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Beirut: A Study of Losses

April 25, 2025 Peter Kimpton

Beirut: A Study of Losses

New album: Gentle, ambient, acoustic, meditative, often very beautiful and filled with inventive surprises, this unusual 18-track album by the American experimental band fronted by Zach Condon was commissioned by and comes in conjunction with a tour by idiosyncratic Stockholm-based contemporary circus group Kompani Giraffe

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In albums, alternative, ambient, electronica, experimental, folk, pop, classical Tags Beirut, Zach Condon, Kompani Giraffe, Pompeii Records, albums, new releases, new albums
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Favourite albums of 2023 Part 2: Anohni to Blur to Mitski, Ren to Sufjan Stevens

December 29, 2023 Peter Kimpton

Favourite LPs of 2023, Part 2.

Welcome once again to the annual tradition of Song Bar’s favourite album releases of 2023. This is Part 2, and Part 1 was yesterday. There’s no such thing as a chart rundown or ‘best of’ here, and these come in no particular order …

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In African, albums, alternative, ambient, Americana, avant garde, bluegrass, blues, classical, country, dance, dance music, disco, drum n bass, dub, electronica, experimental, folk, funk, fusion, garage, gospel, grunge, gypsy, hip hop, hip-hop, indie, jazz, krautrock, musical theatre, new wave, poetry, pop, post-punk, prog-rock, psychedelia, punk, R&B, reggae, rock, rocksteady, shoegaze, ska, soul, spoken word, theatrical, traditional, trip-hop Tags Mokoomba, OutHere Records, Blur, Damon Albarn, Graham Coxon, Parlophone, Palehound, Polyvinyl, El Kempner, Anohni, Rough Trade, PJ Harvey, Partisan Records, Do Nothing, Exact Truth Records, Bonnie Prince Billy, Domino Records, Dot Allison, Any Bell, Corinne Bailey Rae, Black Rainbows Music, Thirty Tigers, CLT DRP, Venn Records, Roisin Murphy, Ninja Tune, DJ Koze, Yussef Dayes, Slowdive, Dead Oceans, Emma Grankvist, Future Classic Records, Danger Mouse, Brian Burton, Jemini The Gifted One, The Pretenders, Mitski, Nitin Sawhney, Warner Bros, Hak Baker, Natacha Atlas, Jazzi Sirius, I Am Roze, The Rolling Stones, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Polydor, Ren, Ren Gill, The Other Songs, CMAT, Ciara Mary Alice Thompson, AWAL, Goat, Rocket Recordings, Creation Rebel, On-U Sound Records, Adrian Sherwood, Prince Far I, Hania Rani, Gondwana Records, Sufjan Stevens, Asthmatic Kitty, Anjimile, 4AD, Beirut, Zach Condon, Pompeii Records, David Holmes, Raven Violet, Heavenly Recordings, King Creosote, Kenny Anderson, Lol Tolhurst, Budgie, Jacknife Lee, James Murphy, LCD Soundsystem, The Edge, U2, Play It Again Sam, PIAS, FIZZ, Orla Gartland, Dodie, Greta Isaac, Martin Luke Brown, Decca, Black Pumas, ATO Records, Adrian Quesada, Eric Burton, Sofia Kourtesis, Bas Jan, Serafina Steer, Fire Records, Soema Montenegro, Leo Martinelli, Peter Gabriel, Brian Eno, Real World, Soweto Gospel Choir, albums, new albums, new releases
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Beirut: Hadsel

November 12, 2023 Peter Kimpton

Beirut’s Zach Condon at the Norwegian church organ

New album: A joyous, tremulously beautiful, restorative new LP by New Mexico’s Zach Condon, the title after old wooden church on the Norwegian island of Hadseløya from which he recovered his physical and mental health after pre-Covid career-threatening throat problems

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In albums, alternative, experimental, folk, pop Tags Beirut, Zach Condon, Pompeii Records, albums, new albums, new releases
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DRINK OF THE WEEK

Double entendre cocktail

SNACK OF THE WEEK

cream pie

New Albums …

Featured
Rebekka Karijod - The Bell Tower.jpeg
Apr 26, 2025
Rebekka Karijord: The Bell Tower
Apr 26, 2025

