in order to make the song flow more smoothly."

R Missing - heavens lower, 2023

"Heavens Lower, marked by its moody and melancholic allure. Despite the somber undertones, the song exudes an astounding vibrancy, characterized by soft, wistful vocals and a rich, atmospheric production. The synthpop track uniformly combines danceable qualities with a contemporary dreampop sensibility. The glimmering tone of the track sets it apart, creating a type of ambiance that captures both introspection and vitality."

Neil Young - old man, 1972

"About that time when I wrote ("Heart of Gold"), and I was touring, I had also — just, you know, being a rich hippie for the first time — I had purchased a ranch, and I still live there today. And there was a couple living on it that were the caretakers, an old gentleman named Louis Avila and his wife Clara. And there was this old blue Jeep there, and Louis took me for a ride in this blue Jeep. He gets me up there on the top side of the place, and there's this lake up there that fed all the pastures, and he says, "Well, tell me, how does a young man like yourself have enough money to buy a place like this?" And I said, "Well, just lucky, Louis, just real lucky." And he said, "Well, that's the darnedest thing I ever heard." And I wrote this song for him."

The Mary Onettes - the companion, 2007

"The Mary Onettes, a guitars-and-keyboards band from Sweden, don't make any excuses about sounding awfully 80s, and their indie-romantic touchstones aren't so different from any other new-wavers': This debut album includes broad, obvious borrows from both New Order and the Cure, and fainter echoes of plenty of other stars from that constellation."

The Radio Dept - what you sell, 2006

"The song explores themes of consumerism, identity, and superficiality. The lyrics are cryptic yet poetic, typical of The Radio Dept.’s approach, often leaving room for listener interpretation."

Death Cab For Cutie - when we drive, 2018

"there’s a noticeable electronic focus to a number of tracks, not least the FM-ready ‘When We Drive’, which groans under the weight of sine waves and metronomic rhythms."

REM - überlin, 2011

"Überlin" is a song by American alternative rock band R.E.M. that was released as the third single from their fifteenth and final studio album Collapse into Now on January 25, 2011. The title is a portmanteau of Über and Berlin."

Yot Club - priorities, 2022

"Priorities" is a track by Yot Club, the musical project of Ryan Kaiser, an American bedroom pop artist from Hattiesburg, Mississippi, now based in Nashville, Tennessee. The song was released on June 10, 2022, and is part of his album "off the grid." The lyrics reflect themes of balancing personal relationships with individual responsibilities and productivity, as seen in lines like "And it's all just motivation for vague productivity / I'm just concentrated more on priorities."

Stars - elevator love letter, 2003

"Stars songs tend to unfold more slowly, from the brilliant retro-futuristic "Death to Death" to the disco-lite Pet Shop Boys-styled "The Vanishing." Amy Millan's gorgeous voice is the group's greatest strength - on the bouncy, propulsive "Elevator Love Letter," for example. It's not surprising that Millan has contributed to movie soundtracks - the entire album would sit most comfortably as the decidedly outsider accompaniment to an appropriately indie "Romantic Comedy" (incidentally also the title of one of the record's most beautifully simple and sunny songs)."

Glorious - notre père, 2015

"Glorious is a French Christian (Catholic) rock and worship music group, originally from Valence, Drôme, and based in Lyon, France. It was formed in 2000, following the World Youth Day, by three brothers from Valence."

Slowdive - alison live, 2017

“Alison” is the one track that I can honestly say that I’ve always loved from the album. As an opener, it was a hard one to move past and I rarely did. The guitars jangle and waver, a shimmering of light highlighting millions of tiny specks of dust, lifted and disrupted ever so gently by a passing breeze, the same that caused flutters in the gossamer curtains of sound. Drums are far off in the distance and deep down in the mix, like a harrowing memory. The reverb is like a third person in the room, pushing together the lilting voices of Halstead and Goswell, even as it as ripping them apart. “Alison” could be anyone who’s ever broken your heart, a smoker’s cough and an ashtray overflowing with butts, a hangover and a dozen empty merlot bottles."

Seapony - nobody knows, 2011

"Formed in 2010, Seapony is bassist Ian Brewer and core songwriting duo — and longtime couple — Jen Weidl (guitars, vocals, lyrics) and Danny Rowland (guitar, lyrics), who met in Ohio in the early 2000s. Their coastal relocation has served them well; their debut LP Go With Me was rife with humbly infectious shoreside ebullience."

The Beatles - we can work it out, 1965

"We Can Work It Out" is a comparatively rare example of a Lennon–McCartney collaboration from this period in the Beatles' career, in that the two songwriters worked together as they had when writing the group's early hit singles of 1963. "A Day in the Life", "Baby, You're a Rich Man", and "I've Got a Feeling", are among the other notable exceptions to this trend from the group's later career."