05/19 - With An Arm Across The Torso

This is a list for endings and deaths.

Scott Walker - Cossacks Are

So, Scott Walker is dead. And that fucking sucks. The man had more masterpieces in him. The man was a masterpiece.

Grinderman - Evil (Silver Alert remix ft. Matt Berninger)

The world is a cluttered room, with walls and floor bending and crying from the weight. You can feel it all caving in, can't you?

Little Simz - Boss

Stop. Stop. Stop. Stand in awe. Punch a hole. Take the lead. Charge into the cataclysm. Little Simz is boss.

Róisín Murphy - Overpowered

Super-classic. Can't believe I've never had it on a list before. Well, now that's over. Alien feelings we have to accept.

Pentangle - House Carpenter

I've listened to this so many times in the past couple of weeks so that it's starting to sound otherworldly. That, or it was always otherworldly, what with its sitar- and tabla-seasoned Scottish folk, trailing the way from homely comfort to catastrophe. Despite its dire warning, I'm leaving tomorrow on a train, and I'll even get on a ferry down the line. Here's to a month in the Finnish forests, or, if my fate should be that of the besung fickle lady, an eternity in hell!

04/19 - Sometimes Passions In Winter Turn To Cold Soundless Moments

There's really very little going on. The city and work take it out of me. Ambitions wither. Feelings become muddled. It is a time of ascetic waiting.

Scott Walker - Two Ragged Soldiers

You cling to the sentimental moments in a day. Adorn them with Scott Walker arrangements and the odd perfect little phrase. You drag your heels through fantasies...

Nick Drake - Fly

For a foreigner like me, it's sometimes hard to tell whether this song exists because of sudden sunlight in English gardens, or whether sunny English gardens were invented to accompany this song.

Frank Ocean ft. Andre 3000 - Pink Matter

Really, I wanted the remix that has Big Boi on it as well, because it's just perfect, but there Spotify let me down once more. Nevertheless, Dre's rap and Frank's melancholy wail combine like warm milk and honey, creating something like a hazy memory of sex.

Radiohead - A Punch Up At A Wedding

I used to think this was one of the weaker tracks on Hail To The Thief. But sometimes a song just waits for its time to shine. Suddenly the barely suppressed fury and frustration, sung through clenched teeth, is just the injection of life I need this anaemic season.

Björk - Ambergris March

Transition from Radiohead to this courtesy of iTunes shuffle. Those fluttering toy-imitations of drumrolls give me shivers. Here's to marching for a waxy sperm whale secretion!