New album: This extraordinary work, a fusion of experimental folk and classical, is a one of rare and exquisite beauty by the Stockholm-based acclaimed Norwegian composer, producer and multi-instrumentalist, creating sounds from the human voice alone into a powerful, delicate, poetic melancholy, mother-perspective ode to the peril of our planet in the age of the Anthropocene

Apr 26, 2025
Viagra Boys - viagr aboys.jpeg
Apr 25, 2025
Viagra Boys: viagr aboys
Apr 25, 2025

New album: A mischievously rewritten self-title comes with this witty, infectiously catchy, devilishly energised new release by the raucously fun Swedish punk band from Stockholm, one which satirically lampoons the stupidity of day-to-day modern existence

Apr 25, 2025
Anika - Hearsay 2.jpeg
Apr 25, 2025
Anika: Abyss
Apr 25, 2025

New album: Moving away from the ambient, dreamy synths of her 2021 album Change, the British German singer-songwriter Anika Henderson’s third LP is wilder, grittier, more post-punk, grungey, and themed around frustration, anger, and confusion with the current world

Apr 25, 2025
Caspian-Tiger-lg.jpeg
Apr 25, 2025
Beirut: A Study of Losses
Apr 25, 2025

New album: Gentle, ambient, acoustic, meditative, often very beautiful and filled with inventive surprises, this unusual 18-track album by the American experimental band fronted by Zach Condon was commissioned by and comes in conjunction with a tour by idiosyncratic Stockholm-based contemporary circus group Kompani Giraffe

Apr 25, 2025
Mamlarky - Hex Key.jpeg
Apr 25, 2025
Mamalarky: Hex Key
Apr 25, 2025

New album: Defying definition other than the label of experimental psych-rock four-piece – the Los Angeles band’s album is an eccentric, quirky set of songs that can’t easily be unlocked with this tool or any other, but still pull you into their enjoyably agile mystery

Apr 25, 2025
Tunde Adebimpe.jpeg
Apr 24, 2025
Tunde Adebimpe: Thee Black Boltz
Apr 24, 2025

New album: The likeable TV On The Radio frontman, visual artists and LA-based actor releases his first solo LP, an impressively punchy, tender, angry, sharp, intelligent fusion of synth-pop, postpunk and funk, working with multi-instrumentalist and co-producer Wilder Zoby – energised in sound, but tinged with thematic grief and loss

Apr 24, 2025
Julien Baker and Torres.jpeg
Apr 22, 2025
Julien Baker and TORRES: Send A Prayer My Way
Apr 22, 2025

New album: The American singer-songwriter, guitarist and, one-third of Boygenius joins withTorres, aka indie singer-songwriter Mackenzie Scott in a long-planned collaboration in musically straight pedal-steel country narrative love songs, but threaded with queer narratives

Apr 22, 2025
Don Bolo - UMMA.jpeg
Apr 16, 2025
Don Bolo: UMMA
Apr 16, 2025

New album: Striking, otherworldly, ghostly, evocatively cinematic and powerful experimental instrumentals by the band from Quito, Ecuador, this fourth LP is inspired by the work of Dune author George Herbert as well as the dark, dystopian events of modern times

Apr 16, 2025
Salif Keita - So Kono.jpeg
Apr 15, 2025
Salif Keita: So Kono
Apr 15, 2025

New album: A first album in seven years by the veteran Malian singer, now 75, with a pared-back, acoustic release, but one in which his distinctive, wonderfully ‘golden’ voice still shines, accompanied by guitar, ngoni, calabash, tama and cello

Apr 15, 2025
Valerie June - Owls, Omens and Oracles.jpeg
Apr 13, 2025
Valerie June: Owls, Omens, and Oracles
Apr 13, 2025

New album: Stylish, catchy, charismatic, effervescent, uplifting, retro, Memphis soul, Americana and country by the singer-songwriter from Jackson, Tennessee whose distinctive, bright resonant voice has some echoes of Eartha Kitt and Macy Gray

Apr 13, 2025
Alison Krauss and Union Station - Arcadia.jpeg
Apr 13, 2025
Alison Krauss and Union Station: Arcadia
Apr 13, 2025

