Yet another Bob Dylan cover that is superior to the original. And it’s not just the fact that Even Johansen has a craftier voice, here the regurgitation is dressed up in some wonderful atmospherics giving the song understated prowess. The backbone comes by way of the lush instrumentation and the soft interplay between Johansen and Ireland’s Gemma Hayes. The smooth delivery is remarkable, picture the synchronised sequeing of 2 young lovers heartbeats and you’ll approximate the lavish drift. The oboe, ghostly backing singers and violin turns swirl together perfectly creating the perfect bedrock for the singers. At last there’s an alternative for all non-musicians to woo the maiden of their dreams from her balcony, just make sure there is a power supply close by to power those ipod speakers. KD

Magnet - Lay Lady Lay

Album: On Your Side
Year: 2003
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As eccentric as the old man down the lane who never ventures outside Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci share the same rambling patterns as their countrymen Super Furry Animals. While this can be utterly frustrating there are times when the scattered approach is parked and what remains is premium straight ahead pop. ‘Diamond Dew’ is minimalist in its application with Euro Childs strenuously holding court while the psychedelic surroundings and cackling banjos shadow his words. The verse chorus verse works a treat and even though the songs peaks and valleys could be alien to chart hounds the sound is one that would augment a winter’s afternoon tucked in beside the fireplace. KD

Gorky's Zygotic Mynci - Diamond Dew

Album: Barafundle
Year: 1997
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‘And The Glass Handed Kites’ is not only one of this year’s best albums it’s probably one of the most majestic of recent years. Of course, Mew always had it in them as their previous work ‘Frengers’ displayed a band not content to play it by the rules. Jonas Bjerre voice is their calling card; operatic in scope it is no less special than Jon Thor Birgisson’s from Sigur Ros. Mew play their guitars with the persuasiveness of My Bloody Valentine but in their quieter moments they can pluck melodies as sweet as ripened satsuma’s. ‘Comforting Sounds’ reveals itself in 3 stages, the calm disarming opening, the more robust centre and a close that pelts guitar riffs with the velocity of a hurricane. That the band achieves symmetry with these polar elements is a mark of their genius. Denmark must be one hell of a proud country to have produced this group as their influence will likely be felt in rock circles for decades to come. KD

Mew - Comforting Sounds

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Album: Frengers
Year: 2003
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Dodgy had a lot going for them. Great songs, quirky image, neat t-shirts and their own fab club night meant that the scene was set for stardom. Aside from a few minor hits like ‘Staying Out For The Summer’, ‘Good Enough’ and ‘In A Room’, however, they remained on the sidelines. It’s a shame because their fluid harmonies and well-chosen references (early Stone Roses) could be a boon for listening ears. Dodgy’s first 2 albums exposes a wealth of material of the jangling kind and while their best seller ‘Free Peace Sweet’ was a tad diluted it had several moments of note. ‘Summer Fayre’ encapsulates the bands intentions and conjures Monkees like stylings with Beatlesque ingenious twists. This sounds like it was hatched in the sixties and the psychedelic edge certainly adds to the drama. The hold each other’s hands and sing out loud ending should be played at primary schools the world over during roll such is its potential happy inducing niceties. KD

Dodgy - Summer Fayre

Album: Melod-EP
Year: 1994
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As the scariest day of the year approaches how better to get into the mood than to sit back and be shaken by the threat of hooded axemen wielding guitars that conjure shadowy silhouettes. Despite the fact that Shipping News could alarm the vulnerable there is an emotional depth to their music that coaxes the brave towards further investigation. ‘Axons and Dendrites’ plays the post-rock card to perfection yet it’s the eerily layered vocals that appear after several minutes of expansive shenanigans that catapult this mood piece skywards. This is the sound of the voices that come from your cupboard at 3am as you hug your comfort blanket. The undeniable swing creates a momentum that could propel the pendulum on a 12-foot grandfather clock. Todd Cook’s rich bass and Kyle Crabtree’s ambling percussion integrate with such intensity that the whirling wall of sound can’t help but levitate nearby furniture until it crashes to the floor at fade out. KD

