Fait-divers on determinism

- I’m a computer equipped with a black box that permits to turn off bad software and create good software.

 - Are you a computer or a person?

Fait-divers on Dag Hammarskjöld

“The longest journey is the journey inward.” (Dag Hammarskjöld, "Markings")

Prefab Sprout - when the angels, 1985

"The song is a tribute to Marvin Gaye, who passed in April 1984. Instead of being a sad tribute, it is a celebration of Marvin, and perhaps a lighter justification to his passing than the dark reality. The angels take his beautiful voice away because they are simply jealous. (1986, Music Life) But he lives on eternally, as Paddy sings “Must get so blase, knowing you’ll never die/Lounging on a cloud, polishing the sky” which is true to the legacy he left behind. It’s a beautiful richly produced song and a fitting end to this fantastic album. You get everything in this song, all of the great production, the wonderful sound of the band working all together, and an homage to an amazing musician who passed to soon."

Woods - between the past, 2023

"a warm woodwind arrangement alongside vocalist Jeremy Earl’s signature falsetto before ’70s-inspired drums gives the track a sunny, cheery disposition."

The Moody Blues - the actor, 1968

"Feelings, yes, solitude at night, lazy afternoons and rain, and the daydreaming that goes with them... and I love some of the lines (It's such a rainy afternoon, no point in going anywhere; the sound I have heard in your hello). The emotional weight of the music and the lyrics appeal to me."

Pet Shop Boys - lies, 1999

"This track holds a noteworthy place in the PSB corpus in that it's one of the very few—along with the multi-tracked "Postscript" and the later "This Used to Be the Future" — in which Chris actually sings (rather than speaks) lyrics in a voice that hasn't been greatly distorted somehow. Once again Chris demonstrates his mastery of upbeat, techno-oriented Europop. He creates vast sonic landscapes made for dancing. The lyrics, which were indeed written by Chris (a rarity for PSB tracks), emerged from what he describes in the Format booklet as "a true story."

Daneshevskaya - somewhere in the middle, 2023

"this release "reminds us that this world is a big place governed by some divine presence that we will never begin to understand"

D4RKSTAR - end of days, 2022

"D4RKSTAR is a one-person music project led by Andreas Lindh, based in Gothenburg, Sweden. It blends shoegaze, post-punk, darkwave, and electronic genres, characterized by heavy reverb, distorted guitars, bright synths, and hypnotic rhythms. The music evokes a mix of desperation, melancholy, and hope, with influences from bands like The Cure, Joy Division, Jesus and Mary Chain, and modern acts like I Break Horses."

Genesis - say it's alright joe, 1978

"Say It's Alright Joe", written by Rutherford and the penultimate track recorded for the album, is a torch song about an alcoholic who goes into a drunken stupor. The guitarist intended the track to be a "piss-take on the Dean Martin 'set 'em up Joe' alcoholic style'", but thought it was not going to work until Banks added his keyboard overdubs and the band started mixing the track, at which point it "came to life"

Sufjan Stevens - exploding whale, 2015

"Sufjan Stevens is nothing if not prolific. The singer-songwriter/multi-instrumentalist has let “Exploding Whale,” a new song that was originally a tour-only 7″, make its way online, and the track shows off Stevens’ electronic side. Though it’s lighter and more melodic than some of the more experimental aspects of Age of Adz, it’s closer to that record than his most recent folk release, Carrie & Lowell."

Fait-divers on attitude

If you only see one solution to a problem, you don't understand the problem.

Fait-divers on behaviour

Never forget that the way you react to people and to events shapes you and the person you will be in the future.

REM - the sidewinder sleeps tonite, 1992

"It's about somebody that doesn't have a place to stay. Part of it is also about what man can do that machines can't. The rest of it – I don't have any idea what it's about."

Club 8 - let it all fly, 2025

"After the release of their 11th album at the end of 2024, cult Stockholm duo Club 8 are back with their fourth single of the year so far. With decades of experience, this pair have been stalwarts of the Swedish music scene since the mid-90s and have an uncommonly diverse catalogue that ranges from electro-dance stuff to music built around rhythmic African influences and pure, unadulterated pop. Let It All Fly is a hazy, dreamy piece of melancholic arty indie-pop and sounds a bit like how we imagine The Concretes would sound if they collaborated with Portishead on a shoegaze record. There’s a touch of fellow Scandinavian bands Love Is All and The Raveonettes here too."

Mella Dee - riptide, 2023

"It was originally written in a time when we weren’t able to celebrate life together, it was a release from the pressure of everything around us. Bernard wrote and recorded the vocals after hearing what I’d put together and managed to bring a new life to the record. Adding a deeper meaning which resonated with me, the feeling of being caught up in a riptide with the world still moving around you. It’s a huge pleasure to have Bernard on a record with me; having listened to his voice on so much incredible music from an early age.”

Ruby Haunt - nightjar, 2023

"Ruby Haunt (formerly known as Haunt) is a minimal pop duo consisted of Victor Pakpour and Wyatt Ininns. Based in Los Angeles, the project first emerged in 2015 and put out six releases as of 2018."

Paul McCartney - yvonne, 2000

"By the time Paul was writing the music for his Press To Play album, he was in full collaboration with Eric [Stewart], who ended up co-writing eight of the album’s tracks with Paul. One of the out-takes from Press To Play that Paul wrote with Eric, a song with the working title “Yvonne,” ended up given to him instead of going on Paul’s album. Eric changed the title to “Yvonne’s The One” and recorded it with 10cc nearly a decade later for their 1995 Mirror, Mirror album. The 10cc version features Eric on vocals and Paul guesting on rhythm guitar."

The Lightning Seeds - emily smiles, 2022

“Emily Smiles is about miscommunication and lives being changed by small moments and random events”

Damien Jurado - am am, 2016

"This song has been stuck in my head ever since I heard it in the Netflix documentary series Wild Wild Country about the Rajneeshpuram commune in central Oregon, which I guess is no surprise since that series has been all I could think about since I finished it. This song appears underneath some of the sequences showing the commune at its most utopian, which of course is only one part of the story but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t sort of see why people went there when I saw all those people hugging and smiling while this song played."

My Bloody Valentine - several girls galore, 1988

"On tracks like “Several Girls Galore” and especially “All I Need” MBV were beginning to emulate musically that fuzzy state on the periphery of consciousness – time lags, sudden starts, illusory shapes leaping out at you from the hailstorm of sound."