Tom Dunne's Music & Me: The top ten albums I turn to when I want to lift my soul

When times are tough, music can help us stay on track. From Radiohead and the Beach Boys, to Aretha Franklin and Marlene Dietrich, these are a selection of records that really hit the spot 

We need music more in dark times than in bright. Last week, watching Micheál take to the podium once again, I could see what was coming: Level Three wasn’t going to cut it, we were going to Level Five: full blown Radiohead.

Radiohead are the modern ‘go to’ band in times of crisis, the carriers of a flame previously held aloft in dark folk ballads, slave era spirituals, 1930s' blues and World War Two’s Vera Lynn. None of it is exactly The Nolans or 'Lip Up, Fatty' but in these straitened times, we need the strong stuff.