Music Makes The People Come Together

My legs are stiff from a double dose of football yesterday, my brain is tired from a lack of proper sleep this week (thanks to Mrs Wife's newly-instigated Zero Tolerance policy to my snoring, which means I get a dig in the ribs every time my nose whistle pipes up), so I'll dip into the Magic Tune Box to see what kind of mood it's in today. What ten random noises will it pick from the 14,000 at its disposal?

1: Long Haired Child by Devendra Banhart (from the album Cripple Crow): Insane psychedelic hippy folk tune from the insane psychedelic hippy. Proclaims the necessity of encouraging children to grow their hair long.

2: His Last Painting by Manic Street Preachers (from the album Know Your Enemy): From the Manic's sixth studio album, which sounded like a good record thrown away. His Last Painting is the band in their comfort zone, with neither the growl of their early work nor the elegance of Everything Must Go. But hey, middle age (in rock'n'roll terms) will do that to you I suppose.

3: May This Be Love by The Jimi Hendrix Experience (from the album Are You Experienced?): Hypnotic, jangly love song from James Marshall Hendrix. Not his finest work, although things pick up when the track breaks into a driving chorus a minute in. Mitch Mitchell's drumming is, as ever, faultless.

4: Chasing Cars by Snow Patrol (from the album Eyes Open): I'm not a massive fan of Snow Patrol, but even I have to admire their tenacity in finally making it to the big league after years of slumming around in the indie undergrowth. Chasing Cars is probably their most famous track, and is pleasant enough, but a wee bit dull in my opinion.

5: Good People by Jack Johnson (from the album In Between Dreams): Pretty much sounds like every other Jack Johnson has ever released. Happy clappy, acoustic hippy track from the Hawaiian surfer turned alternative acoustic superstar. I first heard Johnson's work whilst living in Australia, and his albums almost seem perfectly made for days relaxing on the beach with a cold drink and the surf crashing onto the sand.

6: Aneurysm by Nirvana (from the album Incesticide): Aneurysm is one of my favourite Nirvana songs. This version was recorded for Radio 1's Evening Session, and includes Cobain's almost trademark buzzsaw guitar work backed by typically loud Grohl drums and purposefully off-key Novoselic backing vocals. Recently voted the band's third greatest song by Radio 1 listeners - not bad for a B-side.

7: There There by Homer: Indie pop song that puts me neither up nor down. Unremarkable enough to be pleasant, but not exciting enough to get, well, excited about.

8: How Soon Is Now? by The Smiths (from the compilation Best...I): My favourite Smiths song, How Soon Is Now? is also one of my favourite songs by any band. From Johnny Marr's fading guitar and slide work to Morrissey's lyrics ("I am the son and the heir of a shyness that is criminally vulgar), everything about this track fits perfectly. As I've said before, I hope The Smiths never reform - it's better that they leave their memory unsullied.

9: Mario Man by Super Furry Animals (from the album Fuzzy Logic): I've written about my love of the lyrics of Gruff Rhys in the past. Their second album, Radiator, is amongst the greatest I've ever heard, but debut Fuzzy Logic was also pretty darn good. It's less focussed than its successor, but it still showcased a band of unique talents. In Mario Man, Gruff tells us that he "bought myself a frying pan and sailed it to the Isle of Man for a holiday". Insane indie genius, I'm looking forward to seeing the band again at this year's Connect Festival.

10: Mamma Mia by ABBA (from the compilation Gold): OK, in preparation for this weekend's housewarming BBQ, I put a whole load of "party" songs onto the Magic Tune Box - amongst them ABBA, Madonna and Prince. So, ABBA now make their debut on this blog. I'm no fan of them, but some of their tunes are pretty good - and I'm sure that they'll help keep the party spirit flowing on Saturday.