Pet Shop Boys - closer to heaven shell and straight dave, 2001

"In the musical, the song "Closer to Heaven" appears multiple times in different contexts: First rendition: A duet between Shell (played by Shell Christian in the original London cast) and Straight Dave (played by Paul Keating). Shell is a young woman dealing with her rock-star father's death and her own vulnerabilities; Straight Dave is an Irish immigrant and aspiring dancer working as a bartender at a Soho club. This version captures their initial heterosexual attraction and budding romance, blending synth-pop with emotional longing."

Pet Shop Boys - shameless vile celebrities, 2001

"This song, originally released by the Pet Shop Boys as the b-side of their "Go West" single, has long been a fan favorite. And it's such a natural for theatrical treatment that it's no wonder at all that Neil and Chris decided to use it in their first musical. That is, it was made to be a showstopper. The only trouble is, at least in its cast album recording, it's vastly inferior to the Boys' own version. The omission of the third verse is only one of its flaws. More damaging, the musical arrangement isn't nearly as effective (oh, how I miss Neil's sampled "oohs" and "ahs"!). Again, I'm sure that seeing it performed "live"— where the singers and dancers are engaged in a lot of comic posing and interacting — would have helped me enjoy this number a lot more. As it is, I'd much rather go back and listen to the original."

New Order - crystal radio edit, 2001

"Alternative Dance pioneers who fused electronic sounds and dance club rhythms to an indie rock aesthetic, proving dance music could be sophisticated and taken seriously. Formed by the remaining members of Joy Division in 1980 after the suicide of Ian Curtis, New Order at first struggled to emerge from the post-punk shadow of their prior success."

REM - i'll take the rain, 2001

"In an April 2021 interview, Michael Stipe declared Reveal his favorite R.E.M. release. While lacking the consistency of Automatic for the People or the ferocity of Monster, Reveal remains among them, a worthy offering from a brilliant band entering middle age, and looking toward the future with history still in mind."

REM - beat a drum dalkey demo, 2001

"The "Dalkey Demo" is an early, acoustic-leaning version of the song "Beat a Drum" by the alternative rock band R.E.M. It was recorded during sessions in Dalkey, Ireland (a coastal town near Dublin), in early 2001, as part of the development for their album Reveal (released May 2001). This demo version has a more stripped-down, introspective feel compared to the polished studio take on Reveal, emphasizing Michael Stipe's vocals and subtle instrumentation. It was originally released as a B-side on the UK CD single for "Imitation of Life" (April 2001)"

New Order - crystal album version, 2001

"Unsurprisingly bored by the stale British club scene circa 2001, the band opened Get Ready with a statement of purpose, a trailer single ("Crystal") featuring a host of longtime New Order staples: a sublime melody, an inscrutable set of lyrics, a deft, ragged guitar line kicking in for the chorus, and Peter Hook's yearning bass guitar taking a near-solo role."

The Cure - in between days acoustic version, 2001

"The UK and international editions of the album feature a similar track listing, with the exception of three songs that only appear on one or the other: the international release features "The Walk", while the UK release excludes it in favour of "The Caterpillar" and "Pictures of You". In an effort to provide something new for the hardcore fans who owned the previously released songs, Smith arranged for the band and former member Boris Williams to re-record acoustic versions of the Greatest Hits. Only the select first pressings of Greatest Hits were bundled with the bonus disc of Acoustic Hits."

REM - i've been high, 2001

"There's an interview somewhere where Michael talks about this song as a reminder in times of distress that there are peaks and valleys throughout our lives to contemplate, he also mentions there might be an element of the 'real me' in the song."

Rádio Macau - amanhã é sempre longe demais nova versão, 2001

"Rádio Macau - A Vida Num Só Dia 1984-2001. Label: EMI – 7243 5 35639 2 9. Format: CD, Compilation. Country: Portugal. Released: 2001."

James - getting away with It live, 2001

"Getting Away With It (All Messed Up) is the twelfth track on the 2001 James album Pleased To Meet You and was the first and only single to be released from that album. It was previewed on the 2000 Autumn tour under the title Daniel’s Saving Grace and in press pre-release promos as just Saving Grace. It started life as an upbeat romp and is apparently one of Tim’s favourites on the Pleased To Meet You album and very similar in style to 80s classic unreleased track Gregory’s Town. It was slowed down and was released as the first single reaching number 22. It has been a stalwart of James’ live shows over the years and according to Tim their ‘unofficial theme’ song."

