Wednesday 23 January 2008

All Because Of You Days, by Echo & The Bunnymen, from their 2005 album, Siberia. Sample more of its delights here.

Cigarettes And Alcohol, by Oasis, from their 1994 debut album, Definitely Maybe.

History, by The Verve, from their second album, A Northern Soul, released in 1995. Sample the rest of it here.

The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore, the second number one single from The Walker Brothers, in 1966. See the vintage promo video here.

That's Entertainment, by The Jam, from their 1980 album, Sound Affects. Despite only being available as a single on import, it got to number 21 in the UK charts in early 1981. Allegedly written by Paul Weller in 15 minutes after a session at his local boozer. Check out video here. (Note to pedants: The album title deliberatly uses the verb affect instead of the noun effect)

Home, by Engineers, from their eponymous, debut album of 2005. Sample more from it here.

Interleukin 2, by The Durutti Column, from last year's album, Idiot Savants. The Durutti Column is actually composer/guitarist/awful singer Vini Reilly, who has been turning out his minimalist, beautiful compositions on Factory Records since 1979. This track, named after a cancer drug, is dedicated to Factory founder Anthony Wilson, who died last year. Sample more of the album here.

Cancer For The Cure, by Eels, from their 1998 album, Electro-Shock Blues. Eels front man Mark Oliver Everett has just written a book, Things The Grandchildren Should Know, about his tragedy-packed life. Not only has he seen his parents and sister all die(natural causes and suicide respectively), but another relative was on the plane that flew into the Pentagon on 9/11. And you wondered why his work sounded so miserable....

All Cats Are Grey, by The Cure, from their 1981 album, Faith. Sample more from it here.

Linger, by The Cranberries, from their 1992 album, Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can't We? Sample the rest of it here.

For Lovers, the solitary, gorgeous release from the 2004 collaboration between Wolfman and Pete Doherty. Check out the video here.

Dance Away, by Roxy Music, from their 1979 album, Manifesto.

JACK'S BIT OF CRACKLING: Messages, by Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark, their third single release from 1980. Classic period video here.

Lost In The Plot, by The Dears, from their second, 2003 album, No Cities Left. Sample more from it here.

There Is A Light That Never Goes Out, by The Smiths, from their third, 1986 album, The Queen Is Dead.

No Bleeding, by Wild Swans, from their 1982 John Peel session, later released on vinyl, and most recently included on the double-CD compilation, Incandescent, released by Renascent. Simply awesome.

News And Tributes, by The Futureheads, the title track from their second, 2006 album, inspired by the Manchester United Munich disaster of 1958. Sample more from the album here.

Faron Young, by Prefab Sprout, from their second, 1985 album, Steve McQueen(though released in the US as Two Wheels Good because of objections from the actor's family). Faron Young was an American country singer famous in the 1950s and 60s.

Horse Overboard, by Microdisney, from their 1987 album, The Clock Comes Down The Stairs