Day 10 #TheTwen2ie5 #MusicChallenge #BestSongHeardToday THERAPY (2023) (from ATTACHMENT STYLES) M(h)aol (Ireland) Abrasive post-punk aggression, all clattering drums, jagged guitars & smart confrontational lyrics. A key track from my favourite album of that year. youtu.be/8PVOEK-HZ9k?...

Day 10 #80sTop30 #MusicChallenge EVERY CHILD IN HEAVEN (1987) The Passmore Sisters youtu.be/MrV4KoNsq5Y?...

Day 10 #DavidsMonthofMusic #MusicChallenge An album title track DISINTEGRATION The Cure youtu.be/__EVr7CF3Hw?...

Day 9 #TheTwen2ie5 #MusicChallenge #BestSongHeardToday WISE SAYING (feat Sara Clarke) (2022) (from the ALTERNATION EP) Rødhåd (Germany) Trademark thunderous dystopian Techno from the Berghain mainstay. youtu.be/59M7NUxHY6c?...

Day 9 #DavidsMonthofMusic #MusicChallenge A song by a fictional / virtual band SHAPESHIFTER Josie and the Pussycats Vocals actually by Kay Hanley from Letters To Cleo, with Jane Wiedlin & others also on the soundtrack. If you think that’s cool, whatever dude… youtu.be/9rIx72NRZbo?...

Day 9 #80sTop30 #MusicChallenge UP THE HILL AND DOWN THE SLOPE (1985) The Loft youtu.be/VbiB4TlKyGU?...

Day 8 #80sTop30 #MusicChallenge PLEASE DON’T SANDBLAST MY HOUSE (1986) One Thousand Violins Oh how I need the world But do you really need me at all? youtu.be/1-6W86TvE7w?...

Day 8 #TheTwen2ie5 #MusicChallenge #BestSongHeardToday JOYRIDER (2021) (from JOYRIDER) Petite League (USA) LoFi slackerpop from Syracuse. Starting fights no one thought we could win Setting cop cars on fire in Brooklyn This might be our last summer… youtu.be/rEMGNiEtz0w?...

Day 8 #DavidsMonthofMusic #MusicChallenge A love song without “love” in the title THE ONE I LOATHE THE LEAST The Just Joans When everyone’s sub-human scum It’s hard to find some peace. Thank heaven I found you The one I loathe the least. youtu.be/wno0X0Bt3J8?...

Day 7 #TheTwen2ie5 #MusicChallenge #BestSongHeardToday NIGHT SCULPTURE (2023) (from BOLTED) Forest Swords (UK) A hauntingly atmospheric & immersive electronic soundscape underpinned by a thread of skeletal mechanical clatter. youtu.be/BZ23ghVDaJs?...

Day 7 #80sTop30 #MusicChallenge JULIE CHRISTIE (1988) The Driscolls How could I argue with someone who’s probably right? youtu.be/jlCVt21SnIw?...

Day 7 #DavidsMonthofMusic #MusicChallenge A song related to outer space or the ocean SEA WITHIN A SEA The Horrors youtu.be/v7WAHnZPIX0?...

Day 6 #TheTwen2ie5 #MusicChallenge #BestSongHeardToday VIOLENCE FOR FREE (2023) (from JBAL RRSAS) Deena Abdelwahed (Tunisia) Experimental Arabic techno, melding dark synthetic bass with traditional percussive rhythms into a constantly warping pulsing hypnobeat. youtu.be/scJa238cShk?...

Day 6 #DavidsMonthofMusic #MusicChallenge A song with a pronoun in the title SHE RIDES THE WAVES Pale Saints youtu.be/WF1SUA4sL9E?...

Day 6 #80sTop30 #MusicChallenge SIGN ON THE LINE (1987) The Fizzbombs Seeing Angus McPake on stage at the weekend as part of Maison D’Etre was one of many highlights from the Edinburgh Indiepop All-dayer, so here’s a buzzy fuzzy highlight from a previous band of his. youtu.be/IOTvIiDI3TA?...

Day 5 #TheTwen2ie5 #MusicChallenge #BestSongHeardToday BOOK (2021) (from AUDIO DRAG FOR EGO SLOBS) Gustaf (USA) Mesmeric metronomic post/art.punk from New York. Decent video too. youtu.be/orRE8cp36rw?...