Shipping News - Axoms & Dentrites

Album: Flies The Fields
Year: 2005
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In an unfair world Bell X1’s legacy could well have been remembered for the backing track to a lesbian kiss in a teen drama. Fortunately their latest album ‘Flock’ looks set to change all that, finally placing them amongst the elite. ‘Music In Mouth’ is where it all started to go right for the Kildare band, Damien Rice had long since fled and the dubious directions of their previous incarnation Juniper had been vanquished. ‘Music In Mouth’ spilled great ideas from every pore; jangling guitars were ubiquitous as were great admiring nods to ‘The Bends’ era Radiohead. As a live prospect Bell X1 have few peers and even the potentially embarrassing sight of 2 papier-mâché apples holding hands fails to diminish the experience. ‘Snakes & Snakes’ is a rush of surging riffs, breakneck rhythms and vocals that career off at odd tangents until they uncover another source of pure melody. Picture a 21st century reincarnation of the Byrds at their most shimmering and you’ll get the idea. KD

Bell X1 - Snakes & Snakes

Album: Music In Mouth
Year: 2003
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You’d wouldn’t have guessed it from listening to their breakthrough album ‘Urban Hymns’ but Verve (the ‘The’ didn’t come along until Jazz label Verve Recordings threatened to sue over naming rights) were quite the space rock visionaries when they first set out. Their debut ‘A Storm In Heaven’ was full of heavy laced, wide-eyed arrangements that hinted at generous amounts of dabbling in the mind-expanding arena. This persuasion was aided in no small part by the fact that the band had talent to burn. Golf club Richard Ashcroft was the dream frontman and Nick McCabe, a gifted guitarist, his right hand man. The early days were characterised by song structures that lavishly occupied wide-open spaces with Ashcroft’s strong vocals soaring in and out of the dynamics. ‘She’s A Superstar’ appeared on the Verve EP in 1992 and boasted swollen waves of guitars and a deeply affecting performance from the singer. The star of the show, however, is bassist Simon Jones who weaves the atmospherics through a series of circular riffs. Towards the end he spins into hyperspace drawing a plot towards the stratosphere where McCabe twists his guitar into a fireball of sound. Just close your eyes and become a starsailor. KD

Verve - She's A Superstar

Watch The Video To All In The Mind

Buy More Songs: Verve
Year: 1992

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Back in early nineties you could scarcely pick up a copy of Melody Maker or NME without some reference being made about this quintessential indie band. Slowdive were one of the prime movers (oh the irony) in the shoegaze scene and were responsible for some of the most eloquent bursts of primeval guitar squalls imaginable. The cover of their ‘Souvlaki’ album shows a solemn yet good-looking band, perfectly capturing the archetypal shoegaze inhabitants. The vocals for the most part were distant and measured affecting an antidote to the more uplifting arrangements. ‘When The Sun Hits’ is the distillation of the Slowdive sound with crafty guitar asides and bulbous bass eventually being overrun by a sweeping tornado of noise that matches one their earlier tunes ‘Catch The Breeze’ heartbreaking finale. The songs progression is unusually athletic with the boy/girl interplay keeping pace with the incendiary accompaniments. Given the fact that much of the shoegaze scene’s output has dated poorly ‘When The Sun Hits’ remains surprisingly contemporary. Perhaps the band was really onto something special but 'Pygmalion’, the limp follow-up to 'Souvlaki', prematurely ended the affair and its incumbents set off on various other projects. Neil Halstead and Rachel Goswell have been the most successful to date with their Mojave 3 collective continually unearthing albums of worth. KD

Slowdive - When The Sun Hits

Album: Souvlaki
Year: 1993
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It might be as immediate as an out-of-office reply but there is something fundamentally loveable about ‘In The Morning’. Perhaps it’s James Skelly’s wholesome vocals that nod to fellow Liverpudlian Lee Mavers or maybe it's just that loose-limbed strum that engenders sweet familiarity. But all winning formulas need a special ingredient and here it is sourced from the unlikeliest of sources. A mini xylophone overture is woven into the fabric of the tune and its repetitive nature makes it all the more endearing. You can trace a distinct nod to 'My Girl' in its execution but the ebullient charm is sufficient to throw even the mighty Sigur Ros a few more leads. You certainly won’t need your teeth to get stuck in, after several doses of this sugar coated pop you may not have any left anyway. KD

