The Jesus And Mary Chain - never understood, 1998

"Never Understood is aimed less at the general public than at interested parties; this is an oral history with no contextualisation. Nonetheless, it provides a little bit of everything that anyone with a grasp of this extraordinary band, or their era, could want: candour, trivia (an early single and one of their guitars features Jackson Pollock-inspired paint spatters, possibly influencing the Stone Roses). There are cringe-inducing cameos from the Reids’ idols – Iggy Pop, David Bowie."

Demis Roussos - my reason, 1972

"My Reason" is a song by Greek singer Demis Roussos. It was released as a single in 1972. The song was included on Roussos' 1973 album Forever and Ever."

Sufjan Stevens - blue bucket of gold, 2015

"Stevens’ mother – the Carrie of the album’s title – was a strange presence in his family. She left him and his siblings early in their lives, and from then on contact was allegedly sporadic, and smudged with tension. Her own life was pockmarked with troubles of her own, including depression, substance abuse schizophrenia, and biopolar disorder: issues which left their scars throughout Stevens’ family. Carrie & Lowell indicates that Stevens spent a lot of time following his mother’s death trawling through this muddy past in the hopes of finding closure. However, anyone hoping for a record of hard-earned catharsis is out of luck: Stevens’ emotions are too complex to be reduced to crystal-clear wisdoms."

High School - colt, 2023

"uplifting transient sound that invokes a feeling is what we’re trying to do with HighSchool. The lyrics are often the last thing."

Saturday Looks Good To Me - invisible friend, 2013

"A tuneful blend of watery reverb, shuffling Charlie Brown piano riff and bittersweet pop vocals, "Invisible Friend" is a fresh variation on what Thomas & Co. do best."

Cocteau Twins - for phoebe still a baby, 1988

“There was an element of freedom about the whole thing. It really felt like a period of creativity and freedom, we were all getting on great musically and socially, Liz and Robin were about to have a baby, I was about to get married, there was lots of joy around. Very productive! It was a really fun record to make.”

The Go-Betweens - born to a family, 2005

"Born to a Family is the B side off the Go-Betweens single Finding You taken from their 9th studio album Oceans Apart (see image above). Finding You peaked at Number 17 on the Australian music charts and will feature later in this music project. Grant McLennan described Born to a Family as a “sort of knees-up, 2/4 kind of jump song.” It has a chanty, jangly chime. I can’t help but think of The Smiths when I hear it."

Dido - stoned, 2003

"stoned. Not sure what to make out of this one. Seems she wants more out of the relationship besides making love while drunk and stoned. The intro music is pretty long,but it is catchy."

The Cranberries - never grow old, 2001

“Never Grow Old is a song I wrote with no music whatsoever. I was walking outside here, with my little baby in a pram and my son with me and I started singing. I have a dream / Strange it may seem / This is my perfect day. So I ran home and tried to get down the chords on the piano but didn’t because I was distracted. The baby was crying! So I lost it. But the next day I woke up and it came back to me so I wrote it at the piano, then played it with the lads”

Mike Oldfield - north point, 1987

"The superior Hegland-sung piece follows, however, with “North Point.” Here the guitar is more prominent and Hegland’s voice becomes a choir, similar to the multi-tracking methods used by Enya, among others."

Wild Nothing - this chain won't break, 2012

"Songs like "The Chain Won't Break", will effortlessly delve the listener into the world of "Dream-pop", turning the listen into a fascinating hazy and bewildering escapade."

The Radio Dept - the idle urban contemporaries, 2009

"A Radio Dept. top ten wouldn’t be complete without one of the band’s gorgeous instrumentals. There are so many good ones to choose from (including a few album openers), but I ultimately went with B-side The Idle Urban Contemporaries. The city sounds of sirens and loudspeakers melt away to reveal a beautiful melody that builds up to a sweeping finish."

Peter Paul And Mary - puff the magic dragon, 1963

"The song tells the story of an ageless dragon named Puff and his playmate, Jackie Paper, as they embark on adventures in the imaginary land of Honalee. As time passes, Jackie matures and abandons his childhood games, leaving Puff alone and saddened. Lipton, who was acquainted with Peter Yarrow through a mutual friend at Cornell, used Yarrow's typewriter to commit his poem to paper. He forgot about it until years later, when a friend informed him that Yarrow was seeking him to properly credit him for the lyrics. Upon reconnecting, Yarrow shared half of the songwriting credit with Lipton, who received royalties for the song until his death in 2022. Yarrow later died in 2025. Yarrow now sings the line "A dragon lives forever, but not so little boys" as "A dragon lives forever, but not so girls and boys", to be more inclusive. The original poem included a stanza about Puff finding a new playmate, but this was not incorporated into the song. The paper left in Yarrow's typewriter in 1959 has since been lost."

REM - beachball, 2001

"The song starts off very uniquely, especially for a R.E.M. track. The first sound you hear is this electronic drum beat that almost sounds 8-bit like it’s from a Casio keyboard. It’s soon contrasted by this huge sounding chorus of strings and horns. The melody is straight up Burt Bacharach with shades of the Beach Boy’s Pet Sounds when it comes to the guitar riff panned to the left. This orchestration sounds big but at the same time sounds very relaxed which might have the do with the song’s slower tempo."

Stars - through the mines, 2012

"The album's cover shows the Habitat 67 complex, an experimental housing development as well as architectural landmark in Montreal, the band's home city."

Saint Etienne - california snow story, 1993

"So Tough is easy to identify with while still managing to transcend the ordinary. With songs sandwiched between spoken-word interludes, the album has an air of quiet narrative intensity—not unlike Woody Allen’s output-circa Interiors. From the beautifully intense “Hobart Paving” (a Van Dyke Parks arranged version of the song closes out the bonus disc), to the darkly mysterious “Junk the Morgue,” to the Beach Boys pop of “You’re in a Bad Way,” So Tough provides a moment of introspection for almost every mood—without once compromising Saint Etienne’s core sound."

The Mary Onettes - evil coast, 2013

"The Mary Onettes went full beach vibes for their video for “Evil Coast,” an almost cruel visual for those of us longing for warmer climes in the middle of still-snowy March. Now that we’re dangling our legs into the pool of summer, the Swedish indie-pop group have flipped the script and dropped a barren, black and white clip for their comfortingly beautiful" 

Such a great song!

The National - eucalyptus, 2023

"It’s too painful to think about who gets that tree, who gets that plant? And that’s why I tried to make a fun song out of it….This one I wrote really fast. It’s one of the darker songs on it [the record] but I was having more fun writing this one."

Micheál And Eilish - skibbereen cover, 1990

"Skibbereen", also known as "Dear Old Skibbereen", "Farewell to Skibbereen", or "Revenge For Skibbereen", is an Irish folk song, in the form of a dialogue wherein a father tells his son about the Irish famine, being evicted from their home, and the need to flee as a result of the Young Ireland rebellion of 1848."

AC Newman - i'm not talking, 2012

"Like all of Newman’s best tracks, the single is an instantly lovable melodic gem with a great arrangement and nostalgic, relatable lyrics. I love the bleep-bloopy synth arpeggio that anchors this track, along with the breezy, full bodied acoustic guitars and the arching horn melody, which appears in the intro and returns valiantly in the chorus. Sonically, it’s not far off from what the New Pornographers were doing on their last album Together, but Newman clearly works well with that aesthetic."