My Morning Jacket - librarian, 2008

"this song is basically pure poetry. He describes an entire love scene, yet never truly describes the librarian. The listener can practically walk with the singer and see and feel what he does. The scene is painted perfectly for you in your mind's eye. Yet the librarian is left up to the listener."

Scotch Mist - alright, 2023

“It was the first song we wrote for this album…It has a great groove, and so many catchy little details. The lyrics are from the perspective of someone with chronic anxiety, which contrasts with the upbeat instrumental. This song feels like the most epic of the singles — it’s really dense because we tried to fit everything that we love about rock and pop music into one track.”

Echo And The Bunnymen - bombers bay, 1987

"Not sure of the meaning, but it's a happy sounding song with not so happy lyrics."

Mike Oldfield - peace, 2003

"The release of Tubular Bells 2003 took place in the year when Oldfield celebrated his 50th birthday and the 30th anniversary of the original version."

Frazier Chorus - walking on air, 1991

"Frazier Chorus may specialize in synth pop lite, but there's a certain atmospheric artiness that seduces the listener with its simplicity."

The Cure - disintegration, 1989

"Robert’s definition of “disintegration” in the context of the album: “the disgust concerning the loss of the ability to feel profound feelings when you grow older.”

Fait-divers on peace

If you yourself are at peace, then there is at least some peace in the world. (Thomas Merton)

Fait-divers on John Wheeler

"All things physical are information-theoretic in origin" (John Archibald Wheeler)

Fait-divers: the massive web of probabilism

"behaviour is not specifically predictable from genes. The massive web of probabilism makes such prediction weak at best, just as we’ve seen for physical traits. Our mental activities feel as if they are free, and their unpredictability supports that feeling. But the reason is that the causation involved is so complex and deeply probabilistic that it is, in effect, unpredictable even if we were to try to enumerate all the contributing factors. In that sense, for all practical purposes, we are indeed free."

Hank Midnight - river song, 2023

"feels like a late-night drive with no goal in mind, just left with your thoughts and eventual peace of mind."

Pink Floyd - us and them, 1973

"The first verse is about going to war, how on the front line we don't get much chance to communicate with one another because someone else has decided that we shouldn't. The second verse is about civil liberties, racism and colour prejudice. The last verse is about passing a tramp in the street and not helping."

My Morning Jacket - bermuda highway, 2001

"This song gives me chills. Just came here wondering if it hit other MMJ listeners the way it hit me (...). This special song brings me to tears every time."

Young Moon - dance yer sadness, 2023

"Songs like “Dance Yer Sadness”, “Heart of Glass”, and “Say Young Moon” dive headfirst into this starker side of Young Moon, with Montgomery really shining in all the empty space that the music creates. Young Moon still knows how to create shining guitar pop or post-punk tunes, mind you–“I Laid on My Back with Death” strums its way toward being a side one highlight, while the soaring “September Youth” and “Take on Thee” rely on busy bass and jangly, melodic guitars toward the album’s end to give it a back-half kick."

Fanfarlo - luna, 2009

"I think “Luna” is my favorite song to play."

Cool Heat - harmless, 2023

"Harmless is a guitar-driven, particularly melodic song that showcases COOL HEAT's enchanting dreampop style and incredible production standards. The song's appeal is increased by the prominent use of attracting synthesizer elements. The musician's distinctive melancholic sound and introspective songwriting are prominently featured once more, creating an intriguing and well crafted piece of music."

Fait-divers on Love

"I recognize only one duty, and that is to love.” Camus (this could be a catholic quote)

Fait-divers on attitude

When something bad happens, ask yourself, “What would I recommend if this happened to someone else?” And then do that.

