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29 February? A rare leap ... at songs about jumping

February 29, 2024 Peter Kimpton

One giant leap: Bob Beamon’s long jump record at the Mexico City 1968 Olympics stood for at an unusually lengthy 23 years

A Thursday on 29 February rarely happens, so let’s not skip it: Songs about jumps, leaps, bounds, hurdles, vaults of all kinds, literal and metaphorical, no t random occurrence of a related words, but where the leap in question is central to to the song's theme. Get inspired by many varied contexts and guests in the Bar …

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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, krautrock, metal, music, musical hall, musicals, playlists, pop, postpunk, prog, psychedelia, punk, reggae, rock, rocksteady, showtime, ska, songs, soul, soundtracks, traditional, trip hop Tags songs, playlists, jumping, leap years, Olympic Games, athletics, sport, Bob Beamon, Pablo Picasso, Emily Dickinson, Michael McClure, Neil Armstrong, Louis Jordan, Kurt Cobain, Wayne Shorter, Quincy Jones, Charlotte Bronte, WH Auden, Shakespeare, William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar, calendars, Gioachino Rossini, Jimmy Dorsey, Saul Williams, marriage, relationships, Amy Adams, Ireland, France, Finland, Greece, women's rights, geology, Tori Amos, Julia Margaret Cameron, David Lloyd George, Evel Knievel, Margaret Mead, Gustave Flaubert, Ray Bradbury, Nadia Comaneci, basketball, Nikki Sixx, Eddie the Eagle, Henry Miller
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Playlists: itchy and scratchy songs

February 28, 2024 Peter Kimpton

Itching to have a go …

Got that tingle but don’t know how to reach it? Found the right spot but scratching makes it itchier? Inspired by last week’s topic, guest playlister EnglishOutlaw has a variety of melodious ointment to express and find musical relief

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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, krautrock, metal, music, musical hall, musicals, playlists, pop, postpunk, prog, psychedelia, punk, reggae, rock, rocksteady, showtime, ska, songs, soul, soundtracks, traditional, trip hop Tags songs, playlists, scratching, itching, skin, Ani di Franco, King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, James Domestic, quinnie, Willie Nelson, Harry Belafonte, T. Texas Tyler, Glen Campbell, Clarence Carter, 100º Proof Aged In Soul, Busdriver, Roxanne Shanté, Tarwater, Gabriel Prokofiev, Prokofiev, Peter Gregson, The Caretaker, Butthole Surfers, Lucifer and the Peppermint, The Coasters, Devo, Kid Koala, JJ Burnel, The Crabs, Joan Jett, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, The Soul Snatchers, DJ Krush, Mista Sinista, Cachao, Darius Jones, Days N' Daze, EnglishOutlaw
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Aye, there's the rub: itchy 'n' scratchy songs

February 22, 2024 Peter Kimpton

Bear with us …

Let’s satisfy the itch across many musical surfaces with a multi-pronged backscratcher, not just on lyrical flesh, but also the tight skin of drums, wires, guitar strings, resonant idiophones or the hollow or solid wooden bodies of stringed instruments, and of course, using vinyl turntables …

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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, krautrock, metal, music, musical hall, musicals, playlists, pop, postpunk, prog, psychedelia, punk, reggae, rock, rocksteady, showtime, ska, songs, soul, soundtracks, traditional, trip hop Tags songs, playlists, itching, scratching, Ogden Nash, Kingsley Amis, Iggy Pop, Marilyn Monroe, Michel de Montaigne, Socrates, Shakespeare, William Shakespeare, Yoko Ono, Robert Penn Warren, CS Lewis, Moholy-Nagy, Oskar Fischinger, Paul Arma, Christian Marclay, Pierre Schaeffer, John Cage, Shuichi Obata, turntables, Technics, Grand Wizzard Theodore, Afrika Bambaataa, Grandmaster Flash, Kool Herc, The Slits, Viv Albertine, animals
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Playlist: songs about blessings and curses

February 21, 2024 Peter Kimpton

Blessed or cursed? How how will it play out…?