The Coral - In The Morning

Album: The Invisible Invasion
Year: 2005
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Your dad will probably think it’s a bad case of electrical interference so it’s up to you to inform him that it is in fact a rather fine cut from experimental electronic trio Add N To (X). Pioneers and founders of their own elaborate machines that make strange noises, they briefly sparked with the release of their ‘Avant Hard’ album in 1999. Their inventive sorties are often crammed with so many boxes of tricks it can sometimes detract from the magic of the tunes. ‘Robot New York’ is a glorious exception, however, as it plunders melodies from synths as bulky as concretes slabs. A digitalised human voice hums like a Dalek in the background reassuring the more timid listener that at no point have little green creatures taken over the bands London studio. So with Mr Moog sadly passing away this very year what better way to celebrate his life than with a tune from one of his many beautiful spawn. KD

Add N To (X) - Robot New York

Album: Avant Hard
Year: 1999
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Intelligent Dance Music (IDM) is described as dance music beyond the dancefloor, beats with an added creative nuance that your average floor filler forgets to include. Well, I’ve always been partial to the odd trance stomper (c.f. Madagascar by Art Of Trance) and to be honest I find this IDM lark a bit pretentious. I can understand indie snobbery (!) but isn’t the vast majority of dance music in effect, well er, disposable. There was a time when I wholeheartedly agreed with the last sentence but the rise and rise of electronica has changed all that. Orbital, Boards of Canada, The Aphex Twin, Four Tet and Underworld (their 9th Symphony ‘Rez’ still gives me goosebumps) are immensely talented artists. The latter may have been on a downward curve for nearly a decade yet in 1993 they crafted an album chock full of electronic classics. 'Dubnobasswithmyheadman' still sounds futuristic and adventurous with the sporadic chord interplay helping things along nicely. Darren Emerson & Co. sure knew how to whip a tune into action and ‘Cowgirl’ displays their myriad of gifts to full effect. A repetitive vocal is backed by a pummelling beat as the surface tension gradually ratchets to a point where a spinning electro fizzle whisks your mind to another dimension. This is the sound of the perfect high, with your functions unable to resist the aural onslaught you find Nike Air like properties pumping through your slip ons. Yeah, it’s that good. The trio went on to have worldwide success with ‘Born Slippy’ before Emerson departed and the project slowly diminished. KD

Underworld - Cowgirl

Album: Dubnobasswithmyheadman
Year: 1993
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It has taken him 3 solo albums but at last Stephen Malkmus is recapturing the dash he cut with his former band. 'Face The Truth' is decked out in enough curiously angled melodies to satisfy even the most disenchanted Pavement fan. Ok, it’s not the rollercoaster adventure that was ‘Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain’ but at least Malkmus, with one foot set in middle age, is acknowledging the fact that growing old has some interesting artistic possibilities. Hey maybe there’s no terror in the twilight after all. 'Loud Cloud Crowd' is as daft as it sounds, Malkmus sings as if he’s humming while a fleet of guitars bubble underneath. The peace is only briefly broken to allow some shrieking strings to augment the chorus of sorts. For the rest of the time the singer knits an aural hammock that'll have you dozing in the nearest available shade, bingo card at the ready. KD

Stephen Malkmus - Loud Cloud Crowd

Album: Face The Truth
Year: 2005
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Once there was a band called Bawl, who came to be named Fixed Stars and ended up becoming Pony Club. While a bands moniker has a role to play the key component will always be the quality of the music. So you’d have to question the wisdom of the somewhat overzealous rebranding especially since the output has shifted little since these Dublin lads released their fine debut ‘Year Zero’ (as Bawl) in 1996. Bawl were peddling wholesome harmonies way back when the Thrills were failing height restrictions on the pier in Bray yet the Gods ultimately failed to smile upon them. Here was a group that put the tastic back in pop but were also capable of concealing ironic barbs amongst the candyfloss. ‘Mistake’ is ridiculously simple, both lyrically and musically leaving it instantly engaging. The jangling guitars support Ali like hooks that by the third listen will have you punch drunk in love. All the while singer Mark Cullen tries to get a Saturday night organised, he could be singing about cricket such is the effervescence in the shakedown. ‘Mistake’ appeared on a Melody Maker ‘Maker Shaker 3’ tape (ah, that dreaded medium), nobody remembers the other artists from the same compilation either (Puressence, The Gyres and Coast). Here’s your chance to give pop’s answer to Carlos the Jackal a happy ever after. KD

