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A scene from the New York section of Night On Earth (1991)
Song of the Day: From Bernard Herrmann’s music from Taxi Driver, let’s catch a ride with another cab film, Jim Jarmusch’s 1991 five-vignettes plot, connected by a soundtrack by Tom Waits and Kathleen Brennan
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Lead Belly
Song of the Day: Also known as In The Pines, and Black Girl, today we move onto another traditional song variously interpreted, dark and brooding, haunting in its melody, and simmering with suspicion and jealousy
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The Animals may have done the best-known cover version, but there are arguably others than better it
To some it’s a masterpiece, to others a dirge, but from 17th century England to 20th century New Orleans, with artists that include Woody Guthrie, Nina Simone, The Animals and alt-J it’s a song that keeps evolving
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My Bloody Valentine in their earlier days
Song of the Day: Another sleep-themed song, not so much evoked by lyrics, but by the extraordinarily loud but also woozy sound of the band headed by Kevin Shields and his innovative tremolo guitar technique
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Who is Joan of Arc?
Song of the Day: After recent songs about the famous who died at a prematurely young age, four very contrasting numbers about the legendary French military heroine who was burned at the stake age 19 in 1431
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Suede in 1994
Song of the Day: After yesterday's Auteurs track mixing the premature deaths of Lenny Bruce and Rudolph Valentino, two more from the 90s Britpop pioneers about two more stars who died young – Marilyn Monroe and James Dean
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The Auteurs, fronted by Luke Haines (left)
Song of the Day: After yesterday's track by Black Box Recorder, let's turn to a track by member Luke Haines, whose prolific output includes a wide variety of indie, new wave, and wistfully comedic songs
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Devilishly messianic: Nick Cave in full flow
Song of the Day: Following songs about drug-dealer and a relationship by Rodriguez, let's move onto prostitution, guilt, death and redemption by the sublime Australian from 2013's Push The Sky Away
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Bonnie 'Prince' Billy - aka Will Oldham
Song of the Day: Nobody quite does upbeat or downbeat depressing like the Louisville singer-songwriter and actor Will Oldham, who has also gone under the Palace or Palace Brothers moniker, so let's do both with two versions of this song
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David Berman from Silver Jews
Song of the Day: Moving from yesterday's Smog/Bill Callahan songs, today let's sample another brilliant lyricist who specialises in dark and droll delivery, taken from the lo-fi 1998 album American Water
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Bill Callahan
Song of the Day: The past week has featured a selection of wonderful Scottish artists, several of whom admire and have been influenced by this American singer-songwriter whose voice and simplicity of style has power and profundity
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Going Forth: From the cover of Kathryn Joseph's album Bones You Have Thrown Me And Blood I've Spilled
Song of the Day: Following our previous entry featuring King Creosote and Jon Hopkins, let's turn to another Scottish artist, and fly from bats to birds into an otherworldly sound by the Inverness singer-songwriter
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Aidan Moffat & RM Hubbert
Song of the Day: After yesterday's duo with Bill Wells. another link to Aidan Moffat alongside two other Scottish artists in a beautiful dialogue song between two ex-lovers talking about past and present
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Pub mates and song collaborators Aidan Moffat and Bill Wells
Song of the Day: After yesterday's Malcolm Middleton songs, let's dip into two by his old Arab Strap friend Aidan Moffat, here joining with Bill Wells, fellow songwriter and multi-instrumentalist with two dark and humorous numbers
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Malcolm Middleton
Song of the Day: After yesterday's tribute to Scott Hutchison of Frightened Rabbit, let's move to another great Scottish singer-songwriter who mixes dark matters with wry humour but also deep emotions
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Scott Hutchison, 1982-2018.
Song of the Day: A change of pace today with a three-song tribute to Scott Hutchison, frontman and sublime songwriter of the band from Selkirk and Glasgow, who sadly passed away this week aged just 36
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From the cover of Kasabian's West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum
Song of the Day: After yesterday's Parquet Courts number about an edgy temper, another about inflammatory anger by the Leicester indie rockers from their 2009 album West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum
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Parquet Courts – Wide Awake in 2018
Song of the Day: Yesterday's Bodega song was a cri de coeur against passivity, today's by another great New York band is the opposite - capturing the reactionary side of our fractious times in a two-part number
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Flat Worms: playing fast as greyhound
Song of the Day: After the exuberant joy of The Damned's New Rose, we move four decades forward to an equally blistering sound from the LA post-punk trio with a song that has a similar theme
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Louis XiV, featuring frontman Jason Hill (second from left)
Song of the Day: After yesterday's Arctic Monkeys after sun-down, sleazy sex-industry number, we cross the Atlantic again to go down and dirty with with the band from San Diego from their 2005 album The Best Little Secrets Are Kept
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