Endless colours of music to share. Photo: Bengt Nyman
Welcome to The Song Bar, a sociable establishment where visitors enthuse and share in their music tastes, indulge in civilised discussion and create playlists on a whole variety of subjects. Feel free to drop in anytime. We profile music new and old, but our main event is the song blog, where each Thursday a topic will be set, and readers around the globe nominate and recommend music on that theme, culminating in a playlist compiled by a guest writer on the following Wednesday.
So find yourself a seat, grab a drink, have a read and listen, and if you like it, join in ...
– Your friendly Landlord
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Latest from Themes & Playlists ...
Its gentle distinctive organ sound permeates and decorates a variety of genres with a catchy solo or drone sound. Inspired by last week’s topic, guest ParaMhor picks perfect playlists to bring the instrument out in highlights
This simple mouthpiece-and-keyboard reed-free aerophone has an analogue charm that can bring a surprise solo or drone texture to a song. But where does it appear and when does it work best?
A huge subject, population, history and rich culture, how can you capture this great city in song? Londoner MussoliniHeadkick presents a fabulous set of lists spreading far and wide, especially south and east, inspired by last week’s topic
From inner London’s famous sites to the suburbs, its a melting pot of people, culture and music, of fame and fortune, fires, pioneers and history’s rebuilding. It’s time to go metropolitan and capture this great city in song
LATEST FROM New Albums ...
New album: A gently ironic title, but no doubting beauty of the sound, reminiscent of the late, great Elliott Smith, this new gem of a lo-fi LP is full of mildly tragic, sensitive, thoughtful 14 short numbers by the Philadelphia high falsetto singer-songwriter
New album: A stylishly ramshackle, brilliantly brash’n’breezy punk-shoegaze feral sixth studio LP, streamlining sounds from 50s rock’n’roll through to early 00s indie by the Copenhagen band fronted by Elias Rønnenfelt, successfully fulfilling their aim on this to be “immediate, urgent, raw and fast” across themes of romantic devotion with violent chaos and nihilism
New album: Scotland’s hugely influential electronic experimental sibling duo Mike Sandison and Marcus Eoin return 13 years after their last LP, Tomorrow’s Harvest, with an epic 18-track collection that dissects the psychology of religion with distorted vocal samples and cut-ups across landscapes of dystopian synth textures and beats
New album: A selection of fond love-letter songs to the city where he was raised and has remained by the 46-year-ld American singer-songwriter, in this deliciously laid back 10th LP of songs of interweaving guitars, folk, rock, country and psychedelia, all with his inimitably relaxed vocal delivery
New album: His voice now may be thinner and weaker, yet his genius for melody remains in this warm, tender LP, inspired by vivid childhood reminiscences in the Speke area of Liverpool and beyond, with references to friends, parents, girlfriends, his bandmates, and includes a duet with Ringo Starr
Latest from New Songs …
Song of the Day: A poignant, powerfully gentle folk-blue-Americana protest number by the veteran Calfornian singer-songwriter with an extended metaphor about the state of his country in this title track heralding his upcoming album out on 18 September via Steve’s new label Eastcote Recordings
Song of the Day: Following 2023’s Clear Pond Road, the Rhode Island-raised former Throwing Muses artist returns with a powerful, dark, resonant number about her and her brother’s childhood, heralding a 12th solo LP, Sugar On Blackstone, out on 18 August via Fire Records
Song of the Day: Sharply identifying sources of much of the world’s problems with this catchy, punchy new track, the Pyramid Lake Paiute artist and activist Gregg Deal and his indie-punk Denver, Colorado band are joined here by the Sleaford Mods’ rapper, heralding the upcoming new album Wagon Burner, out on 26 June via Hassle Records
Song of the Day: The Los Angeles indie trio return with a pacy, catchy, funky, witty, playfully philosophical and political new single with video based in a grocery store, and heralding their upcoming album Podium, out on 28 July
Song of the Day: Sumptuously slow, simmering, smoky, bittersweet new soulful single by the Leeds-based trio of Josh Crocker Tom Henryand Joe Harris, joined on vocals by the British-Canadian singer-songwriter, out on Play It Again Sam
Latest from Word of the week …
Word of the week: Also known as cypress vine, cardinal creeper, cardinal vine, star glory, star of Bethlehem or hummingbird vine, this striking climbing flower, Ipomoea quamoclit, is native tropical regions of the Americas and has a distinctive trumpet with five-point star-shaped petals
Word of the week: An appropriately onomatopoeic noun for name for Middle Eastern tambourine, able to produce a range of percussive sounds, and commonly heard in traditional Egyptian, Arab, Greek and Turkish music
Word of the week: This very imposing, loud, resonant noun is an ancient Greek, trumpet-like instrument used as a tactical signal on the battle field, as well as to signal the beginnings of gatherings, or of races in sport
Word of the week: An archaic, evocative noun with two connected meanings, originally for the song thrush, then later a textiles industrial frame for spinning, twisting and winding machine for cotton, wool, and other fibres simultaneously
Word of the week: It might sound like the act of abstaining from food, but this noun from derived from undina (Latin unda) meaning wave, refers to mythical, elemental beings associated with water, such as mermaids, and stemming from the alchemical writings of the 16th-century Swiss physician, alchemist and philosopher Paracelsus
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In a decade that saw a huge expansion of sub-genres and production technology, including sampling, it’s time to suggest alternative singles and remixes creative and innovative, as opposed to repetitive and exploitative