October is the mellowest month, said no one in particular. But in a way it is: autumn settling in, the days getting shorter, the leaves beginning to turn, coats and scarves and hats coming out of closets. And here’s a suitably mellow playlist to soundtrack the darkening of the days. (more…)

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Happy Hallowe’en folks! And nothing says Hallowe’en like a Northern Soul banger with a spooky title.

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Twee indie-pop normally raises my hackles, especially when it comes along with a fey attitude and irritatingly catchy tunes. Belle & Sebastian spring immediately to mind.

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The growling blues-boogie of La Grange gave ZZ Top their big breakthrough in 1973, though they were already on to their third album by then – and would go on to enjoy a second lease of life in the ’80s.

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Mississippi bluesman Junior Kimbrough did not come to fame until he was in his sixties – but made a lasting impression with his Hill Country Blues.

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“You got to have a J-O-B if you wanna be with me… No romance without finance.” This is one of the finest funk and soul singles of all time – despite its far-from-feminist materialistic message; it was the ’80s after all. (more…)

Leroy Van Dyke’s first job as a livestock auctioneer inspired the song that brought him to fame back in 1956.

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Maria McKee wrote this song when she was a teenager and it became Feargal Sharkey’s only chart-topping single a few years later.

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Lone Justice tackled The Undertones’ greatest song Teenage Kicks when they kicked off the LA cowpunk scene and paved the way for alt-country.

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