Neil Young - powderfinger live weld, 1991

"Young wrote "Powderfinger" as a Southern Gothic tale of a young man's doomed encounter with federal agents during Prohibition-era bootlegging. The lyrics evoke isolation and fatalism"

Bluhm - slow rewind, 2025

"The song fits into the shoegaze revival scene, blending ethereal vocals with layered guitars and introspective lyrics about longing, regret, and fleeting connections."

Søren Bødker Madsen - the house of the rising sun cover instrumental, 2020

"Soren Boedker Madsen was born in Denmark,1956. He studied the classical guitar with Maria Kämmerling and Leif Christensen at the Royal Academy of Music in Aarhus, where he received his diploma in 1982. He continued his studies in the soloist class at Musik-Akademie der Stadt Basel, and later in Konrad Ragossnig´s concert class at the Hochschule für Musik und darstellende Kunst in Vienna."

The New Pornographers - leather on the seat, 2019

"Really love the tone and production on this. It feels like swaying. I have no idea what the lyrics are about. Seems really random. I like the imagery of the devil and a couple breaking up in a mall parking lot."

Paul McCartney - let it be live back in the us, 2002

"A double live album, Back In The US features highlights of Paul’s 2002 tour, in support of the previous year’s Driving Rain album. Like the DVD of the same name, it presented highlights from Paul’s first full tour in nearly a decade, from solo classics to Beatles favourites. It also marks the emergence of Paul’s most enduring stage band, including his long term sideman Paul “Wix” Wickens, the guitarists Rusty Anderson and Brian Ray and drummer Abe Laboriel Jr. The album’s release was in fact exclusive to North America and Japan, and it found tremendous success in both."

Club 8 - none of this will matter when you are dead, 2025

"a wistful, driving indie pop gem blending dreamy melancholy with urgent synth-pop edges—think The Radio Dept.'s hazy atmospherics crossed with The Raveonettes' rock-infused hooks, all wrapped in sugary melodies and sharp lyrics about fleeting worries."

The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart - the asp at my chest, 2014

"Listen to the way “The Asp at My Chest” closes out the whole affair with a waft of brass, and you’ll hear a new kind of dusk glowing on Pains. It’s not particularly ambitious, but it’s incredibly pleasant, and you’ve got to hand it to a guy who can keep a smile up even as he’s skipping through his melancholy."

Paul McCartney - here there and everywhere live, 1993

"I sat out by the pool on one of the sun chairs with my guitar and started strumming in E, and soon had a few chords, and I think by the time he’d woken up, I had pretty much written the song, so we took it indoors and finished it up."

Car Culture - nothingburger, 2025

"Daniel Fisher, AKA Physical Therapy, is releasing a new album under his Car Culture alias. Due out on October 9th via NAFF Recordings, Rest Here includes contributions from Patrick Holland, NAFF cofounder Priori, J. Albert, Squirrel Flower and Ms Ray. Fisher recorded the 12-track album between New York and Montréal over the past three years—it also features his own vocals. Fisher debuted his Car Culture alias back in 2021, releasing the record Dead Rock to launch a sub-label of Allergy Season, Lighthead Records. He shared his most recent solo EP, Nothingburger, in June of this year—it was recently named one of our staff's favourite summer releases."

Pacific - barnoon hill, 1988

"Barnoon Hill" is a track by the British indie pop band Pacific, released in 1988 as the lead song on their debut EP, Sea of Sand. The band, hailing from Brighton, was fronted by Dennis Wheatley (vocals, guitars, Atari computer programming, and various noises), with contributions from Vanessa Norwood, Nick Wilson, Simon Forest, and Rachel Norwood. The EP blended jangly indie guitars with experimental elements like cello, trumpet, and a spoken-word intro in Japanese on the title track."

The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart - life after life, 2014

"This was one of the first Pains tracks to prominently feature Peggy Wang on backing vocals less (she left the band before the album cycle), marking the shift to a slightly new lineup and poppier direction."

Neil Young - cortez the killer live weld, 1991

"Where Young's previous double live album, Live Rust, which bore some similarities to this one, was a career retrospective including some acoustic numbers, Weld was all electric rock with Crazy Horse."

The New Pornographers - born with a sound, 2014

"In “Born With a Sound,” Bejar casts his purring voice against Amber Webber’s, and the resulting vocal layers are delicious, like a cake that looks just too perfect to eat."

Club 8 - i wish you'd stay, 1998

"I Wish You'd Stay" is one of the standout early tracks that defined Club 8’s signature sound at the time: fragile, breathy female vocals over gentle acoustic guitar, subtle synths, and a bittersweet melody. It’s a perfect example of late-90s twee/shibuya-kei-influenced Scandinavian pop."

