There’s a compelling argument that we’ve had enough Christmas songs to last a lifetime and don’t need any more. But this one has that same seasonal sense of sadness and nostalgia as Fairytale Of New York.

(more…)

Bass lines don’t come much funkier than this minimalist drum-and-bass obscurity by a short-lived mid-’70s band called Spaghetti Head.

(more…)

This is utterly heartbreaking. Once heard, never forgotten: Candi Staton’s first-hand memory of one of the worst racist terror incidents in US history, in which four little girls lost their lives.

(more…)

Here’s a sweet slice of Northern Soul to warm the cockles of the heart on the longest night of the year. Listen carefully and you can hear the guitar of future Fleetwood Mac member Bob Welch.

(more…)

Here’s a slice of French hip-hop from the soundtrack of the Marseille-set cop drama Blood Coast (aka Pax Masillia) by a member of the city’s best known rap crew IAM.

(more…)

Brian Auger is a name that rings a distant bell to me but ought to ring a lot louder. He’s a bit of a zelig, turning up with his Hammond organ in the unlikeliest places ever since the ’60s. Not just his organ either.

(more…)

This one is properly obscure, though you may well recognise the tune as Dawn Penn’s vintage reggae classic No No No.

(more…)

When I first heard Xmal Deutschland in the early 1980s I thought I was listening to something new by Siouxsie And The Banshees. I’m sure I was not alone.

(more…)

This came on the radio the other day and I was reminded just what a startlingly original song it was. And it still sounds as fresh and innovative as it did 33 years ago.

(more…)

Here’s something weird and appropriately trippy from Wiltshire producer DJ Emma, celebrating the invention of LSD – or, to be specific, the world’s first acid trip.

(more…)