FRANK CHICKENS: Shellfish Bamboo

I first heard this on John Peel and have been trying to track it down for a very long time:

GEOFF SMITH: Soundtrack to "Häxan"

This is an excerpt from the film "Häxan" (1922), described on IMDB as: "A documentary about the history of witchcraft, told in a variety of styles, from illustrated slideshow to dramatised events of alleged real-life events, right up to the early twentieth century (when the film was made)".

A year or so ago I went to a screening of the film with a live accompaniment by Geoff Smith, playing a custom-built electric dulcimer, not an instrument whith which I was previously familiar. It was an amazing performance.

The current DVD release of the film allows you to choose from a number of soundtracks, but the Geoff Smith track is by far the superior, and really fits the mood and changing scenes of this haunting film.

I have had to stitch together the video and soundtrack for this excerpt, and it is way out of sync, but it will give you the idea, and the complete soundtrack is here.

ELVIS PRESLEY: Hound Dog

This seems to be over-dubbed and out of sync, but still gives a sense of what a great performer Elvis and his backing musicians were back then:

ROXY MUSIC: Virginia Plain / Love Is The Drug

Roxy Music still sounding good; from the final BBC Jonathan Ross show:

NOTHING COMPARES TO PRINCE?

Who does the best cover of the Prince classic?

1) mentalmoomin



2) Charlyne Wi



3) Kate McGill



4) Diana Vickers



5) Sinead O'Connor

AMY WINEHOUSE: Love Is A Losing Game

Live at The Brixton Academy; she's a bit the worse for wear but still a good performance:

AMY WINEHOUSE: Back To Black

Acoustic performance, live at SXSW, Austin, Texas:

CORINNE BAILEY RAE: Put Your Records On

Live in Williamsburg, USA:

AMY WINEHOUSE: Valerie

Amy Winehouse with an excellent performance of The Zutons' Valerie by Amy Winehouse at the Eurockeennes Festival in France, 2007:

WILD BEASTS: Devil's Crayon

An acoustic performance from the Mercury Prize nominees:

MUMFORD AND SONS: Untitled

From a performance for WFUV radio:

LAURA MARLING: Devil's Spoke

A short clip of Laura Marling performing in Delhi, with Mumford and Sons, and the rajasthani folk band The Dharohar Project:

VILLAGERS: Pieces

Dublin-based singer/songwriter Villagers, recorded in his own home, for his label, Domino Records:

KIT DOWNES TRIO: Skip James

From a performance at London's South Bank:

FOALS: Spanish Sahara

From a session for BBC 6Music:

PAUL WELLER: No Tears To Cry

A track from his Mercury Prize nominated album "Wake Up The Nation", performed for the Jools Holland show:

DIZZEE RASCAL: Bonkers

Live at the Radio 1Xtra event:

BIFFY CLYRO: Many Of Horror

A performance from the T4 Festival 2010

CORINNE BAILEY RAE:The Sea

Corinne Bailey Rae with a special performance for the Mercury Prize 2010:

I AM KLOOT: Northern Skies

John Bramwell of I Am Kloot with an acoustic version of his song:

THE XX: Crystalised

Acoustic performance by Mercury Prize winners The XX:

LAURA MARLING: I Speak Because I Can

A nice arrangement for her song at the Mercury Prize 2010 show: