Wild Honey, the 1967 album which “Country Air” appears, was initially panned by music critics, which tells you all you need to know about the sheer…
Pop
25/12/2020: “Jingle Bell Rock” by Bobby Helms
It’s Christmas, and that means Christmas songs, on repeat, everywhere. It actually hasn’t been quite so all pervasive this year since everything is shut. So…
07/12/2020: “Love And Hate” by Michael Kiwanuka
This song is very lush. It radiates dusky vocals. It drips with rich strings. No guitar hook is spared. It’s great. There’s plenty of fantastic…
24/11/2020: “Here Comes Your Man” by The Pixies
Released in 1989, on Doolittle, this track was actually written quite a few years later, when frontman Black Francis was 14. It’s a very sweet,…
21/11/2020: “Fashion” by David Bowie
This is typical trailblazing David Bowie. It’s simultaneously entrenched in its time, and beyond it. There’s just enough weirdness to mark it indelibly as a…
13/11/2020: “Cool For Cats” by Squeeze
I must admit, I’m not an expert on Squeeze. That’s partly because “Cool For Cats” is quite different from their other popular songs. It’s much…
11/11/2020: “Bofou Safou” by Amadou & Mariam
Amadou & Mariam are a couple from Mali, both blind, both excellent musicians. A lot of their music is lighter than this track, which leans…
10/11/2020: “Feel So Close” by Calvin Harris
I tend to sneer at the sort of ‘hit of the summer’ pop music produced by people like Calvin Harris. Although this doesn’t, in most…
29/10/2020: “A New England” by Kirsty MacColl
Billy Bragg released “A New England” in 1983. It’s a stark social commentary on early 80s Britain. He sings it rather plainly, with just his…
27/10/2020: “Everything She Wants” by Wham!
For many people, Wham! represent everything that’s wrong with the 80s. Campy, over commercialised, cliched. And of course, for many people, it’s songs like this…