I struggle with 'Ocean Rain' as an album, more than most people with similar music tastes to me. There are songs I like, and songs I don't. I'm far from unanimous in my praise; The Killing Moon has never moved me. But that closing title track, that is an absolute stunner.

#90sTop30 14 🗣️ Bark Psychosis 🎶 Eyes and Smiles 🗓️ February 1994 Hex is one of the great albums of the 90s, and one of the most important of the decades too. The first album to be labelled as post rock, it's a captivating record from start to finish. Eyes and Smiles is the absolute highlight.

#Top30TomWaits 14 💿 Rain Dogs 🎶 Tango Till They're Sore A very high bar is set when it comes to favourite lyrical journeys courtesy of Waits. But on that metric alone, this is one of my favourites, and a constant companion for singing along to in the shower.

#AllIWant The Joni Mitchell lyric I'm thinking about today: "He drags me out on the dance floor And we're dancing close and slow Now he's got a woman at home He's got another woman down the hall He seems to want me anyway Why'd you have to get so drunk And lead me on that way?"

#SoundAndVision The David Bowie lyric I'm thinking about today: "The return of the Thin White Duke throwing darts in lovers' eyes Here are we one magical moment Such is the stuff from where dreams are woven Bending sound"

#ItsOnlyWords The lyric I'm thinking about: "I'll have a shower And then phone my brother up Within the hour I'll smash another cup Please don't start saying that Or I'll start believing you If I start believing you I'll know that this Party Fears Two"

#Reverberations Start date tbc… A month-long celebration of all things guitar. From 80s Indie and Alt-Rock, to Shoegaze, Grunge and beyond, right up to the present day. If you’re thinking My Bloody Valentine, Ride, Pixies, Cocteau Twins, Hüsker Du, Nirvana etc then this challenge could be for you…

#365NewToMeAlbums #NowPlaying 362/365 🗣️ Scott Walker 💿 Tilt I've only heard a couple of Walker's earlier albums, which are famously worlds away from this. In fact, I tried this album a long time ago and didn't get halfway through. How the times have changed...

Having my teeth done tomorrow (nothing too major), but won't be able to drink tea or coffee for a few days after. But it's so cold, I'm going to need a hot drink. So it's the first Horlicks I've had in years and I'll be more than happy living off these for the week 😋

Ironically enough, given Guillermo Del Toro's own love for the source material, Frankenstein (2025) is surely a film enjoyed more in direct proportion with how little Mary Shelley's book means to the same viewer. Regardless, it's a weak, undeserved and weirdly rushed ending... #MovieSky #FilmSky

#90sTop30 15 🗣️ Lush 🎶 Never-Never 🗓️ June 1994 My favourite Lush song bar none - an absolutely thrill ride of a song in a similar vein to the better known, and almost equally as enthralling, Desire Lines.

#Top30TomWaits 15 💿 Franks Wild Years 🎶 More Than Rain I love when Waits goes carnivalistic - this song has that Halloweeny vibe that is just so irresistible, and cracks the top half of my list as the first of two from this stunning album.

#ItsOnlyWords The lyric I'm thinking about today: "We can remember quiet side of midnight We can remember attraction of fame Like a glittering prize I saw you up on a clear day First taking hearts Then our last breath away" Simple Minds | Glittering Prize

#NewMusicChallenges #SimpleMindsTop30 Starts 1st December #RadioheadTop30 Starts 1st January #SuedeTop30 Starts 1st March #JamesTop30 Starts 1st April

#90sTop30 16 🗣️ The Blue Nile 🎶 Family Life 🗓️ June 1996 It's true that Peace At Last couldn't live up to the exceptionally high bar set by Rooftops and Hats, but it more than has its moments. Family Life is right up there with their best work.

#Top30TomWaits 16 💿 Mule Variations 🎶 Come On Up To The House Waits went six years between releasing the absurdly fantastic Black Rider and this equally excellent record, but made it surely worth the wait from start to finish. This closer is one of the best in his canon.

How can mere words describe music that is beyond words itself? Ethereal is the closest I can come up with, but that doesn't come close to doing justice to the majesty and power of Cocteau Twins' finest work. This truly is as good as it gets.

