The Moody Blues - nights in white satin bbc live, 1967

“Nights in White Satin” evolved into an emotional tour de force, smoldering with the passion of young love and the excitement of a band on the precipice of new artistic peaks."

Junip - your life your call live, 2013

"Here’s a decidedly juicy piece of indie gossip: After enjoying a successful solo career, Swedish singer/songwriter José González has reunited with his old band Junip, comprised of himself, drummer Elias Araya, and keys player Tobias Winterkorn. They released a five-song EP back in 2005 called Black Refugee, but they’ve gotten back together to release a full-length album coming out “sometime this year,” presumably through their own Teme Shet label."

REM - yellow river cover, 2001

"The actual location of Yellow River in this song is not specified, although the author, Jeff Christie, is on record as saying that it was inspired by the idea of a soldier going home at the end of the American Civil War. As the song was released during the Vietnam War, it has been interpreted as being about a soldier leaving the U.S. Military at the end of his period of conscription."

Ultracrush - bruise, 2022

"Some of our influences are The Radio Dept, Sun Kil Moon, Pinegrove, Beach House, Alex G, DIIV, Snail Mail, and Tigers Jaw. We are attracted to strong songwriting and an authenticity more than any specific sound."

Guided By Voices - sport component national, 2018

"Why was the most prolific man in indie rock suddenly dialing down his workflow? Well, maybe he just wanted to concentrate on making one really good album for a change."

We Are Revolution - saved by animals, 2020

"Dminor and Falcon Chest, the two members of Sweden’s We Are Revolution, have dug into their parents record collections as well as exploring the record stores of their hometown to come up with an eclectic mix of the last 30 years of electronic pop music. Their debut single Saved By Animals speaks with its beautiful melodies and airy production of what to expect of their forthcoming album. Album out on Labrador in the fall of 2020."

The Velvet Underground - sunday morning, 1966

"Andy said, 'Why don't you just make it a song about paranoia?' I thought that was great so I came up with 'Watch out, the world's behind you, there's always someone around you who will call... It's nothing at all' which I feel is the ultimate paranoid statement in that the world cares enough to watch you."

The Feelies - in between, 2017

"If ever there was a band that was born to disappear, it was The Feelies. They are the cult band that, for over forty years, were not a band much more than they were a band. They average an album every five or six years. They retire, reconstitute and play under new names or assumed names, sometimes with the same members and sometimes with a tweak of the line-up. They prefer surprise shows on national holidays to well promoted tours. They write songs about nothing. And having nothing to say. And about waiting for something to happen but knowing that it will never actually happen. They seem completely disinterested in every single thing about being in a band except for the part where the band gets together and plays songs. And, for every single one of those reasons, and countless more, they were my absolute favorite band in the world for the better part of the 1990s."

The Smile - free in the knowledge, 2022

"It’s as if Thom Yorke decided about a decade ago to commit himself to releasing some of the most devastating music of his career — which is kind of like a Carolina Reaper deciding to be spicier, or the Mariana Trench deciding that it’s not quite deep enough. There’s “Dawn Chorus” from his 2019 solo record ANIMA, “Unmade” from the Suspiria soundtrack, and pretty much everything off of Radiohead’s A Moon Shaped Pool. Yorke, three decades into his career, has proven to be no less melancholic, no less moving."

Cemeteries - can you hear them sing, 2015

"the album encapsulates the drowsy echoes of dream pop. Reverberated atmospherics might bring to mind Mazzy Star, and the nocturnal qualities fall right in line with contemporaries like Beach House and Bradford Cox's drearier, spacy output in Deerhunter or Atlas Sound"

Sufjan Stevens - the only thing, 2015

"The Only Thing is undoubtedly the most important song in my life. It’s not the most listened to but its meaning surpasses any other method of quantifying music. All throughout secondary school I had bouts of deep, deep depression. Skipping the details, simply put I couldn’t imagine a better future. Nothing else really gave me hope except for the smaller things. Maybe cliché, but sunsets, a beautiful painting, a mom laughing with her toddler on the bus, an adorable dog by the grocery store, reading in a bookstore, a kind smile exchanged with a stranger — small things would move me to tears but kindle that impossible to describe bittersweet hope and longing somewhere deep inside me. By God the world is beautiful, I would think. We are all so small but so significant to each other. It’s all so temporary and sorrowful, but full of wonder."

