"a christmas gift for you" from phil spector 1963

A Christmas Gift for You from Phil Spector (originally released as A Christmas Gift for You from Philles Records) is an album of Christmas songs, produced by Phil Spector, and originally released as Philles 4005 in 1963. Spector treated a series of mostly secular Christmas standards to his trademark "Wall of Sound" treatment, and the selections feature the vocal performances of Spector's regular artists during this period. It is one of only twelve long-playing records released on the Philles label, peaking at #13 on the Top Pop Albums chart. The album was reissued by Apple Records in 1972, with different cover art and retitled Phil Spector's Christmas Album; this version went to #6. Download.

	The Ronettes - Sleigh Ride
	Found at skreemr.com

the cyrkle "red rubber ball" 1966

The Cyrkle may be largely forgotten today, save for the regular plays of their two hits on oldies radio, but once upon a time, this underrated band played with rock's royalty and were managed by a king-maker himself. A brief and shining moment, yes, but they truly earned their place at the top. How ironic that in their biggest hit, they presaged their own demise. Download.

destroyer "your blues" 2004

In the wake of the critical acclaimed heaped upon the New Pornographers sophomore album Electric Version, songwriter and contributor Dan Bejar graces us with another hybrid glam-folk explosion with the fourth album by his solo project Destroyer. For those that are new to Destroyer, there is nothing on Your Blues that will snare you like his contributions "Testament to Youth in Verse" or "Ballad of a Comeback Kid" did on Electric Version, but Your Blues captivates nonetheless by exuded other strengths. Canned electronic horns, schoolyard hand-claps and doo-wop style backing vocals are methodically strewn across 12 of Bejar's most consistent compositions to date to create an enchanting view into the world of one of the most enigmatic figures in indie rock. Download.

heróis do mar "paixão" 1983

Heróis do Mar (“Sea Heroes”) were a portuguese rock band formed in March of 1981 by: Paulo Pedro Gonçalves (guitar), Carlos Maria Trindade (keyboards), Tozé Almeida (drums), Pedro Ayres Magalhães (bass) e Rui Pregal da Cunha (voice). "Paixão" is a single from 1983 and one of the best portuguese pop songs. Buy.

underworld "dubnobasswithmyheadman" 1994

Though Underworld reached its commercial peak with "Born Slippy," a track featured on the Trainspotting soundtrack, dubnobasswithmyheadman, the group's first album as a trio (members Karl Hyde and Rick Smith recruited DJ Darren Emerson in 1993), stands as their greatest overall contribution to electronic music. The album blends Acid House, Techno and Dub into a refined, epic headrush. Download.

galaxie 500 "on fire" 1989

One of the great cult acts in alternative music history, Galaxie 500 were only around for four years, but crafted a perfectly self-contained discography of near-perfect albums. All recorded by producer/svengali/bong-enthusiast Kramer, the albums find the trio tentatively stepping through a sweet, swirling, psychedelic haze; a melancholy pop-band lost in a daydreamy sound steeped in the Modern Lovers, Velvet Underground, Television, and The Feelies. Download.

nancy sinatra & lee hazlewood "some velvet morning" 1967

"Some Velvet Morning" is a psychedelic pop song written by Lee Hazlewood and originally recorded by Hazlewood and Nancy Sinatra in late 1967. It first appeared on Sinatra's album Movin' With Nancy, the soundtrack to her 1967 television special of the same name. The song has been covered many times since, almost always as a duet. Although "Some Velvet Morning" is one of the more famous duets Hazlewood and Sinatra recorded together, it is considered a departure from their usual fare, as it is decidedly less influenced by country & western music. The single peaked at number 26 on the Billboard Hot 100 in February 1968. Download.

	Nancy Sinatra & Lee Hazlewood - Some Velvet Morning
	Found at skreemr.com

stardust "music sounds better with you" 1998

"Music Sounds Better with You" is a 1998 single by house music band Stardust. The vocal performance of the song was provided by Benjamin Diamond of the band. The song uses a sample of the song "Fate" by Chaka Khan, which appeared on her 1981 album What Cha' Gonna Do for Me. It was also one of the highest-selling singles of the year in the United Kingdom, where it debuted at #2 on the UK Singles Chart in August 1998 and maintained the position for two weeks. That same month, the song also spent two weeks atop the U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart. This is the only single released by the Stardust project.