Belle And Sebastian - i love my car, 2001

"I Love My Car is a hilariously sweet ditty with insanely twee lyrics and that darn Uptown Shufflers om-pom-pom band that supported them on the last tour. You’ll either find it horrifying or endearing, as with the sleeve photos showing the band members holding various cute dogs."

Belle And Sebastian - the loneliness of a middle distance runner, 2001

"The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Runner" is a short story by Alan Sillitoe, published in 1959 as part of a short story collection of the same title. The work focuses on Smith, a poor Nottingham teenager from a dismal home in a working class area, who has bleak prospects in life and few interests beyond petty crime. The boy experiences social alienation and turns to long-distance running as a method of both emotional and physical escape from his situation."

REM - imitation of life, 2001

"In the booklet for R.E.M.'s 2003 "best of" album, In Time: The Best of R.E.M. 1988–2003, the band states that the song's title comes from Douglas Sirk's 1959 film of the same name, which none of the band members had ever watched, and that the title is a metaphor for adolescence and adulthood."

My Morning Jacket - x-mas curtain, 2001

"That song was about a time when we were very poor and our old drummer and myself would go into various departments stores and steal things [laughs] and give 'em to people, kind of in a Robin Hood way. Give 'em to people including ourselves, 'cause we didn't have any money and we thought it was okay to steal [laughs] like VCRs and stuff from [more laughs] departments stores. We thought we were being like vigilantes for justice. Uhm, we'd take like a VCR and a couple of Walkmens and some batteries and stuff and put them on the bottom of the cart and then put a big bag on dog food on top of 'em all and then have the cashier woman scan the dog food and usually they wouldn't see all the [laughs] hundreds of dollars of electronics underneath. That's why the song kind of references being a criminal that doesn't break the law at Christmas time."

REM - the lifting, 2001

"Matt LeMay of Pitchfork gave the album a rating of 5.0 out of 10, stating he found the album's electronic elements to be "superficial" and felt they created an overly busy sound. He also found many of its songs to be repetitive, without stronger melodies or more variation to improve the tracks. LeMay does state that despite some "terrible lyrics", "Imitation of Life" possesses "a catchy hook, and a sufficient degree of sonic variety", while "The Lifting" contains "an undeniably great melody."

REM - summer turns to high, 2001

"It’s one of those songs where the verse are more lo-key musically, and then the chorus hits and the room is filled with these lush soundscapes of textures. It’s like the band is trying make another Beach Boys song without sounding too much like one (aka At My Most Beautiful). Michael continues to sing (in a mostly soft tone) about childhood things like sandals, candy, dragonflies, candles and caramel. These images definitely give you summer vibes, so I’m curious on what he means by “summer turns to high”

My Morning Jacket - death is my sleezy pay, 2001

"The rawness of the song emphasising Jim's voice along with some fantastic drumming. Lovely harmonica to bookend the song too."

My Morning Jacket - bermuda highway, 2001

"This song gives me chills. Just came here wondering if it hit other MMJ listeners the way it hit me (...). This special song brings me to tears every time."

REM - beat a drum, 2001

"Beat A Drum” seems to hover in the air like a slight breeze on a summer day, and…well, not a lot much more than that. It’s pretty, comfortable, and almost freakishly contented. It was originally titled “All I Want,” which is far more straightforward in terms of conveying the general gist of the song and going with the standard mnemonic device of naming a song after the key line of its chorus, but I get the feeling that the band needed to do something to make the song more interesting. In this case, it means pointing the listener in the direction of a line from the final verse; the bit that seems to invoke the “butterfly effect,” and subtly implies that this moment of calmness will eventually trigger a more troubling event further down the line."

REM - she just wants to be, 2001

"The song begins with a lonely acoustic guitar riff from Peter. It’s simple but bittersweet and makes you think you are in for a slower type of song like a ballad. But after playing the riff twice through, Peter stops and Michael’s stark vocals enter the mix. And when that happens, Peter starts this faster acoustic progression that is a mix of strumming and picking out the root notes."