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Buck Meek: Haunted Mountain

September 6, 2023 Peter Kimpton

Buck Meek: Haunted Mountain

New album: The New York-based, Texas-bred singer/songwriter and Big Thief guitarist returns with a beautiful third solo album of sensitive, moving, melodious alt-country, Americana and folk rock

Read more
In albums, alternative, blues, Americana, country, folk, rock Tags Buck Meek, Big Thief, albums, new albums, new releases, 4AD
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Hiss Golden Messenger: Jump For Joy

August 31, 2023 Peter Kimpton

Hiss Golden Messenger: Jump For Joy

New album: Rich storytelling, engaging melodies, subtle humour and perfect, gentle pacing out this strong, highly enjoyable loosely concept album of Americana, country and folk by the North Carolina five-piece led by MC Taylor

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In albums, alternative, Americana, blues, country, folk, rock Tags Hiss Golden Messenger, Merge Records
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Rhiannon Giddens: You're The One

August 24, 2023 Peter Kimpton

Rhiannon Giddens: You're The One

New album: The Greensboro-raised singer-songwriter and brilliant banjo player of Carolina Chocolate Drops and Our Native Daughters returns with her first solo album for six years, for the first time mostly originals, continuing her focus on black culture reclamation of catchy, soulful country and Americana

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In albums, Americana, bluegrass, blues, country, folk, jazz, traditional Tags Rhiannon Giddens, Nonesuch Records, albums, new albums, new releases
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Geese: 3D Country

June 28, 2023 Peter Kimpton

Geese: 3D Country

New album: A brilliant second album following 2021’s Projector by the Brooklyn indie-rock quintet, packed with thunderous rocky, bluesy psychedelic grooves, retro yet fresh, stop-start rhythms, and charismatic deep-voiced delivery of Cameron Winter

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In albums, blues, indie, rock Tags Geese, Partisan Records, Play It Again Sam, albums, new albums, new releases
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Bettye LaVette: LaVette!

June 20, 2023 Peter Kimpton

Bettye LaVette

New album: With last month’s passing of Tina Turner, it’s heartening to find another great voice still going strong, the gravelly soul delivery of the 77-year-old veteran with bluesy funk and candid killer lyrics

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In albums, blues, soul Tags Bettye LaVette, albums, new albums, new releases, Yay Vee Records, Steve Winwood, Pino Palladino, Ray Parker Jr, Randall Bramblett
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Tinariwen: Amatssou

May 20, 2023 Peter Kimpton

Desert meets country: Tinariwen’s Amatssou

New album: A fabulous new release by the north Mali nomadic group whose distinctive Tuareg Saharan desert blues is beautifully combined with a country style, with added pedal steel and violin, and a title that is is Tamashek for ‘Beyond The Fear’

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In albums, African, Americana, blues, country, traditional Tags Tinariwen, Wedge Records, Daniel Lanois, albums, new releases
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Fatoumata Diawara: London Ko

May 15, 2023 Peter Kimpton

Fatoumata Diawara: London KO

New album: The Mali star returns with an third LP, mixing Afro-futurism and feminism wassoulou traditions and western, but also celebrating her links the UK and and collaborations, notably with co-producer Damon Albarn, and other guest including Angie Stone and Roberto Fonseco

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In albums, alternative, African, blues, folk, jazz, funk, traditional Tags Fatoumata Diawara, Damon Albarn, albums, new releases, Montuno Producciones, 3ème Bureau, Wagram Music, Angie Stone, Roberto Fonseco
Comment

The Arcs: Electrophonic Chronic

January 31, 2023 Peter Kimpton

The Arcs’ second album is a tribute to the late singer Richard Swift

New album: Classy rockin’ psychedelic soul from the Black Keys man Dan Auerbach’s side project, returning with a stellar supergroup of musicians including co-founder Leon Michels and members of the Dap-Kings, as well as a moving tribute LP to the Arcs’ late singer Richard Swift

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In albums, blues, psychedelia, rock, soul Tags The Arcs, Dan Auerbach, The Black Keys, Leon Michels, Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings, Easy Eye Sound, albums, new releases
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Margo Price: Strays

January 16, 2023 Peter Kimpton

Margo Price: Strays

New album: Country, pop, rock psych, and blues all merge seamlessly in this fabulous, defiant, soaring new LP by the Nashville star who wrote these 10 songs, after a six-day magic mushroom session with husband/collaborator Jeremy Ivey

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In albums, Americana, country, blues, psychedelia, rock, pop Tags Margo Price, Loma Vista, albums, new releases
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Jake Blount: The New Faith

September 26, 2022 Peter Kimpton

Jake Blount

New album: After his acclaimed 2020 solo debut Spider Tales, the American bluegrass fiddler, banjo player, Afrofuturist and historian returns with a starkly beautiful, atmospheric album drawing on old spiritual numbers and set in a climate-changed, apocalyptic world

