Love in Vain by Robert Johnson

This blues masterpiece, by the guy who sold his soul to the devil, reminds me of making tea in a freezing-cold caravan in the winter of 2003. It was about -30, and we were at the top end of Sweden, training huskies. There was only a few hours of sunlight a day. The guy who ran the place put us up in this caravan amongst the kennels. The heater kept packing up. At the time, I think I was miserable and the cold made me constantly hungry. New Orleans blues seemed like the only music that worked in the situation.

Everlasting Love by U2

The biggest compliment I can give is that U2 sounds utterly unlike themselves in this happy cover of an old love song. The opening minute is pure dueling acoustic guitar bliss with Bono yelping away. U2 never sounded so much like a couple of kids playing music for fun in their parents’ basement. The simple joyfulness of the verses roaming upwards leads to an epic downhill shoutalong chorus. I dare you not to listen to this multiple times in a row, with a big dumb grin on your face, pondering how this simple tune was created by the members of the world's most popular rock band.

The hyperlink function isn't working at the moment, so just copy and paste this into your browser to hear the sweet sounds referred to above: www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoUGFQX14f0

National Express

I went to party a few weeks ago, and though the party was really fun, I came up a bit late when everyone was dancing along to this song (there were loads of those "Chap" guys about). It would have never occurred to me to play this at a party, but it was fun because no-one realized how many of the words they knew. Still, in this unforgiving and uncelebratory light, I’ve got to work far too hard to like this affected, po-faced Bobby Vian-referencing shite. Gin Soaked Boy is tune though. Oh, and some hardstyle’s come on my iTunes, so I’m happy.

National Express by The Divine Comedy

Hypnotize

Just listen to those opening Uh! Uh!s. It’s the easily greatest line in hip hop because it's the realest. I’d maintain that it’s the Puffy beat that makes this, though: I mean, it’s the perfect match for Big’s voice – intelligent, humidly precocious, hilarious. It’s genius is its languid flash, paid and absolutely unstoppable, and I think that’s down to how wobbly it sounds: the way that its kicks and hooks spring around the beat rather hitting it dead on: disobedient, proud and languorous like everything that’s late and everything that is wonderful about hip hop. I mean, there's technically better Biggie songs out there but God... This is just so fucking beautiful.

Hypnotize by The Notorious B.I.G