David Bowie foretold his own imminent death in what would be the last song he released in his lifetime, Lazarus. Two days later he was dead at 69.

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Mogwai return with Fanzine Made Of Flesh, a characteristically bizarre and sinister new song and video from forthcoming album The Bad Fire.

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Genre-bending punk survivors The Mekons turn their ire towards British imperialism in general, and the Irish potato famine in particular, on a new album called Horror.

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Holly Beth Vincent combined a feisty punk attitude with a smouldering sexuality and pop tunes you would remember in her short-lived band Holly & The Italians. None more so than this.

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My December playlist, as you might expect, features a handful of Christmas tunes towards the end. But it’s also got some eclectic choices for a cold winter month, kicking off with a much-needed winter warmer of Electricity. There’s a prominent African flavour to blast away the chills, and some vintage jazz and funk.

I’ve only just stumbled upon this deep cut from Thin Lizzy, which seems to have been excavated from the vaults at some point last year.

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I should probably have posted this song on New Year’s Day; it’s the ultimate morning-after song. It’s also a bleak portrait of a couple trapped in an endless cycle of bitterness and despair.

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I came to Jethro Tull through their flutey folky stuff, matched to the occasional powerchord, but was never a big fan – largely because of Ian Anderson’s flute.

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This power pop pastiche of Phil Spector brought pub rockers The Kursaal Flyers their only hit record in 1976. Which is ironic as they had another great song earlier in their career actually called Hit Records.

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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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