This song was later used by Daft Punk for their live album Alive 2007, which features "Music Sounds Better with You" in the encore along with elements of "One More Time", "Human After All", and "Together". Download.

françoise hardy "tous les garçons et les filles" 1962

Cover text :
LA JEUNESSE CHANTE LA JEUNESSE...
FRANCOISE HARDY l'a prouve ! A dix-huit ans, une jeune fille etudiante, simple, jolie et naturelle, a apporte une fraicheur nouvelle dans la chanson. Elle compose des melodies a son image, sur des poemes ou l'amour parle jeune. Elle interprete ses chansons avec une charme tres personnel qui la distingue entre toutes.
FRANCOISE HARDY est la REVELATION de l'annee que le public tout entier a adoptee et plebiscitee !
A travers le sourire des nouvelles chansons qu'elle vous presente dans cet album, Francoise marche a coup sur les traces des plus grand succes.
FRANCOISE HARDY... C'EST LE RENOUVEAU DE LA JEUNE CHANSON FRANCAISE !

Download.

the smoke "s/t" 1968

This was a Michael Lloyd studio band that released just one album which mysteriously appeared in 1968. The Smoke’s self-titled album is a much better soft popsike record than Lloyd’s earlier release, the October Country LP (which is also worth seeking out). Download.

	Smoke (U.S.) - October Country
	Found at skreemr.com

john coltrane and johnny hartman "s/t" 1963

Though Coltrane and Hartman had known each other since their days playing with Dizzy Gillespie's band in the late 1940s (Hartman had been with the band on an on and off basis, and Coltrane played (third) alto with the band in 1949), Hartman is the only vocalist with whom the great saxophonist would record as a leader. Initially when producer Bob Thiele approached Hartman with Coltrane's request that the two record together Hartman was hesitant as he did not consider himself a jazz singer and did not think he and Coltrane would compliment one another musically. Download.

the page boys "you're my kind of girl" 7" 1983

One of my favourites of the batch was the 7″ single by THE PAGE BOYS - You’re My Kind Of Girl / In Love With You (Whaam! 010 - 9/83). Everything about that single was kind of special and made it stand out, from the 60’s mod looking band photo and the girls with the mod haircuts (which were featured on the covers of my cassette comps in those days) to the beautiful groovy sound which was a modernized 60’s Mod POP with keyboards - ElectroMod as I liked to call it. Both sides were magnificent - the ultimate love songs - songs I would play to my girlfriend to win her heart, which it did. Suffice to say, I searched high and low for more of their releases, but other then a few contributions to compilations (one song on the “All For Art And Art For All” LP on Whaam! and a few tracks on Direct Tapes compilations and later a Page Boys cassette on the Dreamworld label), very little was found. Download.

the handsome family "through the trees" 1998

For their second album, Brett and Rennie Sparks take a more serious approach, eschewing the jokier elements of their debut and concentrating on writing country music with an urban sensibility and a post-graduate degree. It's doubtful that any previous country album included songs in praise of Cologne Cathedral or Lake Michigan, but backed by the Sparks' austere songs--often just guitar, autoharp, and drum machine--with occasional help by Wilco's Jeff Tweedy, the music has an almost Appalachian simplicity and newfound depth of feeling. Like coming across a brownstone in the mountains, the Handsome Family's music is simultaneously disconcerting and strangely beautiful. Download.

	The Handsome Family - Weightless Again
	Found at skreemr.com

ultra vivid scene "mercey seat" 1989

Ultra Vivid Scene was the musical nom de plume of one Kurt Ralske, a New Yorker who married programmed drums and synths with anaemic, fuzzed-out guitars and his own fey vocals to create a brand of indie pop that was dark and catchy; often dreamy, occasionally twee. It’s no surprise, then, that he signed to the burgeoning 4AD label in 1987, releasing an eponymous debut album in 1988. It was a good album, but one track stuck out like a sore thumb: “Mercy Seat”, with its propulsive, overdriven bass line and glistening guitar parts, was an instant classic, my favourite track of 1988, if memory serves. Download.

frank sinatra "sings for only the lonely" 1958

Frank Sinatra Sings for Only the Lonely (also known as Sings for Only the Lonely and simply Only the Lonely) is an album by the American singer Frank Sinatra, released in the United States by Capitol Records, in September 1958.