REM - beat a drum, 2001

"Beat A Drum” seems to hover in the air like a slight breeze on a summer day, and…well, not a lot much more than that. It’s pretty, comfortable, and almost freakishly contented. It was originally titled “All I Want,” which is far more straightforward in terms of conveying the general gist of the song and going with the standard mnemonic device of naming a song after the key line of its chorus, but I get the feeling that the band needed to do something to make the song more interesting. In this case, it means pointing the listener in the direction of a line from the final verse; the bit that seems to invoke the “butterfly effect,” and subtly implies that this moment of calmness will eventually trigger a more troubling event further down the line."

The Jesus And Mary Chain - april skies, 1987

"April Skies" is a song by Scottish alternative rock group the Jesus and Mary Chain and the first single from the group's second studio album, Darklands (1987). The song was released by Blanco y Negro Records in April 1987, reaching No. 8 on the UK Singles Chart, No. 6 in Ireland, and No. 16 in New Zealand, making it the band's highest-charting single in all three countries."

Sea Glass - never right, 2023

"This song came along one emotional evening trying to tap into feelings surrounding misguided love lost to time."

Genesis - am i very wrong, 1969

"beneath all of the superficial weaknesses lie two of Genesis’ strengths, in just as full of force now as they would be later – incredible songwriting and incredible vocals from Peter. . . . [A]lmost a dozen of the songs on here (and yes, I’m counting the singles . . . ) are, at least in one aspect in each of them, absolute pop perfection. “Am I Very Wrong?,” for instance, may have a slightly awkward and Disney-sounding chorus, but how about that vocal melody in the verses?!"

REM - she just wants to be, 2001

"The song begins with a lonely acoustic guitar riff from Peter. It’s simple but bittersweet and makes you think you are in for a slower type of song like a ballad. But after playing the riff twice through, Peter stops and Michael’s stark vocals enter the mix. And when that happens, Peter starts this faster acoustic progression that is a mix of strumming and picking out the root notes."

The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart - stay alive, 2009

"The Pains of Being Pure at Heart turned 10 years old the other day. I’ve listened to it three times in the past 24 hours, and I appreciate it just as much as I did when I was that strange teenager."

Fait-divers on Camus

“Real generosity toward the future lies in giving all to the present” (Albert Camus)

Fait-divers on C. S. Lewis

“The present is the point at which time touches eternity.” (C.S. Lewis)

Red Sleeping Beauty - we are magic, 2017

"Swedish pop trio, Red Sleeping Beauty had been dormant for 19 years before releasing Kristina, named after lead singer Kristina Borg who has been fighting breast cancer for the last few years. “We Are Magic” is the first single since Borg defeated cancer. The song continues the band’s perfect mixture of indie pop with vintage synthesizers."

The Go-Betweens - dive for your memory, 1988

“I maintain that The Go-Betweens write about love better than anybody else in the world.”

Velvet Trip - silly boy, 2024

"We’re lucky enough to be in the infant stages – we don’t have a super established audience base, so I don’t think people are going to be too shocked. Personally, I just try and think about making music as a way of expressing yourself, and I think it’s really important to grow and change with every release. As much as I can help it, the goal of Velvet Trip is to always expand and grow."

Fait-divers on determinism

- I’m a computer equipped with a black box that permits to turn off bad software and create good software.

 - Are you a computer or a person?

Fait-divers on Dag Hammarskjöld

“The longest journey is the journey inward.” (Dag Hammarskjöld, "Markings")

Prefab Sprout - when the angels, 1985

"The song is a tribute to Marvin Gaye, who passed in April 1984. Instead of being a sad tribute, it is a celebration of Marvin, and perhaps a lighter justification to his passing than the dark reality. The angels take his beautiful voice away because they are simply jealous. (1986, Music Life) But he lives on eternally, as Paddy sings “Must get so blase, knowing you’ll never die/Lounging on a cloud, polishing the sky” which is true to the legacy he left behind. It’s a beautiful richly produced song and a fitting end to this fantastic album. You get everything in this song, all of the great production, the wonderful sound of the band working all together, and an homage to an amazing musician who passed to soon."

