Musical Essays

Here is my annual effort to do a broadly holiday based playlist without getting involved with any overtly Christmas music - a genre I generally don't like all that much. As ever, I get around this thorny issue by picking some more generally winter themed tunes. However, on this occasion I have failed somewhat, with one or two such songs managing to sneak their way in. 1. Aztec Camera: Walk Out To Winter Roddy Frame brought his latest venture to roaring, jangly post-punk life

I know have a reputation for not bringing much of the festive joy to the table at this time of year, but here is my vague effort at overcoming that. This latest in our collection of interesting stories and anecdotes surrounding musicians we know and (sometimes) love, takes on a few that have a Christmas theme. Christmas in the Summer! Mel Tormé and Bob Wells wrote the classic seasonal tune, The Christmas Song - you know, the one about "chestnuts roasting" . The Nat King Co

Last week the world lost one of its most celebrated and important musicians, when Steve Cropper died aged 84 on 3 December. The 1960s was the era of the session band; the US was stacked full of them, pretty much every major label had them - there was the Muscle Shoals crew, the Memphis Horns, the Wrecking Crew and of course, Booker T. and The MG's at Stax. Photo: Don Paulsen / Michael Ochs Archive / Getty Images Cropper was a core member of that last lot, through much of the

There are myriad Texas musicians who have become household names over the last six or seven decades; Buddy Holly, Willie Nelson, ZZ Top, Janis Joplin, Waylon Jennings, Stevie Ray Vaughan, not to mention Kelly Clarkson and Beyonce. But for all those, there are many more who probably deserve much more acknowledgement and credit for their part in music history; there was the much troubled Roky Erickson (13th Floor Elevators), the taken far too soon Selena, and the subject of tod

Well, it's been a few months, but it was high time to roll out another bunch of top cover versions for you. They might not be originals, but that shouldn't detract from the quality. So, for our seventh selection of covers, we have ten great alternate takes on older tunes - and this time, we cover a wealth of genres, from classic pop, indie and alt-rock, through country and garage punk. As ever, there should be something in here for everyone.... 1. Echo & The Bunnymen: People