Day 5 #DavidsMonthofMusic #MusicChallenge A song that reminds you of a specific holiday PROFESSIONAL WIDOW (Armand Van Helden remix) Tori Amos The soundtrack to a particularly memorable (well, broadly speaking, a lot of the detail is “missing”) nineties week in Ibiza. youtu.be/VZgI_dz9SQY?...

Day 5 #80sTop30 #MusicChallenge GOOD THING (1988) The Vultures After yesterday, there was only one thing it could be today. youtu.be/l6dknJ5-tYs?...

Lande on stage at the Edinburgh Indiepop All-Dayer tonight.

Oh wow, that was something I never thought I’d ever get to see. Excuse the dodgy photo, but over on the right in the purple top is Janie from The Vultures, joining one-off (?) supergroup Maison D’Etre for a cracking version her lost Eighties Indiepop classic GOOD THING.

Heading out into the wind-fuelled chaos on the railways for what might well be the Gig Of The Year.

Day 4 #80sTop30 #MusicChallenge THE BIG BLACK PLASTIC EXPLOSION (1988) The Groove Farm youtu.be/9pjsVLHc2do?...

Day 4 #DavidsMonthofMusic #MusicChallenge A debut single CAN’T BE SURE The Sundays Absolutely smitten with this from the first hearing of the chiming guitars & swooping soaring vocals. It’s good to have something to live for you’ll find Live for tomorrow youtu.be/yARVs1ZNLjU?...

Day 4 #TheTwen2ie5 #MusicChallenge 80 DAYS OF RAIN (2021) (from GOING TO HELL) Lande Hekt (UK) Bonus: 12 pts A resigned & melancholic indiepop tune linking a collapsed relationship (“can’t do this again”) with a collapsing climate (“there are no fish left in the sea”) youtu.be/2DIjyECbzQ0?...

Day 3 #DavidsMonthofMusic #MusicChallenge A song by a solo artist with a one word name THE CUT Benga Dark & dramatic dubstep from the excellent DIARY OF AN AFRO WARRIOR album. youtu.be/yNXUHAztYnI?...

Day 3 #80sTop30 #MusicChallenge #FallFriday BREMEN NACHT (1988) The Fall youtu.be/CuUnMtVT2fU?...

Hey friends, should you be interested in picking up the new Goodbye Wudaokou album today, here’s a discount code, for all @subjangle.bsky.social releases: '20percent' goodbyewudaokou.bandcamp.com/album/anythi... #bandcampfriday #janglepop #indie #musicsky #autumnal #indiepop #indierock

Day 3 #TheTwen2ie5 #MusicChallenge #BestSongHeardToday GUN METAL PAINT (2020) ShrapKnel (USA) Taut sparse Philly hip-hop youtu.be/52jquBnFCl8?...

Day 2 #80sTop30 #MusicChallenge GO OUT AND GET ‘EM BOY! (1985) (standalone single & on the TOMMY compilation) The Wedding Present There’s a whole world out there But it’s shrinking fast… youtu.be/Qs3EwU51-co?...

Day 2 #DavidsMonthofMusic #MusicChallenge A song with a two word title, first word “The” THE CHISELERS The Fall A rumbling industrial growl of a standalone single from the LIGHT USER SYNDROME era, that may or may not have something to do with Halifax Town FC. youtu.be/WJbMCv3IS4s?...

Day 2 #TheTwen2ie5 #MusicChallenge #BestSongHeardToday PUNKS IN THE GYM (2024) (from “Multiply Your Absurdities” single) Helena Hauff (GERMANY) Heavyweight Ballistic Techno. youtu.be/xFsdNUKXBng?...

Day 1 #80sTop30 #MusicChallenge EVERYTHING’S GOING RIGHT (1986) (from “Music from Three Rivers Reach”) The Avons Formed by a couple of members of The Farmer’s Boys after they split, a nice bit of jangly indiepop from their only (mini)album. youtu.be/DW87mtS--8M?...