Mysterious places, songs and secrets. This week’s wonderfully vivid playlist, inspired by last week’s topic, sets an intriguing narrative in a mysterious establishment run by a shady figure. But will it take a dark or a light path? Guest writer Maki sets the scene …

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In African, avant-garde, blues, country, drone, electronica, experimental, folk, funk, hip hop, indie, instrumentals, jazz, krautrock, music, musicals, playlists, pop, postpunk, prog, psychedelia, punk, reggae, rock, soul, songs, ska, traditional Tags The Mountain Goats, Gil Scott-Heron, Brian Jackson, The Grateful Dead, Lee Scratch Perry, Agnes Obel, Camarón de La Isla, The Pogues, Celina y Reutilio, Mischief Brew, The Only Ones, Tunng, Kevin Ayers, Charlotte Day Wilson, boygenius, Aira Yuuki, Ornette Coleman, The Stranglers, Maki, playlists, songs, blessings, curses
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Song Bar Birthday Special: Pieces of eight? Seeking songs about treasure

February 8, 2024 Peter Kimpton

Eight? How many pieces do you have?

Precious, rare, valuable, timeless? Monetary or something more intangible? How do you define treasure? This week we celebrate eight years of of Song Bar from a phase from a Robert Louis Stevenson novel and seeking songs on this theme

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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, krautrock, metal, music, musical hall, musicals, playlists, pop, postpunk, prog, psychedelia, punk, reggae, rock, rocksteady, showtime, ska, songs, soul, soundtracks, traditional, trip hop Tags songs, playlists, anniversaries, treasure, gold, coins, archaelogoy, books, art, Robert Louis Stevenson, Mark Twain, William Shakespeare, Shakespeare, Walt Disney, Dale Carnegie, Rainer Maria Rilke, Charlotte Bronte, Dolly Parton, Johnny Depp, Film, film soundtrack, money, Edgar Allan Poe, Washington Irving, Captain William Kidd, pirates, The Detectorists, Mackenzie Crook, Toby Jones, television, Tintin, Hergé, history, JRR Tolkien, Andy Serkis, Napoleon Bonaparte, Lao Tzu, Christina Aguilera, Thornton Wilder, Joseph Campbell, Friedrich Schiller, Audrey Tatou, Sergio Leone, Ennio Morricone, Clint Eastwood
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Just count on this: songs with unusual time signatures

February 1, 2024 Peter Kimpton

After a short paws …what happens next?

Hard to beat? Not necessarily. While most songs are in 4/4 time, and others in 3/4 waltz, there are many fascinating variants that push the boundaries, often in a catchy way. It’s not necessary here to name the numbers, just how it feels when you count …

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In African, avant-garde, blues, classical, calypso, comedy, country, dance, drone, dub, electronica, experimental, folk, funk, gospel, hip hop, indie, instrumentals, jazz, krautrock, metal, music, musical hall, musicals, playlists, pop, postpunk, prog, psychedelia, punk, reggae, rock, rocksteady, showtime, songs, soul, soundtracks, trip hop Tags time signatures, songs, playlists, instrumentals, William Gibson, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Albert Einstein, Emily Dickinson, Mark Helprin, Miles Davis, Dave Brubeck, Nick Drake, Islet, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Christopher Walken, Peter Gabriel, Genesis, The Beatles, Pink Floyd, Chemical Brothers, Q-Tip, Captain Beefheart, Bjork, Fiona Apple, Sufjan Stevens, PJ Harvey, Frank Zappe, King Crimson, Yes, Robert Fripp
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Composed: songs about coolness

January 25, 2024 Peter Kimpton

Calm looks: from Beyoncé’s Lemonade:designs based on Yoruba culture by Brooklyn Nigeria-born designer Laolu Senbanjo

From Arican itutu to European sprezzatura, American jazz and poetry to hip hop, and a lot more besides, how do you define coolness, whether in lyrics, or expressed in the music itself? It’s time to compose yourselves with some cultural inspiration …

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Playlists: songs about tyranny and dictatorship

January 24, 2024 Peter Kimpton

Revolutionary warnings: Crass

Coercion, violence and suppression, it’s a recurring cycle through history. Spanning the globe with philosophy and genre, guest playlister Marco den Ouden examines the big questions about autocracy and anarchy, picked from last week’s topic nominations

