Oasis – Talk Tonight (1995)

YouTube – Spotify – Apple – Discogs

Dare I say that ‘Talk Tonight’ is an underrated Oasis song? Well I think it might just be. Originally released as a B-side to ‘Some Might Say’, the song resurfaced on their compilation The Masterplan in 1998.

Paul McCartney and Wings – Jet (1974)

YouTube – Spotify – Apple – Discogs

The story goes that Wings were under huge pressure, recording at EMI’s studio in Lagos, having just lost drummer Denny Seiwell and guitarist Henry McCullough. With Paul McCartney playing bass, drums and most of the lead guitar, the remaining trio were able to produce much of the band’s best work. The unmistakable intro to ‘Jet’ has always sounded like a call to arms to bands like The Clash and The Police.

Augustus Pablo – Java (1971)

YouTube – Spotify – Apple – Discogs

Horace Michael Swaby, aka Augustus Pablo, was a Jamaican reggae melodica and keyboard player and later producer and record store / label owner. His collaboration with sound engineer Osbourne Ruddock, aka King Tubby, was central to the development of the dub sound in the mid 1970s. An early career highlight was the 1971 track ‘Java’ released on Vincent “Randy” Chin’s Impact label. He recorded the track with Chin’s son Clive. Have a great week.

Max Richter – She Remembers (2014)

YouTube – Spotify – Apple – Discogs

Sunday sounds… this time as an accompaniment to some DIY and painting at Chez Samuel. In 2014, Max Richter wrote the music for the HBO series The Leftovers. The despairing ‘She Remembers’ features in the first series about how those left behind respond to the simultaneous disappearance of 2% of the world’s population (140 million people).

Zé Roberto – Lotus 72 D (1973)

YouTube – Spotify – Apple – Discogs

Not the former Brazilian footballer who played in the German Bundesliga, but rather the Brazilian singer Joaquim Roberto de Oliveira, aka Zé Roberto. Roberto wrote this love song about the car that his compatriot Emerson Fittipaldi drove for Formula 1’s Team Lotus in the early 1970s. And why not if you are this funky. Shout out to AL for the recommendation.

Kamasi Washington – Street Fighter Mas (2018)

YouTube – Spotify – Apple – Discogs

Kamasi Washington’s ‘Street Fighter Mas’ sounds like a nod to a funky 1970s movie score. In fact, this is a jazztronica homage to Capcom’s Street Fighter. Washington was good enough at the video game back in the day that he imagined his own theme song. It features on his 2018 sophomore album Heaven and Earth.

Fontaines D.C. – Starburster (2024)

YouTube – Spotify – Apple – Discogs

Speaking of unexpected hip hop beats… post-punk outfit Fontaines D.C. are collaborating with James Ford (ex-Simian, ex-Last Shadow Puppets) on the production of upcoming album Romance. Taster single ‘Starburster’ is about frontman Grian Chatten’s experience of a panic attack while in St. Pancras station.

The Shins – Sea Legs (2007)

YouTube – Spotify – Apple – Discogs

Owing to the very high standards of their first two albums Oh, Inverted World and Chutes Too Narrow, there was some hefty critical reception awaiting their third. The band decided to diversify away from their established sound, and no more so on ‘Sea Legs’. Its funky bassline would not be out of place on a hip hop track. “Throw all consequence aside In a cheerless pyre that we will set alight”. The song and lyric appear on 2007 LP Wincing Tbe Night Away.

Pharoah Sanders – Moon Child (1989)

YouTube – Spotify – Apple – Discogs

Good morning all. A little too smooth and contrived for die-hard Pharoah Sanders’ fans, ‘Moon Child’ has a great sound for this armchair jazz fan. By 1989 and the release of the album with the same name, Sanders had nothing to prove as a jazz saxophonist. He had played a key role in the development of free jazz a quarter century before. Have a great week.

Philip Glass – Mishima / Closing (1985)

YouTube – Spotify – Apple – Discogs

I’m on the laptop working this afternoon and looking for musical distraction. The closing theme of the Paul Schrader movie Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters is this sublime and somber piece played by the Kronos string quartet. The entire soundtrack was written Philip Glass for the 1985 dramatised film about the life of Japanese writer Yukio Mishima. I hope you are having a good weekend and catch up again tomorrow.

Yannis & The Yaw feat. Tony Allen – Walk Through Fire (2024)

YouTube – Spotify – Apple – Discogs

This week, The Foals’ Yannis Philippakis has pre-released part 1 of his collaboration with the late afrobeat legend Tony Allen. Listen to Yannis & The Yaw’s ‘Walk Through Fire’ and enjoy. Highlights of their work together will be released this August an EP (Lagos Paris London) by on Transgressive Records.

Broken Social Scene – Almost Crimes (Radio Kills Remix) (2002)

YouTube – Spotify – Apple – Discogs

‘Almost Crimes’ features on Broken Social Scene’s magnus opus You Forgot It In People. It immediately ached for a stadium to be played in. Instead, the indie collective were still playing small shows in Toronto in 2002. There they had the opportunity to share billings with Arcade Fire. In fact, this song sounds remarkably similar to Arcade Fire’s ‘Headlights Look Like Diamonds’. No idea which came first; both are brilliant.

Chapterhouse – Pearl (Edit) (1991)

YouTube – Spotify – Apple – Discogs

To me, Chapterhouse appeared like a bridge between the shoegaze sound of Lush and Slowdive and the more melodic Britrock from Oasis, Ocean Colour Scene, Mansun etc. Between stations, they did not have the success of either. Formed in 1988 by Andrew Sherriff, the Reading band’s first acclaimed sound was the distorted melodies of the single ‘Pearl’. It features on their debut long player Whirlpool.

Brian Eno – Always Returning (1983)

YouTube – Spotify – Apple – Discogs

Good evening… ‘Always Returning’ is a contemplative start to the week. It features on Brian Eno’s Apollo: Atmospheres and Soundtracks released in 1983. The album is genius ambient fare that has already featured a couple of times on this blog. He wrote, produced and performed the music with his brother Roger, and the Canadian musician Daniel Lanois. The album eventually served its purpose as a film score in 1989 with the release of For All Mankind, an Oscar-nominated documentary on the NASA space program. The influence of Eno is well known, but by 1989, Lanois had already gone onto co-produce (with Brian Eno) U2’s Unforgettable Fire and The Joshua Tree LPs and record Peter Gabriel’s So album. That’s not too shoddy.

Big Audio Dynamite – Medicine Show (1985)

YouTube – Spotify – Apple – Discogs

It was 1985. I loved westerns. I loved The Clash’s ‘Should I Stay Or Should I Go’. Mick Jones kindly blended my interests by leaving The Clash, forming B.A.D. and releasing This Is Big Audio Dynamite with ‘Medicine Show’ as its kick-off track. It was a delightful soup of punk, hip hop, reggae, funk and spaghetti westerns. “Duck, You Sucker!”