What song did you discover in a tv show or movie?

I can’t say for certain whether I discovered Black by Danger Mouse & Daniele Luppi through Breaking Bad, but its use in the final scene of Face Off, the series four finale is unforgettable. The song’s spaghetti-western stylings and dark, dreamy lyrics cast a foreboding shadow over the treacherous power struggle culminating in the episode’s explosive ending and underline the consequences of crossing the point of no return.

What is your favourite soundtrack?

I suppose everyone has a tendency to look through rose-tinted glasses at the period when they come of age and their cultural identity takes shape. So, without skipping a beat, Trainspotting would be my favourite soundtrack. I read the book as a first-year university student. Then, when the film adaptation came out, I saw it at the cinema several times, even persuading my mum to come along once. She didn’t care for it. The entire soundtrack is impeccable, but in retrospect, Born Slippy by Underworld, which is perfectly choreographed to the film’s final scene, captures the spirit of the times and opens a window back onto those hedonistic, carefree years.

Which artist did you discover thanks to a music video?

As a child of the 1980s, there were so many memorable music videos. It’s quite difficult to tease apart from memory which of them led me to discover an artist versus hearing them on the radio first. But I do remember the weekly ritual of watching Top of the Pops and The Chart Show, and being fascinated by the visual effects used both on the shows and in the videos. The distinctive video for Sowing the Seeds of Love by Tears for Fears, with its collage-like blend of live action, animation, and symbolism, stands out from that time. It sparked an early interest in computer-generated imagery, triggering my own first tentative attempts to create images using software available at the time.

Which song makes you emotional? Why?

When you’re grieving, the automatic response seems to be to reach for songs that compound sadness. This morning, looking out into my garden, I see the sun shining and goldfinches swooping gaily, offering a glimmer of hope I want to kindle with music instead. Bent’s Exercise 4 conveys a sense of lightness and optimism, spun from delicate synthetic gossamer threads.

Post one of your favorite ballads.

Perhaps not a ballad in the strictest literary sense, instead a narrative song in the Appalachian murder-ballad tradition. Carolina Drama by The Raconteurs recounts a tragic tale that builds inexorably toward a violent climax, ending with the story’s central mystery hanging unresolved. La la la la, la la la la, yeah…

A song that you like in multiple versions

I like both The Rolling Stones and The White Stripes covers of Stop Breaking Down by Robert Johnson, but The White Stripes raw, elemental take on their debut album has the edge for me. Either way, both versions point crooked fingers back to Mississippi Delta blues creating signposts for subsequent generations to follow and, for those who subscribe to legend, prove the enduring nature of Johnson’s Faustian pact with the Devil.

A song by a band whose merchandise you've bought - what was the merchandise

I don’t really buy merch anymore, but this prompt took me back to when I first started buying records and collecting memorabilia. That would have been around 1990, and there weren’t many bands from my hometown played on the radio or featured in the music press. Back then, all eyes were on bands from Seattle or Manchester. But there was one that garnered a lot of attention, and for a time, they became my favourite band. Around then, I was being bullied at school, at home I would retreat to my bedroom which was covered in posters and magazine cuttings of The Wonder Stuff. I’d listen to their records and imagine they were my friends and I suppose, in a way, they were.

What song makes you feel grateful?

I listened to Hunky Dory a lot around the time we were thinking and talking about getting our first dog. We’d walk through the parks near our home in South London, admiring other people’s dogs, imagining what it would be like to have one of our own, and trying to decide which breed might suit us. We joined waiting lists, then came the long wait until a Norfolk Terrier puppy became available. Our lives changed when that joyful 12-week-old bundle of fur was placed in our arms and joined our funny family on 11 August 2013. Kooks feels like a fitting tribute to the love we shared, and I know the pain we’re feeling now is a measure of the happiness you brought into our lives every moment of the 12 years, 7 months, and 18 days we were lucky enough to share with you. Rest in peace, our beautiful boy.

Ziggy (Jaeva Hot Mint)

19 May 2013 – 29 Mar 2026

What's your favorite instrumental song?

I could reel off a list of instrumental songs I love. It’s difficult to choose a favourite, but one of them must surely be Says by Nils Frahm. Gradually unfolding out of a swirl of synths before the almost overwhelming piano kicks in at the song’s climax. There’s just the briefest moment of stunned silence at the end, where you imagine the audience trying to get their heads around what just happened before the response.

A song from a TV show that you like.

Tiny Tears by Tindersticks immediately comes to mind, and makes me think of the Sopranos episode it featured in. Music is used to great effect throughout the series, up to and including the final episode. For me, and perhaps a lot of people, it’s impossible to listen to any of the songs without thinking of the show. When it was originally broadcast, it was unusual for TV drama to be so elevated. Even now, 25+ years later, it still stands at the pinnacle.