Woods - between the past, 2023

"a warm woodwind arrangement alongside vocalist Jeremy Earl’s signature falsetto before ’70s-inspired drums gives the track a sunny, cheery disposition."

The Moody Blues - the actor, 1968

"Feelings, yes, solitude at night, lazy afternoons and rain, and the daydreaming that goes with them... and I love some of the lines (It's such a rainy afternoon, no point in going anywhere; the sound I have heard in your hello). The emotional weight of the music and the lyrics appeal to me."

Pet Shop Boys - lies, 1999

"This track holds a noteworthy place in the PSB corpus in that it's one of the very few—along with the multi-tracked "Postscript" and the later "This Used to Be the Future" — in which Chris actually sings (rather than speaks) lyrics in a voice that hasn't been greatly distorted somehow. Once again Chris demonstrates his mastery of upbeat, techno-oriented Europop. He creates vast sonic landscapes made for dancing. The lyrics, which were indeed written by Chris (a rarity for PSB tracks), emerged from what he describes in the Format booklet as "a true story."

Daneshevskaya - somewhere in the middle, 2023

"this release "reminds us that this world is a big place governed by some divine presence that we will never begin to understand"

D4RKSTAR - end of days, 2022

"D4RKSTAR is a one-person music project led by Andreas Lindh, based in Gothenburg, Sweden. It blends shoegaze, post-punk, darkwave, and electronic genres, characterized by heavy reverb, distorted guitars, bright synths, and hypnotic rhythms. The music evokes a mix of desperation, melancholy, and hope, with influences from bands like The Cure, Joy Division, Jesus and Mary Chain, and modern acts like I Break Horses."

Genesis - say it's alright joe, 1978

"Say It's Alright Joe", written by Rutherford and the penultimate track recorded for the album, is a torch song about an alcoholic who goes into a drunken stupor. The guitarist intended the track to be a "piss-take on the Dean Martin 'set 'em up Joe' alcoholic style'", but thought it was not going to work until Banks added his keyboard overdubs and the band started mixing the track, at which point it "came to life"

Sufjan Stevens - exploding whale, 2015

"Sufjan Stevens is nothing if not prolific. The singer-songwriter/multi-instrumentalist has let “Exploding Whale,” a new song that was originally a tour-only 7″, make its way online, and the track shows off Stevens’ electronic side. Though it’s lighter and more melodic than some of the more experimental aspects of Age of Adz, it’s closer to that record than his most recent folk release, Carrie & Lowell."

Fait-divers on attitude

If you only see one solution to a problem, you don't understand the problem.

Fait-divers on behaviour

Never forget that the way you react to people and to events shapes you and the person you will be in the future.

REM - the sidewinder sleeps tonite, 1992

"It's about somebody that doesn't have a place to stay. Part of it is also about what man can do that machines can't. The rest of it – I don't have any idea what it's about."

Club 8 - let it all fly, 2025

"After the release of their 11th album at the end of 2024, cult Stockholm duo Club 8 are back with their fourth single of the year so far. With decades of experience, this pair have been stalwarts of the Swedish music scene since the mid-90s and have an uncommonly diverse catalogue that ranges from electro-dance stuff to music built around rhythmic African influences and pure, unadulterated pop. Let It All Fly is a hazy, dreamy piece of melancholic arty indie-pop and sounds a bit like how we imagine The Concretes would sound if they collaborated with Portishead on a shoegaze record. There’s a touch of fellow Scandinavian bands Love Is All and The Raveonettes here too."

Mella Dee - riptide, 2023

"It was originally written in a time when we weren’t able to celebrate life together, it was a release from the pressure of everything around us. Bernard wrote and recorded the vocals after hearing what I’d put together and managed to bring a new life to the record. Adding a deeper meaning which resonated with me, the feeling of being caught up in a riptide with the world still moving around you. It’s a huge pleasure to have Bernard on a record with me; having listened to his voice on so much incredible music from an early age.”

