Through a third party, on scribbled letters left, sent or hidden, on answering machines or other means, even via prayer, this week let's look at songs about communication to an individual sent via a roundabout route
Read moreWho's pulling the strings? Songs about puppets and puppetry
It’s all about manipulation. This week’s theme could centre around relationships, work, politics, or other forms of entertainment, where also the puppets do the performing and play on the theme of who is really in control …
Read morePlaylists: songs about parades and processions
Belfast to New Orleans, Romania to India, this week’s musical procession, inspired by a tremendous train from last week’s topic is led by the twirling baton of guest guru ParaMhor, who takes on a perfect parade of two playlists
Read moreFourth of July? Songs about parades and processions
They express the joys, hopes, triumphs and tragedies of the human race coming together, – mixed emotions, war to civil rights, weddings to funerals, religious and sports to military might to floral festivals. But where do they come up in song?
Read morePlaylists: songs about hitchhiking
Breakdowns to what’s around the bend, picking up from last week’s topic’s many passengers, our guest driver takeitawayGuru takes us on a fabulous rockin’ rollin’ journey with his pick of songs that really catch a musical ride
Read moreThumbs up: catch songs about hitchhiking
It’s time to give us all a lift, not only emotionally, but as Song Bar bus sets off on a road trip, picking up all sorts of musicians and other artists, in a quest to find for stories about hitching experiences – good, bad, scary or heartwarming
Read moreKeep looking: songs about the lost and found
Possessions, pets, family members, or even personal identity, this week the musical mission is all about the missing, but also hopefully, with a story arc that also leads to rediscovery, finding more than what you were searching for
Read morePlaylists: songs about spiders
How do songwriters face their arachnophobia? Spotting behavioural trends expressed through musical and lyrics, and weaving a beautiful and witty web, this week’s guest swawilg creates playlists from last week’s thread of song suggestions
Read morePlaylists: songs about the colour orange
Fresh, funky, bright and effervescent, spreading from Jamaica to India, France and America and all the way to Japan, this week’s guest playlister Hoshino Sakura captures the essence of this colour in all forms, sky to fruit to street
Read moreBright and beautiful: songs about the colour orange
From animals to objects, plants to birds, and all of its cultural associations, the meeting of red and yellow, symbol of change, joy, entertainment and also warning, this week let’s explore songs are about anything clearly of this colour
Read morePlaylists: songs about urban wildlife and nature
Foxes, deer, ducks, ospreys, to blossoms and orchids, leaping up into life from last week’s topic, guest writer barbryn picks a magical musical menagerie and floral fanfare in playlists about the wildlife that inhabit our towns and cities
Read moreCracks in the concrete: songs about urban wildlife and nature
Cats, rats or bats, peregrine falcons to parakeets, foxes and rabbits, bears or boars, and a whole host of other creatures, as well as plants and urban sunsets, this week let’s explore how nature exists in the city as shown in song
Read morePlaylists: songs about deceptive appearances
Warnings about false friends, to advice about keeping things secret, one appearance doesn’t deceive - this week’s playlists are skilfully strung together by this week’s guest Suzi, covering everything from love to personal life, politics to parties
Read morePlaylists: songs from/about Birmingham and The Black Country
Bromwichham to Brummagem, Wednesfield, Walsall and Wolverhampton, this week’s guest playlister philipphilip99 blows an entertaining trumpet for the city and area that shaped him, his lists filled with fabulous music and facts
Read moreBostin'! Songs from or about Birmingham and The Black Country
This week’s topic takes a particular accent towards music inspired by the great British West Midlands city and its surrounding area, a rich cultural mix of ethnicities and styles, industrial history, upheaval and humour
Read morePlaylists: songs enhanced by impressive videos
What a production! Cartoons to big-screen movie references, emotional stories, quirky comedies and extraordinary dancing, from a massive choice, this week’s guest Marco den Ouden chooses two perfectly eye-popping playlists
Read moreOut of this oeuvre? Songs and music that defy genre definition
This week let’s push the envelope and dig out often lesser known artists and works that wriggle away from definition, those who or mix sub-genres and styles with such originality it’s hard to place them. But can you still define them?
Read morePut in a spell on this: songs about witches and witchcraft
Good, bad, beautiful or ugly, purveyors of black or white magic, and the effect they have on others, from witch-finders to fans, this week we explore the culture of witchery, but which way, and what magic will this conjure up in songs?
Read moreDo your wonderful worst: songs out of the comfort zone
The brilliantly bad to the awesomely atrocious, whether in sound or lyrics, this week it's time to stretch the realms of musical and lyrical taste into the outer regions, and boldly go where we've never been before
Read morePlaylists: songs about months of the year
When does The Fall come, is it in autumn or spring? And what and when might Brian Eno or Vashti Bunyan bring? All this and more as this week’s playlister Rachel Courtney aka uneasy listening gets creative with musical calendars
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