Kevin Fowley: Ne Pleure Pas, Jeanette – Single & Video

There’s something hypnotic and calming about this dark French lullaby and video by half-French half-Irish “word mumbler and string plucker” Kevin Fowley.

Half a century ago CMAT could have been knocking ’em dead at the Grand Ol’ Opry with her big ballads – if only she’d been born in Nashville rather than Dublin. 

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The laid-back desert twang of instrumentalists Hermanos Gutiérrez sounds like something from a Mexican movie – but the brothers come from Switzerland.

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The Changing Face Of Eurovision – Ireland 1993 Remembered

That time I went to a tiny village in Ireland for the Eurovision Song Contest in 1993… and came home before it started. 

A powerful message of hope for a ceasefire in Gaza, created in collaboration by musician/producer David Holmes, film-maker/activist Douglas Hart, artist/activist Adam Broomberg, Hebron resident Issa Amro and vocalist Raven Violet.

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There’s a couple of special things about this steamy Northern Soul double-header by Rosa Lee Brooks. Firstly, the A-side – My Diary – is written and produced by Arthur Lee of Love; and secondly, the guitarist playing those familiar-sounding licks is a young “Jimmy” Hendrix.

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It’s fair to say that Poco are mostly a forgotten name today, but here they are out-Eagling The Eagles with their country-fried vocal harmonies.

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Simultaneously smooth, smouldering AND funky, this tune helped give soul singer Gwen McCrae a second lease of life on the Northern Soul circuit in the UK.

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Florida band The Outlaws brought the three-guitar line-up into country rock, blending three-part harmonies with their multiple guitar solos.

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The Kings Of Leon never did much for me when they appeared 25 years ago. I always felt their story – three sons of an itinerant preacher and their cousin – was better than their music.

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