Sufjan Stevens - death with dignity live in london, 2015

"As we progress through the Lenten season, I am embracing anticipation for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. By the grace of God, I find myself closer to understanding the significance of Holy Saturday than ever before; enduring, with patience and hope, the indeterminate time and space of the in-between. And, at thirty, I am expectant and ready to be greeted by the Risen Christ on Easter morn, as if for the first time."

Holy Saturday

"That Saturday morning seemed to have a pattern. I wonder whether all days have. It was a withdrawn day. The little gray whisper of my Aunt Deborah came to me, "Of course, Jesus is dead. This is the only day in the world's days when He is dead. And all men and women are dead too. Jesus is in Hell. But tomorrow. Just wait until tomorrow. Then you'll see something." - John Steinbeck, "The Winter of Our Discontent"

Sufjan Stevens - no shade in the shadow of the cross live in edinburgh, 2015

"No Shade in the Shadow of the Cross" is a song by American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Sufjan Stevens. It is the tenth track and lead single from his seventh studio album, Carrie & Lowell, and was released digitally on February 16, 2015 on Asthmatic Kitty and as a one-track 7" on March 3, 2015 on Joyful Noise Recordings."

Bonnie Prince Billy - the cross, 2016

"When it first appeared on Prince's 1987 opus, "The Cross" stood out as a direct expression of gospel-soul, but with a Purple imprimatur all over it. The song's words were classic and timeless, pointing to a particular cross-section of tradition — African-American and Christian, with an awareness of the urban rings of hell first described in hymn by Marvin Gaye and Curtis Mayfield. Yet the instrumentation was led by a metallic electric guitar and sitar that pulled the song out of a well-defined period and idea. Instead, it reached into something psychedelic, cosmically and spiritually fulfilling, and yet also ungrounded — scriptures as ecstatic metaphor more than text. No denomination or religiosity; just a hint of eternal truth."

Holy Friday - Good Friday has always troubled me

"Good Friday has always troubled me. Even as a child I was deep taken with sorrow, not at the agony of the crucifixion, but feeling the blighting loneliness of the Crucified. And I have never lost the sorrow, planted by Matthew, and read to me in the clipped, tight speech of my New England Great Aunt Deborah. Perhaps it was worse this year. We do take the story to ourselves and identify with it."

Bonnie Prince Billy - i see a darkness, 1999

"Mojo deemed it a "modern classic" and the twentieth best album released during the magazine's lifetime. The album was also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die."

Holy Friday - Why do they call it Good Friday?

"Why do they call it Good Friday?" "It's from the Latin," said Joey. "Goodus, goodilius, goodum, meaning lousy." - John Steinbeck, "The Winter of Our Discontent"

The Reds Pinks And Purples - me and magdalena, 2023

"Have you heard of the band with three colors in it? You can try to guess, but I’m still gonna tell you. San Francisco’s local alternative indie band The Reds, Pinks & Purples, led by Glenn Donaldson, infuses hints of 70’s jangly pop into instrumental sessions with lyrics that leave you feeling the same way you might feel after listening to Lana Del Rey’s Ultraviolence album."

Holy Friday - I do love you

"She put her arms around him. "Let's be silly," she said. "Please don't say swear words on Good Friday. I do love you" - John Steinbeck, "The Winter of Our Discontent"

Bear's Den - loneliness, 2023

"Heartrending and cathartic all at once, “Loneliness” is a poetic unburdening of painful, heavy emotion."

Holy Friday - Do you remember?

"Did you wake up silly?" "The year's at the day. The day's at the morn." "I guess you did. Do you remember it's Good Friday?" He said hollowly, "The dirty Romans are forming up for Calvary." "Don't be sacrilegious. Will Marullo let you close the store at eleven?" - John Steinbeck, "The Winter of Our Discontent"

Fragile Animals - lonely in the sun, 2023

"Fragile Animals’ debut album is a bold, best-foot-forward fusion of dreamy, distorted shoegaze and boppy indie-pop. But don’t let Slow Motion Burial’s triumphant, upbeat sound fool you – themes of loss, loneliness, and self-doubt are tackled with their trademark subtle lyricism."