Bawl - Mistake

Album: Year Zero
Year: 1996

Self-belief and talent are sometimes not enough to achieve immortality. Coventry’s Adorable straddled the boundaries of fame for a few short years in the early nineties but through a wicked combination of arrogance, bad luck and record company indifference imploded on a Belgian stage in 1994. Lead singer Piotr Fijalkowski was the Ian McCullough obsessive who had the snarl to match his openly disturbing lyrics. Creation’s wunderkid Alan Moulder produced ‘Homeboy’ which was one of the standout on the bands debut album ‘Against Perfection’. Despite the ferocity of the guitar parts, the marching to war percussion and dedicated bass riff ‘Homeboy’ is utterly embracing. The intense fury is tempered by Fijalkowski’s line ‘You’re So Beautiful’ and the distance jangle of sweet chords. The close out is alternative gold, a fizzing stick of dynamite that ignites and is responsible for as many indie disco injuries as ‘Smell Like Teen Spirit’. It has also been known to unblock gargantuan wax deposits. KD

Adorable - Homeboy

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Album: Against Perfection
Year: 1993

There is something annoyingly inconsistent about Mogwai, rather like the post-rock scene they inhibit. On the one hand they can furnish unparalleled montages of sound that sees grown men snivel, yet on the other hand they can bleat about for endless minutes in the search for a winning avenue of sound and fall helplessly on their faces. From this point of view ‘Ten Rapid’ remains their high watermark, a series of early recordings without the flab, each piece offering fluid ideas designed to shatter cheap speakers. The Mogwai standard is to play the quiet/loud bits in quick succession often when you least expect your eardrum to be perforated. ‘Helicon Part 1’s trick is that it builds to the crescendo sequentially; the rotund bass forages melodically, while a twinkling guitar saddles up in the foreground. When the avalanche of noise descends there is a clear indication as to what instrument is doing what and you can’t help forgive the band their beards, bare feet and flap caps. The live version of this song on the BBC Government Commissions is equally impressive, appearing a little less controlled and shining a light on the subtleties that were lost in the studio recording. KD

Mogwai - Helicon Part 1

Album: Ten Rapid
Year: 1997

There are just some bands that have the added cool factor, not that they do anything that is inherently swish just a feeling of aloofness that can’t be canned. The Stone Roses, (the) Verve and Ride all had it, apart from blazing great swathes of mercurial noise in our faces they had the poise and laidback swagger of people who were born to be in a band. Ride had 2 gifted writers (although, quite what has happened to Beatles cover band boy Andy Bell is a mystery) who never really saw eye to eye but when they did they had the imagination to create guitar-fused masterpieces. ‘Taste’ was released as part of the ‘Fall’ EP, one of several EP’s that they put out in the early nineties. The EP’s artwork showing a colony of snow covered penguins roving the desolate landscape is a delightful guide to the delicacies that await inside. ‘Taste’ has Mark Gardener’s wispy vocals floating like a ring of smoke amid the multi-layered cascading guitars. He doesn’t say a great deal but the delivery is so sweet that his playful aah’s are much more effective than any words could be. This is hugely uplifting music that will shuttle you away like a daydream on a particularly boring day at work. As the taste just slips away you can’t help experiencing the childhood euphoria you last felt that day spent at the seaside. KD

Ride - Taste

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Album: Taste EP
Year: 1990

Despite the fact that they’ve kissed and made up with their new band The Tears, it’s unlikely that Bernard and Brett will ever reach the transcendent glories of their opus ‘Dog Man Star’. Their break-up could have marked the end for Suede but they persevered commendably for several more albums. With Butler gone, Anderson needed another foil and he came in the shape of young whippersnapper Richard Oakes (rather unfairly nicknamed little dick in the music press). The new partnerships’ first outing ably proved that Suede could quite capably recover from losing one of their muses. ‘Together’ arrived as a b-side on the ‘New Generation’ single and outpaced the lead song through the sheer kinetic energy in the grooves. Anderson vocals are marginally skewed as are the all-consuming guitar chops. The momentum hardly falters and leads spectacularly to guitars as psychedelic monoliths at its epicentre. All the players lay down markers, Simon Gilbert is notably flamboyant on drums and Mat Osman plucks at his bass like a man scrambling for toughened roots at the edge of a cliff. This is Suede leaving the melancholic drama behind, pushing their creative impulses to breaking point and finally realising that being in a band can be good fun. KD

