Couleur Cafe - Serge Gainsbourg

The perfect song to begin our homage to France is from the unmistakable voice of Serge Gainsbourg. Perhaps France's most celebrated and controversial pop singer songwriter, Gainsbourg was as renowned for breaking the rules with his lyrics, as he was for his diverse artistic output, fusing multiple genres and styles from jazz and chanson, to funk, reggae and electronica. This jaunty pop number was released in 1964.

La Fille De la Ligne 15 - The Liminanas

Influenced by Gainsbourg's Yé-yé movement (a pop scene in France in the 60s, meaning Yeah Yeah and inspired by bands like The Beatles), this Perpignan based husband and wife team release filmic pop that has forged it's own unique path. The lyrics in this song describe a boy meeting a girl on the Line 15 train, having a typically Parisian assignation, resulting in a botched escape attempt in the morning once discovering that the storyteller is bound at the hands and ankles, before getting married!

La Brigade Des Maléfices - L'Epee

L'Eppe (The Sword) is a psychedelic rock supergroup formed of The Liminanas, Anton Newcombe of The Brian Jonestown Massacre and French actress Emmanuelle Seigner. This is a brilliant song with lyrics that when translated to English, tells the story of hallucinogenic dreams, of time travel and occult science where the La Brigade Des Malefice (or Hex Brigade) dwell!

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Neptune - Lucien & The Kimono Orchestra

This French band who plays funk-electronic-80s-soundtrack-revival music released this blissed out homage to the God of the sea in 2019. It seems to be a song about dancing on the sand dunes naked at 30 Degrees latitude, with Neptune!

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New York City Here I Come - Albert Hammond

Albert Hammond is a prolific songwriter of British/Gibraltan descent and the father of AH Jr, of the Strokes fame!
He's written hit singles for a phone book of stars including Aretha Franklin, Willie Nelson, Celine Dion, Whitney Houston and Diana Ross amongst multiple other household names. This ode to the Big Apple kicks off our travel themed week.

4am in London - Benjamin Francis Leftwich

A song about love across the time zones... Anyone who's ever had a long distance love affair can relate to this message! A marriage of acoustic and electronic styles make this one of the most interesting tracks from the 2018 EP, I Am With You.
Since 2011, Leftwich has gained 2,510,535 monthly listeners and sold 100,000 copies of his first album Last Smoke Before the Snowstorm which received over 150 million global Spotify plays!

The City - Darwin Deez

More guitar led indie-pop business this time from this American band of hipster misfits. This may not be so much an ode to the city but more of a mild complaint that it's a tough place to be!

Tribe Of The City - The Cortinas

The Cortinas were a Bristolian punk band active between 1976 and 1978. They supported The Stranglers and Blondie and were one of the first pioneering punk bands to play at the infamous Roxy club in London. Guitarist Nick Sheppard went on to play with the final incarnation of The Clash and in keeping with the art-meets-music-meets-art journey of Music Seen, bass player Dexter Dalwood went on to become a successful fine artist, was nominated for the Turner Prize in 2010 and is currently a research professor of Fine Art at Bath Spa University!

Velvet Hollywood - Daniel Saint Black

This track by Nashville based singer songwriter is written as a letter to an unattainable love here... is it a girl or LA itself? This is from his 2020 EP, Falling.
'Such Expensive taste, a million different ways but she makes it all look amazing...
Her name is California... '

Vuelvo al Sur - Gotan Project

The ubiquitous sound of every bar, restaurant and hotel lobby in the early 2000s, this Paris based band that fuses Argentinian tango with beats and samples was a huge hit for music programming companies all over the world! Did for Argentina what Buena Vista Social Club did for Cuba! This tango is dedicated to the south of the country and was written by Astor Piazzolla and Fernando Solanas for the 1988 Argentine film “Sur”

I dream of the South,
a great big moon, sky upside down,
I seek the South,
the open time, and afterwards.

I love the South,
its good people, its dignity,
I feel the South,
like your body in intimacy.