The album consists of a haunting collection of melancholic ballads about sadness and loss [2]. At the time of the recording, Sinatra's divorce from Ava Gardner had been finalised, and the arranger of the album, Nelson Riddle, had recently suffered the deaths of his mother and daughter.[3] Of these events Riddle remarked "If I can attach events like that to music...perhaps Only the Lonely was the result." Download

silver screen "the greatest story never told" 2005

Here's the next record for the list of best shoegaze albums of the year, folks. This new release from Silver Screen has that distinct tone, that sense of being that instantly transports me back to 1991. Less sonic wash and more pop, I can hear traces of bands like The Darling Buds and Lightning Seeds all over The Greatest Story Never Told. The songs are laid back and far more relaxing than much of today's music, preferring to lull the listener into a state of well-being than to jar them into wakeful restlessness. Download.

led zeppelin "physical graffiti" 1975

Physical Graffiti is the sixth album by the English rock band Led Zeppelin. It is a double album which was released on 24 February 1975. Recording sessions for the album were initially disrupted when John Paul Jones considered leaving the band. After reuniting at Headley Grange, the band wrote and recorded eight songs, the combined length of which stretched the album beyond the typical length of an LP. This prompted the band to make Physical Graffiti a double album by including previously unreleased tracks from earlier recording sessions.

Physical Graffiti was commercially and critically successful; the album is 16 times platinum (though this only signifies sales of 8 million copies, as it is a double album) in the United States alone, and has come to be regarded as one of Led Zeppelin's defining works. In 2003, the album was ranked number 70 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. The album was also ranked number 95 on Pitchfork Media's list of the Top 100 Albums of the 1970s. Download.

epic45 "in all the empty houses" 2009

Epic45 is, was and always will be a home recording project/collective based round the ideas and inspiration of childhood friends Ben Holton and Rob Glover. As a 'group' epic45 has seen a few different lineups, as people come and go. Occasional forays into studios do occur from time to time, the first EP 'Shorebound' was mainly recorded in 1998 in a small, untidy studio in the attic of an old house in Rugeley! Since then 99% of recording has taken place in various homes as its found to be an overall more satisfying process. Download.

joão gilberto "chega de saudade" 1959

Chega de Saudade is the debut album from João Gilberto and is often credited as the first bossa nova album. The title can be translated roughly as "enough longing", though the Portuguese word saudade carries with it more complex meaning. In 2001, the album was made an inaugural member of the Latin Grammy Hall of Fame. Download.

the chameleons "as high as you can go" single 1983

The atmospheric pop band the Chameleons formed in Manchester, England, in 1981 from the ashes of a number of local groups: vocalist/bassist Mark Burgess began with the Cliches, guitarists Reg Smithies and Dave Fielding arrived from the Years, and drummer John Lever (who quickly replaced founding member Brian Schofield) originated with the Politicians. After establishing themselves with a series of high-profile BBC sessions, the Chameleons signed to Epic and debuted with the EP Nostalgia, a tense, moody set produced by Steve Lillywhite which featured the single "In Shreds." Download.

the rain parade "emergency third rail power trip" 1983

The Rain Parade were a part of the 80s Paisley Underground scene in LA along with such bands as the Bangles, the Three O'Clock and the Dream Syndicate. Of this scene, Rain Parade had the most psychedelic influenced sound. Their music is calm, melodic pop heavily inspired by 60s music, most noticably the Byrds. This album combines the 1983 LP Emergencty Third Rail Power Trip and the 1984 EP Explosions in the Glass Palace, which does not include the departed founding member David Robak. Robak would go on to form Opal, which eventually would become Mazzy Star. Download

roger nichols and the small circle of friends "s/t" 1968

I believe this originally came out in early 1968. Roger Nichols went on to collaborate successfully with Paul Williams but before that came this teaming with siblings Melinda & Murray MacLeod. Produced by Tommy LiPuma, arranged by Bob Thompson, Nick De Caro, Marty Paich and Mort Garson, this is music immaculately made. Their languid, oh so sexy version of "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" does Bacharach & David proud. I'm sure Carole King also stood proud with "Snow Queen", one of her early compositions. The group Swing Out Sister used elements of "I Can See Only You" for their song "When the Laughter is Over". Their version of the Lovin Spoonful's "Didn't Want To Have To Do It"(which Jackie De Shannon also recorded, magnificently) is exquisite, sad & beautiful. The liner notes and history (by Steven Stanley) are informative. Tommy LiPuma produced many great, tuneful LP's in the late 60's. This is one of them, a true, lost gem. Download.

