Amy Winehouse: Rehab (live)

Honestly, this is flawless:

Jem: Wish I

This is a great addition to any summer mix tape.

Nelly Furtado + Charlotte Church: Crazy

The hotness.

Space ft. Cerys Matthews: Ballad of Tom Jones

This is so gimmicky, but I have good memories of the time when it was a hit. Also, Cerys is my girl.

Radiohead: High and Dry

This was the first Radiohead song I ever heard. (Thanks, Justin.)

Garbage: Stupid Girl

My most vivid memory of this is dancing to it at my brother’s wedding, New Year’s Eve 1996. All the other girls were singing “Stupid boy,” which I must have rolled my eyes at, or would have if I hadn’t been so stinking drunk.

Garbage: Queer

It’s hard to pick my favorite Garbage song, but this one might be it.

Garbage: I’m Only Happy When It Rains

I loved Garbage. Yeah, me and millions of others.

Beth Orton: Best Bit

The Best Bit EP has two wonderful songs on it, both duets with jazz guy Terry Callier: Dolphins and a song called Lean on Me (not the one you’re thinking of, though). This is good, too:

Pulp: Mis-Shapes

My life changed the day I found out that you could actually buy bags of broken biscuits. They weren’t shitting me! Anyway, this has some silly socialist propaganda in it, but try not to love it.

Catatonia: Stone by Stone

A perfect, perfect record. Cerys Matthews is one of my favorite singers ever. (And isn’t she beautiful, too?) This also makes an excellent karaoke song, if they’ve got it. Usually, I just sing it around the house or wherever else I happen to be. Seriously, I haven’t stopped singing this song since 2001. Sadly, this was the band’s last video (I hadn’t seen it until now, and it’s probably my favorite of all of their videos, too). I loooooooved Catatonia.

Catatonia: Londinium

Brilliant lyrics here; oddly, they make me miss the place. (You don’t have to be Welsh to appreciate this:  I come alive outside the M25 / I won’t drink the poison Thames / I’ll chase the sun out west)