Neil Young - old man live dorothy chandler pavilion, 1971

"Neil sounds more relaxed in a less high-pressure venue. He mumbles casually through song introductions and approaches the tunes playfully, as if pondering the possibilities of his songwriting in real time. At one point he even tells the audience not to waste their energy applauding between every song. "You can just clap real loud at the end, and it'll be cool," he smirks. That laid-back attitude encapsulates the feel of Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, capturing a master songwriter in the middle of an early phase of brilliance, but in a moment where he sounds especially comfortable and at home on-stage. Less obsessive fans might not see the necessity in seeking out more than one live recording from a window of time when a lot of Young's shows were fairly similar."

Peter Bjorn And John - young folks live at sxsw, 2007

"The group performed the song on Late Night with Conan O'Brien on 29 January 2007, and on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on 18 May 2007 (the latter with Tonight Show band member Vicki Randle on bongos). On 29 September 2007, the band played "Young Folks", with Victoria Bergsman's vocals, on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross on BBC1. When the band performed the song at the 2007 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, Bergsman's vocals were performed by Bebban Stenborg of Shout Out Louds. On Peter Bjorn and John's 2008 Australian tour, Victoria Bergsman's vocals were performed by Tracyanne Campbell of Camera Obscura."

Grant McLennan - easy come easy go, 1991

"Watershed does have moments of glory and McLennan’s excellence in song writing, musicality and storytelling is as sharp as it ever was. The track Haunted House displays McLennan’s ability to create gentle and warm ambience in his music that is unmatched by many of his peers. Stones for You is another sweet ballad that talks of love in a kind and not so saccharine way that McLennan handles well. Black Mule is an odd tale that is slightly long but showcases McLennan’s ability to paint pictures and create worlds. One highlight is Haven’t I Been a Fool which is a more strident song which has a sharp degree of alacrity to it. It’s a poppy number that brings to attention the amalgamation of McLennan’s soft vocals and catchy musical refrains in perfect harmony. His main single Easy Come, Easy Go is another example of this but unlike Haven’t I Been a Fool, there is a sense of trying too hard to make this a hit single rather than just focusing on just making a good song."

The Flaming Lips - waitin for a superman, 1999

"Waitin' for a Superman" (subtitled "Is It Gettin' Heavy??" for the song's U.S. album release) is a song by The Flaming Lips, released as the second single taken from their 1999 album The Soft Bulletin"

Fanfarlo - the walls are coming down, 2009

"these folks know what to do with a trumpet, which is more than can be said for some, and the arrangement on this single is stunning – orchestral and complex yet utterly accessible, with the tinkle of a glockenspiel welcoming all and sundry to the fold."

Keane - the starting line, 2012

"Calming it down does mostly work; the album's tales of growing up in small towns probably would not work quite so well if there was some electronic demon monster all over their boink. With the overarching theme of friends pulling each other out of strife, Rice-Oxley's lyrics are at their most contemplative here, the likes of 'The Starting Line' imploring the protagonist to "ignore the ghosts that make you old before your time"."

Coldplay - life in technicolor ii, 2009

"Life in Technicolor II" (stylised as "Life in Technicolor ii") is a song by British rock band Coldplay released as the first single from the Prospekt's March EP. It is the full-vocal version of the instrumental track "Life in Technicolor", from the band's fourth studio album, Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends. The songs starts with a loop consisting of a santoor accompanied by tabla-like percussion. The loop is then repeated through the verses and part of the chorus."

Saint Etienne - keep nothing, 1999

"Track written as potential B-side for one of the singles off the Tiger Bay album... In retrospect it could have fitted neatly on Continental"

The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart - strange, 2011

"The album sounds like we're taking away what we were hiding behind before. Lyrically, the first record had a lot of remembered experiences that I was looking back on and trying to make more clever, which can sound contrived. I like the idea of lyrics that don't get beyond themselves but catch you and make an impression. I think that's more emotionally compelling."

Club 8 - saturday night engine, 2003

"Club 8's spring 2003 EP, Saturday Night Engine, is a turning point in the band's young career. This is mostly due to the title track. "Saturday Night Engine" is a song unlike any other Club 8 song committed to record. A pounding drum beat like a Swedish Northern soul stomper, gleefully twisting guitar lines, a fat and funky organ, and Johan Andergard's uncharacteristically excited vocals combine to make this a classic indie pop song. It is the first Club 8 track that makes you want to get up and jump around for joy. It is the first track that transcends their influences (Saint Etienne, the Cardigans) and sounds like a truly inspired band."