New album: Classy, seasoned, crisply performed country, folk and bluegrass by the acclaimed Champaign, Illinois singer-songwriter and fiddle player, joined again by her perennial band, their first together since 2011’s Paper Airplane, and her first since the 2021’s album Raise The Roof with Robert Plant

Apr 13, 2025
Destroyer - Dan's Boogie.jpg
Apr 13, 2025
Destroyer: Dan's Boogie
Apr 13, 2025

New album: Eccentric, eclectic, frequently flamboyant experimental rock and pop by the the Vancouver multi-instrumentalist Dan Bejar, following 2022’s Labyrinthitis with nine new songs in his inimitable talk-singing style with stream-of-consciousness lyrics and personnas from hustlers to lounge singers

Apr 13, 2025
Bon Iver - Sable, Fable.jpeg
Apr 12, 2025
Bon Iver: SABLE, fABLE
Apr 12, 2025

New album: Wisconsin’s Justin Vernon returns with his fifth album, a sparse, tender, sometimes world-weary, but also often beautiful, distinctive fusion of folk, indie, R&B, soul, country, and a dash of soft rock, all wrapped in celebration of the salmon pink - “the colour of life”

Apr 12, 2025
Florist - Jellywish 2.jpeg
Apr 9, 2025
Florist: Jellywish
Apr 9, 2025

New album: Beautiful, entrancing, wide-eyed, deceptive simplicity pervades this poetic fifth LP by the indie folk New York/ Catskill Mountains quartet fronted by singer-songwriter Emily Sprague, here themed around the natural world’s perceived miracles and mysteries

Apr 9, 2025

new songs …

Featured
The Bug Club - Very Human.jpeg
Apr 26, 2025
Song of the Day: The Bug Club - How To Be A Confidante
Apr 26, 2025

Song of the Day: Fabulously witty, playful, catchy and engaging, the Welsh indie band’s latest single featuring a charming vocal duo performance between guitarist Sam Willmett and bassist Tilly Harris, heralds their upcoming fourth LP, Very Human Features, out on 13 June via Sub Pop Records

Apr 26, 2025
MRCY duo.jpeg
Apr 25, 2025
Song of the Day: MRCY - Wandering Attention
Apr 25, 2025

Song of the Day: Powerful, rapturous, soaring as well as darkly candid soul by the British duo of south London singer-songwriter Kojo Degraft-Johnson and Huddersfield-born producer-instrumentalist Barney Lister, heralding the album VOLUME 2, out 30 May on Dead Oceans

Apr 25, 2025
Folk Bitch Trio.jpeg
Apr 24, 2025
Song of the Day: Folk Bitch Trio - The Actor
Apr 24, 2025

Song of the Day: Beautiful vocal harmonies in a swooning melody combined with mischievously explicit, ironic lyrics and a playful role-playing video by the Boygenius-like Melbourne folk-pop trio of Grace Sinclair, Heide Peverelle, Jeanie Pilkington, out on Jagjaguawar

Apr 24, 2025
Tropical Fuck Storm - Fairyland Codex.jpeg
Apr 23, 2025
Song of the Day: Tropical Fuck Storm - Dunning Kruger's Loser Cruiser
Apr 23, 2025

Song of the Day: A heady new brew of Beefheart-ish ironic, acidic, acerbic, anarchic psychedelia by the brilliantly different Melbourne post-punkers with a song about the absurd overestimation of knowledge, from their forthcoming new album, Fairyland Codex, out on Fire Records

Apr 23, 2025
Deerhoof - Noble and Godlike in Ruin.jpeg
Apr 22, 2025
Song of the Day: Deerhoof - Under Rats (featuring Saul Williams)
Apr 22, 2025

Song of the Day: Uniquely oddball, innovative post-punk, hard-rock riffs and free-jazz percussive freakouts by the San Francisco band joined by the US rapper and poet, heralding from the forthcoming Deerhoof album, Noble And Godlike In Ruin, out on Joyful Noise Recordings

Apr 22, 2025
Billy Nomates - Plans.jpeg
Apr 21, 2025
Song of the Day: Billy Nomates - Plans
Apr 21, 2025

Song of the Day: A punchy yet tender love song about the uncertain future by the Bristol-based songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist Tor Maries, heralding her forthcoming third album Metalhorse, out 16 May on Invada Records

