Sigue Sigue Sputnik arrived in an explosion of silly hair and sci-fi costumes as a postmodern pastiche of the ultimate Eighties band.
When I first heard the adrenalin rush of those guitars at the start of Girl From Mars, I was instantly transported back to the first wave of punk in 1977.
Saint Etienne changed direction from their ambient dance style to a retro Sixties vibe on You’re In A Bad Way.
The Beta Band burst on to the music scene in 1997 with the first of their three EPs, kicking off with this tune, Dry The Rain.
The Flaming Lips sang this poignant, melancholic and beautiful state-of-the-world ballad on their third album back in 1990.
DJ Seinfeld’s tune instantly evokes sunny afternoons in Ibiza, where you can imagine it seeping from the speakers of a beach bar as you sip on a cocktail.
Velocity Girl came out of Washington D.C. and burned brightly but briefly in the early Nineties, blending pop melodies and noisy guitars.
The Fall made their national TV debut on The Tube thanks to John Peel – five years after I first saw them play in London.
Song of the Day
A Certain Ratio’s 1982 single Knife Slits Water gets an updated remix from Andy Meecham, aka The Emperor Machine.
Swimming Pool come from the underground music scene of Seville in suthern Spain and play a brand of shoegazey drem-noise.