genesis "trespass" 1970

Trespass is the second studio album by Genesis and was recorded and released in 1970. The only album with drummer John Mayhew and the last with guitarist Anthony Phillips, Trespass had a folk-flavoured progressive rock sound that was a marked departure from their earlier work, and foreshadowed the path the band would follow through the 1970s. Buy online.

the smiths "hand in glove" 1983

"Hand in Glove" is a song by the British alternative rock band The Smiths, written by singer Morrissey and guitarist Johnny Marr. It was released as the band's first single in May 1983 on independent record label Rough Trade Records. A remixed version of the song was featured on the band's debut album, The Smiths (1984). Download.

The Smiths Hand in Glove
by Celtiemama

felt "sunlight bathed the golden glow" 1984

Felt are often cited as a major influence by Belle & Sebastian's Stuart Murdoch, as well as by American alternative rock group The Tyde. The band released ten albums and ten singles in ten years and then disbanded. Download.

e-z rollers "dimensions of sound" 1996

The E-Z Rollers are a British drum and bass group made up of Jay Hurren (also known as JMJ), Alex Banks (also known from the band Hyper-On Experience) and Kelly Richards. The group was formed in 1995 in Norfolk, England. Download

the left banke "walk away renée-pretty ballerina" 1967

The Left Banke was a 1960s American pop-music group best remembered for its two hit singles, "Walk Away Renée" and "Pretty Ballerina". The band often utilized what was referred to as "baroque" string arrangements, which led its music to be termed "Bach-rock". The band's use of harmonies saw it compared to contemporaries such as The Beach Boys, The Beatles, The Zombies, and other British Invasion groups. In 2004, Rolling Stone placed "Walk Away Renée" at number 220 in the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. Download.

july skies "dreaming of spires" 2002

Lost youth, fractured memories of the 1970's, pylons across fields, abandoned airfields, endless childhood summers, dappled sunlight through leaves, forgotten England, the romance of the heavens well after closing time, countryside, mornings in May, ruins, faded innocence, post-war Britain, skies of all seasons, trudging coastlines, Super8, Festival of Britain 1951, memories made with a Polaroid Landcam, Henry Moore, overgrown follies, East Anglia, time spent amongst long summer grasses, kissing under motorway bridges, grey English rain filled skies, concrete precincts and tower blocks, suburbia, better days ahead, the sound of children playing faraway, old Ordnance Survey maps, lost airmen, Orford Ness, rustic charm, John Nash, playgrounds of the city, Avebury, icy mornings and clear blue skies, poppy day, a half remembered smile, 1960's artwork by Harry Wingfield, John Berry, Martin Aitchinson, C F Tunnicliffe, Ronald Lampitt, BST, municipal parks at dusk, love, infatuation and loss. Probably nothing more... Download.

"lights on a darkening shore" a shinkansen compilation 2000

Shinkansen Recordings is an independent record label which was founded by Matt Haynes in 1996, after disbanding Sarah Records. The label proceeded to release new recordings by ex-Sarah artists (including Blueboy and Harvey Williams) as well as other acts including Fosca and Tompot Blenny. Download.

spacetime continuum "emit ecaps" 1996

'Jonah Sharp' alias Spacetime Continuum is a producer of electronic music. After starting his musical career as a jazz drummer in London, UK, he moved to San Francisco, USA. During the 1990s Sharp released a series of albums on the Astralwerks record label. The first of these, entitled Alien Dreamtime, featured a live recording of ethnobotanist, writer and psychedelic researcher Terence McKenna delivering a series of lectures to the accompaniment of Spacetime Continuum music. Sharp's subsequent albums combined experimental electronic music with subtle jazz elements and elaborate rhythm structures. His work has had a clear influence on contemporary psybient artists, such as Shpongle and others.

Jonah Sharp has also released collaborations with Tetsu Inoue, Bill Laswell, Mixmaster Morris, Pete Namlook, David Moufang, and Plaid. He has remixed songs from Nine Inch Nails, Meat Beat Manifesto, Ponga, Teknostep, Susumu Yokota, and Matt Herbert. He has produced songs for Ursula Rucker and Paradise Boys. In addition to music production and remixing, he is a DJ. Download.