REM - losing my religion, 1991

"Losing My Religion" is a song by American alternative rock band R.E.M., released in February 1991 by Warner Bros. as the first single from their seventh album, Out of Time (1991). It developed from a mandolin riff improvised by the guitarist, Peter Buck, with lyrics about unrequited love. "Losing My Religion" is R.E.M.'s highest-charting hit in the United States, reaching No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and expanding their popularity. Its music video, directed by Tarsem Singh, features religious imagery. At the 1992 Grammy Awards, "Losing My Religion" won Best Short Form Music Video and Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal. Its video won awards for Video of the Year, Best Group Video, Breakthrough Video, Best Art Direction, Best Direction, and Best Editing at the 1991 MTV Video Music Awards. In 2020, "Losing My Religion" became the first R.E.M. video to reach one billion views on YouTube. It was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2017, and Rolling Stone ranked it at number 112 in its 2024 list of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time".

The Mary Onettes - unblessed, 2013

"One of the new album’s most stunning tracks is “Unblessed”, led by caressing synth pads and slick bass reverberations. A minimal synth arpeggio creeps in slowly, as is the case in many Italo-disco and Balaeric gems, and Ekstrom’s vocals take off into its usual soaring peaks. “It’s more than just a bad dream,” he sings over enchanting melodies and beach-set ambiance. This is far from a nightmare. Much of Hit the Waves is pure bliss."

Headlights - words make you tired, 2006

"Tristan Wraight and Brett Sanderson round out the group, accompanying Fein selectively on vocals and developing a sound both mature and well-rounded — a nice feat for a debut album. “Songy Darko” includes a sombre, chamber-like organ and potentially a glokenshpiel. Many songs, like “Owl Eyes”, start out quietly and build throughout to explosive endings. “Lions” and “Words Make You Tired” do not follow that mold. They both start strong and loud and continue as so to the end. “I Love, You Laugh” closes the album on a soft note; a fitting end for a great album."

Slowdive - machine gun, 1994

"I think the reason Souvlaki enjoys such acclaim and reach beyond the confines of the shoegaze canon is that, shit damn, there is such a palpable of emotional gravity here. The album’s background story as an Halstead and Goswell’s breakup record is well-established, and while the shockwaves of this are borderline naked at points (“Here She Comes”, “Dagger”, “40 Days”, “Melon Yellow”) and blearily nostalgic at others (“Altogether”), they add a melancholic undertone to the album’s radiant moments (“When the Sun Hits”, “Machine Gun”, “Souvlaki Space Stations”) and underscore “Alison” being far more depressive opiate bender than sexed-up bedroom glow (no comment on which of the two is more relatable for your average dreamgaze fan). The mood – not just the mood, the scene – here is so richly fleshed out, so much more than the sum of the album’s parts that practically every level of its craft feeds into a deeper basis for connection – and if that isn’t something you appreciate in a classic record, music ain’t for you."

Prefab Sprout - faron young, 1985

"Name dropping can certainly get you places and in music it’s no different; both Madness and Bananarama sang about Michael Caine and Robert De Niro respectively but surely no one drops more names, in song anyway, than Prefab Sprout. They named their 1985 album Steve McQueen and the track that opened that album was named after the country music singer Faron Young."

Saint Etienne - cosy cafe, 2006

"'We realised early on that we couldn't make the same kind of poetic film even if we had wanted to. With Finisterre, we had the whole of London to play with. But the Lea Valley is a bit more, erm, restrictive. There's no real precedent for what we are trying to do.'"

Echo And The Bunnymen - lost and found, 1987

"The band's attempt to reach a wider audience worked out when they splattered the hook-heavy reverb bomb "Lips Like Sugar" all over American college radio, but the backward guitar solo on "Lost and Found" is more representative of the album as a whole. The sunnier production watered the band's sound down a bit, but they still managed to turn out "All in Your Mind", a throbbing beast of a pop song swimming in twitching guitar and aggressive synth bass, and god, that is so obviously Ray Manzarek of The Doors playing organ on "Bedbugs and Ballyhoo" that you don't even need the liners to clue you in-- it works almost purely on improbability."+

Stars - the face, 2002

"Face" is a some kind of electronics-tinged homage to Morrissey, or maybe the Wedding Present. Without mentioning another impossibly iconic English group that Stars sound like, let's just settle and say that Dead Child Stars is a nice collectible for Stars fans, and pleasant enough indie music in its own right."

Pet Shop Boys - the end of the world, 1990

"The Virgin spoke in apparitions" – The Virgin Mary is believed to have appeared to people at various times and places throughout Christian history, such as at Lourdes, France, in 1858. One of the most famous instances of all—commonly (and controversially) linked to prophecies of the end of the world—involved her reported appearance to several shepherding children at Fátima, Portugal, in 1917. The word "apparition," while often used to refer to any supernatural appearance, is very specifically used in reference to Mary's appearances: so-called "Marian apparitions."

Scott Orr - clear, 2023

"Scott Orr is a captivating American musician and songwriter known for his ethereal whispering vocals and minimalist songwriting style. Often classified within the stomp and flutter genre, Orr's music seamlessly blends haunting melodies with uplifting lyrics that resonate deeply with listeners. His unique ability to evoke emotion through simplistic yet poignant compositions has not only solidified his place in the indie music scene but has also made him a cherished figure in vinyl culture."