The Radio Dept - this repeated sodomy, 2015

"Jangly guitars and reverb-drenched vocals—the Radio Dept. have gone back to their indie pop roots with "This Repeated Sodomy", their latest one-off single to follow 2010's excellent Clinging to a Scheme. With a skittering drum beat lagging slightly behind Johan Duncason's slack vocals and loose guitar, "Sodomy"'s musical elements are cut to the quick by its lyrical content. "Establish equality/ Instead of this repeated sodomy" is pretty straight forward as far as politics go, and as always, couching their message in a lovely puff of dream-pop makes it all the more biting."

The Go-Betweens - the devil's eye, 1988

"Unbelievably brilliant, I think the whole album was incredible. Normally if you have an album with two singers and two writers, there's always one that you like better. Not in the case of The Go-Betweens, two equally talented guys, just like Lennon and McCartney."

Shrimp - this body means nothing to me, 2019

"You are touching some deep stuff here. Please continue... seriously good purge. Exorcize those demons for all of us!"

Death Cab for Cutie - asphalt meadows, 2022

"Gibbard has been admirably candid about the personal turmoil he suffered while creating Death Cab for Cutie’s most beloved music, in contrast to the sobriety and equilibrium he experiences now—challenging fans to consider what they miss about “the old Death Cab.” But the existential burden of being in a massively popular band with dwindling acclaim has lightened over the past three years."

Jars Of Clay - they will know we are christians by our love cover, 2005

"Redemption Songs is a collection of reinvented hymns and spiritual songs. As part of a church community that believed passionately the blessing of understanding the story of redemption through early church songs and ancient hymns, Jars of Clay found themselves a part of a growing renaissance, one that inspired them to write new songs using the rich hymn texts as the foundation."

Holy Thursday

“I didn’t always use Major Charley’s method, but on a day like this Thursday, when I knew my attention should be as uninterrupted as possible, I awakened when the day opened its door a crack and 1 visited my family as Major Charley had. I visited them in chronological order, bowed to Aunt Deborah. She was named for Deborah the Judge of Israel and I have read that a judge was a military leader. Perhaps she responded to her name. My great-aunt could have led armies. She did marshal the cohorts of thought. My joy in earning for no visible profit came from her. Stern though she was, she was charged with curiosity and had little use for anyone who was not. I gave her my obeisance.” - John Steinbeck, "The Winter of Our Discontent"

The Vacant Lots - amnesia, 2023

“It’s about feeling dissociative and getting burned by the fire. Then coping with how this inevitably leads to the dissolution of the relationship.”

The Waterboys - red army blues live, 2007

"Red Army Blues" first appeared on the twelve-inch single for "December" from The Waterboys. The song is a first-person narrative of the life of a young Soviet soldier in World War II who participates in the Battle of Berlin. The soldier, along with many others, is sent to the Gulag by Joseph Stalin. The song is based upon the book The Diary of Vikenty Angorov and borrows main musical theme from Polyushko-polye by Lev Knipper."

Chumbawamba - enough is enough live, 2000

"they mix pop and politics, putting the iron fist (with its many pop culture references) inside the velvet glove of modern pop music. It's sly, wry, often comic, and they're not afraid of making fun of themselves. In other words, it should both scare and entertain you."

Archive - the skies collapsing on to us, 2023

"Archive are a musical group based in London, England, whose music spans electronic, trip hop, avant-garde, post-rock and progressive rock. Over their 28-year history, the band has released twelve studio albums and enjoyed established success throughout Europe."

The Moody Blues - are you sitting comfortably, 1969

"According to Hayward, "Are You Sitting Comfortably" is "about storytelling, but elevated to a bit of a psychedelic story". Its lyrics recall the days of medieval minstrels, featuring finger-picked guitar and lyrics full of vibrant imagery including "a fleet of golden galleons on a crystal sea" and the "glorious days of Camelot" while Merlin casts a spell of slumber. The song takes its first line from a popular children's show, Listen with Mother, that always began with the same line and became associated with the phrase. "Are You Sitting Comfortably" was written towards the end of the sessions, and apart from "The Dream", was the last track recorded for the album. Hayward remembers, "I already had the guitar riff and the chord sequence, and I had the first line and the title. And then we just took it from there. Ray contributed a lot of lyrics. I know the first thing he did was that second line, "A fleet of golden galleons, on a crystal sea," which is a very Ray Thomas phrase."