Ruby Haunt - nightjar, 2023

"Ruby Haunt (formerly known as Haunt) is a minimal pop duo consisted of Victor Pakpour and Wyatt Ininns. Based in Los Angeles, the project first emerged in 2015 and put out six releases as of 2018."

Paul McCartney - yvonne, 2000

"By the time Paul was writing the music for his Press To Play album, he was in full collaboration with Eric [Stewart], who ended up co-writing eight of the album’s tracks with Paul. One of the out-takes from Press To Play that Paul wrote with Eric, a song with the working title “Yvonne,” ended up given to him instead of going on Paul’s album. Eric changed the title to “Yvonne’s The One” and recorded it with 10cc nearly a decade later for their 1995 Mirror, Mirror album. The 10cc version features Eric on vocals and Paul guesting on rhythm guitar."

The Lightning Seeds - emily smiles, 2022

“Emily Smiles is about miscommunication and lives being changed by small moments and random events”

Damien Jurado - am am, 2016

"This song has been stuck in my head ever since I heard it in the Netflix documentary series Wild Wild Country about the Rajneeshpuram commune in central Oregon, which I guess is no surprise since that series has been all I could think about since I finished it. This song appears underneath some of the sequences showing the commune at its most utopian, which of course is only one part of the story but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t sort of see why people went there when I saw all those people hugging and smiling while this song played."

My Bloody Valentine - several girls galore, 1988

"On tracks like “Several Girls Galore” and especially “All I Need” MBV were beginning to emulate musically that fuzzy state on the periphery of consciousness – time lags, sudden starts, illusory shapes leaping out at you from the hailstorm of sound."

Elton John - elton's song, 1981

"Elton's Song" is a song written by Elton John (music) and Tom Robinson (lyrics). Recorded between August 1979 and March 1980 and produced by John and Clive Franks, the song first appeared much later on the 1981 album The Fox."

Club 8 - look out, 1996

"The song aligns with Club 8’s signature dreamy, introspective style, often blending bossa nova, trip hop, and twee pop influences. Specific details about "Look Out!" (e.g., album or release date) are less documented in the provided sources, but it’s part of their broader discography, which spans albums like Nouvelle (1996), The Friend I Once Had (1998), and Golden Island (2018)."

Slowdive - skin in the game, 2023

"Neil Halstead’s melancholic vocals gently blend with the acoustic and electric guitars in “Skin in the Game,” embodying Slowdive’s ethereal and introspective style. While the haunting melodies and powerful harmonies, along with the cryptic lyrics, convey the importance of honest communication and genuine connections for profound relationships and inner satisfaction."

The Coral - that's where she belongs, 2023

“This was me chasing sunlit shadows, trying to capture the beauty of the summer. For some strange reason, I feel a duty to do that from time to time. It didn’t work first time around but we took it into the studio and used some old tricks we’ve learned – editing the violins into the chorus, turning almost everything backwards and adding some Glenn Campbell guitars – and we came out with the hazy summer psychedelia the album needed to break up the intensity.”

Blacktop - tommy, 2023

“Blacktop is the recording project of Austin Wood, a Milwaukee-based musician, producer, and creative.”

The Beatles - you like me too much, 1965

"You Like Me Too Much" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles. It was written by George Harrison, the group's lead guitarist, and released in August 1965 on the Help! album, except in North America, where it appeared on Beatles VI. The band recorded the track on 17 February that year at EMI Studios in London."

Fait-divers on grace and randomness

Somewhere by the grace of random chance.

Fait-divers on hope

"The point about hope is that it is something that occurs in very dark moments. It is like a flame in the darkness; it isn't like a confidence and a promise." John Berger

Castlebeat - something else, 2023

"Hwang is also the founder of Spirit Goth. As CASTLEBEAT he weaves melodic pop hooks with dreamy, melancholic sounds often leaving listeners with a sense of nostalgia. Josh started the recording project in 2015 with a demo EP, and has since matured in composition and sound while retaining his trademark lo-fi quality."