#AllIWant The Joni Mitchell lyric I'm thinking about today: "It's coming on Christmas They're cutting down trees They're putting up reindeer Singing songs of joy and peace I wish I had a river I could skate away on"

"I don't really like groups that make the same statement over and over again. It's good, but kind of predictable". ABC's Martin Fry practised what he preached, with the band's second album 'Beauty Stab' released #OnThisDay - a world away from their seminal debut. #MusicSky

The cover isn't as white as it's meant to be, but the music has lost none of its sheen almost half a century since its release. 'Quiet Life' was Japan's major breakthrough, the album that elevated them above their peers, and rewrote all of the rules. "BOYS!" #MusicSky #VinylSky

#ItsOnlyWords The lyric I'm thinking about today: "Rosalie I've been waiting all evening Possibly years i don't know Counting the passing hours Everything merges with the night I stand on the beach Giving out descriptions Different for everyone I see" Brian Eno | Everything Merges With The Night

If you show me a more appropriately rainy afternoon album than 'Blue', I'll show you a liar. Perhaps Joni Mitchell's best known record, and certainly one of her best. The biographical nature of every facet of relationships makes for a tough yet rewarding listen. #MusicSky #VinylSky

Brian Eno released 'Another Green World' #OnThisDay in 1975. A fabulous midpoint between his rock based material and the ambient scene he would master, this sounds just as otherworldly today as it did half a century ago. Only 5 vocal tracks out of 14, but completely immersive.

David Bowie's 'Space Oddity' was released #OnThisDay in 1969. Far from his finest work, but famous for the single that gave the record its eventual name, the album proved to be a landmark in his artistic development, ditching the music hall style of the debut.

#GetInterlude On a double album that barely ever rests from feedback and endless layers of guitar, Providence is 'Daydream Nation's sole moment of respite. Moore on his mum's piano atop crackling phone call recordings, this Sonic Youth interlude is one of my favourites 🧵👇

Lee Renaldo seriously considered leaving Sonic Youth in the 90s. His songs were largely ignored. And look, who are any of us to tell that band what they got right and wrong. But when you blast out 'Wish Fulfillment', it's crazy we didn't get more of him front and centre 👇

#90sTop30 17 🗣️ o.rang 🎶 Anoan, the Oasis 🗓️ July 1994 Lee Harris and Paul Webb proved their avant-garde chops having been pushed to one side in Talk Talk. And if Mark Hollis provided perfection without them, they weren't far off that level with this project - utterly enthralling, totally unique.

#Top30TomWaits 17 💿 Nighthawks At The Diner 🎶 Eggs and Sausage Almost impossible to pick individual songs from Nighthawks, such is its mastery as a whole record. But there are two songs that really stand out, and this is the first one. It does make me hungry though...

#365NewToMeAlbums #NowPlaying 361/365 🗣️ Pharoah Sanders 💿 Jewels Of Thought This is the record that came out straight after Karma, which is almost impossible to follow up. To me, the first track, which isn't too dissimilar to The Creator Has A Masterplan is superb...

"Bowie's 'Station To Station' came out when I was 19. I started to study his methods, likes and dislikes. He didn't like 'Country and Western', so I wrote 'Faron Young' from the view of someone who dislikes country music." Paddy McAloon

#AllIWant The Joni Mitchell lyric for today: "Out of the blue, just passin' thru A young flight sergeant on two weeks leave Says, "Molly McGee, no one else will do" And seals the tea-leaf prophecy Oh, these nights are strong and soft Private passions and secret storms"

#ItsOnlyWords The lyric I'm thinking about today: "When the room is quiet The daylight almost gone It seems there's something I should know Well I ought to leave but the rain it never stops And I've no particular place to go" Japan | Ghosts

#365NewToMeAlbums #NowPlaying 360/365 🗣️ John Martyn 💿 Bless The Weather Another morning of filling in peak Martyn gaps is another morning well spent. Coming directly before the seminal Solid Air, I didn't want to expect too much here, but it was an absolutely gorgeous listen.

Japan released 'Tin Drum' #OnThisDay in 1981. Leaning further into atmospheric textures, combining with Far Eastern influences and instrumentation, the band's fifth and final album is still an exhilarating and delicate listen to this day. A 'completely original' record.