It Might as Well Be Spring - Bill Evans Trio

Bill Evans, a favourite at Playlister HQ was an American pianist and composer who played with Miles Davis (importantly on the best selling Jazz album of all time Kind Of Blue) and Chet Baker (on Chet) before forming his famous trio and recording some of the most revered and blissful jazz albums of the 60s. He had a troubled life with drug addiction but was hugely influential to artists such as Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock, Diana Krall and Rick Wright of Pink Floyd. Music critic Thom Jurek wrote of the album where this Rodgers and Hammerstein Oscar winning classic featured "...selections are so well paced and sequenced the record feels like a dream... Moon Beams was a startling return to the recording sphere and a major advancement in his development as a leader. Velvet Underground collaborator and singer Nico graced the cover art of the album Moon Beams, where this song appeared.

Solar - Miles Davis

Influential and essential jazz trumpeter, composer and bandleader Miles Davis started out professionally as a member of Charlie Parker's bebop quintet in the mid 40s. He was an early proponent of hard bop, a fusion of rhythm and blues, gospel and blues music that appeared on the jazz scene in the early 1950s. Davis recorded some of the most important jazz albums of all time and his band included such luminaries as the aforementioned Bill Evans, Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter and John Coltrane. Rolling Stone described as "the most revered jazz trumpeter of all time, not to mention one of the most important musicians of the 20th century,"

Mountain Greenery - Patti Page

Another Richard Rodgers composition, this time with Lorenz Hart on lyrical duties. This version from Patti Page is from her 1956 album In the Land Of Hifi. Often introduced as 'The Singing Rage, Miss Patti Page, she sold over 100 million records over a career spanning six decades

A Gentle Awakening - JD McPherson

Released on his 2010 debut album Signs And Signifiers, this is a mellow breeze of a track compared with the rest of this brilliant record, referencing 1950s R&B, Rockabilly and rock and roll, inspired by Little Richard and Fats Domino, recorded as it was using vintage mics, old amplifiers and a Berlant reel-to-reel recorder from the '60s.

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Butterflying - Elena Kats Chernin

The title track from the dream team of composer Kats Chernin with Tamara-Anna Cislowska (on piano duties). This is an exciting album of “symphonious cascades”  - dynamic yet minimalist pieces that recall the work of Philip Glass.

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New Energy (Live Through It) - Daniel Avery

A change of tack now as we near the end of our week dedicated to new beginnings and the joy of spring. Inspired by Underworld, Orbital and Kraftwerk, Avery'sseminal dance album Drone Logic from 2013 featured this spacey analog synth masterpiece (if you like that sort of thing). This builds from nowhere into an epic electronic banger, heavy on the gritty beats and chords.

Acid - Ray Barretto

This is one of our favourite dance tracks, let alone 'Latin' dance tracks! Ray Baretto was a Puerto Rican by descent but a native New Yorker. He hated the term 'Latin Jazz', and would prefer to use the term 'Jazz-Latin', inspired as he was by swing bands and artists such as Duke Ellington and Chick Webb, and importantly by the track Manteca by Dizzy Gillespie, which forged Afro-Cuban rhythms with jazz. This fusion of styles ignited Barretto's love of the congas, and led to him playing with legends such as Tito Puente and Jose Curbelo. Sessions with Blue Note, Prestige and Riverside record labels followed, but it was when he joined Fania Records that his career skyrocketed.

Acid is a tumbao (a foundational, repetitive rhythmic pattern played on the bass) and was recorded in one take with the improvised instrumentation and solid groove causing mayhem on dance floors to this day!

En Caracas La Gente Bailan Sabrosa - Orquesta Flamboyan

Flamboyant and bohemian Domenican artist Frankie Dante's band were big on the New York underground salsa scene and remain favourites of fans of that period. This track describes how the Venezuelan dancers enjoyed dancing sabroso (savory) to his music.

Dante was a security guard at Macy’s, but he really wanted to be John Lennon,” says salsa superstar Larry Harlow who produced this recording. “He was the Dominican John Lennon... He wore those round rose-colored glasses, just like John Lennon.”

