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Captain Beefheart … of course
Prepare for a journey into the unknown and deeply strange. Whether in lyrics or musical sound or structure, guest playlister severin leads us through canticular caverns of wonder, inspired by last week’s topic
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Mic King: Nat King Cole
How do you demonstrate the craft of crooning? It brings a broader range than you imagine. After the many nominations springing from last week’s topic, defining as all about style and using the microphone, guest playlister ParaMhor brings some perfect performance picks …
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Tony Bennett and Amy Winehouse. But how many crooners are there in this photo?
This week it’s time to to get close to the microphone explore the evolution of crooning in the full range, the style, the technique, the good, bad and ugly, emotive, intimate and excellent, the creative, the cosy, and the cringeworthy, the sensitive and sentimental
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A whole lotta love: the great Barry White
Feel the huge embrace: following last week’s Song Bar seventh Birthday celebration that brought a huge heap of thematic nominations, guest of the week magicman plucks out an excellent, all-loving array of songs that capture those everlasting feelings
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Esperanza Spalding
Supportive thrum, steady walking or free-flowing virtuosity, smooth or thumping, bowed or plucked, this big daddy of the stringed instruments is a beautiful beast, especially in these playlist plucked out by Loud Atlas from last week’s topic
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Musical minerals?
Music is indisputably good for you, but how is this expressed in song, for improvement of mood, brain and body? Firstly this might come up lyrics, but also this topic can get more subjective and more impressionist with songs that really hit the spot
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Otis Redding - cut down in his prime
Relationship breakdown, devastating loneliness to shocking bereavement, from a huge response to last week’s topic, it’s all here in a set of supremely powerful playlists picked by guest magicman, where despite all the sorrow, the music brings release
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Beautiful hybrid: the speckled nightingale thrush (Catharus maculatus)
They must sing on, and will not stop. From the national bird of Ukraine to a whole variety of vocally dextrous thrushes, this enduring topic, coming from a huge flock of nominations last week, is given full and beautiful playlist flight by guest Severin
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The Wild Bunch Gang, with Butch Cassidy, front right, and Harry Longabaugh, aka Sundance Kid, seated left
Catch this if you can. It’s time to stand, or sit, and deliver. Figures real or fictional, outlaws or those against the establishment, or the spirit of rebellion in all forms, let’s explore this primal instinct in myth, romance and fact via story and song
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Goblin: legendary Italian creators of the 1977 Suspiria soundtrack
After a marvellously monstrous nomination response to this topic, guest playlister Amylee picks out a huge house of horror to be enjoyed, from scary soundtracks to freaky folk traditional, zombie rock apocalypses to gruesome gore. The devil has all the best tunes …
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Sparks: the Mael brothers are simply married to their music
It’s time to see what resulted at last week’s Song Bar Singles Night. Sad, lonely to deliriously happy and free, the resultant songs go in many directions, all married together in poignant, perceptive and playful lists by guest picker pejepeine
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Crane at sunset
Music on the magic of flight to the feathery movement of mythology and morality tales, beautiful murmurations to deadly war munitions, guest playlister Marco den Ouden marvellously spreads his wings from a vast array of song nominations
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Less is more, or more is more? Goodness. This sort of thing could raise a chap’s temperature somewhat
Knee socks, stockings, Y-fronts and bags of bras, especially red. As with all the best things, a glimpse is far more exciting than baring all, and with these selections guest playlister philipphilip99 is primed in the art of titillation
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John, aka 9hairs9knots in a classic pose …
Pull up a chair, pour a drink and soak in this extensive farewell, filled with anecdotes, quotes and songs to John, aka 9hairs9knots, mischievous, articulate, knowledgeable, funny, warm, sensitive regular here at the Song Bar for years. Rest in peace.
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Leon Theremin demonstrates his new instrument in 1927
Brass, woodwind, string or electronic? From the gruffest, grumbliest, deepest, growl, mid-range yowl of a wah-wah vowel, to the purest, highest angelic tone, let’s explore where instruments seem to ‘sing’ or ‘talk' and voices play
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Pocomoke Sound, eastern shores of Maryland and Virginia
Pianissimo, sotto voce to whispering vocals, or acoustic lo-fi to minimalistic electro tones, gentle intimacy to slow menace, this week we move from songs about quietness, turning instead to those performed and recorded at a perceptively low level
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Shhh! It’s Björk
What does it mean to have quiet in your life? Inspired by hundreds of song nominations from last week’s topic, guest playlister DiscoMonster, puts together music through the prism of a story about truths, conflict and stillness
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Lusty: Bas Sheva
This week’s playlists, picked by guest pejepeine, are simply beyond words – joiking to scat, konnakol to yodel, inspired by from last week’s nominations larynx and lips combine to take music to a whole new place
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Did Dusty get a message. How?
Rumour has it that there are a couple of great playlists around that totally nail the topic all about indirect communication, sometimes via a third party. Following last week’s topic, let’s just say that this week’s guest Olive Butler might be behind it …
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Spellbinding: Koko Taylor
What’s been brewing in the musical cauldron this week? Making the magic happen from a huge casting of spells and songs from readers is guest playlister George Boyland, who conjures up two miraculous selections
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