Closing Time is a far cry from what Tom Waits would ever do again. Like pretty much every single record to his name, this is unique, even amongst the Asylum records that followed. Folk-led, jazz influenced, Waits whisky-soaked voice and the piano for comfort. All that's needed.

#90sTop30 18 🗣️ Depeche Mode 🎶 Freestate 🗓️ April 1997 I've hardly listened to Depeche Mode at all this year, which feels criminal. This pedestrian paced song is near-perfect to me though, no matter how few and far between my listening to it has become.

#Top30TomWaits 18 💿 Rain Dogs 🎶 Blind Love My second of four picks from my first Waits album. It's one of his simpler songs from the Frank trilogy, but that does nothing to diminish its emotional pull.

#365NewToMeAlbums #NowPlaying 359/365 🗣️ The Choir 💿 Circle Slide This album was recommended from a Facebook post on Laughing Stock. Naturally, I couldn't resist. A completely new-to-me band, and honestly, what an absolutely fascinating discovery. This is breaktaking...

There is as much power in silence as there is in sound. In the case of Nick Drake's 'Pink Moon', that is overwhelmingly the case. Drake is not shy in letting his darkest thoughts come to the fore across 28 stark minutes, but the true devastation comes from the quiet in between.

Hardly breaking news that The Beatles are a little bit good. But I've struggled with them more than many for far too long. Last night, Sgt Pepper came together to sound so much better than it had before. When it clicks, not much sounds better 👇

#NowReading David Browne | Goodbye 20th Century An absolutely colossal deep dive into all things Sonic Youth - definitely not for casual fans as it's all-encompassing detail. But for the hardcore, this is an incredible insight into this brilliant band. #MusicSky #BookSky

"He was looking like he was about to die. He told us he had fallen down the fire escape. John Martyn told us he couldn't go to the hospital as he had a gig to play that night... "It was one of the best gigs I've ever been to. At the hospital, he was diagnosed with a broken rib."

With Slowdive, you have the classic Souvlaki. With Slowdive, you have the gem of Pygmalion. With Slowdive, you have the excellent comeback records and the powerful early EPs. Less talked about, is their stunningly good debut, 'Just For A Day'. Some days, it's my favourite. #MusicSky #VinylSky

It's easy to denounce the current state of music. I should know; I'm always championing the past over the present. But when an artist sticks out for the right reasons, it makes them all the more incredible. Michael Kiwanuka is one of the best out there right now. #MusicSky #VinylSky

#Top31DavidBowie throughout December 2025. For the final #MusicChallenge of the year, please let me know on or before Day 1 if your choices are ranked or unranked 👇 - Ranked (Day 1 = 1pt, Day 31 = 31pts) - Unranked (all picks will be worth 10 points) #MusicSky #MusicChallenge

I've tried bringing the sunshine out with Talking Heads. Now I'm leaning into the wet weather, with my favourite of Tom Waits' asylum albums, Small Change. If I had just one song to convince somebody of Waits' genius, it would be Tom Traubert's Blues. Unparalleled majesty. #MusicSky #VinylSky

My Talking Heads collection continues to grow! The debut came through the door this morning, and as I got good news on the job front yesterday, feels like an absolutely fine way to celebrate. Just True Stories and Naked to complete the set now... #MusicSky #VinylSky

#365NewToMeAlbums #NowPlaying 358/365 🗣️ Bob Dylan 💿 Desire These albums have got to stop being so bloody good when I've decided on my favourites for the year already. Hurricane, Isis, One More Cup Of Coffee, Joey, Romance In Durango, so many great songs here...

#Top30TomWaits 19 💿 Closing Time 🎶 I Hope That I Don't Fall In Love With You Following up hearing Rain Dogs with Closing Time in my Tom Waits listening journey sure was an experience. So different from what he became, but no less affecting and entertaining, as proven here.

#90sTop30 🗣️ Rain Tree Crow 🎶 Blackwater 🗓️ April 1991 "They've just rebadged it, you fool." Japan were back together for one album and one album only, but boy did they make it count. Blackwater was the biggest single, and with good reason. It's an absorbing and emotional gem.