Suede - Together

Album: New Generation EP
Year: 1995

What is it about graffiti artists that have them pricing their art so low? All it takes is a single couplet sung by a French girl and they are off baring their imaginative creations to the world. As you’d expect from the purveyors of such simplistic themes Maximo Park inhabit a world populated by the likes of the Kaiser Chiefs but don’t let this put you off as Maximo Park have much the better songs. Their debut ‘A Certain Trigger’ (released on electronic label Warp) bustles along with imaginative verve, the energetic new wave ethic is omnipresent and there are enough short sharp tunes to populate a Franz Ferdinand record. ‘Graffiti’ is a pleasing example, guitars spin vociferous melodies, the momentum is punctuated by a slow/fast percussion and Paul Smith’s word volleys seamlessly wrap up the tidy package of sound. KD

Maximo Park - Graffiti

Album: A Certain Trigger
Year: 2005

Ryan Adams current double album ‘Cold Roses’ requires an intensity of concentration but buried inside the multi-tracked opus are some of the most delicate sounds of 2005. The ex Whiskeytown singer is nothing if prolific with an attractive penchant for drifting between alt-country and straightforward rock and roll. On ‘Meadowlake Street’ the singer carves open his heart to present a paean to lost love. Vocals are fragile and beguiling with the acoustic backdrop perfectly instilling the sense of hopelessness when your fountain of happiness is beyond reach. The focused fury that arrives from nowhere is gleaned from memories rather than your typical Hollywood ending. Sadly it seems, for the present time at least, love remains hell. KD

Ryan Adams - Meadowlake Street

Album: Cold Roses
Year: 2005

A creaking door, bogeymen lurking in the shadows and an over active imagination can be the only explanation for Sound Team’s ‘Don’t Turn Away’ because it’s quite unlike anything you’ve ever heard. Ok, there are ingenious nods to the underrated Clinic but who else could get away with unrehearsed church bells, drum beats recorded inside a cardboard box, indiscernibly juicy vocals and a keyboard that for all intensive purposes sounds like the midnight calls of a Mogwai. I guess that's what happens when ideas run riot in the recording studio you've built for yourself. The Austin band are about to release their ‘Work’ EP on an unsuspecting world and if ‘Don’t Turn Away’ is anything to go by they will have a very intense spotlight cast in their direction before too long. And if they sell a few records perhaps they'll have plenty to eat after midnight too. KD

Sound Team - Don't Turn Away

Album: Work EP
Year: 2005

When you get an opening salvo as memorable as ‘I was in a car crash, its not a hard luck story, on my back in the road with bits of me around’ its time to sit up and take notice. The song captures one mans world-weariness as he experiences clinical incompetence, political shallowness and the loneliness of old age during an altogether unpleasant hospital stay. You’d think that such a downbeat tale could have your reaching for the poison but the sharp humour and ingenious playing makes it rather jaunty. A memorable circular riff bolsters the tirade but its not until the swooping trumpet kicks in that it all goes supernova. With the words being spoken rather than sung the sentiments are easily translated making this one of the best short audio dramas you’ll hear in a while. Sadly Animals That Swim’s clever cleverness meant a wider audience eluded them and their albums lacked the persuasive feel of their finer moments.

Animals That Swim - Pink Carnations

Album: Workshy
Year: 1995

Sonic Youth are akin to a twin tub that destroys the colours on garments yet from time to time the newly rainbowed apparel displays a unique and satisfying take on high fashion. Throughout their career the band have been consistently inconsistent in their output. One minute they are parading a spellbinding mix of jangling guitars and low-slung vocal theatrics, the next they are in throes of sonic epilepsy that is too wayward to be considered ingestible. Their exalted status is no doubt down to their longevity and the fact that every now and then they pin down a stone cold classic. ‘Unwind’ is one such, extending over 6 minutes; it is effortless in its simplicity yet buoyant enough to reveal new subplots on every play. Thurston Moore provides the stoned impassioned delivery while guitar chords shimmer endlessly in the background. The gradual descent into a smorgasbord of electrics is inevitable but the slow recovery back to twinkling chords ensures a happy ending every time.

