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Fantastic blend: Esperanza Spalding and Gretchen Parlato
Beatbox to talkbox, talky wah-wah to chatty mbalax, flutes that pant, buzz and wail, these playlists based on last week’s nominations and chosen by guest pejepeine, are a truly wonderful, international interchangeable blend of human and instrument
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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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Angèle has got an eyeful
From last week’s eye-popping number of nominations following the eye introduction, guest playlister Maki has put his choices into sharp focus, from the 60s to the present day with selections optimally optical and aurally excellent
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Something to reflect on …
Lens me your ears! This week we take more than a passing glance at eyes in song lyrics, whether as metaphor, as objects of beauty, as windows to the soul, and especially in the mystery of how what they see differs from how they are seen
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Made of soft rock? Far better to come on this week’s musical shoreline …
Songs about sand is a lot more than soft rock. These playlists, picked by skilful guest beachcomber George Boyland from waves of nominations, features a beautiful coast of styles from rock to reggae, postpunk to flamenco and electronica
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Jimi Hendrix sandcastle. It was bound to appear here eventually
This week’s lyrical topic offers a broad, varied landscape of metaphor and colour, of passing time, of instability and mutability, of the solid and the fluid, of the barren and the beautiful. Let’s dig deep for some treasures …
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Spread of styles? Swan Lake Madness …
Intercutting genres with anything from musical saws to theremins, from electric to acoustic, jazz to hip hop, this week’s playlists, picked by guest Nilpferd, inspired by last week’s topic, truly traverse the ages
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Carrying the ages, via The Simpsons. Insert any music you like …
This week we seek strange combinations from starkly different times – old songs covered on new instruments, new songs played on old instruments, traditional musicians playing with younger, or old styles mashed up with the new
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A new American discovery. Columbus, not as heroic as once thought, kisses the dirt again
Political figures to perverted pop stars, sport stars gone sour to disappointing dads, guest ShivSidecar picks playlists that bring a whole rogues’ gallery of favourites perfectly into perspective, all inspired by last week’s nominations
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Joseph Stalin: hero turned villain. Statue torn down in 1956 in Budapest during Hungary's October Revolution
Whether it’s figures of public renown in music, film, politics or history, or private – mentors, relatives and even lovers, this week we look into songs about how the once admired and revered can seriously disappoint and fall from grace
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Sparks are eating apparently nothing to do with what their song is about …
From the witty to the weird, the irreverent to the irrelevant, the poetic to the potty, after a huge outpouring of nominations, guest playlister severin serves up a superb menu of cutting-edge and classic musical conundrums
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Herd this? Non sequiturs are instrumental in this week’s musical zoo
Often poetic, strange, vivid, but definitely illogical, this week we explore lyrics that don’t really follow what preceded it, but somehow their meaninglessness masquerading as meaning, can also end up being something highly musical
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Spanning the ages in 3/4: OMD’s Maid of Orleans
Beethoven to Bob Dylan, Aretha Franklin to Funkadelic, Joe Cocker to Cocteau Twins, it’s time to waltz into a set of lists that swing across time and genres, picked expertly by guest playlister DJ Bear from a mass of nominations
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Fred and Ginger
You can count on this, as easy as one, two, three. While four or eight beats to the has been the dominant form, this week we swing over to three or six beats to the bar, and it's surprising just how many artists have used it
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Fancy a stretch on The Stranglers’ longship? All part of this week’s musical journey
Yorkshire moors to oceans wide, endless deserts to mountains high, through genres and geography, mapping from a massive musical landscape of songs from last week’s topic, guest playlister Maki takes us on a splendid journey
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In the open: Houston demonstration, Tiananmen Square, Monument Valley, John Constable’s Stour Valley
City squares to vast wildernesses, parks and stadiums to commons, fields of solitude to peaceful demonstrations, to locations of violence, revolution and change, this week we find space to breathe in songs about places where society expresses itself
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Berceuse ballad: the Pogues can do a beautiful lullaby
Restless? Don’t worry, this is worth staying up for. Enjoy a countdown in the first of several lists perfect picked by guest amylee from hundreds of suggestions over the week, which in all contexts help a perfect night’s sleep
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Robert Smith has already been kept up with songs that whisper
Rockabye? Close your eyes, but open your ears. This week let's expand the idea of the lullaby beyond children to any song that uses the term or encourages, whether loudly or softly, a state of drifting into the unconscious
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A cartoon postcard at home that could be applied to most weeks
As restrictions loosen in some countries, it's time to reflect on these last three months with titles and lyrics from any time that could now be applied to lockdown experience, as well as more recent songs specifically about the situation
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Living maps? Leo Belgicus by Hondius & Gerritsz, 1630
Accurately marked with facts and perfect proportions? Or fuel for fantasy and the imagination? Maps make stories, and stories make maps, and their fascination leads to where X marks the spot. So let’s go there and start digging …
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