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Against all odds: songs about underdogs

October 17, 2024 Peter Kimpton

Muhammad Ali, then Cassius Clay, was complete underdog when he faced Sonny Liston in the shock defeat of 1964

You’ll find them in real life or fiction, history and myth, sport, music, school, prison, books or film, but the arc of the underdog always inspires emotions and makes for a great story. How is it conveyed in song?

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In African, avant-garde, blues, calypso, classical, comedy, country, dance, disco, drone, dub, easy listening, electronica, exotica, experimental, folk, funk, gospel, hip hop, indie, instrumentals, jazz, krautrock, lounge, metal, music, musical hall, musicals, playlists, pop, postpunk, prog, psychedelia, punk, reggae, rock, rocksteady, showtime, ska, songs, soul, soundtracks, traditional, trip hop Tags underdogs, songs, playlists, Film, books, politics, prison, school, Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Gandhi, Malcolm Gladwell, Jimmy Page, John Peel, Shakespeare, William Shakespeare, The Bible, Game of Thrones, Muhammad Ali, boxing, Jake La Motta, Rocky films, Asif Kapadia, football, sport, hockey, James Brown, Robin Hood, Charlie Chaplin, athletics, basketball, David Bowie, Baz Luhrmann
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Wanted, dead or alive: songs about outlaws and rebels

October 28, 2021 Peter Kimpton

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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In African, avant-garde, blues, calypso, classical, comedy, country, dance, disco, drone, dub, electronica, experimental, folk, funk, gospel, hip hop, indie, instrumentals, jazz, metal, music, musical hall, musicals, playlists, pop, postpunk, prog, punk, reggae, rock, rocksteady, showtime, ska, songs, soul, soundtracks, traditional Tags songs, playlists, outlaws, rebels, Ruth Messinger, Wild Bunch, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Butch Cassidy, Sundance Kid, Thomas Jefferson, Emmeline Pankhurst, Uta Hagen, Albert Camus, Indira Gandhi, Frank Herbert, Elvis Presley, Nina Simone, Marlon Brando, Film, film soundtrack, László Benedek, James Dean, Henry Rollins, Quentin Crisp, Ancient Rome, Middle Ages, Jesus Christ, Robin Hood, Piers Plowman, Juraj Jánošík, Jakub Surovec, Oleksa Dovbush, Rózsa Sándor, Schinderhannes, Hans Kohlhase, Dick Turpin, William Plunkett, James MacLaine, Richard Bayes, Katherine Ferrers, Ned Kelly, Peter Carey, Dwight Eisenhower, Jesse James, John Wesley Hardin, Billy The Kid, George Parrott, Bill Doolin, Robert LeRoy Parker, Belle Starr, Peart Hart, Laura Bullion, Bonnie Parker, Clyde Barrow, Bonnie and Clyde, Thomas Browne, John Waters, Philippe Petit, Joan Jett, Johnny Cash, Michael Franti, El-P, Arthur Miller, Clint Eastwood
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DRINK OF THE WEEK

Timothy Taylor Landlord

SNACK OF THE WEEK

bananas

New Albums …

Featured
Fazerdaze - Soft Power.jpeg
Nov 19, 2024
Fazerdaze: Soft Power
Nov 19, 2024

New album: This sophomore album by New Zealand singer-songwriter Amelia Rahayu Murray is dreamy, soft-sheen, shoegazey “bedroom stadium” electro-pop and indie on themes of womanhood, devotion and compassion

Nov 19, 2024
She Drew The Gun - Howl.jpeg
Nov 19, 2024
She Drew The Gun: Howl
Nov 19, 2024

New album: Powerful, passionate highly accomplished fourth indie-rock album by singer/songwriter Louisa Roach and band from Wirral in Merseyside, one broadening her musical scope and perspective, not just socio-political and soul-searching personal, but also spanning eons, fuelled by some personal heartbreak