Art School Girlfriend - the weeks, 2023

"Art School Girlfriend has developed a mystical realm that transports you between the current reality and a higher state of being with her new album ‘Soft Landing.’ The dreamy production of the tracks is emphasised by techno undertones, transcendental vocals and wistful instrumentals. Sultry whispers align with a variety of pressuring beats that really allow the listener to enter the universe in which the record exists."

Black Box Recorder - factory radio, 1998

"Pitchfork route and lampoon its aching melancholy and seemingly humourless approach to middle-class self-pity."

New Order - bizarre love triangle album version, 1986

"There’s something about ‘Bizarre Love Triangle’ which screams “pure pop”. The combination of the high ended keyboards, the precise drums and Hooky’s counter melody bass work instantly brings a smile to the face, unlike any other N.O. track."

Blossom Aloe - i fade away, 2023

"Blossom Aloe is an indie rock quintet from Houston TX, incorporating elements of bedroom-pop, psychedelia, and alternative rock into their sound."

Blonde Redhead - before, 2023

"one of the most sonically playful tracks on the album. With its stacked vocals by singer and multi-instrumentalist Kazu Makino, “Before” was written with the notion of reincarnation in mind, narrated from the perspective of a kid who seems to know it all"

Sambassadeur - subtle changes, 2007

"Sambassadeur was formed in 2003 within Skövde, a small town situated between Sweden’s two largest lakes. They all met in school and played gigs throughout local small towns and occasionally Gothenburg, where they are now situated. Fans began to take notice in 2005 when the four-piece released a self-titled debut and an EP, which was followed up the next year by another EP. Another album, Migration, in 2007 proved that Sambassadeur were intent on improving despite their competition. Regardless of whether their competition was receiving good or bad press, it still appeared they were receiving more than Sambassadeur. This quantitative standard may been their detriment in the early goings. The band’s ethic was never questioned, nor was their potential which illuminated brightly through insanely addictive harmonies. Their style though, not entirely innovative or unique in the vein of Swedish pop, meant that their music had to be more than good in a country where pop music reigns. It had to be exceptional. The past three years has seen little activity from Sambassadeur, who are perhaps ditching their quantitative ways in favor of a dramatic transformation that may put them in the same category as an Air France or Tough Alliance. Their new album, European, is their first release in three years and their most accomplished yet."

The New Pornographers - unguided, 2007

"The New Pornographers are one of those bands that I probably wouldn’t have discovered if not for Glorious Noise. The fervor of some of this site’s regular bulletin board contributors was so intense for this band at one point that you actually felt you had to buy a New Pornographers album as admission to reply to any post."

The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart - too tough, 2011

"With their warm, fuzzy guitars and heart-on-sleeve lyrics, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart felt like a dream come true. From what I can remember, 2009 was a banner year for music, but of all the great records that came out that year, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart was arguably the one that most closely aligns with my tastes now, 16 years later."

Club 8 - late in life, 2022

"This single is definitely upbeat, yet somehow a super chill listen. It’s the kind of song you want to be listening to as you take an afternoon drive near the coast, windows down, breathing in the salty air. The electric guitar bits are always so fun, fresh, and paint a really specific picture of the story Club 8 is trying to tell and the feeling they’re trying to evoke."

Wilco - evicted, 2023

"In “Evicted,” Wilco navigates the theme of displacement, both physically and emotionally. The song’s poignant verses capture the raw feelings of uncertainty, loss, and upheaval that come with leaving behind familiar places and relationships. With their characteristic authenticity, Wilco invites listeners to contemplate the complexities of transition and change."

Winten - waving to my girl, 2023

"Winten, the Naarm/Melbourne based project of Bridgette Winten, uses songwriting more therapeutically than anything on her debut album Waving To My Girl. Taking to writing mostly at night in her bedroom, Winten allows the thoughts that only come to us when we feel most alone, whether those be of regret or perseverance, to map together a cohesive and beautiful journey of recovery."