The Housemartins - there is always something there to remind me, 1988

"I’m constantly amazed and humbled that people still listen to it after 32 years. I write kids’ books now and work in schools engaging primary school children in reading and writing. Sometimes I joke with them, “Hey, I used to be a pop star! Who believes me?” They never do"

New Order - vicious streak, 2001

"Vicious Streak is the fourth track off of New Order's Get Ready. In his book, Substance, Peter Hook says that the song has one of his favorite basslines of all of his work."

Stars - lights changing colour, 2012

"A nice beat, fun synths, a very catchy melody, and a dose of cheese. Stars have made some pretty cheesy music (“Don’t Be Afraid to Sing” comes to mind) but they usually make it work. Not so on this album’s unfortunate “Do You Want To Die Together?” which lays its god-awful call and response (“I may look alive but inside I’m dead / Well let’s make it true”) over a tried-and-true guitar figure. Good thing it’s wedged between two of the album’s best songs, the pretty Amy-sung numbers “Through the Mines” and “Lights Changing Colour”.

Letting Up Despite Great Faults - bulletproof girl, 2012

"We have a soft spot for Austin, Texas outfit Letting Up Despite Great Faults, thanks in large part to their fusion of dreampop with a more metronomic, New Order referencing sound."

Echo And The Bunnymen - rust, 1999

"Rust" is a single by Echo & the Bunnymen which was released in March 1999. It was the first single to be released from their 1999 album, What Are You Going to Do with Your Life?. It reached number 22 on the UK Singles Chart and currently remains their last UK Top 40 hit."

Pet Shop Boys - single, 1996

"Single" is meant to be funny. One can hardly hope for a better or more succinct explication of this song than the one that Neil has himself provided: "The narrator is a very glib Euro businessman, a glib Eurocrat who flies business class and likes all his privileges. He tries to pick up chicks at meet 'n' greets. He's pretending to be a sophisticated ladies man: 'Single! Bilingual!'. But he's not really communicating either and he knows it. In actual fact he's a hopeless, tragic wreck."

Damien Jurado - ohio live, 2022

"Ohio" is an elaborate and painfully sad tale of a girl deciding to return home years after being kidnapped by her father."

Moby - where you end, 2005

"Lift Me Up rattled and shook like a giant truck with no brakes, while Where You End pulsated explosively."

Saint Etienne - mervyn's theme, 2006

"A melancholy loveletter to what we now know as the capital’s Olympic zone"

REM - why not smile oxford american version, 1998

"Why Not Smile is a great song for the album Up. My only problem is I feel the Oxford American Version would have fit much better on the album then the one the band went with. I feel this because the oxford version flows with I’m Not Over You; two gems from the album. The oxford version also flows with the acoustic guitar through out the album."

Mike Oldfield - wonderful land cover, 1980

"English musician Mike Oldfield covered "Wonderful Land" on his 1980 Virgin Records album, QE2. Oldfield's version was also released as a single and as the B-side for his "Sheba" single; in some countries, "Wonderful Land" was the A-side. The Shadows later covered one of Oldfield's songs, "Moonlight Shadow"."

Neil Young - four strong winds cover, 1978

"The song has a clear Canadian context and subtext, including an explicit mention of the province Alberta as well as references to long, cold winters. In 2005, CBC Radio One listeners chose it as the greatest Canadian song of all time on the program 50 Tracks: The Canadian Version. It is considered the unofficial anthem of Alberta."

Hooverphonic - the world is mine, 2002

"Hooverphonic Presents Jackie Cane is the fourth album by the Belgian band Hooverphonic. It is a concept album, telling the story of fictional singer Jackie Cane. The singles released from this album are "The World Is Mine", "Sometimes" and "One". The story revolves around the fictitious character Jackie Cane who leaves her identical twin sister in order to become a professional singer. Driven to the brink of insanity by the pressures of fame, Jackie quits show business and returns home to attempt reconciliation with her sister. But, still bitter from years of being put last, her sister kills both of them with a poisoned Last Supper."

Saint Etienne - burnt out car xenomania mix, 2009

"Xenomania is an English songwriting and production team founded by Brian Higgins and based in Kent. Formed by Higgins with his Creative Director Miranda Cooper and Business Director Sarah Stennett of First Access Entertainment, Xenomania has written and produced for artists such as Cher, Kylie Minogue, Dannii Minogue, Sophie Ellis-Bextor, Pet Shop Boys, The Saturdays and Sugababes. In particular, all but one of Girls Aloud's studio albums have been entirely written and produced by Xenomania. Sugababes' "Round Round" and Girls Aloud's "Sound of the Underground" have been credited with reshaping British pop music for the 2000s. Gabriella Cilmi's "Sweet About Me" and Girls Aloud's "The Promise" were named Best Single at the ARIA Music Awards of 2008 and the 2009 BRIT Awards, respectively."

Soft Cell - where the heart is, 1983

"While my childhood was broken, it wasn’t totally miserable. I had fantastic grandparents, who I adored. I had a nervous breakdown at 17 when my parents divorced, and was sectioned for two months. But I try and put a positive spin on everything."

Moby - eighteen, 2002

"The desire to make compassionate records that meet a need in someone else's life."

Belle And Sebastian - she's losing it, 1996

"Exploring the mindsets of damaged young women is something Murdoch has been doing with lyrical aplomb since "Expectations" and "She's Losing It" on Tigermilk. It's no surprise, therefore, to learn that some of the songs on The Life Pursuit were first conceived as God Help the Girl tracks. Ireton's version of "Act of the Apostle" is slickly proficient, though it's hard to see how the brisker original has been bettered."

Tom Verlaine - words from the front, 1982

"I think it was financial! In the seventies, when guitars were still cheap, nobody wanted a Jazzmaster because they weren't loud and didn't stay in tune. In '73/'74 you could buy a Jazzmaster for $150 easily. So that's why I started playing it, because we didn't have a lot of money and they were cheap. And then I really got used to it, plus the vibrato arm on it is very nice. I use really heavy strings on it—like a 14 to a 58 or something similar—and that's another part of the sound, I think."

Beirut - the rip tide live oakland, 2019

"Why do you love Beirut? The question was being posed to me at a house party, one where the host’s superior collection of craft beer had turned me into a blushing and slightly over exuberant conversationalist with all the new cute strangers I met. This new cute stranger demonstrated enough basic hipster fashion trends (Warby Parkers and Japanese Denim) that I knew he’d heard of the indie band Beirut, but for whatever reason, had not come to worship them like I did. By answering his question “Why do you love Beirut?” I would have to craft my argument in an eloquent and fun fact-based manner, maybe even provide this information with a few coy half smiles, to reveal that I too had more secrets to reveal."

Slowdive - kisses, 2023

"It is comically easy to make a passable shoegaze song with the right pedals and proper settings, but writing a great shoegaze song remains fiendishly difficult. Slowdive remain masters at this evanescent art. “Kisses,” the lead single to their upcoming album Everything Is Alive, and their first new music since 2017’s self-titled, is more delicate than anything on that album, as well as more openly romantic."