Day 1 #DavidsMonthofMusic #MusicChallenge A song with Kiss/Kissing/Kissed in the title THE GHOST OF AN UNKISSED KISS Trembling Blue Stars youtu.be/bwWTwTdOnx0?...

The Cure are always amazing live, but that support line up should make this extra special. To be fair, they do always get great support bands, last time I saw them (in Glasgow) they had The Twilight Sad, The Joy Formidable and Mogwai again. Just 326 days to wait then…

Day 1 #TheTwen2ie5 #MusicChallenge AMBITION IS YOUR FRIEND (2025) Shapes Like People (UK/NZ) Pristine chiming wistful janglepop. youtu.be/59AOsYN9ng0?...

Day 6 #5coversongsswitch #MusicChallenge IT’S THE END OF THE WORLD AS WE KNOW IT 2021 I, Doris Bonus pick as the lyrics change enough that it may not count as a cover :-) That’s great it starts with a world plague Bats in cages with Pangolins Megan Markle’s not afraid. youtu.be/N8CHMubH0X4?...

Day 5 #5coversongsswitch #MusicChallenge TRUST IN ME Siouxsie and the Banshees Originally by Kaa in The Jungle Book :-) (voiced by Sterling Holloway) Belly also do a good version, but this is the more hypnotic and serpentine take. youtu.be/tJy16rxGla4?...

Day 30 #DavidsMonthofMusic #MusicChallenge A song for Halloween RELEASE THE BATS The Birthday Party youtu.be/o6QTn000MHA?...

Day 29 #DavidsMonthofMusic #MusicChallenge A song on your Zombie apocalypse soundtrack ALL HOPE IS GONE Slipknot We'll find a way when all hope is gone We've seen the fall of the elite Bury your life, take your disease We'll end the world when all hope is gone youtu.be/Wn2w3j_xmbw?...

Looks like we’re using the front door for the next few hours then…

THIS RIGHT HERE is another reason I have precisely zero patience for "cultural stasis" received wisdom among the parochial rump inky press / cultural marketing establishment. The speed at which development in global appreciation of African diasporic music worldwide is moving is *head spinning*.

Day 4 #5coversongsswitch #MusicChallenge HIS LATEST FLAME The Motorcycle Boy Originally titled “(Marie’s The Name) Of His Latest Flame” First recorded by Del Shannon but made most famous by Elvis Presley. youtu.be/jFGEJMKz15s?...

Day 3 #5coversongsswitch #MusicChallenge RADAR LOVE Ghost Dance (Original: Golden Earring) youtu.be/Nl9FM3AaFOg?...

Day 28 #DavidsMonthofMusic #MusicChallenge A song with boy/girl/man/woman in the title SHE’S A WOMAN (AND NOW HE IS A MAN) Hüsker Dü youtu.be/g3ASYhsJM_o?...

It’s going to one of those days then is it? New TV (replacing the one that packed up during the week) arrived. Unwrapped it to find that someone appears to have jumped on the screen while in transit.

Day 2 #5coversongsswitch #MusicChallenge JUNGLE LINE Thomas Dolby (Original: Joni Mitchell) He’s never recorded (as far as I know) a studio version, but this live recording is still fantastic. youtu.be/CXIOlEAfO30?...

Day 1 (catch up!) #5coversongsswitch #MusicChallenge CAN I KICK IT? The Popguns (Originally A Tribe Called Quest) This shouldn’t really work but… Well, have a listen and see what you think :-) youtu.be/K9PKMznxtyI?...

Day 27 #DavidsMonthofMusic #MusicChallenge A good song for a bad mood THE OFFICIAL COLOURBOX WORLD CUP THEME COLOURBOX A guaranteed mood-improver for even the worst day. youtu.be/f0ngztdCJz4?...

Once & for all, let's specify what "poptimism" was & wasn't, and why many people can't stop blaming it for every cultural change of the past 20 years. Most recently the esteemed Kelefa Sanneh, who's often (wrongly) said to have started it! Today in @slate.com slate.com/culture/2025...

Day 26 #DavidsMonthofMusic #MusicChallenge A song with amazing bass playing CANNONBALL The Breeders Could’ve been practically anything touched by the hand of Kim Deal, but let’s go with the classic. youtu.be/fxvkI9MTQw4?...