Sombrero Fallout

From dial tones to iPhones via payphones, a short history of great phone-related tracks.

City life can be thrilling or alienating. Here are some tracks about city life to suit every mood.

30 years after the release of Guided By Voices' classic twin album assault of Bee Thousand and Alien Lanes, here's a tribute. Also features some bands they've influenced.

A tribute to Clem Burke of Blondie; Dave Allen of The Gang of Four; David Thomas of Pere Ubu; and Rick Buckler of The Jam

Not just your name, but tracks with your full name.

Take a trip to the Appalachians for a selection of tracks from North and South Carolina.

Tracks with "Hey!" in their title. A plentiful supply: it's tough to leave so many good ones out.

A bonus episode, essentially the first episode in the podcast Steve's Mix Tapes; Ian is interviewed by Steve Pringle.

In a darkening world, aiming to throw light on transgender musical artists with this episode featuring their work.

Three-piece bands, sometimes called power trios, in the third part of our Graham Greene inspired trilogy of episodes.

Valentine's Day is upon us once more. But the flowers of romance can fade and die - as these tracks tell us, all too sadly.

Brighton Rock was a novel by Graham Greene. But there's also plenty of great (alternative) Brighton rock music (and post-punk and other genres) - as this episode demonstrates.

An episode with track titles of just one syllable. A monosyllabic masterpiece, you might say.

Getting 2025 off to a depressing start with a selection of alternative songs about work

The third - and Top 14 - in our trilogy of the best alternative tracks from 2024.

Episode 2 of a trilogy looking back on some of the best alternative music tracks from 2024.

The first of 3 episodes rounding up the best alternative tracks of 2024. Starting with #40-28.

A selection of day tracks with yesterdays, todays, tomorrows, weekdays - and starting with "This Perfect Day".

A celebration of the music of experimental pop artists Broadcast and some of the band they influenced.

Songs about water - murky, deep, still, treading, tables, coolers, edges and living adjacent to.

Steve Pringle, author of the definitive Fall chronicle "You Must Get Them All" takes us through his life in music.

Whether you believe individuals make a difference to history or not, here are some songs about history and the people in it.

The tentpole hits of Britpop are well established, but in this episode we take a trip down some of the B-roads and byways of the British music scene in the mid-90s.

A selection of tracks on the subject of feeling like an impostor, inadequate or out of our depth.

The subject is angels and ghosts but the mood ranges from visceral to joyous to reflective on these afterlife tracks.

A reassessment of 1974, 50 years on. An almost themeless era as music wondered where to go next after the 60s, psychedelia, heavy metal, glam rock and the golden age of reggae. (And before punk came thundering in.) A fascinating tracklist.

An uplifting episode - though ironically the tracks are about boredom.

Alternative songs about Europe and European cities to celebrate Euros 2024.

A multi-genre selection united by all containing the word "Song" in their title.

An episode featuring fathers, mothers, daughters, sons, sisters, brothers, husbands, wives, grandmothers, half sisters, little sisters and the family tortoise.

A tribute to the legendary Steve Albini (RIP), featuring tracks from his bands Shellac and Big Black; and some of the myriad bands he audio-engineered.

A celebration of alternative bands incorporating the pedal steel guitar into their sound.

A tribute episode to the iconic female bass players - and also some you may not have heard of.

When will I be famous? Me, probably never, which is fine because, as these tracks show, it is very much a double-edged sword.

You snooze, you lose, or so they say. Not on this episode though. Alternative tracks about sleeping and dreaming.

Hundreds of groups have been influenced by The Kinks. Here's a few of them plus some original tracks themselves.

An episode about the perils of either striving after too much money or not having enough of it.

A cherry picking exercise from the archives on the occasion of the podcast's 150th episode.

An episode about music itself - the songs, the singers, the radio, the ballroom, the dances.

We lost some fine musicians in 2023. Here's an episode paying tribute.

The final countdown of the best tracks in 2023, according to Sombrero Fallout.

The second of three shows rounding up some of the best alternative tracks from 2023.

The first of 3 episodes dedicated to the best tracks of 2023. Well, some of them.

It's a quarter of a century since Neutral Milk Hotel effectively stopped. Here's a celebration plus some bands who owe a debt to their unique sound.

What happens when artists first demo a familiar song or re-imagine it years later.

The thrill of the open road. An episode about cars, roads and motorways.

Ending up in the same band as your sibling. Here's some of the best tracks that combination can produce.

As 'Stop Making Sense', the Talking Heads live concert film is re-released and given the IMAX treatment, we look back on the group and their legacy.

An outstanding selection of alternative love songs from the 2020s.

I was stoked when Gideon Haigh, one of the world's pre-eminent cricket journalists, joined me to share his love for alternative music. A brilliant on-brand tracklist inevitably resulted.

Tracks with false endings, codas and late changes of direction from a variety of genres.