There’s a body, but what’s the motive, and whodunnit? Gathering a cast of famous detectives and a pile of tracks about them to spin in the Bar, Chief Inspector Marco den Ouden solves the case with musical cues and keys, inspired by last week’s topic
Read moreKick-ass topic! Songs about bad boys and bad girls
Ambiguous, mysterious, sexy, full of charm but also harm, they're the objects of obsession, as it's often unclear what the balance of good-bad may be. Fictional or real, famous or personal, let's find songs inspired by them ...
Read morePlaylists: songs about prayers and praying
From Africa to Jamaica, punk, to soul to jazz and church choirs, the act of prayer in song covers many styles and gods, and sometimes isn’t even about religion. Guest playlister Severin picks a heavenly selection from last week’s theme
Read morePlaylists: songs about swimming, bathing and showering
Come on in, the music’s lovely. Inspired by all the many excellent nominations from last week’s watery topic, guest of the week Severin makes big splash with a set of playlists perfect for all the rules of the pool. Take a delicious dip
Read morePlaylists: synth pop and electronic dance 1980-2000
The classic keyboards, the hair, and drum sounds, experimenting and changing over two vibrant decades. From a huge wave of nominations, guest pop picker MussoliniHeadkick brings a special edition of the Top of the Pops chart. Ready for the countdown?
Read moreGay pride struggles and strides: songs exploring gender and LGBTQ
It’s time to come out with our own Song Bar gay parade – songs exploring, expressing the experience from confusions and problems, all the way to coming out and celebrating gender, difference across the sex spectrum
Read morePlaylists: songs with a distinctly retro style
The opposite of cover versions, some new songs sound like they’ve come straight from a time machine from decades before. This week’s guest music timelord, Dr philipphilip99, presents playlists recreating pasts with a perfect retro fit
Read moreCan you pull this off? Songs about underwear
Descriptive, metaphorical, sexy, suspenseful, comical, funny, sensible, functional, or filthy, it’s time to rummage though your musical unmentionables, big up the smalls, fill out those bras, slip on those slips, and disc jockey up your shorts …
Read moreSound waves and signals: songs about body language and gestures
Involuntary or practised, revealing or hidden, this week from waving to winking, leaning the lying, aggression and domination to love and tenderness, let’s look out for songs that express these gestures in titles or lyrics
Read morePlaylists: songs about edges, ledges and thresholds
From a thin razor to wide borders on the fringes of the world, from mental thresholds to frenzied fault lines, all inspired by many nominations on last week’s topic guest playlister Maki takes the topic to the musical cutting edge
Read morePlaylists: songs about the rhythm, beat or boogie
Three keywords that have inspired legions of songs from disco to reggae, pop to hip hop, blues to rock and more. Guest AmyLee compiles a sequence of brilliant beating heart playlists that refer to them all from huge wave of nominations
Read moreHalloween? What comes after? Songs about stalking, following and chasing
Do you follow? This week it could well be a creepy, but also complex topic, with tracking and pursuing people in all contexts, done or from the perspective of either party, for love or perhaps more sinister reasons
Read moreBlanc expression: songs about the colour white
Will it be all white on the night? The time is certainly white to suggest songs relating in every way to this colour, from skin and race to ghosts, food, clothing, weddings, purity and innocence to noise and light …
Read moreIn full swing: songs and instrumentals from New York City
It’s the city of the world that never sleeps, but this week let’s explore what kind of music, particularly instrumentals, but also lyrics, capture the particular spirit, culture, feel and rhythms of its extraordinary five boroughs
Read moreSearch the web: spin your songs about spiders
Let’s take a spin on for what might seem a creepy subject, but the more you look into it, the more fascinating and beautiful it becomes. Deadly? Sometimes, but also intricate, amazing, reflecting fear, attraction and more in human nature
Read moreHello Wembley! Songs pertaining to live music venues and spaces
Bars, basements, intimate, sweaty or large or legendary, forests, festivals, stratospheric stadia, snug pubs to prisons, caves to operatic amphitheatres, let's musically celebrate venues and spaces mentioned by, or associated with songs
Read morePlaylists: songs about brevity
It only takes a minute (or a second) to click on this link, but once you do, your brief encounter with these pithy, witty playlists by guest picker Severin will make you linger on lyrical gems about love’s fast passing and much more
Read moreDiary of a nobody? Songs about anonymity
Whether feeling like a nobody, or actually being anonymous, from hackers to the lonely and helpless, from fame to unknown heroism, let's explore this contradictory feeling as expressed in lyrics, from spotlight to the shadows
Read moreWall of sound? Let's enter some songs about rooms
Bluesy bathrooms to calypso kitchens, Britpop bedrooms to lovers rock lounges, whether big or small, green or blue, closet or cloister, suggest yours to create a whole building of musical adventure
Read morePlaylists: songs inspired by movie and TV stars
Marilyn Monroe to Jodie Foster to Johnny Depp, Sidney Poitier to Sigourney Weaver, this week's playlists made by guest Mnemosene2 from last week's topic create a constellation of stars. Let's roll the credits …
Read more