Apr 21, 2025
Sorry - Jetplane.jpg
Apr 20, 2025
Song of the Day: Sorry - Jetplane
Apr 20, 2025

Song of the Day: Woozily strange with a fabulously throbbing bass, jittery saxophone and restless vocals, it’s the freaky new single by the north London postpunk/ indie band, following previous single Waxwing, out on Domino Records

Apr 20, 2025
girl-group-Flink-Pike.jpeg
Apr 19, 2025
Song of the Day: Girl Group - Flink Pike
Apr 19, 2025

Song of the Day: Catchy, wittily ironic, nimble, crisply sung acoustic indie pop by the five-piece Liverpool band of Katya, Maria, Thea, Mia, and Lil, with a titular Nordic expression meaning “good girl”, and one “often used to describe young women striving to meet impossible expectations.”

Apr 19, 2025
Pink_Elephant_(Arcade_Fire_album).jpeg
Apr 18, 2025
Song of the Day: Arcade Fire - Year Of The Snake
Apr 18, 2025

Song of the Day: The acclaimed Montreal indie rockers fronted by husband and wife team of Win Butler and Régine Chassagne, return with their first new music for three years, a single referring to the Chinese zodiac calendar for 2025, and announcing their new album, Pink Elephant, out on 9 May via Columbia Records

Apr 18, 2025
Sports Team - Sensible.jpeg
Apr 17, 2025
Song of the Day: Sports Team - Sensible
Apr 17, 2025

Song of the Day: A fabulously catchy and caustically witty Britpop-indie single by the Cambridge-formed band, exploring the myth of betterment and the impossible task facing today’s youth who are given conflicting and contradictory messages of how they are to improve themselves

Apr 17, 2025
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Apr 16, 2025
Song of the Day: Patrick Wolf - Hymn of the Haar
Apr 16, 2025

Song of the Day: A beautiful, passionate, poetic new single of evocative, soaring chamber pop by the British singer-songwriter inspired by three years of walks and researching the history and psychogeography of the White Cliffs of Dover near near his home in east Kent

Apr 16, 2025
Garbage 2025.jpeg
Apr 15, 2025
Song of the Day: Garbage - There's No Future In Optimism
Apr 15, 2025

Song of the Day: A new single that’s topically dark and dystopian in flavour by the veteran American rock band fronted by Scotland’s Shirley Manson, but also an ironic title and a call to action, heralding their forthcoming album Let All That We Imagine Be The Light, due out on 30 May, on BMG

Apr 15, 2025

Word of the week

Featured
Creeping Buttercup Flowers.jpeg
Apr 21, 2025
Word of the week: ranunculaceous
Apr 21, 2025

Word of the week: An adjective describing something related to or belonging to the Ranunculaceae plant family, particular those more commonly described as buttercups. But what of them in song?

Apr 21, 2025
Websters big dictionary.jpeg
Apr 9, 2025
Word of the week: sesquipedalian
Apr 9, 2025

Word of the week: First appearing in English in the mid-17th century, meaning “a foot and a half long”, it’s a noun identifying words with multiple syllables, or an often derogatory adjective for a person with a tendency to use overlong words

Apr 9, 2025
three banded armadillo apar tolypeutine.jpeg
Mar 26, 2025
Word of the week: tolypeutine
Mar 26, 2025

Word of the week: A noun related to the term Tolypeutinae, this is a subfamily of Chlamyphoridae of the armadillo family, consisting of the giant, naked-tailed and particularly the three-banded species

Mar 26, 2025
sheep.jpeg
Mar 12, 2025
Word of the week: ulotrichous
Mar 12, 2025

Word of the week: While it’s entirely natural in animals such as sheep as well as some humans, depending on an individual’s point of view it’s either a blessing or a curse. From Greek words oûlos (crisp, curly) and -trikhos (haired), this adjective means having curly or woolly hair

Mar 12, 2025
Varsovienne 1855.jpeg
Feb 26, 2025
Word of the week: varsovienne
Feb 26, 2025

Word of the week: Our latest etymological move into obscurity originates in around 1850 in Warsaw, Poland, and also known as the varsouvienne or varsoviana – a slow, graceful dance in 3/4 waltz time, which also combines elements of the mazurka and polka

Feb 26, 2025
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