Trizas - Cheo Feliciano

A debonair and handsome crooner, Feliciano was a huge star on the salsa scene in the 1970s. He recorded with top band leaders such as Eddie Palmieri and Tito Puente, and was a longtime member of The Fanias Allstars, the group organized by Fania Records which included virtually all the major figures of salsa’s ’70s heyday.

Feliciano started out as a percussionist with Tito Rodriguez and Luis Cruzand eventually found his voice working with Joe Cuba Sextet around the late 1950s and led to his playing with Eddie Palmieri. It was around this time that he also discovered drugs and became a heroin addict at aged 21. A stint in a rehab program in Puerto Ricofollowed which resulted in him getting clean and becoming a vehement anti-drug campaigner. It wasn't until 1971 that he released his first solo record which smashed all sales records for latin music at that time.

Afro Hustle - Lou Perez

Born to Cuban and Puerto Rican parents, Perez was an American composer, violinist, pianist, bandleader and singer! This track is taken from his 1977 album"De Todo un Poco", the title track of which was used on the soundtrack to the hit movieDirty Dancingin 1987 which in turn led to his earlier albums becoming collectors' items.

Borinquen Me Llama - Louie Ramirez

One of the most charismatic and versatile artists of the era, pianist and vibraphonist Ramirez recorded this in 1978 at the height of the salsa scene in NYC. This song is a love letter to Puerto Rico and is performed by the great Adalberto Satiago, who until 1973 was the vocalist with Ray Barretto's orchestra.

Felices Horas - Héctor Lavoe

Another Puerto Rican New Yorker, Lavoe  or "La Voz" ("The Voice") had a stellar career spanning 3 decades.

Released on his second solo album De Ti Depende this record was supported by the great Willie Colon who for this album decided to try something new in Salsa, using the sound of violins (using keyboards) which was unheard of at the time. Possessing a big personality and stage presence, Lavoe sometimes resembled a stand up comedian. This willingness to joke with his audience backfired badly when on one occasion, an insulting refusal to play a certain track resulted in an onstage beating which nearly hospitalised him!

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Time after Time - Cyndi Lauper

To launch our Grammy's selection we give you singer, songwriter, actress, activist and two-time GRAMMY winner Cyndi Lauper. She memorably performed Time After Time at the 27th Awards ceremony having won Best New Artist that year, having also won Song Of The Year for this epic 80s classic.

Joanne - Lady Gaga

The title track from Lady gaga's fifth studio album from 2016, this is our favourite Gaga track and won Best Pop Solo Performance at the 60th Annual Grammy Awards.

Slow burn - Kacey Musgraves

Her album Golden Hour album won in all four of its nominated categories at the 61st Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year and Best Country Album. Golden Hour was ranked at 270 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list. This is a beautiful country pop track melodically reminiscent of Joni Mitchell.

Games people play - Joe South

This classic won the Grammy for Best Contemporary Song and Song of the Year in 1968. South also wrote Rose Garden made famous by Lyn Anderson in 1970.

All I Need - Jacob Collier with Mahalia and Ty Dolla 

Second time on the Music Seen playlist but who can ignore the talent of Jacob Collier, here with a pretty faultless pop/R&B drop, featuring the support of superstars Mahalia dn Ty Solla $ign. Collier already has four Grammys to his name. Good luck this year Jacob!

Better Than I Imagined - Robert Glasper

With nine nominations and three wins, Concord artist Glasper is no stranger to Grammy success. This is one of our favourite records of the year so far. The sublime production and vocal deliveries on this haunting track from these two legendary singers never fails to deliver.

Damn what must A Woman do? - Christine and the Queens

Flipping the backwards thinking 50s concept of a cover version, this belter of a track was originally a hit for writer John Fogerty and his band Creedence Clearwater Revival in 1969, and nearly as successful for Ike and Tina in 1971. Their Rock and Roll rendition has one of the greatest slow builds of any record ever recorded!