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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, krautrock, metal, music, musical hall, musicals, playlists, pop, postpunk, prog, psychedelia, punk, reggae, rock, rocksteady, showtime, ska, songs, soul, soundtracks, traditional Tags tyranny, dictators, dictatorship, democracy, politics, history, Eek-a-Mouse, Lousiana Red, Steppenwolf, Archie Roach, Smith & Mighty, Andy Scholes, Cult With No Name, Dub Syndicate, Tom Robinson, Negativland, Todd Rundgren, Donald Fagen, Crass, Chico Buarque, Milton Nascimento, Hozier, Mavis Staples, The Beatles, The Winans, Robb Johnson, Catherine Graindorge, Iggy Pop, The Melodians, The Golden Gate Quartet, Rich Kids, Elektrisk Regn, Mercedes Sosa, Mark Knopfler, Emmylou Harris, Scraping Foetus Off the Wheel, The Pogues, Mark Stewart & the Maffia, Mark Lambert, Midnight Oil, Woody Guthrie, Sting, David Bowie, Randy Newman, Pop Will Eat Itself, Bob Marley, Bob Marley & The Wailers, Crystal Axis, Bruce Cockburn, Janis Ian, Nicko, Peter Tosh, Lucky Dube, Lord Invader, Arcade Fire, Curtis Mayfield, Raimon, Manhattan Transfer, Sweet Honey In the Rock, Nordic Giants, Marco den Ouden, Marconius, Isaiah Berlin
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Warning signs: songs about tyranny and dictatorship

January 18, 2024 Peter Kimpton

Rogues’ gallery, some of the many …

Notorious, violent, controlling, paranoid, ruthless, and excessive, history is filled with them, their rise supported by the fear and apathy. Constantly a threat, from history to the present and future, what are their traits, and how are they portrayed in 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, krautrock, metal, music, musical hall, musicals, playlists, pop, postpunk, prog, psychedelia, punk, reggae, rock, rocksteady, showtime, ska, songs, soundtracks, soul, traditional Tags songs, playlists, tyranny, dictatorship, dictators, politics, history, US politics, US presidents, US presidential election, Idi Amin, Uganda, Adolf Hitler, Germany, Colonel Gaddafi, William Shakespeare, Shakespeare, William Blake, Philip Slater, Mahatma Gandhi, Emily Bronte, British Empire, Aesop, Lord Acton, Robespierre, Joseph Stalin, Russia, Martin Luther King, Voltaire, Charlie Chaplin, The Great Dictator, Percy Shelley, Scott Walker, Brady Corbet, Film, film soundtrack, China, Ancient Greece, Ancient Rome, Ancient Egypt, Genghis Khan, Ivan The Terrible, Mao Zedong, Pol Pot, Cambodia, Africa, Ethiopia, Yakubu Gowon, Nigeria, Mengistu Haile Mariam, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mobutu Sese Seko, Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe, Chad, Brazil, Paulo Coelho, Vik Muniz, Augusto Pinochet, Chile, Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin, Kim Jong Un, Kim Jong-un, North Korea, Naomi Wolf, Hisham Matar, Libya, Simon Sebag Montefiore, Park Yeon-mi, A. N. Wilson, Steven Van Zandt, Marshall McLuhan, George Orwell, Aldous Huxley, Anthony Kennedy
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Playlists: songs about touch

January 16, 2024 Peter Kimpton

Touching company: Fever Ray

A touchy subject? Yes but also a very tactile and effective one in song. Getting physical, metaphysical, metaphorical, sensual, sexual, communal, biblical, spiritual and much more, guest Uncleben finds true feeling in superb playlists inspired by last week’s topic

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In African, avant-garde, blues, calypso, comedy, country, dance, disco, drone, dub, experimental, electronica, folk, funk, gospel, hip hop, indie, instrumentals, krautrock, music, musical hall, musicals, playlists, pop, postpunk, prog, psychedelia, punk, reggae, rock, rocksteady, showtime, ska, songs, soul, soundtracks, traditional Tags touch, playlists, Buzzcocks, Gilmore & Roberts, The Soul Stirrers, Thompson Twins, African Head Charge, Lori & The Chameleons, Turbonegro, Fever Ray, George & Gwen McCrae, The Pointer Sisters, Diana Ross, Luie Luie, Salvation (musical), Shura, Teca & Ricardo, Rilo Kiley, Randy Crawford, Howlin' Wolf, The Wolfhounds, Ringo Sheena, The Outsiders, The Brian Jonestown Massacre, Cult With No Name, Spectrum, Big Break, Uncleben
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Can you feel it? Songs about touch

January 11, 2024 Peter Kimpton

Tactile pleasures ….