Nov 19, 2024
Ventre unique by Orchestre Tout Puissant Marcel Duchamp.jpeg
Nov 18, 2024
Orchestre Tout Puissant Marcel Duchamp: Ventre Unique
Nov 18, 2024

New album: Wonderfully energetic, rhythmic stylish, inventive and witty sixth album by the 12-piece experimental Geneva collective who sing politically in French and English, their music decorated with oodles of of clever brass, violins, double-bass, marimbas, percussion and more

Nov 18, 2024
Sophie Royer - Young-Girl Forever.jpeg
Nov 18, 2024
Sofie Royer: Young-Girl Forever
Nov 18, 2024

New album: The California-born, Vienna-based Iranian-Austrian multidisciplinary artist’s newest LP is a very catchy mix of eclectic, political and mainstream, electro-pop, disco and new wave, centred on the contradictions of being a female artist today with all of its freedoms and capitalist trappings

Nov 18, 2024
Du Blonde - Sniff More Gritty.jpeg
Nov 17, 2024
Du Blonde: Sniff More Gritty
Nov 17, 2024

New album: With a startling new look, the multi-talented British singer-songwriter and video artist Beth Jeans Houghton returns with her powerfully anthemic glam rock, grunge pop and fuzz guitar indie in this follow-up to 2021’s Homecoming

Nov 17, 2024
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Nov 16, 2024
Warmduscher: Too Cold To Hold
Nov 16, 2024

New album: The mischievous mayhem post-punk band of Clams Baker Jr.), Mr. Salt Fingers Lovecraft, Quicksand, The Witherer, Three Piece aka the Worm and Bleucifer return with more songs on the seedier side of life, but also one of their most musically adventurous LPs of their five, with guest vocalists including Lianne La Havas, Janet Planet and Coucou Chlo

Nov 16, 2024
Fie Eike - Water album.jpeg
Nov 14, 2024
Fie Eike: Water
Nov 14, 2024

New album: A delicately beautiful distillation through fluid subject in different contexts by the Copenhagen-based artist composer and singer, Anne Sofie Strandheim Eike, with Norwegian roots, creating a soundscape from piano, electronic elements and natural field recordings

Nov 14, 2024
Friedberg - Hardcore Workout Queen.jpeg
Nov 14, 2024
Friedberg: Hardcore Workout Queen
Nov 14, 2024

New album: A wonderful engaging, energetic third LP by Anna Wappel, aka Anna F, the Austria-born singer-songwriter and indie band, with witty, eccentric, warm, humorous, hair-in-the-wind LP with the feel of a road trip

Nov 14, 2024
Our Girl - The Good Kind.jpeg
Nov 12, 2024
Our Girl: The Good Kind
Nov 12, 2024

New album: The London indie trio of singer/guitarist Soph Nathan, drummer Lauren Wilson and bassist Joshua Tyler’s new LP has a beautiful warmth of sound and optimistic honesty in lyric, borne from a theme of celebrating of determination against difficulty

Nov 12, 2024
Lou Hayter - Unfamiliar Skin.jpeg
Nov 12, 2024
Lou Hayter: Unfamiliar Skin
Nov 12, 2024

New album: Sleek, smooth, shimmering synth-pop and and funky disco, very much with an 80s retro sound by the London-based musician, DJ, singer, producer and former New Young Pony Club member, comes with echoes of artists such as Bananarama to Axel F and Harold Faltermeyer

Nov 12, 2024
Haley Heynderickx - Seed of a Seed 2.jpeg
Nov 12, 2024
Haley Heynderickx: Seed of a Seed
Nov 12, 2024

New album: Delicious, intelligent, playful, gorgeous, witty folk with a country flavour by the honey-voiced Oregon singer-songwriter, packed with lyrically vivid images and perceptive, humorous lyrics, with fabulous finger-picking guitar, with added cello and trombone

Nov 12, 2024
PrimalScream - Come Ahead.jpeg
Nov 8, 2024
Primal Scream: Come Ahead
Nov 8, 2024

New album: Looking cool in shades, a 1960 photograph the father of frontman Bobby Gillespie decorates the band’s 12th LP, and their first for 8 years, serving very much as a inspiration with a Glaswegian phrase, but musically filled with 70s Philly soul and funk, and with the input of Belfast producer David Holmes, it’s one of PS’s most stylish for years

Nov 8, 2024
Soccer Mommy - Evergreen.jpeg
Nov 8, 2024
Soccer Mommy: Evergreen
Nov 8, 2024

New album: Wistful, melancholy, candid country-folk, but also punchier, passionate indie in this fourth LP by the American singer-songwriter from Nashville, Tennessee – Sophia Regina Allison, with a release that goes back to her roots, but also adds some gentler acoustic guitars, strings and flutes

Nov 8, 2024
THUS LOVE - All Pleasure.jpeg
Nov 8, 2024
THUS LOVE: All Pleasure
Nov 8, 2024

New album: This second LP by the post-punk quartet self-style queer post-punk band from Brattleboro, Vermont, is pulsating, visceral, panache-filled, and themed about the so-called nourishing euphoria that comes from real-life experiences rather than easy-access digital dopamine hits

Nov 8, 2024

new songs …

Featured
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Nov 20, 2024
Song of the Day: Echolalia - Odd Energy
Nov 20, 2024

Song of the Day: Mesmeric, magical, adventurous psychedelic folk with eclectic Robert Wyatt echoes come all aswirl in this first single by a new Nashville group featuring Spencer Cullum, Andrew Combs, Jordan Lehning and Dominic Billett and friends heralding a self-titled forthcoming album, out on 28 February via Full Time Hobby

Nov 20, 2024
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Nov 19, 2024
Song of the Day: Getdown Services - Dog Dribble
Nov 19, 2024

Song of the Day: Droll, catchy, glam-rock hip hop disco grooves by the enterainingly downbeat Bristol duo of Josh Law and Ben Sadler taken from their new EP, Your Medal’s In The Post, out on Breakfast Records

Nov 19, 2024
Feet - Number One.jpeg
Nov 18, 2024
Song of the Day: FEET - Number One
Nov 18, 2024

Song of the Day: Following the excellent Make It Up album in the summer, a strutting, catchy new indie single by the London five-piece band, out on Submarine Cat Records

Nov 18, 2024
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Nov 17, 2024
Song of the Day: Beirut - Caspian Tiger
Nov 17, 2024

Song of the Day: This beautiful, melodic, gentle new release by the American experimental rock band fronted by Zach Condon was written to accompany the performance the idiosyncratic Stockholm-based contemporary circus group Kompani Giraffe

Nov 17, 2024
Decius - Birth of a Smirk.jpeg
Nov 16, 2024
Song of the Day: Decius - Birth Of A Smirk / Walking In The Heat
Nov 16, 2024

Song of the Day: A pair of entertainingly sensual and alternative acid house/ electronica numbers in this fun side project featuring Lias Saoudi from Fat White Family, brothers Liam and Luke May (founders of Trashmouth Records) and Quinn Whalley from Warmduscher

Nov 16, 2024
Squid - band.jpeg
Nov 15, 2024
Song of the Day: Squid - Crispy Skin
Nov 15, 2024

Song of the Day: This epic, enigmatic experimental new track, featuring harpsichord sounds alongside intricate guitars, driving beats and menacing lyrics, heralds the Brighton art-rock-post-punk band’s third LP, Cowards, out in February 2025 on Warp Records

Nov 15, 2024
BADBADNOTGOOD featuring Tim Bernardes - Poeira Cosmica.jpeg
Nov 14, 2024
Song of the Day: BADBADNOTGOOD featuring Tim Bernardes - Poeira Cosmica
Nov 14, 2024