All I Really Want - Alanis Morissette

Written from Morissette's brutally honest perspective, as a woman wanting to take control of the emotional journey of the relationship she was having with an older man. The album Jagged Little Pill released in 1995 was co-written with Glen Ballard who told Rolling Stone Magazine  

"I just connected with her as a person, and, almost parenthetically, it was like 'Wow, you're 19?' She was so intelligent and ready to take a chance on doing something that might have no commercial application. Although there was some question about what she wanted to do musically, she knew what she didn't want to do, which was anything that wasn't authentic and from her heart."

Woman's World - Estelle

This song is featured on the excellent compilation 7-inches for Planned Parenthood, with a progressive message for women, and which benefits the women's health organization. The album also features tracks by Feist, Arca, Mitski & St. Vincent.

Little Girl Blue - Janis Joplin

Ranked number 26 in Rolling Stone magazine's 2008 list of the 100 greatest singers of all time, Janis is a firm Playlister favourite too. This Rogers and Hart classic (originally from the Broadway production of Jumbo) is a lamenting track in Joplin's hands and features on her excellent solo debut studio album I Got Dem Ol' Kozmic Blues Again Mama!, released just a year before her untimely death at age 27.

Limitless - Sudan Archives

Brittney Denise Parks, better known as Sudan Archives is a classically trained violinist and singer/songwriter currently living in LA. Her seemingly effortless delivery and beautiful tone and lyrical skill make this a stand out track from 2020. The video is pretty wonderful too. We love Sudan Archives at Playlister HQ.

I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Out-a My Hair - Nellie Forbush, The Ken Darby Singers

This Rogers and Hammerstein classic from the musical South Pacific is the original feminist anthem, sung from the perspective of the heroine of the story.

Proud Mary - Ike and Tina Turner

Flipping the backwards thinking 50s concept of a cover version, this belter of a track was originally a hit for writer John Fogerty and his band Creedence Clearwater Revival in 1969, and nearly as successful for Ike and Tina in 1971. Their Rock and Roll rendition has one of the greatest slow builds of any record ever recorded!

Teach Me Tonight - Nancy Wilson, Ron McMaster

Written in 1953 by Gene De Paul and Sammy Cahn, this was a huge hit for Dinah Washington in 1954. Nancy Wilson's sultry version was used to great effect on the recent (and awesome) chess series The Queen's Gambit.

Grace Jones - What I did for Love

Apart from Miss Jones, Peggy Lee, Marcia Hines, Englebert Humperdink and Bing Crosby all released a version of this show tune (from a Chorus Line) in 1977! Grace's uptempo version was produced by Disco supremo Tom Moulton.

This is not a love Song - Nouvelle Vague

This was Public Image Ltd biggest hit @ number 5 in the UK charts. Nouvelle Vague famously invited female singers who had never heard the originals to record these tracks... and created an easy listening cover version phenomenon that none of us knew we needed back in the early 2000s!

The Lady Is A Tramp - The Supremes

The original is by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart (who also wrote the lyrics to My Funny Valentine, Blue Moon, The Lady is a Tramp and Manhattan amongst many others). This version was recorded by the Supremes as their 11th studio album for Motown, following a TV special about Rodgers and Hart from 1966, where none other than the great Quincy Jones was musical director.

Some Enchanted Evening - Bob Dylan

This song was a Rodgers and Hammerstein show tune from the musical South pacific. Dylan's version is a cover of a cover (!), as Dylan does Frank Sinatra, from his 2014 release Shadows in the Night.

Impact - SG Lewis, Robyn and Channel Tres

A star studded collaboration, with Robyn and Channel Tres's vocals adding something wonderful to newcomer (and Concord Music Publishing signing) SG lewis (and Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs's) clubby production.

Show - Lxury and LA Priest

A trippy collab with an excellent number of dogs in the video! In the video (worth a google), the UK producer meets the ex Late Of The Pier frontman head to head, as they lay down in the park for some canine shenanigans and deliver a lovely dose of skippy synth pop.

Sunrise - Alice Ivy ft. Cadence Weapon

First rate Aussy electronic producer enrols Canadian rapper Cadence Weapon to add some sunny sparkle to her brilliant bouncy party jam.