Peter Bjorn And John - blue period picasso, 2009

"This song is sung from the point of view of a Picasso painting hanging on a wall in a Barcelona gallery, which wishes to escape."

Melody's Echo Chamber - the house that doesn't exist, 2025

"The House That Doesn't Exist" is exactly the kind of groovy, glamorous, pillowy music that Melody's Echo Chamber makes so well. It's got funky-ass drums and dizzy cinematic strings, and Melody Prochet sounds like she lives in an old European art film. In a press release, she says that the song "turns the impossible perspective of a joyful human life in today’s world into reality, evoking a new sense of faith."

Neil Young - people on the street, 1986

"People on the Street" is a track by Neil Young from his 1986 album Landing on Water, released by Geffen Records. The song, written and produced by Young with contributions from Danny Kortchmar, explores urban alienation and the struggles of the homeless, set against a rhythmic, almost hip-hop-influenced beat with synth elements that marked Young's experimental '80s phase."

The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart - the garret, 2017

"The Echo of Pleasure, the fourth LP by New York’s The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, is an exquisite—if also occasionally too familiar—entry into the modern landscape of retro synth pop. Led by the “big-hearted, idealistic” songwriting of frontman Kip Berman—and fleshed out by a variety of players and singers, plus producer Andy Savours—the album bursts with breezy and tight arrangements, meditative melodies, and beautifully poignant lyricism, making it a simultaneously boyish and mature exploration of love, longing and everything in-between."

Miki Berenyi Trio - eighth deadly sin, 2025

"The album’s richly layered, imaginative, and uniquely slanted strain of dream pop is an often euphoric and sometimes melancholic mix of guitars and electronica, fronted by Miki’s instantly recognizable vocal, overlaid with an often profound and sometimes abrasive or yearning view of the world."

Nation Of Language - silhouette, 2025

"At their best... they offer a seemingly contradictory melancholic uplift"

Peter Bjorn And John - hard sleep, 2016

"When the content sails over pleasant memories and dips into more troubled waters, an inoculating melodies aid the various travails, like the trials and tribulations symptomatic of post-relationship regrets explored on 'Hard Sleep'."

Pacific - december with the day, 1989

"The Doris Days. English indie rock group from Brighton. Changed their name to Pacific after a successful audition for Alan McGee."

The New Pornographers - another drug deal of the heart, 2014

“Another Drug Dealer of the Heart” has Newman’s niece Kathryn Calder on lead. I definitely recommend this one."

Paul McCartney - hey jude live back in the us, 2002

"Paul McCartney wrote "Hey Jude" to comfort Julian Lennon, John’s 5-year-old son, during his parents’ divorce. Julian only found out the song was about him years later... and by then, Paul had been closer to him during that painful time than his own father was. John even mistakenly thought the song was about him and Yoko at first. So the world’s most famous comfort song is literally a little boy’s heartbreak... and he didn’t even know it was for him until he was grown up."

Ulrika Spacek - square root of none, 2025

“On this song we kinda embraced the notion of throwing as many ideas onto the canvas at once. We wanted this overwhelming feeling musically with the lyrics talking formulas and code. It always felt forward moving, and despite feeling free when contributing more and more layers it was troublesome to mix to make sure every detail is heard. Some songs feel made to be played live and this is certainly one of them for us.”

Nada Surf - out of the dark, 2016

"Out of the Dark" plays bright and has a tinge of nostalgia to it. It evokes comps to more 90's alt (which Nada Surf was obviously a part of). One aspect of the song that makes it pop is the use of horns throughout. They complement the upbeat acoustic beat perfectly and help lift it where it needs it. It was a perfect addition and represents another evolution in Nada Surf's sound."

Neil Young - cinnamon girl live weld, 1991

"The version of the coda released on Weld is from February 27, 1991 is truly severe and seemingly conveying the audio version of the tracer fire and missile launches viewed nightly during the Gulf War. In the middle of this mayhem, Young quotes the melody of “Norwegian Wood.” At first, this reference could be considered as a respite during the thunder and lightning or a reminder of gentler times, but then recalling how The Beatles’ song ends with the narrator either imagining or actually setting fire to his departed lover’s apartment, suddenly the allusion is appropriate to the rest of Young and Crazy Horse’s performance."

The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart - coral and gold, 2014

"Coral and Gold" and "Beautiful You" feel really towering and fragile at the same time - which is something I really like in music, sonic and emotional"

Nada Surf - friend hospital, 2016

"For music fans of a certain age, it brings back memories of the halcyon days of indie rock; a reminder of when it seemed perfectly natural to stay up until 1 a.m. to catch every last crunchy guitar chord of the headliner and then be at work bright and early the next morning."