Barbra Streisand - Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered

Phil writes: Just caught this on the 'Judy Garland Show' (Sky Arts). A great song, sensationally sung by the 21 year-old Streisand:

Taro - the track that converted me from grudging respect for Alt-J to genuine excitement

Joe writes: I heard an amazing track on Yadi's mixtape, which I guessed from the tracklisting was Mahd Assalhin by Cheb I Sabbah Ft. Hadderetes, but when I bought that track on iTunes, it sounded very different. Then I listened more and thought "the singer sounds like the guy out of Alt-J", checked the tracklisting again, and realised it was Alt-J. What an amazing track - lyrically intelligent (read the YouTube comments to find out what it's about), and musically so far from a parochial British indie band. Unfortunately it can't be embedded on YouTube so click here.

M83 - My Tears Are Becoming A Sea as featured in the trailer to Rust and Bone

Joe writes: Had to Shazam this when the trailer to Rust and Bone came on in the cinema. Didn't think I was an M83 fan until the Shazam result came up. Radio 1's head of music George Ergatoudis has written about this on Twitter.

The trailer:




The full song:

Eliza Doolittle and Solange Knowles

Joe writes: Eliza and Solange have both just released really good pop tracks with cool producers that feel like great steps forward for both artists.

Eliza's Don't Call It Love is produced by Kwes:



Solange's Losing You is produced by Blood Orange/Dev Hynes:

Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush

Phil writes: Another great duet to go along with Another Day:

Hal David (and John Barry, and Louis)

Phil writes: Meant to post this in tribute to Hal David when he died, a great example of his writing. It's a beautiful song memorably and poignantly recorded by Armstrong (in one take). It was his last recording and he was unable to play trumpet due to his health. It didn't matter, even though he was possibly the greatest trumpet player of all time.

Tom Waits - Tom Traubert's Blues live on the Old Grey Whistle Test in 1977

Joe writes: Or as the person who posted it on YouTube has called it, Waltzing Matlida.

Sarah Brightman & Andrea Bocelli - Time To Say Goodbye (Con Te Partirò) as heard on the last ever Chris Moyles Radio 1 Breakfast Show

Joe writes: Chris Moyles played parts of this several times during his emotional last ever Radio 1 breakfast show. It's my favourite ever classical crossover song and recording, written by Francesco Sartori (music) and Lucio Quarantotto (lyrics). It's so good it's hard to believe it was written during the modern era. It reached no. 2 in the UK charts in 1997.

The Rose - Bette Midler

Phil writes: There was one of those mini SuBo moments on X-Factor. It reminded me what a great song 'The Rose' is.

I beg your pardon, I never promised you a rose garden

Joe writes: Joe South who wrote the amazing song Rose Garden has died.

Here's Lynn Anderson's hit version:




and here's a fun cover by The Suicide Machines:




The original version was by Joe South himself, and the song has been recorded by many other artists including The Three Degrees which gives me an excuse to post one of my all-time favourite hits, When Will I See You Again:

Santo & Johnny - Sleepwalk

Phil writes: Heard this song on the radio today. Haven't heard it for years but it sounds as great and mesmeric as ever.

Pretty Good Day by Loudon Wainwright III

Joe writes: Last night a musician sent me this link to Loudon Wainwright III's song Pretty Good Day and now I can't stop listening to it (it can't be embedded from YouTube so you have to click the link).

I think everyone in the Western world should listen to it every day as a sort of musical, secular alternative to saying grace. If that doesn't sell it to you, let me also say that I find it very moving.

the London 2012 Paralympics theme song: Harder Than You Think by Public Enemy (just like that)

Joe writes: Excellent choice of theme for the Channel 4 Paralympics coverage, giving Public Enemy their first hit in a while (it's no. 11 on iTunes UK at the time of writing).



If this is the first Public Enemy track you've heard then I recommend you go for Rebel Without A Pause next, but that might prove difficult as the original version isn't on iTunes or YouTube (it is on Spotify though). Fortunately my favourite bootleg of all-time is on YouTube, Rebel Without A Pause (The Whipped Cream Mix) by Evolution Control Committee, which is the Public Enemy a cappella over the top of Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass playing Bittersweet Samba. I first heard this when John Peel played it on Radio 1 in 1994, long before such bootlegs became ubiquitous. It was quite a revelation.

Diplo feat. Lazerdisk Party Sex - Set It Off

Joe writes: I really don't want to like Diplo because of that Blackberry advert but the trouble is, he keeps making excellent music.

love this new Muse track Madness

Joe writes: They are combining seventies soft rock with dubstep, and it works. Amazing.



But just for some perspective, here's I Want To Break Free by Queen:

Closing Time by Feist, Leonard Cohen cover as featured on the soundtrack to Take This Waltz

Joe writes: Last night I saw an excellent Canadian film Take This Waltz starring Michelle Williams and Seth Rogan. Not only is the film named after a Leonard Cohen track, but there's a party scene featuring Feist covering Leonard Cohen's Closing Time. This sounds like a hit to me yet doesn't seem to be available anywhere except YouTube:

one of the best ELO songs Telephone Line features in probably the best Orange "Don't let a mobile phone ruin your movie" cinema ads

Joe writes: Plan B AKA Ben Drew and Ray Winstone spoof The Sweeney for Orange in a film that can be seen here.



The YouTube comments sum up the variety of opinions about ELO from "This what the Beatles wouldve sounded like in the 70s" (sic) to "many of Vivaldi and Bach's concertos expressed the same beauty, tinged with sorrow" to "Jeff Lynn was a twat. He hyjacked and commercialised the talent of Roy Wood, and tried to pass it off as his own" (sic). My view: Telephone Line and Mr Blue Sky are classic singles.

Ellen & The Escapades - The World's Greatest - R Kelly cover as featured in the BBC's London 2012 Olympics coverage

Joe writes: I've recently become a fan of the transatlantic band Ellen & The Escapades after drinking a pint of  their branded bitter in my local pub (this is almost true). I really like Ellen's voice and they write proper songs. They also cover proper songs, such as R Kelly's The World's Greatest - their version featured in the BBC's Olympics coverage and no wonder, it's lovely.

Here's one of my favourites from their current album, called Without You:

And what about R Kelly? Bump 'n' Grind in 1994 to Ignition (Remix) in 2003 was one of the best runs of singles that anyone will ever release. So many songs and performances that were just streets ahead of any of his contemporaries. Here's his last great single Happy People, released in 2004. It didn't set the world on fire - perhaps people weren't ready for Robert to do his What's Goin' On thing, which is a shame as he did it so well.

Klangkarussell - Sonnentanz

Joe writes: Sonnentanz by Klangkarussell sounds like something new to me (although it's actually a year old).



The best thing out of Austria since Rock Me Amadeus?

this is what Annie Lennox should have performed on the Olympics closing ceremony - No More I Love You's

Joe writes: Produced by Stephen Lipson

Annie didn't write the song though, Joseph Hughes and David Freeman of The Lover Speaks did, including the brilliant "do do do do do do do ah-ah" hook: