"To be loved like that makes all the difference. It does not lessen the terror of the fall, but it gives a new perspective on what that terror means. I had jumped off the edge, and then, at the very last moment, something reached out and caught me in midair. That something is what I define as love. It is the one thing that can stop a man from falling, the one thing powerful enough to negate the laws of gravity." Paul Auster (Moon Palace)

Saturday, September 20, 2025

The Moody Blues - the best way to travel additional vocal mix, 2006

"The "Additional Vocal Mix" is a previously unreleased alternate version of the track, featuring enhanced or layered vocals (likely more prominent backing harmonies). It was included as a bonus track on the 2006 remastered CD reissue of In Search of the Lost Chord. This mix adds a richer, more ethereal vocal texture compared to the original album version, making it a favorite among fans for its subtle production tweaks."

Rufus Du Sol - treat you better, 2018

"It felt like a song we wrote to ourselves and to our loved ones during what was a testing time for us all personally. We were originally going to get a gospel choir for the end of this song but thought better of it when we realized we had so many talented friends with amazing voices around us. We invited them to the studio and just spent a full day playing and recording with them. It's so special to share this song with such a talented and kind-hearted group of people."

B J Thomas - raindrops keep fallin on my head, 1969

"The song Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head, written by Hal David and Burt Bacharach, sung by B.J. Thomas and with Carole King on bass, was written for the film. Not everyone, Robert Redford included, thought it as the correct choice. It didn't fit with the film, there was no rain, Redford said it 'seemed like a dumb idea'. It was massive, sold over two million copies and won an Oscar."

El Perro Del Mar - it's all good, 2006

"With a voice that wavers between Jane Birkin's and Neil Young's, Swede Sarah Assbring, or El Perro del Mar as she calls herself, writes of hope and loneliness, sometimes at the same time. Cleary influenced by Burt Bacharach and Phil Spector, El Perro del Mar sings a kind of indie doo wop, bringing together syllabic backing harmonies ("sha-la-la-la," "shooby doo-wop bah," and "be-bop a loo-lah" are some of the phrases she uses throughout the album), poppy melodies, simple vocal lines, acoustic guitars, and twinkling pianos on her self-titled full-length. But despite these brighter, happier elements that envelop her music, Assbring has a kind of despair in her voice that veils even the most cheerful of her songs in sadness. "It's All Good," in which she echoes variations of "it's all good, take a new road and never look back" throughout the entire piece, even in its optimism, conveys the sense that at one point things in fact were not good at all, even though they might be changing, and the breezy warmth of "God Knows (You Gotta Give to Get)" is more of a criticism of herself for "taking a lot without giving back" than advice regarding the benefits of altruism."

Rádio Macau - amanhã é sempre longe demais nova versão, 2001

"Rádio Macau - A Vida Num Só Dia 1984-2001. Label: EMI – 7243 5 35639 2 9. Format: CD, Compilation. Country: Portugal. Released: 2001."

Saint Etienne - i threw it all away, 2012

"The album refers to the “strange magic” of pop. About the special alchemy that transforms even the most mundane of experiences – walking home with the headphones on at night, sitting in a bedroom with your friends in the day, getting ready to go out on the weekend – into a lingering moment of seamless enchantment, one that resonates for the rest of your life."

Thursday, September 18, 2025

The Goon Sax - sleep ez, 2018

"The title "Sleep EZ" appears to be a playful or ironic abbreviation, likely shorthand for "Sleep Easy," evoking the idea of rest or peace of mind—though the song's content subverts this with themes of insomnia, regret, and relational tension."

Dido - isobel, 1999

“Isobel” tells an anguished woman to stop punishing herself for an unnamed offense."

Robert Forster - i'll jump, 1996

"I don’t think song lyrics are poetry. I think lyric writing and poetry are two really different things, and this is being brought home to me at the moment because I’m off to Dublin in two weeks and I’m doing two concerts that celebrate the 150th year of the birth of the poet W.B. Yeats. And so I’m trying to put music to his poetry and it just reminded me that it is hard, that they are two very, very different things."