My Bloody Valentine - when you sleep, 1991

"We recorded the drums in September '89. The guitar was done in December. The bass was done in April. 1990 we're in, now. Then nothing happens for a year really. So it doesn't have vocals at this stage? No. Does it have words? No. Does it even have a title? No. It has a song number. "Song 12" it was called. And ... I'm trying to remember ... the melody line was done in '91. The vocals were '91. There were huge gaps though. Months and months of not touching songs. Years. I used to forget what tunings I'd used."

The Last Dinner Party - on your side, 2023

"'On Your Side' is one of the songs that have been on the bands setlist since the beginning. The Last Dinner Party performed the song on BBC's 6 Music Live Session as part of their New Music Fix Friday on July 7, 2023"

Michael Stipe - drive to the ocean, 2020

"I am so happy to collaborate with Pathway To Paris for this year 2020. The work that they are doing is vital and foundational - it is essential for a future that we can and will claim as our own."

The Jesus And Mary Chain - sundown, 1992

"they were using, what musical devices they were using, to build dynamics. There are subtle things that really move these songs along – extra percussion loops, or some feedback-y noise appearing halfway through a song. Again, it sounded like nothing else I’d really heard up until then – familiar, but alien too. It was perplexing in a way, because I couldn’t work out how they’d done some of it."

New Order - dream attack, 1989

"Technique is a masterpiece, and you can bury me happy as long as the afterlife has a copy."

REM - wanderlust, 2004

"Wanderlust" is a song by American rock band R.E.M. It was released as their fourth and final single from their 13th studio album, Around the Sun (2004), peaking at number 27 in the United Kingdom (becoming their last of 31 top-40 hits there) and number 48 in Ireland."

Al Menne - kill me, 2023

"This time around, on Freak Accident, Menne has assembled a larger-than-life coterie of featured players, including Hutson as producer, Jay Som’s Melina Duterte as mixer, Meg Duffy of Hand Habits on guitar, Whitmer Thomas on vocal harmonies and, of course, Chris Farren’s directorial talents on the music video for lead single “Kill Me.” Most sharply, you can hear the pedal steel of Jodi’s Nico Levine—Menne’s partner and collaborator—coursing through the record’s veins. Menne had been a longtime fan of Hutson’s and, after the former put out his debut album Beginners in 2020, the two musicians got linked up. Somebody, somewhere, had turned Hutson on to Great Grandpa, which led to him discovering Menne’s work as Pickleboy—which tumbled into them linking up online, exchanging playlists and becoming great friends."

The Beatles - please mister postman cover, 1963

"The song has been covered several times, including a version by the Beatles in 1963. It became a number-one hit again in early 1975 when The Carpenters' cover of the song reached the top position of the Billboard Hot 100. The 2017 song "Feel It Still" by Portugal. The Man has significant similarities to "Please Mr. Postman" and includes a credit for Brian Holland."

Jim James - here in spirit, 2016

"My Morning Jacket’s Jim James has shared a new song, “Here in Spirit.” James wrote the song after attending a Los Angeles rally the day after the tragic shootings at the Pulse Nightclub in Orlando. He said in a press release, “It’s a song about speaking out and trying to be there for people in spirit even if you can’t be at every rally and battle.”

Far Caspian - let's go outside, 2018

"Let's Go Outside" takes you somewhere before you even hear a single word. In a similar fashion to bands like Real Estate, somehow within a guitar lick lies the imagery of trees-lined streets and a cruise at golden hour. Frontman Joel Johnston’s voice is full care-free ease and a lo-fi sound that creates the perfect summertime vibe."

Beirut - the rip tide ber-abq version, 2022

"These ideas of acceptance, hope and personal reflection make The Rip Tide an accomplished, restrained record, which sees Condon forgetting his travels, and forging his own native sound."

