Ian Curtis would have been 70 today (15 July), which is possibly a ridiculous statement given that he didn't even see 24; but even in such a brief moment, his star shone brightly enough to influence just about every British (and more than a fair few American ones) guitar band, directly or indirectly, for the next... well, 46 years. It is a strange (or maybe not) impact that a man noted for his intense, fixed stare while singing, and dark, emotionally isolated lyrics, would be

Here we are with another playlist, and it's time to tap into the seemingly bottomless well of interesting and unusual cover versions. Ten more tunes - you might be familiar with some of these versions, but I'm guessing in a few cases, you may not even be aware of the original. 1. Weezer: Africa Photo: NHL While Africa may be considered by many to be a soft rock 'classic', few would have thought it coverable material for cool indie hipsters, Weezer, some 35 years later. Steve

The Paisley Underground sounds like a movement that might have been from the free love west coast of the 1960s - tune in, drop out, and all that. It wasn't, but it was another west coast thing, and very much rooted in some of those earlier sounds, especially the electro-folk guitar and garage rock sounds of bands like Love and the Byrds. Where, What, Who & When Image from PowerPop blog The movement centred on Los Angeles, and while its roots were back in sixties L.A., the soi

I thought for a change, and to challenge myself a little to stay up to date, that I would start dropping in the odd playlist of new songs! These could be from brand new bands, older bands you've still never heard of, and a few old pros that you will definitely know. All these tunes have been released in the last few months, and cover a few different genres, so hopefully something for everyone... 1. Kurt Vile: Zoom 97 Photo: Tore Saetra Here we have the opening track from Phil