Saint Etienne - i've got your music kisses remix, 2012

"Seven years on, Words and Music … opens with a song that could be Teenage Winter's negative image. Over the Border features the same structure – a bittersweet chorus flanked by spoken-word verses – but its lyrics fetishise old record labels ("green and yellow Harvests, pink Pyes, silver Bells") and hymn Top of the Pops, Dexys Midnight Runners and Smash Hits. Like Teenage Winter, it wonders whether all this is still relevant in middle age – "when I was married and when I had kids, would Marc Bolan still be as important?" – but this time decides it is. "I'm growing older," sings Sarah Cracknell. "Love is here to stay."

Coldplay - rainy day, 2008

"Rainy Day" has a nice percolating electronic beat along with simpatico staccato strings"

Wednesday, September 17, 2025

Fleet Foxes - third of may odaigahara, 2017

“Third of May/Ōdaigahara” is an ambitious composition with string orchestration, multiple voices rising in unison and marked shifts from loud to quiet. At several points during the nearly nine-minute song, the pounding piano falls to leave a lone singer, who sounds fragile and isolated. The band roars back to full volume, but in the final minutes of the song are voiceless and beat-less – just a soothing wash of strings."

Plastic Flowers - how can i, 2017

"Plastic Flowers is the solo project of George Samaras, a Greek-born producer, multi-instrumentalist, and dream pop artist based in London, UK. His music blends shoegaze, vaporwave, and lo-fi aesthetics, often drawing influences from 90s indie pop and contemporary dream pop acts like Deerhunter or My Bloody Valentine. The band/project started as a bedroom pop endeavor during his college years, evolving into full-length albums praised for their analog warmth and emotional depth."How Can I" is a track from Plastic Flowers' third full-length album, Absent Forever, released on November 10, 2017, via The Native Sound label. The album was recorded onto tape between April and July 2017 in London, amid Samaras' PhD workload, and features collaborations with a string quartet, his former bandmate Angelos Paschalidis on bass for one track, and drummer Nikos Panaroudis. It captures a shift toward richer, tape-recorded soundscapes, with themes of absence, longing, and introspection."

Rufus Du Sol - until the sun needs to rise, 2016

"Rufus Du Sol is an Australian electronic band that has been making waves in the music industry since they formed in 2013. With a unique sound and soulful lyrics, they quickly gained a following both in Australia and around the world. In this blog post, we'll take a closer look at who Rufus Du Sol is and what makes them so special. We'll also explore some of their most popular songs and discuss why they've become such a hit with fans."

Keane - the way i feel, 2019

“The Way I Feel” discusses the pressures and emotions that come with mental health, with lines in both the pre-chorus and the chorus, such as: “But it only makes it worse now / You’re like a puzzle to be worked out / And it’s the voices in your head now / Saying there’s something wrong about the way I feel”. The band have performed the track on The Late Late Show in the US, and gave the audience an extremely emotional performance."

Deerhunter - he would have laughed, 2010

"The final track, ‘He Would Have Laughed’, is dedicated in the lyrics sheet to Jimmy Lee Lindsey Jr., the actual name of Jay Reatard. The song was recorded by lead singer Bradford Cox, separate from the rest of the album, at Notown Sound in Georgia. It has Cox’s world-weary voice, a simple looping riff and drum pattern and many effects I would like to describe as twinkly. Many have debated whether the song is about Reatard or dedicated to him; the lyrics are often in quotation marks - does this make those lines quotes? Would he have laughed at the idea of a song being a tribute to him? One thing that I do find interesting about the lyrics is they are entirely non-judgemental, and not only that, there is empathy and warmth."

Coldplay - adventure of a lifetime, 2015

"the song is "incredibly vibrant in an almost childlike, blissful way that gives such an energetic rush" and that it is "the best Coldplay single in seven years".