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In albums, Americana, folk, gospel, bluegrass, spoken word, traditional, blues Tags Jake Blount, Demeanor, Smithsonian Folkways, Rosetta Tharpe, Blind Willie McTell, albums, new releases, climate change
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Miraculous Mule: Old Bones, New Fire

September 12, 2022 Peter Kimpton

Miraculous Mule: Old Bones, New Fire

New album: Channelling the spirit and sound of the Delta and Appalachian Mountains, a superbly evocative, haunting, powerful new release by the Anglo-Irish Londoners with reworked traditional blues and gospel given a stirring new lease of life

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In albums, blues, country, folk, gospel, traditional Tags albums, new releases, Miraculous Mule, Michael J Sheehy, Juke Joint 500
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Jack White: Entering Heaven Alive

July 26, 2022 Peter Kimpton

Jack White’s latest solo record – Entering Heaven Alive – his second of 2022

New album: Only three months since his fierce, high-octane LP Fear of The Dawn, the now Nashville-based artist’s second of the year is more of an folk songwriting record, with guitar, piano, some additional strings, with the feel of evening porch rendition, and even harks back to the more acoustic White Stripes numbers

Read more
In albums, folk, blues, country, rock Tags Jack White, Third Man Records, albums, new releases
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Tami Neilson: Kingmaker

July 18, 2022 Peter Kimpton

Tami Neilson’s fifth album Kingmaker

New album: The acclaimed New Zealand country singer returns with a triumphant fifth album including a duet with Willie Nelson, her strong, beautiful, dramatic delivery echoing the emotive power of Patsy Cline

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In albums, country, blues Tags Tami Neilson, albums, new releases, Outside Music
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Jessie Buckley and Bernard Butler: For All Our Days That Tear The Heart

June 21, 2022 Peter Kimpton

Jessie Buckley and Bernard Butler: For All Our Days That Tear The Heart

New album: An outstanding collaboration between the Irish actress and singer and the former Suede guitarist with this beautiful album of passionate, dramatic, folk music of various international styles, with all the added depth, subtlety, dynamism of emotional power of both Jeff Buckley and Joni Mitchell

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In albums, Americana, blues, country, folk Tags albums, new releases, Jessie Buckley, Bernard Butler, EMI
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Vieux Farka Touré: Les Racines

June 20, 2022 Peter Kimpton

Vieux Farka Touré: Les Racines

New album: Exquisite seventh studio album by Boureima "Vieux" Farka Touré, Malian singer and sublime guitarist, the player known as ‘the Hendrix of the Sahara’, as well as being the son of Mali’s great Ali Farka Touré

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In African, albums, blues, traditional Tags Vieux Farka Touré, Ali Farka Touré, World Circuit, albums, new releases
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Ural Thomas & The Pain: Dancing Dimensions

June 6, 2022 Peter Kimpton

Ural Thomas & The Pain: Dancing Dimensions

New album: The veteran octogenarian soul and blues singer from Portland, Oregon, returns with album with his excellent, tight-knit band with servings of upbeat, catchy, classic but new numbers backed with crisp piano, brass and guitar

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In albums, blues, soul Tags albums, new releases, Ural Thomas, Ural Thomas & The Pain, Bella Union
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Mavis Staples and Levon Helm: Carry Me Home

May 24, 2022 Peter Kimpton

Old friends: Mavis Staples and Levon Helm

New album: A timeless live album of soul, gospel, funk and blues capturing a 2011 Midnight Rambles show by the evergreen singer made at the home studio of the former drummer and co-lead singer of The Band who then died a year later

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In albums, blues, gospel, soul Tags Mavis Staples, Levon Helm, The Band, Curtis Mayfield, ANTI Records, albums, new releases
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Oumou Sangaré: Timbuktu

May 3, 2022 Peter Kimpton

Oumou Sangaré’s ninth album Timbuktu

New album: Superlative ninth LP by the Malian megastar, whose songs fuse the bright, beautiful, bluesy and West African traditional with strong social and political commentary framed with her fabulous voice, and finger-picking guitars, koras and kamele ngoni

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In African, blues, traditional Tags Oumou Sangaré, World Circuit, albums, new releases, human rights, gender equality
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Kurt Vile: (Watch My Moves)

April 18, 2022 Peter Kimpton

Kurt Vile pictured with daughters on his new album cover

New album: As laid-back in style as anyone out there, but also strongly personal and filled with vivid lyrical detail, the Philadelphia singer-songwriter’s seventh solo album is deliciously melodious and worth several listens

Read more
In albums, Americana, folk, country, blues Tags Kurt Vile, Verve Records, albums, new releases
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Carson McHone: Still Life

February 27, 2022 Peter Kimpton

Carson McHone’s Still Life

New album: Tremendously high-quality writing and performance by the singer-songwriter from Houston, Texas in this dynamic third album which mixes folk-country and Americana-rock, acoustic with electric, poignant lyrics and excellent vocals