Waves - Kiwi & Ghost Culture

Crossbreed Records founder Kiwi teams up with Daniel Avery collaborator & James Greenwood AKA Ghost Culture,(Concord Music Publishing signing) for this minimal electronic instrumental with epic synth action.

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Oh Devil - Electric Guest feat Devin di Dakta

The band had already recorded this track with a mumbling vocal, when they then heard Devin sing on Jamaican TV show Magnum Kings and Queens of Dancehall, loved his delivery, wrote and sent him some lyrics and the result is the very special guest appearance.

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Calls - Robert Glasper feat Jill Scott

Grammy award winning, Kendrick Lamar, Q-Tip, Herbie Hancock and Anderson.Paak collaborating Glasper, invites legendary singer/songwriter (and Playlister favourite) Jill Scott to partner up on this conscious and delicate song. This shoulda/coulda been in our Valentine's playlist... it's a rare and poignant love letter to a decent man!

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These Foolish Things - Etta James

A jazz standard with lyrics written by Englishmen Eric Maschwitz (under the alias Holt Marvel) with music by Jack Strachey. Maschwitz cited "fleeting memories of a young love" as inspiration for the song, although various women in the author's life have claimed ownership of this ode to love and memory.
Fuelled by coffee and vodka, the verse and three choruses were written by Maschwitz over one Sunday morning at his flat in London. The song has been covered by many of the greats with memorable versions by Ella Fitzgerald and Nat King Cole, and was recorded 3 times by James Brown.

Hello - Lionel Richie

The infamous music video tells the tale of an acting teacher (Richie) having an unrequited love for a blind student (Laura Carrington) until he discovers she is sculpting a likeness of his head in clay, and maybe feels the same way! Richie's album Can't Slow Down which features this huge hit won the 1984 Grammy for Album of the Year, and is the biggest-selling album in the history of Motown Records.

My Funny Valentine - Chet Baker

Chosen today for obvious reasons, this jazz standard has been recorded by over 600 artists and appeared on over 1300 albums!
It became Chet Baker's signature song (he recorded it over 100 times) and we love this version the best.
It’s actually a love song written from the perspective of a woman to a man... his ‘figure’ is ‘less than Greek’ (i.e., not the Olympian ideal of masculine beauty) but with Baker's laconic drawl and wonderful delivery, this song transcends gender and just evokes a feeling of love.

Lyrics:
Is your figure less than Greek?
Is your mouth a little weak?
When you open it to speak
Are you smart?
But don't change your hair for me
Not if you care for me
Stay little valentine stay
Each day is Valentines day

Something - Beatles

Written by George Harrison and widely viewed by music historians as having marked his ascendancy as a composer to the level of the Beatles' principal songwriters, Lennon and McCartney, this most romantic of the Beatles songs was written for Harrison's then wife Patti Boyd. In her 2007 biography she wrote "He told me, in a matter-of-fact way, that he had written it for me. I thought it was beautiful."

Brown Sugar - D'Angelo

Written and recorded between 1991 (when he was just 18 years old) and 1995, this neo-soul classic from the album of the same name made D'Angelo a star and a heartthrob to millions. Co-produced by such luminaries of the scene as Raphael Saadiq and Ali Shaheed Muhammad (of A Tribe Called Quest), the song personifies his love of smoking weed and compares it with his love of a woman.

Lyrics:
Let me tell you 'bout this girl, maybe I shouldn't
I met her in Philly and her name was Brown Sugar
See we be makin' love constantly
That's why my eyes are a shade, blood burgundy

And whenever you let me hit it
Sweet like honey when it comes to me
Skin is caramel with the coco eyes
Even got a big sister by the name of Chocolate Ty"

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The Sun is in Your Eyes - Jacob Collier

Jacob's career is a thing of recent music industry legend; From uploading homemade split screen videos (incorporating his harmonisation and multi instrumentation skills) on youtube in 2011, to being signed by Quincy Jones, to opening for Herbie Hancock and Chick Corea at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 2015 at the age of 19, to beginning working on Djesse, a four-volume, 50-song album featuring more than two dozen artists and ensembles in 2018, and now nominated for Album of the Year at this year's Grammys as well as Best R&B performance and Best Arrangement, Instrument and Vocals for tracks from Djesse Vol. 3.This track premiered as part of one of his TED talks.

