Saint Etienne - flight to tashkent, 1995

"Saint Etienne has been a part of my life since first hearing their debut album “Foxbase Alpha” as a teen in my small Pennsylvania town. In the years before I would eventually move to London, I felt so cool sitting in my childhood bedroom, dreaming up a glamorous version of the city based on all the neighborhoods and locations that have been a fixture of their music from the very beginning."

The Flaming Lips - christmas at the zoo, 1995

"There are many beautifully-written efforts at capturing the season in musical form that fly under the radar. If you’re looking for something to add to your holiday playlist then Christmas at the Zoo by The Flaming Lips is a truly lovely example"

Saint Etienne - he's on the phone too young to die singles, 1995

"He's on the Phone" is a song by British pop group Saint Etienne in collaboration with French singer-songwriter Étienne Daho, released in October 1995 by Heavenly and MCA as a single from their third compilation album, Too Young to Die (1995). A fast-paced dance track, it is one of Saint Etienne's biggest hits, reaching number 11 on the UK Singles Chart, number 31 in Iceland, number 41 in Sweden and number 33 on the US Billboard Dance Club Songs chart."

Mojave 3 - pictures, 1995

"Mojave 3's debut, Ask Me Tomorrow, was a refreshingly stripped down collection that changed little from the original demos. Halstead's melodic, folk- and country-tinged songs stood alone in a sea of Britpop anthems, drawing favourable (if lazy) comparisons to Nick Drake, Cowboy Junkies and Bob Dylan."

Mojave 3 - after all, 1995

"Ask Me Tomorrow starts and ends with its best songs; "Love Songs on the Radio," also the band's debut single, sets the tone perfectly, Goswell's sweet but strong voice and Halstead's guitar in perfect balance. "Mercy," meanwhile, concludes things on a dramatic, powerful note; without completely exploding, it's the most fiery song hands down, with Andrews' steady, doom-laden piano and the ever more strung-out guitar the bed for an at once soothing and warning vocal duet, Goswell and Halstead closing the album with a final a cappella singing sigh."

Mojave 3 - tomorrow's taken, 1995

"The band's name 'Mojave' was suggested by a friend who thought the music had "a wide-open, desert quality", but since there was already a German band called Mojave, they added the '3' in reference to the band being a trio."

The Flaming Lips - evil will prevail, 1995

"this song was a key factor in Ronald Jones, who played guitar with the band at the time, leaving the band, as he perceived the message as a negative one, conflicting with his happy-clappy spiritual views. I think, although he was a wonderful guitarist and probably a lovely guy, that he missed the point. God only knows where the magic bullet and glowing mothership fit into all though..."

The Flaming Lips - they punctured my yolk, 1995

"The same extraordinary madness that infected the best work of Brian Wilson rears its head on the shimmering and melodic Clouds Taste Metallic, a masterful collection which completes the Flaming Lips' odyssey into the pop stratosphere. The Pet Sounds comparisons are obvious - two of the highlights are titled "This Here Giraffe" and "Christmas at the Zoo" - yet not unfair; like Brian Wilson, Wayne Coyne has refined his unique vision into something both highly personal and powerfully universal."

The Flaming Lips - when you smile, 1995

“When You Smile” is transcendently beautiful and foreshadows their future pop brilliance."

Neil Young - throw your hatred down, 1995

"We're sympathetic. They're definitely old souls—they've been around. Musically there's youthful energy, but without the sound of inexperience. And our musical styles are compatible; it's like a big wall of sound with a lot of nuances in there."

Elton John - please, 1995

"The song "Please" was covered by bluegrass singer Rhonda Vincent and country singer Dolly Parton for the 2018 tribute album Restoration: Reimagining the Songs of Elton John and Bernie Taupin."

Elton John - blessed, 1995

"The first listening of Elton John's 32nd album, ``Made in England,'' makes this writer feel that he's heard a piece of every new song once before. That's not bad. In fact, it's good. I like what I've heard before, and I'm not alone."

Cocteau Twins - seekers who are lovers, 1995

"Milk and Kisses, and therefore, the Cocteau Twins recording career, ends with Seekers Who Are Lovers. As the last song in a long and glorious career, you feel yourself willing Guthrie, Raymond and Fraser to produce a musical masterpiece out of the bag. This you want to be their Ulysses moment. They don’t disappoint. Out goes the wall of sound, in comes a much more subdued and temperate performance from Guthrie and Raymond. They hold themselves back, Fraser steps forward, and produces a performance that is brilliant. She sings the song with passion and feeling, as if knowing this is the end of their career. Not only is it one of her best performances on the album, but one the best in her career. Her voice soars, gracefully, its ethereal beauty apparent and transparent. It has a classical quality, a sweetness, a grace."

Del Amitri - here and now, 1995

"early Del Amitri was not something you could dance to. It was quite angular and odd. I remember that first gig and just looking at a sea of nodding heads. It was quite inspiring."

Enya - on my way home single remix, 1995

"Enya's dreamy, angelic voice is sewn into a quasi-classical arrangement of strings and acoustic guitars. Her performance ultimately grounds the song, as the music takes flight and winds through countless highs and lows."

U2 - miss sarajevo, 1995

"Miss Sarajevo" is a song by Irish rock band U2 and British musician Brian Eno, credited to the pseudonym "Passengers". It was released on 20 November 1995 as the only single from their album Original Soundtracks 1. Italian tenor Luciano Pavarotti makes a vocal appearance, singing the opera solo. The song was written about a group of women who held a beauty pageant during the Siege of Sarajevo as an act of defiance."

Cocteau Twins - rilkean heart, 1995

"Rilke supported the Russian Revolution in 1917 as well as the Bavarian Soviet Republic in 1919. He became friends with Ernst Toller and mourned the deaths of Rosa Luxemburg, Kurt Eisner, and Karl Liebknecht. He confided that of the five or six newspapers he read daily, those on the far left came closest to his own opinions. He developed a reputation for supporting left-wing causes"

Enya - china roses, 1995

"Everyone has their own idea of heaven. What creates the beauty of the world is the love we have for it, connected to memories, wishes, desires. For each of us it is a different treasure we embrace – a changing sky, the crimson flower of the Keys of Heaven, a love token, the endless delight of fairy-tales, the ever-shifting pictures of our world that we find in the words of poets. For each one of us a different love becomes our own wood of dreams."

Enya - tea-house moon, 1995

"It has been told that the path to the tea-house was one of a copse of summer trees, a wave of the sea, the pale evening moon. The trees, the sea, the moon evoked old dreams and the tea-house represented an oasis where the traveller could find peace. On entering through the low door, one could hear the song of water echo the distant sea or the sound of the rain in a bamboo forest. The tea-house was a place of repose and one in which the harmony of nature pervaded."

Pat Metheny - red sky, 1995

"The band uses "contemporary" pop rhythms on many of their selections but in creative ways and without watering down the popular group's musical identity. In addition Metheny for the first time in his recording career sounds a bit like his early influence Wes Montgomery on a few of the songs."