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The Mary Onettes - forever before love, 2023

"two brand new singles from the Swedish quartet, the former starts off with a twinkly, gothic jangle straight out of a 70s horror movie (it reminds of Suspiria, for some reason). And I suppose it makes a lot of sense that the track combines elements of yesteryear with today’s indie pop staples, since songwriter Philip Ekström says the song “is about finding the way back to yourself"

Club 8 - the chance i deserve, 2002

"The song’s tone is bittersweet, balancing hope with a lingering sense of insecurity. It’s a classic indie pop ballad, with Komstedt’s delicate vocals carrying an air of sincerity that makes the emotional stakes feel real."

Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark - joan of arc, 1981

"I mean it's not hard to overdo the hyperbole, but it's a perfect album, so cohesive, and every song perfectly speaks to the other song, the unapologetic emotional quality of it is really inspiring. Even the artwork by Peter Saville, everything about it is perfectly crafted."

Enya - portrait out of the blue, 1987

"‘Portrait’ was first released in its original length of 1:23 on’ ENYA’. Later a new extended and re-recorded version of 3:12 was released as ‘Out of the Blue’ on the ‘Orinoco Flow’ single and as ‘Portrait (Out Of The Blue)” on ‘The Celts’."

The Durutti Column - cocktail, 1985

"You also get the ripples and rushes of ‘College’ (‘formerly ‘The Sea Wall’) and ‘Journeys by Vespa’, which are both in line with the gently hair-raising thrills of earlier tracks like ‘Madeleine’ and ‘Danny’, where Reilly’s guitar weaves complex, dazzling textures, the down-tempo, desolate spaces of opener ‘At First Sight’, which does sound a lot like Without Mercy, although not identically so. ‘Destroy, She Said’ is one of a few pieces which ties the album to the year it was made, but like I said, not in a negative way. You know, in that a sitar in a pop song is most likely going to be a mid-1960’s song just because a song is immediately recognisable from a particular era, doesn’t mean it has dated. Anyway, despite all of what I just said, ‘Destroy, She Said’ is not one of my favourite pieces here, erring closer to the jazzier spectrum of Durutti that I’m not so keen on. ‘Model’ (formerly ‘Little Horses of Tarquina’) is a brief and gorgeously spectral guitar solo. ‘Take Some Time Out’ and ‘A Silence’ both have vocals – the former is a lighter than average creation, though Reilly’s singing can’t help but conjure an air of downtrodden misery! The latter is not as good, a bit Durutti-by-numbers. ‘Mirror A’ and ‘Mirror B’ are quite different pieces, ‘A’ being a decent if lightweight, fully electronic piece with vocals by ‘Pauline’, and ‘B’ a piano-led dirge, punctuated by Eric Sleichim’s saxophone, not one of my favourite elements of the Durutti sound circa this time, I have to say. In-between those two pieces we get ‘Cocktail’, which is lighter than ‘Mirror B’ but has the same saxophone problems, and ‘Telephone Call’ which has saxophone too, but used to much better effect. This piece is quite jazzy actually, but the more melancholic, late-night, drowsy side of jazz. It’s good! The album concludes with ‘A Room in Southport‘ (formerly ‘Snowflakes’), a very gentle, shuffling thing of beauty, with some lovely harp playing from Anne Van Den Troost."

Beach Vacation - break the ice, 2020

"This track has a summery beach vibe but the underlying guitar riffs hint at an emotional edge which evokes the sounds of MGMT and London Grammar. The distant, soothing vocals relax the listener and add to the general chill vibe throughout the track. The lyrics add to this, with the chorus opening with “Would you take a walk with me? Over seas and through the breeze”.

The Cure - pictures of you live, 2019

"Most love songs are just calculated attempts at commercial exploitation — they’re not anything to do with love as I understand it," said Cure leader Smith. After the relatively cheerful pop songs of Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me, he wanted to write the Cure’s heaviest songs yet. With this epic of cascading synths and broken dreams, he succeeded."

Bonnie Prince Billy - crazy blue bells, 2023

"Within the resplendent symphony of melodies, emerges Sara Louise Callaway's delicate yet mighty violin, its enchanting presence painting the air with its ephemeral strokes. Raw-voiced, as if back from the wars, the Prince leads the orchestral reverie of voices and strings that envision another tomorrow."

Blur - russian strings, 2023

"Damon wrote this track during a trip to BelgradeW, where Gorillaz shot their music video for the single Silent Running at the city's High School of Electrical Engineering."

Kevin Morby - kingdom of broken hearts, 2023

"The first part of this song is from a session we did a few years ago when recording This Is a Photograph, but the second half we cut more recently and fused the two parts together. We got our friend Saundra WIlliams to sing on it, and her voice is so incredibly beautiful. We’d changed the lyrics in the back half a lot, never feeling they were perfect, which is a big reason it never made the first album. Then during the last session, Sam and I wrote the lyrics together."

The Radio Dept - can't be guilty, 2016

"Can’t Be Guilty" retains The Radio Dept.’s signature dream pop sound but introduces a slightly darker, more electronic edge compared to their earlier work. The song features soft, layered vocals by Johan Duncanson, pulsing synths, and a hypnotic rhythm that builds tension without ever fully resolving it."

REM - that someone is you, 2011

"It's the final thing I sing, the last song on the record before the record goes into a coda and reprises the first song. In my head, it's like I'm addressing a nine-year-old and I'm saying, 'I come from a faraway place called the 20th century. And these are the values and these are the mistakes we've made and these are the triumphs. These are the things that we held in the highest esteem. These are the things to learn from."

The Goon Sax - love lost, 2018

"Formed in Brisbane by high school classmates James Harrison and Louis Forster (who is not, coincidentally, the son of the Go-Betweens' Robert Forster), the duo began working on songs in Harrison's bedroom, and were joined by drummer Riley Jones, who had been taking lessons for a month. The trio soon started playing house shows, then graduated to clubs, where they played with like-minded bands like the Twerps and Blank Realm."

Seablite - ink bleeds, 2022

"Seablite" is a San Francisco-based indie pop band known for their dreamy shoegaze and jangling guitar sounds, often compared to influences like The Smiths, The Mamas & the Papas, and Cocteau Twins. "Ink Bleeds" is one of two tracks on their 7" single released on January 1, 2022, via Emotional Response Records, with the other track being "Breadcrumbs."

The Moody Blues - have you heard part one, 1969

"Have You Heard" is a 1969 song by the progressive rock band the Moody Blues. Written by the band's keyboardist Mike Pinder, "Have You Heard" is actually a two-part song, and both parts were recorded and released in 1969 on the Moody Blues Album On the Threshold of a Dream."

Fait-divers on unpredictability

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Praia do Magoito, Litoral de Sintra, ontem, 12 de Abril de 2025, a meio da tarde

Sharon Van Etten - close to you, 2023

"Equal parts eerie and alluring, “Close to You” sees Van Etten infuse her classic Americana-inspired rock with a heavy wash of dreamy reverb, cooing lines like: “I got a taste of being with you, don’t wanna waste more time,” “put on your best dress and get out of your head,” and “get away and I’ll stay close to you.”

Arcade Fire - age of anxiety i, 2022

"We is the sixth studio album by Canadian indie rock band Arcade Fire, released through Columbia Records on May 6, 2022. Produced by Nigel Godrich and band members Win Butler and Régine Chassagne, it was recorded in studios in New Orleans; in El Paso, Texas; and on Mount Desert Island in Maine. The album takes its name from the Russian dystopian novel We by Yevgeny Zamyatin. It was the final album by Arcade Fire to feature multi-instrumentalist Will Butler, who departed the band in 2022."

True Blue - youth, 2023

"Capturing influences of past decades, German (Munich) indie solo-project True Blue makes dynamic contemporary indiepop. The second EP named “Borrowed Spaces” was released on September 29, 2023, starting with its eponymous debut single. Producing all his music in his home studio, True Blue stays, I quote, “true to his intuitive approach and tries to preserve the vibe mirrored in the songs as best as possible“: a true bedroompop approach! The result echoes in a blend of different genres such as dream pop, new wave and new-fashioned surf-rock. Single “Youth“is released today and feels like a fast paced car-ride at dusk!"