Paul McCartney - the man, 1983

"Pipes of Peace is the fourth solo studio album by English singer-songwriter Paul McCartney, released on 31 October 1983. As the follow-up to the popular Tug of War, the album came close to matching the commercial success of its predecessor in Britain but peaked only at number 15 on America's Billboard Top LPs & Tape chart."

The House Of Love - shine on, 1987

"Shine On" has been described as a "classic, full of dark glamour, shimmering, squalling, pre-shoegaze guitars and a massive chorus." It contains heavy use of reverb, with vocals sung by Guy Chadwick. The original version contained background harmonies by Andrea Heukamp, who left the band before the release of The House of Love's self-titled debut album. PopMatters listed "Shine On" as the 66th-best alternative rock single of the 1980s, praising the song for its "cinematic swirl of delicate beauty, with a thunderous rhythm and Terry Bickers' darkly shimmering guitar."

Redd Kross - yesterday once more cover, 1994

"This is a sad day, but at the same time a very special and beautiful day to my family and me. My only regret is that Karen is not physically here to share it with us, but I know that she is very much alive in our minds, and in our hearts"

Sufjan Stevens - drawn to the blood, 2015

"I was recording songs as a means of grieving, making sense of it. But the writing and recording wasn't the salve I expected. I fell deeper and deeper into doubt and misery. It was a year of real darkness. In the past my work had a real reciprocity of resources—I would put something in and get something from it. But not this time."

KLF - justified and ancient, 1991

"The KLF—King Boy D (Bill Drummond) and Rockman Rock (Jimmy Cauty)—began working together in 1987 as the Justified Ancients of Mu Mu (the JAMs). The song title "Justified & Ancient" refers to this pseudonym. The JAMs took their name from a fictional subversive cult from the 1970s conspiratorial novels The Illuminatus! Trilogy."

Small Forward - human emotion, 2022

"California and New Delhi-based trio Michael Stevenson, Campbell Scott and Rounak Maiti met and formed Small Forward in 2015 while attending college and crafting songs together in their home studios. A few EP's, scattered singles and debut-full length later, Small Forward continue to craft earnest 70's-pop and country inspired music."

Sufjan Stevens - should have known better, 2015

"Jeremy Gordon stated that, " 'Should Have Known Better' takes us back to the beginning he remembers, where Carrie leaves him in a video store at the age of 'three, maybe four.' In a hushed voice, he sings like he's clinging onto a blanket for warmth as he fixates on the black shroud that enveloped him in the wake of her absence, muting his ability to transparently express himself." Gordon continues, "But halfway through, an uplifting electric keyboard line kicks in; a subtle percussive note steadily taps out a reminder to keep going; his voice shakes off the ice and forms a chorus with itself, flowering into something hopeful. Sufjan flips the melody from the black shroud into a tender lyric about shoving aside his fear, discovering an oasis of perspective when he looks to his brother's newborn daughter and sees his mother in her face. When he sings 'nothing can be changed,' he doesn't sound resigned, but ready to look forward. It's the dawn at the end of a long night, a prayer that past traumas might be healed by a beautiful present."

Marillion - forgotten sons, 1983

"An old English nursery rhyme. It is popularly believed to have dated from the time of the Black Death in the 17th century. The rhyme is: Ring-a-ring-o-roses, A pocketful of posies, Atishoo! Atishoo! They all fall down! The rhyme supposedly developed out of the fact that sneezing was the first sign that death by plague was imminent; those who sneezed died! The rhyme is rarely perceived to be as nasty as it really is; it's about death!"

The Radio Dept - a window, 2006

"a perfect summer urban love song....as with everything else with the radio dept., how it sounds is half the story. it inhabits the half-awake driftspace, maybe just idle thoughts one thinks while looking out the window? or maybe just general frustration about not being able to get into the swing of things, which i'm sure everyone feels at one point or another. lovely, lovely."