Traversing not just wildernesses, this week’s topic celebrates those who found forms of new territory, land, sea, or space, to those who broke new ground in their specialist field. For these, guest of the week Marco den Ouden creates landmark playlists inspired by last week’s topic
Read morePlaylists: songs about artificial intelligence (AI)
You put in the data and ideas, but what came out? Choosing from many highly non-artificial acts of the intelligence and imagination, guest Loud Atlas used his sharp human instincts create excellent playlists and see what an AI chatbot thought of them.
Read moreRevealed! Lesser-known original songs more famously covered or reworked
This week it’s time to dig deep for those original songs overshadowed by hit or well-known covers. We can also include remixes and other reworkings, as well as lesser known songs so heavily sampled they make a prominent core more famous version
Read morePlaylists: songs about perspiration
It’s more than warm in here. Sexual arousal to hard labour, cold sweats to night sweats, picked from all the nominations from last week’s hot topic guest of the week pejepeine’s playlists will leave you perspiring with excitement
Read morePush those buttons: electronic dance and synth pop songs 1980-2000
Following a previous topic that went up to 1983, this week we explore the arc of this music’s sonic history through a new era of MIDI and digital, from the Fairlight CMI to the Roland TR-808 and beyond, and in lyrical pop songs more than instrumentals
Read moreAlways beyond: songs about horizons
It’s the inspiration for so many album covers, not to mention songs, and also an idea of infinity we never quite reach. From literal or metaphorical and lyrical, this week we reach for that imagined line where land, or sea, meets sky
Read morePlaylists – two's company: songs by duos
Jazz to hip hop, classical, pop, folk and a whole spectrum of other music from around the world, this week guest playlister Nilpferd picks out some of the finest pairings in music where two individuals are greater together than apart
Read moreDynamic duos: songs with just two performers
What makes for a great duo and how does is that dynamic expressed? Perfect balance of sound? Unspoken understanding and harmony? Symbiosis of roles? Contrast in character? Fragility, insecurity and tension? It’s time for two’s company …
Read moreFace the music: songs about masks
From Ancient Greeks to pop personas, they are a fascinating indication of what it is to be human – wearing them, looking at them, putting on or removing, and what they do to the self - projecting, hiding or expressing. Here’s some inspiration …
Read moreYou can call me Alias: songs about nicknames and pseudonyms
Nom de plume to nom de guerre, moniker, handle to sobriquet, this week let’s dig out songs that mention substitute names, from youth and the unknown to the famous, whether they come from affection, fear, pure description or hype
Read moreThe gift of sound and vision: songs enhanced by impressive videos
Music and film are often intertwined commercially, but where does a video become an artform to the level that the visual elements enhance, complement and become symbiotic with the song? Let the action commence …
Read more