There's a bit about the song at the end, but today's post is really all about Radiohead, Prince, U2 and giving music away for free.

When people say they don't like Morrissey or The Smiths because they find it so depressing, I just think they're not trying hard enough, frankly. It's not a non-stop Klaus Wunderlich dance party, I know,...

'In a uniquely ‘80s way of navigating through chart waters, What is Love? took seven weeks from its entry at #31 to reach its peak placing at #2. Hard to imagine that path ever being...

Beat Surrender replaces the organ of Town Called Malice with a piano and throws an enormous pile of horns on top. It’s one last hurrah for a band departing, many felt, prematurely.

This Ole House might be a bit cookie-cutter, an example of the too-too-clean ‘80s desire for metronomic beats and karaoke covers, but back then... what a hero we had in Shakin’ Stevens...

Embarrassment is a reminder of uneasy race relations in the UK in the 70s and 80s. Masterfully, the song’s sucker-punch lyrics are punctuated by the bright brass that was Madness’ trademark.

I'm sure you don't need me to tell you about Sultans of Swing, with its lyric inspired by a mediocre pub band Knopfler once saw, and its mesmerising arpeggios from Knopfler's '61 Strat...

Jeff Wayne's musical adaptation of War of the Worlds was about as far as my interest in progressive rock ever went, and Horsell Common and the Heat Ray is responsible for one of my more...

No More Heroes is a fine example of The Stranglers' knack for a tune that set them apart from some of their peers, with its distinctive keyboard melody and lyric.

Brave Man's glitchy Radiohead-esque beats, electronic pulse and rich harmonies are currently streaming on Soundcloud, and if you get there early enough you can even download the track for free.

Tell My Body I've Gone is a sort of Jeff Buckley dystopian nightmare - the vocal over rapid cuts, electronic beats and howling guitars.

With its Disco beat and signature ABBA craft, Dancing Queen perfectly captures the fleeting euphoria of the dancefloor - 'having the time of your life' - not to mention the misconceptions shared by many out...

I know some people have trouble with the voice. Sometimes there’s just no getting past it - even ardent fans of Neil Young might not love every performance. If you’d never heard him sing, but...

Number One Record is the new single from Jack Adaptor, out later this month, and taken from the forthcoming album **J'Accuse!**

'What better way could there be to start a playlist, in September, of songs from the last 40 years of my life? September Gurls is a seminal track by a seminal band.'

41 tracks (because, maths and stuff) of varying degrees of cheesiness and significance, from classic rock to indie pop, and no doubt some straight up pop along the way, too.

Blue Monday is a gateway drug of a track - a bridge between the old world of disco and the coming days of rave, and whichever version of it you happen to find to listen...

You and Me Song is a slice of perfect feelgood Britpop straight out of northern Sweden.

Some might feel that The Lovecats is not highly danceable, but that only holds true if you're the sort who believes dancing to be in some way a co-ordinated activity.

There once was a time when I would have worried that Moments of Silence, the new track from Alex Feder, sounded a bit like, I don't know, like pop music I suppose. As the raven...