Song of the Day: The Toronto instrumental trio of Chester Hansen, Alexander Sowinski, and Leland Whitty return with a fabulous jazz-Brazilian poetic fusion with the smooth, tender, soaring voice of singer-guitarist of the São Paulo band, O Terno

Nov 14, 2024
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Nov 13, 2024
Song of the Day: Julia Holter - The Laugh Is In The Eyes
Nov 13, 2024

Song of the Day: A gorgeous, delicately quirky, synth-laden and gently percussive new single by the brilliantly innovative Los Angeles artist whose previous acclaimed works include the 2024 album Something in the Room She Moves and 2018’s Aviary

Nov 13, 2024
Celeste - This Is Who I Am.jpeg
Nov 12, 2024
Song of the Day: Celeste - This is Who I Am
Nov 12, 2024

Song of the Day: The welcome return of the golden-voiced British soul singer from Brighton feels like another timeless classic – slow falling bassline, soaring coda, powerfully emotive, with piano and orchestra, it comes from the new TV drama version of The Day of The Jackal

Nov 12, 2024
Lapsley - Church.jpeg
Nov 10, 2024
Song of the Day: Låpsley - Church
Nov 10, 2024

Song of the Day: The singer-songwriter from York, Holly Lapsley Fletcher, returns with a beautiful, candid, autobiographical, acoustic finger-picking number about still waiting to find life’s directions, and with a Joni Mitchell namecheck

Nov 10, 2024
Doves - Constellations For The Lonely.jpeg
Nov 9, 2024
Song of the Day: Doves - Renegade
Nov 9, 2024

Song of the Day: The Manchester indie band return forthcoming album Constellations For The Lonely with a dark, powerful, cinematic number inspired by the film Blade Runner and the speech by Roy Batty speech on inevitable death, yet “I’ve seen things you people wouldn’t believe”

Nov 9, 2024
Oracle Sisters - Alouett.jpeg
Nov 8, 2024
Song of the Day: Oracle Sisters - Alouette
Nov 8, 2024

Song of the Day: Pacy but serene, perky, witty indie by the Paris-based trio of Lewis Lazar, Christopher Willatt, and Finnish musician Julia Johansen, featuring an entertainingly ironic, demonstrative video, and out on Wizard Artists

Nov 8, 2024

Word of the week

Featured
Tristram+Shandy+Vol+3.jpeg
Nov 15, 2024
Word of the week: circumbendibus
Nov 15, 2024

Word of the week: Not a snaking elongated piece of public transport but still a very evocative 17th-century word for a circuitous, long-winded route or way of doing something or telling a story …

Nov 15, 2024
Deoch an Dorus pub in Partick, Glasgow.jpeg
Oct 16, 2024
Word of the week: doch-an-dorris
Oct 16, 2024

Word of the week: From the17th-century Scottish Gaelic phrase, deoch an doruis (and also with the form deochandorus), this literally means “door-drink” – a toast made with, or to honour, someone about to depart

Oct 16, 2024
Four lads in jeans.jpeg
Oct 4, 2024
Word of the week: eel-skins / excruciators
Oct 4, 2024

Word of the week: Aside from the literal outer layer of the ray-finned slippery fish, this evocative, slightly suggestive 19th-century slang means very tight trousers, while this week’s bonus word, excruciators, points to the experience of wearing very tight shoes

Oct 4, 2024
Grey long-eared bat.jpeg
Sep 19, 2024
Word of the week: flittermouse
Sep 19, 2024

Word of the week: With other variants such as flickermouse and flinder-mouse, this rather charming Tudor-period English noun is a rather evocative and onomatopoeically descriptive one for that quietly sonic-guided night creature – the bat

Sep 19, 2024
Sundial.jpeg
Sep 5, 2024
Word of the week: gnomon
Sep 5, 2024

Word of the week: From the Ancient Greek, γνώμων (gnṓmōn)this pointed noun literally means one that knows or examines, but it is specifically the part of a sundial that casts a shadow as well as referring to other mathematical terms

Sep 5, 2024
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