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This Is How We Do It - Montell Jordan

Today is the 26th anniversary of the release on Def Jam Records of this debut single from Montell Jordan. Representative of the hip hop/soul style popular at the time, Jordan sings over an enhanced sample of Slick Rick's "Children's Story" which in turn samples Bob James' "Nautilus". The rap demonstrates some very old school lyrical tropes:
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'This is how we do it, all hands are in the air
And wave them from here to there
If you're an OG mack or a wanna-be player
You see the hood's been good to me
Ever since I was a lower case G
But now I'm a big G
The girls see I got the money
Hundred dollar bills, y'all'

Nobody Speak - DJ Shadow, Run the Jewels

This track from DJ Shadow features verses from American rap duo Run the Jewels. The song was first a part of Run the Jewels' Record Store Day release, which was a virtual reality cardboard viewer that included a digital download code for the song. It also acted as the lead single from Shadow's fifth studio album, The Mountain Will Fall (2016).
Shadow chose El-P and Killer Mike as collaborators due to their vocal style fitting with the song's killer instrumental.
Lyrically this track veers between hilarious juvenilia and some dark imagery!:

'We the best
We will cut a frowny face in your chest, little wench
I'm unmentionably fresh, I'm a mensch, get correct
I will walk into a court while erect, screaming
"Yes! I am guilty motherfuckers, I am death"'

I come off - Young MC 

Stone Cold Rhymin' was the debut album by rapper Young MC and was released in 1989 on Delicious Vinyl. Young was born in London, to Jamaican immigrants and emigrated to NYC aged 8.
He earned a degree in economics from the University of Southern California where he met Michael Ross and Matt Dike from Delicious Vinyl. Young rapped over the phone for Ross and Dike, who ended up delivering a record contract to his college dorm room.

'Now I wrote this record for when I perform,
from the nights inside a university dorm,
I put pen to paper with a paper and pen,
for the times I'm rockin' the mic in front of women and men,

Mama said Knock You Out - LL Cool J

The song famously begins with the line "Don't call it a comeback/I've been here for years." Before "Mama Said Knock You Out" was released, critics felt that LL Cool J's career was waning. The story goes that his grandmother told him to "knock out" all his doubters!
She is featured in the closing scene of the music video, saying: "Todd! Todd! Get upstairs and take out that garbage.”:

Black Skinhead-Kanye West

West premiered this self-professed theme song from his album Yeezus on May 18, 2013 on Saturday Night Live. Featuring some stripped down production with the help of Rick Rubin, the lyrics to this track reference West's relationship with the media and his relationship with Kim Kardashian.'Enter the kingdomBut watch who you bring homeThey see a black man with a white womanAt the top floor they gone come to kill King Kong'

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Don't Forget Who you Are - Common Ft. PJ

Formerly known as Common Sense, this rapper, writer, activist and actor has consistently written provocative, poetic and conscious lyrics for his tracks since his album debut in 1992.

Pray these words may hug you, baby
Look into the mirror and say "I love you" daily
Remember your light when the world seem shady
You're born with it, adorned with it
A gift to the world, go on, give it

We Are Your Friends - Justice vs Simian

Despite Kanye's stage invasion during the presentation, this banger won MTV Europe Music Award for Best Video in 2006. The 2015 Zac Efron movie about an EDM DJ We Are Your Friends took its title from the track.

One More Time - Daft Punk

Written in 1998 and first released as a single in November 2000 and later included in their 2001 album Discovery, this was a commercial success as well as a critical hit. Rolling Stone listed it at number 33 of their top 100 songs of the decade (2000–2009) as well as number 307 on its amended "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" list in May 2010.

Sweet Disposition - The Temper Trap

Described by critics as an "indie anthem", the song was not initially a huge success in Australia where the band originate from, but it fared better in Japan and Europe. It generated fresh interest after it was included in the soundtrack for the 2009 film 500 Days of Summer—eventually reaching No. 9 on the Billboard Alternative Songs chart in the United States.

Flat Beat - Mr. Oizo

Created by electronic musician Quentin Dupieux better known as Mr. Oizo, Flat Eric began life as a character in some short films and gained a cult following in the UK and France. His popularity (and the love of this dance track) soared when Levi's featured Flat Eric in an ad for Sta-Press clothing in 1999. In 2003, Q Magazine ranked "Flat Beat" at number 175 in their list of the "1001 Best Songs Ever."

Rinse & Repeat - Riton ft. Kah-Lo

Written by Henry Smithson (better known as Riton) and featuring vocals from Nigerian singer-songwriter Kah-Lo, this club/pop crossover was up for Best Dance Recording at the 59th Grammy awards.

Qubit - Alex Metric & Ten Ven

Having previously remixed Depeche Mode, Dua Lipa and Gorillaz between them, these are producers who know what works on a dancefloor, inside out and upside down. This club cut was released in December 2020 on Anjunadeep.

WISH YOU WERE HERE - PINK FLOYD

This track is dedicated to Syd Barret, and was based on a poem that Roger Waters wrote about Syd Barrett’s drift away from reality. A love song to a fallen friend.

LOVE AND AFFECTION - JOAN ARMATRADING

Perhaps written from the perspective of someone wanting to take a friendship to the next level, this classic song expresses that aching feeling of the uncertainty of love.

NOTHING BUT A HEARTACHE - THE FLIRTATIONS

An ode to bad relationships! Loving a bad guy is such a sin, yeah! He's got me all won, can I get him?

WHAT YOU NEED - KAYTRANADA

A song about how everyone is imperfect... how perhaps sometimes we must admit our faults and be honest, to hold on to the relationships that mean the most to us."I never wanted you to see this part of meI wish you would've told the truth. Oh, than make us settle, "Cause even when it's wrong, you'll see that it's what you need."

ALWAYS ON MY MIND - WILLIE NELSON

Always On My Mind is a heartfelt ballad completed in 1971 by Wayne Carson, Johnny Christopher and Mark James. It was voted the number-one song of Elvis Presley's recording career in a 2013 poll and Willie Nelson's beautiful version won 3 Grammys in 1982. A song of yearning; of mistakes made to a lost love.

KILLING ME SOFTLY WITH HIS SONG - FUGEES

This song was written by Charles Fox and Norman Gimbel, in collaboration with Lori Leiberman after she was inspired by a Don Maclean concert in 1971.Its lyrics take the perspective of a singer being emotionally floored by another singer's delivery of a song. This version won a Grammy for the band in 1997.

Fortunate Son - Creedence Clearwater

Revival Written in 1969 in protest to the Vietnam War, the song references rich people who orchestrate wars and then draft poor to fight in them. The track features in many movies and montages about the war, most famously Apocalypse Now.

Give the People What they Want - The O'Jays

Regularly featuring on Barack Obama's 2008 campaign playlist, and sampled on EPMD's 1990 track Give The People, this track's lyrics feel as poignant now as they must of then.

PAPER PLANES - M.I.A.

Used in movies Pineapple Express and Slumdog Millionaire and co-written by Diplo, this track was inspired by Mathangi Arulpragasam's struggle with homeland security when trying to enter the US. It plays on the image of a threatening, violent illegal immigrant and was banned in some clubs and TV shows for the use of gunshot sound effects.

FREEDOM - SUBFOCUS & WILKINSON

Lyrics 'So where you gonna be when this freedom comes?' To celebrate Martin Luther King day we've chosen a track with a title relevant to his message and the movement he inspired, as important today as it was in the 60s.This track was released in October last year as part of the album Portals, and recorded by the artists whilst on a month-long retreat at Peter Gabriel's Real World Studios.

LIGHT AND DAY / REACH FOR THE SUN - THE POLYPHONIC SPREE

An uplifting message of positivity from everyone's favourite choir-robe-wearing 20+ piece band!The band formed in 2000 and first came to the UK as part of David Bowie's Meltdown festival in 2002. This song is the most used in UK advertising, and has featured in movies and TV shows including Eternal Sunshine Of the Spotless Mind, The Lorax and Scrubs as well as being performed live at the Oscar De La Renta 2008 catwalk show in NYC.Lyric:  'Follow the day and reach for the sun!' 'Reach for the bright side!'

SOUND OF DA POLICE - KRS-ONE

A protest against police brutality and systematic oppression for black people in the US. It's been featured in multiple movies and TV shows such as La Haine, Attack The Block and Brooklyn 99, and samples Sing a Simple Song by Sly and The Family Stone, and Inside Looking Out by Grand Funk Railroad.

Blossom Dearie - Manhattan

Dearie's love letter to the city she called home. Dearie's voice and songs have been heard on many tv shows and movies including The Artist, The Squid and the Whale and The Marvelous Mrs Maisel. Her vocal style was described by the New Yorker as a "childish treble" yet she brushed off these criticisms. "I have never been a singer who could stand up and sing like a theatrical singer. I sit down, and I've always used a microphone. I have a kind of microphone technique.”

Jimmy Witherspoon - I Had a Dream

Written by Big Bill Broonzy this version was recorded by Witherspoon for his 1963 album Blues Around The Clock. Lyrics: "Oh I just lay awake and dream, people, About that place, way across the sea, oh yea. Where I was raised, where I was born, Place that means so much to me."

Ahmad Jamal - I'll Never Stop Loving You

Written by Sammy Cahn and Nicholas Brodszky for the 1955 movie Love Me Or Leave Me and sung by Doris Day, this track has been covered by many artists over the years including Bing Crosby, Andy Williams and Dinah Washington. It was also used in the popular UK tv show The Saint starring Roger Moore in the episode The Saint Sees It Through. Jamal's sublime instrumental version was from his album Happy Moods released in 1960 on the Argo label.

Frank Ocean - Dear April (Side A - Acoustic)

Written and produced by Frank Ocean and Daniel Aged and released as a 7-inch single on March 25, 2020, Dear April consists of an "acoustic" version as side A, and a remix by Justice as side B. An intimate track with minimal instrumentation and a beautiful vocal treatment.
Lyrics: "I believe that no matter
What it makes us new
Take us through it
And wake us up again"

Nick Mulvey - Fever To The Form

Lyrics: "Go on, fill your heart up with gladness" A founding member of Portico Quartet, Mulvey has enjoyed a successful solo career since 2011. As the title track to his 2014 EP, Fever to the Form is a fine example of a distinctly British type of uplifting and positive modern folk music.

The Rolling Stones - Love in Vain

Critic Richie Unterberger describes it as "as close to the roots of acoustic down-home blues as the Stones ever got."
It was released on their 1969 album Let It Bleed.
Written and recorded by Robert Johnson in 1937, the song uses a departing train as a metaphor for the loss of his lover Willie Mae.

George Harrison - Here Comes The Sun

One of our favourite all-time classics and positive lyrics from the Concord Music Publishing Catalogue to kick of Music Seen for 2021. "Little darling, the smile's returning to their faces". Onwards and upwards!

Life Is For livin' - Peggy Lee

Lee was nominated for 12 Grammy Awards in her lifetime. This song is an uplifting masterpiece that does exactly what it says on the tin.

Can I Kick It? - A Tribe Called Quest

A part of the native tongues collective, known for their like-minded Afrocentrism, positivity and eclectic sampling, it was NME's review that stated "This is not rap, this is perfection."

Reach Out Of The Darkness - Friend & Lover

"I think it's so groovy now, that people are finally getting together". It goes without saying that this is a lyrical message we're all dreaming about in some shape, way or form'

You’re Too Precious - James Blake

This song is described by James as being about "after a certain amount of time, somebody becomes too precious to lose, and now you want to protect them in any way you can," referring to his girlfriend Jameela Jamil.

Come Fly With Me - Frank Sinatra

Today is the 63rd anniversary of Come Fly with Me, One of Frank Sinatra's most beloved hit songs.