Haim - The Wire

Joe writes: The Wire was always the standout song from Haim's live shows and I think they've done a good job of recording it (when they play it live, it sounds rather like The Darkness, but not here). Ariel Rechtshaid produced it and Mark "Spike" Stent mixed it.

Tim Westwood just played Tha Crossroads in tribute to Tyrell Matthews-Burton

Joe writes: Great tune, great DJ, nice message.

I always found it weird that Bone Thugs-N-Harmony invented this amazing sound and neither they nor anyone else really developed it or even copied it.

JJ Cale has died

Joe writes: Here's his lovely track Wish I Had Not Said That, which opened a recent Washed Out mix done for Rough Trade

John Wizards - Lusaka By Night

Joe writes: Like the comment on YouTube says, so fucking fresh. On Planet Mu Records.

Dr Octagon - Blue Flowers

Joe writes: Mo Wax Records will shortly be celebrating their 21st anniversary which led me to relisten to one of the weirdest, funniest hip hop albums they or anyone else released, the eponymous debut by Dr Octagon AKA Kool Keith. Keith plays a highly perverted doctor in a number of skits, one of which, General Hospital, ends with the memorable line "Oh shit, there's a horse in the hospital". This leads directly into the album's highlight of the album, Blue Flowers, with its eery, Wu Tang-esque string sample. Dan The Automator produced the album and there's more amusingly crazy stuff about Dr Octagon on Wikipedia.

Kris Kristofferson - To Beat the Devil

Joe writes: Brilliant song from the Kristeofferson album that Kris wrote in the hope of saving Johnny Cash's life, as he explains at the start.

Peter Gabriel - The Book of Love as featured on Scrubs

Joe writes: A cover of the Magnetic Fields with a lovely string arrangement that's reminiscent of Tom Waits. From the YouTube comments I've learnt that it featured on Scrubs, which I guess explains a lot of the 5 million plays.

JAY Z feat. Justin Timberlake - Holy Grail

Joe writes: I'm not sure what I think about the Jay Z album yet. I'm not even sure what I think about his contributions to this track. But Justin Timberlake's bits are sensational - some of the best melodies since Rihanna's part on Love The Way You Lie. I wonder who wrote the melodies? Whoever it is might have ended up with a small percentage of the song as there are nine songwriters listed including three members of Nirvana thanks to the Smells Like Teen Spirit steal. The most likely candidate apart from JT is Terius "The-Dream" Nash.

Klangkarussell - Sonnentanz (Sun Don't Shine Version feat. Will Heard)

Joe writes: They put a vocal on Sonnenantz and it's really good:

Heartbreakers never break your heart forever (1000 Questions by Hawkon)

Joe writes: It took me a few listens to realise how great this tune is; now it's one of my favourites of recent times. When the strings and the beat come in at 1.10, it's a real moment.