Sonic Youth - Unwind

Album: Washing Machine
Year: 1995

Despite the daft name Thee More Shallows seemed to have nailed down the prototype for a new elaborate wing in the house of rock. Their 'More Deep Cuts' album has a fresh exuberant feel to it, as if something exciting is being rolled out. Each cut is a distinct, multi-layered affair that reveals itself over repeated listens which just about explains the albums 3-year conception. 'Freshman Thesis' and '2am' are the highlights throwing imagination from the speakers like a Halloween fireworks display. '2am' has Dee Kesler as Lou Reed, the tumbling xylophone riff holds court as the bouncy drumming attempts to keep up. As the ascending barrage of noise envelopes you appreciate the scene as the singer tries the sleep in a city that doesn’t. There are flashes of Grandaddy and a host of post-rock entrepreneurs but this San Francisco band are out there setting their own mountain high standards.

Thee More Shallows - 2am

More Info: Thee More Shallows
Buy Album: [UK] More Deep Cuts [US] More Deep Cuts
Year: 2004

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In the early days it was like a secret club. With a debut in short supply, interviews at an absolute premium, grainy abstract photos and shorts pity essays included with all releases a legend was moulded. At first it seemed like the band couldn't put a foot wrong, new material easily stood up to the intense scrutiny from their invisible army of fans. The intelligence in the lyrics was matched only by the wholesome melody. This music didn't slap you in the face, it cajoled you slowly until you copped that every other band were altogether less useful. 'Push Barman To Open Old Wounds' chronicles those first steps from Art College Project to one of the most impressive acts in the world. 'Slow Graffiti' initially appeared at the tail end of 'This Is Just A Modern Rock Song' EP (their EP's proved conclusively that the single still had a role to play). 'Slow Graffiti' details how twee pop could muster more resonance than all the synchronised movements of a certain Mancunian set of siblings. It begins in that true Belle & Sebastian spirit with Stuart Murdoch alone with his voice, at times it sounds as if he is stretching to reach the high notes but this just adds to the occasion. The winning effect comes by way of trundling stop/start bowl of faded drums, oboe, trombone and a hoarse guitar riff. The song slowly garners momentum and doesn’t relinquish control until your urges are sated. After hearing this you'll realise it's worth suffering a century of fakers if the rewards for patience uncovers a band like Belle & Sebastian every now and then. KD

Belle & Sebastian - Slow Graffiti

Album: This Is Just A Modern Rock Song EP
Year: 1998

With a feather lifted from Roddy Woomble's rapidly disintegrating peak cap (cf 'When I Argue I See Shapes') 'Another Wound' leaves the blocks in record-breaking fashion. The Ponys may be relative newcomers but they are about to have an almighty impact. Their anglophile tendencies are obvious, yet they mask what they've borrowed behind romper-stomper ditties. This a 3 minute pop sensation, shimmering sounds are fashioned from the likeliest of sources and a centre as ebullient as a Wimbledon starlet sees Jered Gummere swing from his own ripened tonsils. Their sophomore effort ‘Celebration Castle’ is awash with similar sonic belters that are primed to replace any other fixes you may have grown accustomed to. While we’ve always had horses for courses, the time may have arrived to try some Ponys for choruses. KD

The Ponys - Another Wound

Album: Celebration Castle
Years: 2005

Ridiculously shunted from his previous incarnation Manitoba, Dan Snaith has conjured yet more bedroom masterpieces on his third LP ‘The Milk Of Human Kindness’. The goalposts haven’t shifted all that greatly with Snaith still intent on colouring life with electronic portraits of the colourful kind. ‘Barnowl’ closes the album in the giddiest of ways. A rollicking good time pummels forth via clockwork synths, breathy vocals, masked eastern influences and the sneaking feeling that the bogeyman could be about to turn up at any time. You may have trouble moving your body to it, but it'd take a heavy set of manacles to stop those hearty foot commotions. As far as Caribou is concerned it's only a matter of time before the only thing that's going ‘who who’ is the subject of this song. KD

Caribou - Barnowl

Album: The Milk Of Human Kindness
Year: 2005

Put a guitar, bass, drums and voice together and the sonic possibilities stretch to infinity. The trick is to come up with something that is worthwhile, something that can move the listener. Explosions In The Sky achieve this effortlessly and considering they don't even employ a singer makes their music all the more remarkable. Their third album 'The Earth Is Not A Cold Dead Place' is a post-rock masterpiece (see also Mogwai, Do Make Say Think, Godspeed You Black Emperor) with rich hook filled guitar escapades in plenty supply. 'Your Hand In Mine', 'The Only Moment We Are Alone' and 'First Breath After Coma', are particularly inspired. The latter starts out like a frosty morning, a jinking guitar solo and sparse bass flutter like swallows in a blue sky. The percussion is frenetic but controlled building slowly to the point where the guitars run freely. It’s the sort of music you can easily get lost in; the all-encompassing nature is total save for some intermittent reindeer bells. This is music for a virtual world, one where the only violence that is committed targets helpless 6 stringed instruments. KD