Read more
In albums, Americana, country, blues, folk, rock Tags albums, new releases, Carson McHone, Loose Music
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DRINK OF THE WEEK

Constant comment tea


SNACK OF THE WEEK

black-eyed peas


New Albums …

Featured
Lucinda Williams - World's Gone Wrong.jpeg
Jan 28, 2026
Lucinda Williams: World's Gone Wrong
Jan 28, 2026

New album: The acclaimed veteran country, rock and Americana singer-songwriter and multi-Grammy winner’s latest LP has a title that speaks for itself, but is powerful, angry, defiant and uplifting, and, recorded in Nashville, features guest vocals from Norah Jones, Mavis Staples and Brittney Spencer

Jan 28, 2026
Clotheline From Hell.jpeg
Jan 27, 2026
Clothesline From Hell: Slather On The Honey
Jan 27, 2026

New album: His moniker mischievously named after a wrestling move, a highly impressive, independently-created experimental, psychedelic rock debut the the Toronto-based multi-instrumentalist and singer-songwriter Adam LaFramboise

Jan 27, 2026
Dead Dads Club.jpeg
Jan 27, 2026
Dead Dads Club: Dead Dads Club
Jan 27, 2026

New album: Dynamic, passionate, heart-stirring indie rock in this project fronted by Chilli Jesson (formerly bassist of Palma Violets) with songs spurred by the trauma of losing his father 20 years ago, retelling a defiant and difficult aftermath, with sound boosted by producer Carlos O’Connell of Fontaines D.C.

Jan 27, 2026
The Paper Kites - IF YOU GO THERE, I HOPE YOU FIND IT.png
Jan 25, 2026
The Paper Kites: If You Go There, I Hope You Find It
Jan 25, 2026

New album: Warm, tender, gently-paced, calmly reflective, beautifully soothing, poetic, melancholic alternative folk and Americana by the band from Melbourne in their seventh LP in 15 years

Jan 25, 2026
PVA - No More Like This.jpeg
Jan 24, 2026
PVA: No More Like This
Jan 24, 2026

New album: Inventive, alluring, sensual, mysterious, minimalistic electronica, trip-hop and experimental pop by the London trio of Ella Harris, Joshua Baxter and Louis Satchell, in this second album following 2022’s Blush, boosted by the creativity of producer and instrumentalist Kwake Bass

Jan 24, 2026
Imarhan - Essam.jpeg
Jan 20, 2026
Imarhan: Essam
Jan 20, 2026

New album: A mesmeric fourth LP in a decade by the band from Tamanrasset, Algeria, whose name means ‘the ones I care about’, their Tuareg music mixing guitar riffs, pop melodies and African rhythms, but this time also evolves slightly away from the desert blues rocky, bluesy influence of contemporaries Tinariwen with electronic elements

Jan 20, 2026
Courtney Marie Andrews - Valentine.jpeg
Jan 20, 2026
Courtney Marie Andrews: Valentine
Jan 20, 2026

New album: Emotional, beautiful, stirring, Americana, folk and indie-pop by singer-songwriter from Phoenix, Arizona, in this latest studio LP in of soaring voice, strong melodies, love, vulnerability and heartbreak, longing and bravery

Jan 20, 2026
Julianna Barwick & Mary Lattimore - Tragic Magic.jpeg
Jan 18, 2026
Julianna Barwick & Mary Lattimore: Tragic Magic
Jan 18, 2026

New album: Delicate, beautiful, ethereal, meditative new work by the two American experimental composers in their first collaborative LP, with gentle understated vocals, classic synth sounds, and rare harps chosen from from the Paris Musée de la Musique Collection

Jan 18, 2026
Sleaford Mods- The Demise of Planet X.jpeg
Jan 16, 2026
Sleaford Mods: The Demise of Planet X
Jan 16, 2026

New album: The caustic wit of Nottingham’s Jason Williamson and Andrew Fearn return with a 13th LP of brilliantly abrasive, dark humoured hip-hop and catchy beats, addressing the rubbish state of the world, as well as local, personal and social irritations through slick nostalgic cultural reference, some expanded sounds, and an eclectic set of guests

Jan 16, 2026
Sault - Chapter 1.jpeg
Jan 14, 2026
SAULT: Chapter 1
Jan 14, 2026

New album: As ever, released suddenly without fanfare or any publicity, the prolific experimental soul, jazz, gospel, funk, psychedelia and disco collective of Cleo Sol, Info (aka Dean Josiah Cover) and co return with a stylish, mysterious LP

Jan 14, 2026
The Cribs - Selling A Vibe.jpeg
Jan 14, 2026
The Cribs: Selling A Vibe
Jan 14, 2026

New album: A first LP in five years by the likeable and solid guitar indie-rock Jarman brothers trio from Wakefield, now with their ninth - a catchy, but at times with rueful, bittersweet perspectives on their times in the music business

Jan 14, 2026
Dry Cleaning - