Wang Chung - "Fire in the Twilight"

Wang Chung - "Fire in the Twilight": "This is totally 80s-tastic, but still completely enjoyable new wave. From The Breakfast Club, so this is also my belated John Hughes tribute."

Mew - "New Terrain"

Mew - "New Terrain": "It's literally backwards and forwards at the same time - and during most of the song, I can't tell which. In concept, it's amazingly irritating but, in reality, it sounds right despite being like nothing you're used to hearing. That's what makes it brilliant."

Radiohead - "Climbing Up The Walls"

Radiohead - "Climbing Up The Walls": "A little spooky, but it's arguably the sound of Radiohead turning the corner from their early work to the band we know today."

Phil Collins - "Don't Lose My Number"

Phil Collins - "Don't Lose My Number": "I don't know why, but this song popped into my head when I just went to get coffee. I really am at a loss as to why."

Keane - "Spiralling"

Keane - "Spiralling": "It has some overly polished moments - which is what initially kept me off this song - but I've since come around to it. The group "oooo!"s are pretty fun and there's a joyous white funk edge to things, miles away from the soppy 'Somewhere Only We Know'."

Marianne Faithfull - "Ooh Baby Baby"

Marianne Faithfull - "Ooh Baby Baby": "How did I not know about this when it came out? Or, better question: how did Antony (of Antony and the Johnsons) and Marianne Faithfull wind up recording this dramatic reworking of Smokey Robinson & The Miracles' "Ooh Baby Baby"? I can't even imagine how those pieces came together and, man, is it surreal! Antony sounds sublime, as usual, and it works better for Marianne than you might expect (only in that Smokey's original is smooth and Marianne, though awesome, is not what generally comes to mind when you think of smooth). It doesn't hurt that the original song is classic."

Samantha Fox - "Touch Me (I Want Your Body)"

Samantha Fox - "Touch Me (I Want Your Body)": "Hearing about Samantha Fox's (apparently lesbian!) wedding today totally put this song back into my head - which is great, because I had gone too long without listening to it. This is the night! (The sex noises are just a bonus.)"

Medicine - "She Knows Everything"

Medicine - "She Knows Everything": "A blast of delicious sweet-and-sour noise to help wash away this week."

Steely Dan - "Any Major Dude Will Tell You"

Steely Dan - "Any Major Dude Will Tell You": "Any major dude with half a heart surely will tell you my friend /
Any minor world that breaks apart falls together again"

Stars - "The Aspidistra Flies"

Stars - "The Aspidistra Flies": "I can't quite explain why, but I want to give this song to Jeremy, for Meg. I know the song won't make anything better now but perhaps someday it will because he'll know she knows too."