Tactile sensations are among our most primitive and deep-seated of the five senses, but how are they expressed in lyrics? From the gentle, sensual and pleasurable to the painful, it’s time the channel the somatosensory system in song form

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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, krautrock, metal, music, musical hall, musicals, playlists, pop, postpunk, prog, psychedelia, punk, reggae, rock, rocksteady, showtime, ska, songs, soul, soundtracks, traditional Tags songs, playlists, music, William Shakespeare, Shakespeare, Petrarch, Plato, John Keats, Edmund Spenser, Santosh Kalwar, Anne Brontë, Amy Lowell, Grace Jones, biology, sport, religion, Babe Ruth, David Lynch, Paul Cezanne, Winona Ryder, Leonardo Da Vinci, Andy Goldsworthy, Grandmaster Flash, Elias Canetti, Film, Audrey Tatou, film, theatre
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Playlists: songs with conditional phrases

January 10, 2024 Peter Kimpton

The Big If …

Where will it all lead? What are the conditions? Are they zero, first or second? All the ifs and thens are revealed in these wittily entertaining lists compiled by guest Severin, inspired by songs nominated in last week’s opening topic of 2024

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In African, avant-garde, blues, calypso, comedy, country, dance, disco, drone, dub, electronica, folk, experimental, funk, gospel, hip hop, indie, instrumentals, jazz, krautrock, metal, music, musical hall, musicals, playlists, pop, postpunk, prog, psychedelia, punk, reggae, rock, rocksteady, showtime, ska, songs, soul, soundtracks, traditional Tags The Darling Buds, Barrington Levy, Janis Joplin, Fairport Convention, Lucinda Williams, Massive Attack, Roxy Music, Samara Joy, Ray LaMontagne, Kurtis Blow, ODESZA, The Staple Singers, David Holmes, Raven Violet, Spiritualized, Noel Gallagher, Badfinger, The Beatles, Captain Beefheart, Phoebe Bridgers, Tracy Chapman, Stephen Stills, Charlie Poole, Nicole Willis & The Soul Investigators, George Harrison, Beverley Knight, Mica Paris, Leonard Cohen, AC/DC, Elvis Presley, Ian Dury & The Blockheads, Ian Dury, Basement Jaxx, Yola, severin, Severin
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If not now, then when? Songs with conditional phrases

January 4, 2024 Peter Kimpton

Dark or bright? What’s another year? 2024 …

To start the new year and an uncertain future, it’s time to set up our musical theme with conditional songs - those that usual contain the word ‘if’ and sometimes follow with or an implied or actual, ‘then’. But how will it turn out?

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In African, avant-garde, blues, calypso, classical, colours, comedy, country, dance, disco, drone, dub, electronica, experimental, folk, funk, gospel, hip hop, indie, instrumentals, jazz, krautrock, metal, music, musical hall, musicals, playlists, pop, postpunk, prog, psychedelia, punk, reggae, rock, rocksteady, showtime, ska, songs, soul, soundtracks, traditional Tags new year, predicting, language, future, politics, climate change, war, artificial intelligence, Shakespeare, William Shakespeare
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Playlists: songs for fictional commercials

December 28, 2023 Peter Kimpton

Fresh frozen? Give peas a chance …

Awash with ads for travel, clothing, leisure, painkillers, marijuana, vegetables, and even items to boost sex life? Well, it’s time to be entertained by a string of non-existent ones, framed in snappy marketing musical form, with playlists picked by guest magicman from last week’s topic

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Christmas sale special: give out songs to fit fictional commercials

December 21, 2023 Peter Kimpton

Selling out? Who’s up for it?

‘Tis the season to be funny or serious, satirical, cerebral or sensual, simple or complex, abstract or expressive, imaginative and ingenious in suggesting songs for existing or fictional products that could appear in ads that don’t exist

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Playlists: songs about board games

December 12, 2023 Peter Kimpton

Take notes: the domino effect

Chess, Checkers or Cluedo, Dominoes, Monopoly to Scrabble and much more, the game is afoot, or possibly at hand. Inspired by last week’s playful topic, guest of the week an inspired Maki brings all the pieces to the table

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It's your move: songs about board games

December 7, 2023 Peter Kimpton

Game on: all kinds of music are on board …

Not video or cards, this week it’s the turn of games played on a tabletop with moveable pieces, anything from chess to Monopoly, playing out the patterns of human life and behaviour in microcosm. But how are they expressed in song lyrics?

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Playlists: songs about fabrics

December 6, 2023 Peter Kimpton

Let the needle drop … it’s darned good

The needle might normally drop on to spinning vinyl, but it’s also embroidered a wonderful tapestry of songs in playlists – superbly knitted together by guest of the week Tatanka Yotanka, who picked up the threads from last week’s topic

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Spinning yarns: songs about fabrics

November 30, 2023 Peter Kimpton

Original material: Sun Ra

Join this potentially long thread of a subject through time to capture the wonderful weft and warp of songs about all kinds of fabrics natural or otherwise – wool, cotton, hemp, linen, nylon, muslin, silk, and much more, clothing to curtains, their manufacture and industry, metaphor, colourful, darker, or lighter associations

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Toxic warning! Songs about poison

November 23, 2023 Peter Kimpton

The classic poisoner’s choice …

Natural or handmade, animal or chemical, fast or slow, murderous or accidental, we inhabit a world of toxins and venoms, but how are they expressed in song? With inspiration here, the more specific and colourful the better but there’s also the mental and metaphorical …

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DRINK OF THE WEEK

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New Albums …

Featured
Kim Deal - Nobody Loves You More.jpeg
Nov 23, 2024
Kim Deal: Nobody Loves You More
Nov 23, 2024

New album: After various singles over the years, the former Pixies member, and Breeders musician finally releases her first full solo album, a truly fabulous execution of superb songwriting, sharp, heartbreak lyrics, diverse musical styles and instruments across indie, rock and pop, all performed with beautiful tenderness, grit and gusto

Nov 23, 2024
Michael-Kiwanuka-Small-Changes.jpeg
Nov 23, 2024
Michael Kiwanuka: Small Changes
Nov 23, 2024

New album: A fourth album by the Mercury prize-winner, another gorgeously crafted and performed set of songs drawing on 70s soul and slowly simmering psychedelic rock, and the third produced by Danger Mouse and Inflo

Nov 23, 2024
Mahashmashana by FATHER JOHN MISTY.jpeg
Nov 22, 2024
Father John Misty: Mahashmashana
Nov 22, 2024

New album: The king of killer opening lines Josh Tillman returns with another majestic, beautifully melodic, grandiose, playfully clever, darkly humorous and philosophical set of eight epic songs fuelled by a sense of mortality and enduring irony

Nov 22, 2024
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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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

new songs …

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Nov 23, 2024
Song of the Day: Marie Davidson - Sexy Clown
Nov 23, 2024

Song of the Day: The Canadian DJ-producer, electronic musician and vocalist returns with a sassy, talky, catchy, witty electro-pop dance number heralding her new album, City of Clowns, made in collaboration with Soulwax and Pierre Guerineau out 28 February 2025, via Soulwax’s own DEEWEE label

Nov 23, 2024
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Nov 22, 2024
Song of the Day: Franz Ferdinand - Night or Day
Nov 22, 2024

Song of the Day: Glasgow’s favourite art-pop-rockers, fronted by the articulate Alex Kapranos, return with another catchy, jaunty new love song heralding their forthcoming album, The Human Fear, out 10 January 2025 on Domino Records

Nov 22, 2024
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Nov 21, 2024
Song of the Day: Sunny War - Walking Contradiction
Nov 21, 2024

Song of the Day: With sharp, socio-political lyrics on modern paradoxes, absurdities and inequalities, this beguiling duet with the legendary singer from anarcho-punk band Crass, heralds a new album by the Nashville born, LA-based folk-punk artist Sydney Lyndella Ward, Armageddon In A Summer Dress

Nov 21, 2024
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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

Word of the week

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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
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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
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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
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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
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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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