Here is Nick Cave serenading his wife Susie with words of love in Palaces Of Montezuma, in his late-2000s side project Grinderman.

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Low’s wonderful Christmas album is a staple in my house at this time of year. This is my favourite song.

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The Fall might not be the most obvious band to convey the festive spirit. But Mark E Smith and chums do a decent job of tackling this old carol.

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I was always put off listening to Viagra Boys because of their terrible band name. Which turns out to have been my loss.

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There are a handful of musical moments in my life where I’ve heard a song for the first time and felt: This changes everything. Never Understand is one.

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The Blue Aeroplanes, led by the Langley brothers from Bristol, emerged in the early 1980s and are still going strong four decades later.

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Porridge Radio return with a second big break-up song from their forthcoming fourth album.

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Tramhaus are The Netherlands’ best-kept secret – a post-punk band from the (low) land that gave us Focus, Golden Earring and, er, Pussycat. (more…)

The very first time I heard the twang of that guitar motif, wobbling and bending out of shape, I was hooked on what must be one of the strangest love songs of all time. And it’s stayed in my head since 1978.

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Who would have thought a pasty-faced weirdo and his Manchester mates could create something as funky as Sly Stone’s original? Yet that’s exactly what Magazine manage to do.

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