As usual, you will find all my collaborative Spotify playlists right here, and the Spotify link to this one's here; the track-list follows here:

Jarvis Cocker will probably always change, contort and amaze me. At time's he's had his head up his own arse - self-admittedly, mostly during the creation of "This Is Hardcore" - but following the release of two solo albums and really great gigs, he's into his own again.

Jarvis Cocker.

Queen will forever be ruling thanks to Freddie Mercury and a song about friendship is never wrong. ((Carole King, you are not forgotten!)) This song makes me do air guitar solos and just freak out. Paired with that, Queen fan David Bowie helps out with his clinically sterile soul through "Young Americans", a track I've long since been ambivalent to, but thanks to Lars von Trier I've dropped that issue; it's still sterile though, like Bowie wearing white gloves while playing the guitar in the ultra-Spandau Ballet-ish video for "Let's Dance".

Poet laureate ((For which office, really?)) John Betjeman speaks over an ultra-English soundtrack. This is very Morrissey, and portly packaged poetry for those usually not inclined towards it. Breaking that off is the mostly Kim Deal-penned "Gigantic", by Pixies. G string. G string! G string! Break 'em off some! It's like a shocking, hard feel. A big, big love.

And as it's supposedly summer-time right now, Blue Cheer! Lester Bangs used to write about their extremely loud shows back in the day, reaching pre-Gwar proportions. This is compressed rock; it's somebody said "jump back, wild child!" to them and they spawned loads of years later as Chicago.

"Silence Of The Lambs", was a film I really dreaded when I was little; my teacher in Swedish class told me of unspeakable horrors, how he couldn't take the film and why nobody under 18 years of age should ever witness such psychological terror. Of course I had to see it. No unspeakables, but it did shake up my world on how I felt about soundtracks; even though I'd heard strings before, these were really interesting. They were subtle, not like most Wagner-ish fuck-ups where a lot of brass is utilised to blow at maximum capacity when a killer enters. For another soundtrack that may change your perception of this, do check out Bernard Herrman's harrowing, loud-yet-emotive theme to Scorsese's "Cape Fear".

Maybe opera would be a simple way to segue from a soundtrack to elsewhere, but no. Instead...it's a compromise. Weezer chose the title "Pinkerton" for what I think is their best album. It's purloined from Puccini's masterpiece, "Madame Butterfly". ((Despite this, the detective agency Pinkerton "felt Weezer was unlawfully using thier name so they sued them. They managed to halt sales for day" but nothing more, according to this site.)) "Across The Sea" is a beautiful, longing track where Rivers Cuomo longs for a Japanese fan, cursing the physical distance between them; years later, he would curse his record label for doing this to him in real life, as they would not let him pursue a relationship with a company employee. Oh, how I love "Pinkerton".

Weezer.

Speaking of soundtracks, the songs that Jarvis Cocker created with mates from Pulp, Radiohead and elsewhere for "Harry Potter: The Goblet Of Fire", are really good. This is a schmaltzy soother, played at the Hogwarths prom. Naw.

I haven't listened to Hellacopters for ages. Apparently, they're somewhat known abroad, which startles me; with bands like Mooney Suzuki and Vines, people still lean more towards Mötley Crüe and less towards Stooges. Still, this is a really good track from one of their best albums. Some times...you've probably just gotta rock 'n' rawl.

The first time I heard this Zombies track, was when Belle and Sebastian did a cover of it when I saw them live at Circus in Stockholm, a whole bunch of years ago. Still it moves me. Near-falsetto choir vocals and the organ. Like Doors, minus the sex appeal. As if The Housemartines had existed in the late 60s.

But enough nostalgia - in a way. When Oasis played their first gig abroad, they played the Hultsfred festival. Following a few ones from their then-only album, they slipped into "Fade Away", which I still rank as their best b-side. I feel it captures the sound of their first gigs; could be because some tracks on the debut album felt utterly live as they were mixed when drunk - e.g. "Cigarettes & Alcohol" - but could also be because the lyrics to "Fade Away" makes me think of what Oasis once was, and what they are today. Excerpt:

I'll paint you the picture 'Cause I don't think you live round here no more I've never even seen The key to the door We only get what we will settle for

While we're living The dreams we have as children Fade away

Barry Adamson is a force of nature. He's been making his own songs for a while, used to be part of Magazine and has for a long time been part of The Bad Seeds, a.k.a. the backing band for Nick Cave. His instrumental, often eccentric albums never make for dull listening. His dark voice seldom goes drowsy. I know I added a bit of Jarvis Cocker previously in this playlist, but lo and behold - he's here again, adding vocals from his hey-day in Pulp. I like it when some musicians - especially famous ones - go outside their comfort box ((Like Jarvis did in the Relaxed Muscle project.)) and let loose.

This is what you get when searching "gene" on flickr

And then you have artists that seldom have let go of the experimental buttons. Cypress Hill is really dull these days, following what I think is their worst album to date - "Til Death Do Us Part" - and I think it's great that the individual members go and do their solo things before (possibly) heading out together again, but this is fun from the album "IV". Fun and pro-drugs. What will their parents say?

Ed Harcourt is one of the most underestimated pop musicians - especially considering the awesome video for "Apple Of My Eye" - so get this and get even. Piano!

Nostalgia, love, nostalgia. Old Noisettes, Smashing Pumpkins - yes, from back in the day when Billy Corgan looked like Uncle Fester - and Gene. Gene. X introduced me to this song, which is engraved in my mind. When Martin Rossiter, at the end, sings "With you on my arm..." I creep inside myself and solemnly explode in a sea of love.