Playlists - page 2

It's all indie tweeted yesterday about a list of great opening tracks that they put together in July. There are some gooduns on their list, but it inspired me to go one better. And then...

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.

20 more songs that wipe their feet but don't bother to take off their coat. "Won't be staying long, anyway", they say.

The 20 songs series has done long and dreamy, now it’s going to try its hand at short and spiky. All the tracks in this playlist are under two minutes long, give or take the...

20 outstanding songs that, as BAFTA would say, are Not in the English Language.

This, I can tell already, is going to be the hardest playlist to write about. Not for want of stellar selections, you understand, but because every time I start listening to a song on the...

These 20 physically and spiritually transporting tracks will take you to new lands, and blow your mind on arrival.

I don't always pick up on something the minute it's released. Even when I do, I might not write about it. This playlist will hoover up a few songs I missed from earlier in the...

The sun came out and I thought it would be a good time to kick off a new project…

'B-sides, rarities, non-album tracks, alternate versions - the tracks that bands and labels forgot, or mysteriously tucked away in a corner, out of view.'

In which I root around in the bin marked 'classics I've just ignored until now for one reason or another'.

30 songs at a rate of one song per album, at a rate of one album per artist in my top 30 artists according to last.fm.

The string section has always been with us, and long may it stay. This month I want to explore the full range of stringed beauty: songs with strings; songs with things that sound like strings...

Originally coined as a barbed description of the on-stage style of Moose frontman Russell Yates, shoegazing soon became a loose catch-all for bands playing in a particular style in the early 90s: droning, whirling guitars...

My take on the obligatory end of year run-down. Not necessarily the 31 best tracks or singles of the year, or tracks from the 31 best albums of the year; just 31 tracks from 2013...

From the post-punk, 60s-infused DIY jangle of the 80s to their twenty-first century followers (yes, we’re a 90s free zone for once), the twee, the quirky, the surprising and the plain old melodic shapes of...

Monday saw the tenth anniversary of the death of the songwriter Elliott Smith. A remarkable, fragile talent, like so many others of his profession. So many great melodies, bittersweet lyrics, and equally at home in...

For was it not Danny McNamara of Embrace who said:

Sometimes the creative itch has to be scratched. If you’re Neil Young hooking up with Crosby, Stills and Nash, Buffalo Springfield, or maybe just jamming with Crazy Horse, you might also feel the need for...

Songs of home, songs about the UK, homecoming songs, after a month in which I spent some time with family and friends in the UK.