Explosions In The Sky - First Breath After Coma

Buy Songs: Explosions In The Sky
Year: 2003

While the Bluetone Roses moniker that was hoisted on them did an enormous disservice to the much superior Manchester band with King Monkey at the helm, this Mark Morris led project had initially, at least, some worth. Their first 3 singles ‘Are You Blue Or Are You Blind’, ‘Bluetonic’ and ‘Slight Return’ were fabulous examples of jangling pop, but sadly the bands albums were lumpen affairs that illustrated a remarkably limited potential. Funny then that one of their greatest tunes, 'Castle Rock', should be a b-side on the ‘Cut Some Rug’ single. Things don’t start out too promising as the guitars plod along aimlessly but out of the blue some dandy riffs fly about and Morris sends a shudderingly melodic vocal to the base of your spine. It’s all over in a blink of an eye but then spontaneous joy generally is. While the Bluetones are unlikely to fill little more than a footnote in the annals of indie history they have several recordings that they can be proud of. KD

The Bluetones - Castle Rock

Album: Cut Some Rug EP
Year: 1996

Criminally underrated, the Boo Radleys ably continued the proud liverpudlian tradition of producing brilliant pop bands. While they initially pottered away in the guitar heavy shoegaze scene it was their 1993 album ‘Giant Steps’ that signalled their true intentions. Martin Carr was the prolific songwriter who for a time in the mid nineties was unable to put a foot wrong with the bands b-sides often eclipsing their more illustrious neighbours. ‘Giant Steps’ excelled in contemporary psychedelia, the schizophrenic song structures were often too skewed to be consumed on a first listen but once digested the masterly song writing was evident. Lazarus is one of the albums many highlights. The 12-inch version holds the exuberant trumpets back for a bit but this is not to detract from the songs power. The Jah Wobble like bass and drugged out delivery is a masterclass in dub and perfectly rolls out the red carpet for the aforementioned brass. Add in Sice’s crystallised down a telephone line voice and what you have is a classic song waiting for a future generation to embrace it. KD

The Boo Radleys - Lazarus (12-inch version)

Album: Giant Steps
Year: 1993

Rollerskate Skinny are perhaps the closest anyone got to producing the multi-layered genius of My Bloody Valentine. Fronted by floppy fringed Ken Griffin they were an explosive live outfit, perforating eardrums one moment, applying cotton rimmed remedies the next. Their 2 albums are forgotten gems; the sophomore effort ‘Horsedrawn Wishes’ alone expelled enough fluid ideas to maintain a healthy career. ‘Speed To My Side’ perfectly displays the bands kaleidoscope approach; all manner of instruments are thrown into the blender but somehow the dish is delicately cohesive. Griffins voice holds true as guitar pedals are stomped on, feedback streams from a bank of 10-foot high speakers and several banshees wail from the unused abattoir next door. Griffin once described Rollerskate Skinny’s music as ‘controlled melodic chaos’ and on this evidence it's easy to see why. KD

Rollerskate Skinny - Speed To My Side

More Info: IMC
Buy Album: [UK] Horse Drawn Wishes [US] Horsedrawn Wishes
Year: 1996

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The electronic windowlicker may have had the critics on his side for most of the nineties but many of his offerings were about as appealing as long fingernails scraping down a blackboard. On occasions, however, he dropped his nocturnal guard to dramatic effect. 'Goon Gumpas' is as cute as the video it inspired (huge teddy bears bouncing on oversized beds) with sweeping organ flourishes and digitalised strings plucked in pretty patterns. This is the sound of little red riding hood in the forest after the successful introduction of myxomatoses for bad wolves. Heck, even my hairy eared grandma has nice words to say about it. KD

Aphex Twin - Goon Gumpas

More Info:
Buy Aphex Twins: [UK] Richard D. James [US] Richard D. James Album
Year: 1996

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