Jayz - empire state of mind, 2009

"There was a first phone call, and Jay hit me up like, 'I feel like I have this record that's going to be the anthem of New York. The piano, the way the style [is], the whole flow, and it couldn't be the anthem of New York without you.' Obviously, I'm very grateful to him for reaching out to me and for that type of ability to represent my hometown, like, that was crazy. So we went to the studio. I went to the studio, and [...] I fell in love [with the track] from the jump."

Still Corners - beginning to blue, 2013

"Their offering of their own little dream-pop world in a dark corner of the Austin Convention Center comes with its own pseudo-psychedelic slideshow, and singer Tessa Murray's voice has more than an echo of the late Trish Keenan in her heyday."

Tom Waits - coney island baby, 2002

"This album is all rich, complex, mysterious, dark tomes about the concussion of hatred against love. The sound is not quite industrial or grating, but there is a discord to these songs, almost a physical discomfort."

Bill Ryder-Jones - satellites live, 2015

"Ryder-Jones, pitched to the right of the stage, could alternate between looking feverishly involved or coolly relaxed. His guitar parts were simply stunning. Nobody outside the tight-knit group could have guessed he was wrestling with demons, until in 2005 he briefly stopped touring with the band, citing a stress-related illness."

The Band Of Holy Joy - to leave or remain, 2017

"To say the Band of Holy Joy were an anomaly on the late-1980s indie scene is to wallow in understatement. All around, bands took to flared jeans and trundling Madchester beats, but the Band of Holy Joy made an oompah din on brass and accordions while singer Johnny Brown sang affectingly of London lowlife in a drunken Geordie wail. It was charmingly incongruous, as if Brecht and Weill had turned up in the middle of an episode of Byker Grove."

This Mortal Coil - kangaroo, 1984

"In 2018, Pitchfork ranked It'll End in Tears at number eight on its list of "The 30 Best Dream Pop Albums".

The Waterboys - red army blues, 1984

"The song tells the story of a Soviet soldier in WWII who somehow survives the war and comes in contact with American troops. Joseph Stalin felt that troops who were taken prisoner were weak and traitors to the Soviet state and that troops who came in contact with Allied troops were in danger of being Westernized. So after the war, many Red Army troops who had been held as POWs or had much contact with western troops were considered a threat to the state and were sent directly to the gulags where many would die while working and starving in forced labor camps. We’re talking in the millions here."

El Perro Del Mar - wipe me off this earth, 2024

“As the feelings of grief and loss wear off, you enter another realm of guilt. The guilt of not mourning enough, of going on living though someone’s gone. This song is about the ghost not accepting that it’s dead. I realised I was actually thinking like this which made it increasingly difficult to move on. I’d stayed on with the dead. I think it’s a common thing and it’s such a dark place to be in. You can’t really reason with the dead. That’s something I’ve come to understand.”

Black Pumas - colors live, 2019

"A nun from the Rio Grande Valley, a soccer champion from North Texas, a mariachi band from the border, and a psychedelic soul band from Austin are among an eclectic mix of Texans scheduled to be part of President Joe Biden’s inauguration events this week."

This Mortal Coil - song to the siren cover, 1983

"This Mortal Coil was a loose collective of musicians under the leadership of producer Ivo Watts-Russell, most of whom had recorded for his 4AD label. Singer Elizabeth Fraser and guitarist Robin Guthrie of Cocteau Twins, who were at the time signed to 4AD, performed on the This Mortal Coil version of "Song to the Siren". Fraser also recorded a duet with Tim's son, Jeff Buckley."

D4RKSTAR - don't ever leave me, 2019

"Desperation and reverb from the great north. D4RKSTAR is a one-person shoegaze / post-punk / electronic project out of Gothenburg, Sweden."

Vaya Con Dios - at the parallel, 1992

"At the Parallel" explores themes of longing, missed opportunities, and the sense of being stuck in a mundane existence. The Parallel serves as a metaphor for a place of repetition and unfulfilled desires, while the characters represent individuals who seek something more meaningful in their lives but struggle to find it within their current circumstances."

Jason Isbell - children of children, 2015

"Whether you grew up in a happy home or a hotbed of dysfunction, feelings and memories concerning family are always emotionally complex. There are purely happy moments, sad times and shared coping, and of course there's always guilt about things said or unsaid."

Frightened Rabbit - woke up hurting, 2016

“Scott battled bravely with his own issues for many years and we are immensely proud of him for being so open with his struggles. His willingness to discuss these matters in the public domain undoubtedly raised awareness of mental health issues and gave others confidence and believe to discuss their own issues.”

El Perro Del Mar - god knows you gotta give to get, 2006

"Julie Burchill once described St Etienne's nostalgic pop as the aural equivalent of "a perfect 60s girl jumping ceaselessly in slow-mo into the perfect MG". Fitting that description even better is El Perro Del Mar, the alter-ego of Swedish singer-songwriter Sarah Assbring. Looking like Jean Seberg and sounding like a softer Nico, El Perro sings of loss and longing against walls of majestic sound; every twist and turn of gentle narratives with titles like Party and People aches with romance and sadness."

CHVRCHES - my enemy, 2018

"It's airy, light, and more downbeat than its predecessor, and is especially significant as a different sonic landscape from the sort that we're used to from Berninger, who for the record sounds great here."

I'm From Barcelona - violins, 2015

"I'm from Barcelona is a Swedish pop group from Jönköping, Sweden, best known for its 29 band members and eclectic mix of instruments such as clarinets, saxophones, flutes, trumpets, banjos, accordions, kazoos, guitars, drums, and keyboards among others. While most band members provide backing vocals on releases and during live performances, Emanuel Lundgren is founder, principal songwriter and lead singer for the group."

William Fitzsimmons - light years cover, 2020

"Fitzsimmons was born the youngest child of two blind parents and was raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.(...) Fitzsimmons' writing often includes references to personal and family subject matter. His 2006 sophomore album, Goodnight, also self-produced and recorded at home, is said to have been based largely on his parents' divorce during his adolescence, and his 2008 work, The Sparrow and the Crow, his first recorded in a studio, was written entirely about and following his own divorce."

Frazier Chorus - cloud eight, 1991

"What seems at first play to aspire to be little more than a collection of richly produced but understated songs turns out to be a peculiar, ambitious combination of sweet instrumentation and perversely harsh lyrics."

Black Pumas - colors, 2019

"Written with the multicolored tones of the sky in mind, Burton’s songwriting portrays “themes of mortality and togetherness,” belting away his deeply raspy vocals alongside Quesada’s ingenious instrumentation and production. If there’s a way to describe what these two are providing, it’s an idiosyncratically modern update of the height of the Motown era, while simultaneously keeping it uniquely novel through juxtaposing it against present-day musical sensibilities."