Endless colours of music to share. Photo: Bengt Nyman
Welcome to The Song Bar, a sociable establishment where visitors enthuse and share in their music tastes, indulge in civilised discussion and create playlists on a whole variety of subjects. Feel free to drop in anytime. We profile music new and old, but our main event is the song blog, where each Thursday a topic will be set, and readers around the globe nominate and recommend music on that theme, culminating in a playlist compiled by a guest writer on the following Wednesday.
So find yourself a seat, grab a drink, have a read and listen, and if you like it, join in ...
– Your friendly Landlord
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CONDEMN RACISM, EMBRACE EQUALITY
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Latest from Themes & Playlists ...
Ancient or modern, long gone or still standing, man-made or even natural, these sites are monuments that inspire universal awe and imagination, and bring us together. But how are they captured in song?
Out of this world and into many wondrous others, this week’s playlists take you on a cosmic journey through genres and galaxies, skilfully steered and chosen by guest voyager Nilpferd from last week’s topic
It’s time to boldly go beyond our planet to explore songs about and inspired by other planets, stars and galaxies, real or those of science fiction, and ideally those are imagined to be, or were once inhabited
It’s a creative, freeflowing form that may well be as much crafted as straight from the imagination, but also one that distorts narrative and logic. Inspired by last week’s nominations, guest ajostu presents an associative, brainstorming set of lists with a real ‘vibe’
LATEST FROM New Albums ...
New album: Ambient, minimalist, experimental synth-chamber pop by the American artist with a collection of resonantly beautiful, vulnerable and mournful ballads fuelled by heartbreak
New album: An effervescent colourful, spring-like, flower-themed fusion of electronica, dance music, Chicago techno, cumbia, kuduro, dancehall, African and south American influences in this energetic release by the Stockholm-based Swedish artist and brother and sometime collaborator of Karin Dreijer (aka Fever Ray), in an LP of two different halves
New album: A brief, 24-minute burst of shimmering alternative pop by the Swedish singer-songwriter sees this sixth LP’s concept capturing the experience of fictional bad-boy pop star persona, moving from a messy night out into aftermath, variously mixing mood-shifting jubilation, loneliness and comedown
New album: With a title for calling for sanity in crazy times, this latest LP by the multi-instrumental New York brothers Brian and Michael D’Addario is a pristine release of beautiful new songs inspired by a 60s rock and pop sound, echoing artists from the Hollies to Byrds, mid-career Beatles, Beach Boys and the Who
New album: Driven by a sense of reunion, renewal, collaboration, community and re-finding values lost, a superbly stirring, emotionally uplifting, profound and dynamic return by the Toronto indie rock collective with their first in almost a decade
Latest from New Songs …
Song of the Day: A pair of gorgeous, meditative, cinematic tracks by the Austin, Texas experimental indie rock band fronted by Jonathan Meiburg, heralding their upcoming album, The New World out on 31 July via their own Polyborus label and Secretly Distribution
Song of the Day: A dark, smoky, stylish, seductive, smoothly clattering, classy yet unclassifiably trip-hop adjacent debut single by the Cambridge duo, now newly signed to section1, the Los Angeles-based sister label to Partisan Records
Song of the Day: A stylish, striking fusion of electronica, indie and R&B by American artist Kelela Mizanekristos, heralding the forthcoming album New Avatar, out on 10 July via Warp Records
Song of the Day: A hypnotic new double-A side by the Scottish electronica brother duo, with a prelude of spectral, retro-futurist synths, followed by a mesmeric ambient slow build with mutated vocals, and named after the deep space frequency used in the search for extra-terrestrial life
Song of the Day: A dynamic, eclectic, pacy, syncopated fusion of hip-hop, electronica and rock in this debut solo single one-third of the Beastie Boys in this new single, out on Capitol Records
Latest from Word of the week …
Word of the week: This very imposing, loud, resonant noun is an ancient Greek, trumpet-like instrument used as a tactical signal on the battle field, as well as to signal the beginnings of gatherings, or of races in sport
Word of the week: An archaic, evocative noun with two connected meanings, originally for the song thrush, then later a textiles industrial frame for spinning, twisting and winding machine for cotton, wool, and other fibres simultaneously
Word of the week: It might sound like the act of abstaining from food, but this noun from derived from undina (Latin unda) meaning wave, refers to mythical, elemental beings associated with water, such as mermaids, and stemming from the alchemical writings of the 16th-century Swiss physician, alchemist and philosopher Paracelsus
Word of the week: This ornate, curvaceous, south Indian classical instrument, the saraswati veena, is a special bowl lute with a rich, resonant tone, has 24 copper frets with four playing strings and three drone strings, and is used for Carnatic music
Word of the week: It sounds like the singing finned picture ornament Big Mouth Billy Bass that became popular in the late 1990s, but this is a much older noun, derived in Somerset, England, pertains to the climbing gastropod that can slowly climb up any surface
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Is it your lifetime ambition to visit them all? But what about those of the Ancient World, not longer around? Inspired by last week’s topic, guest playlister ShivSidecar takes us on a wonderful musical journey through time and geography …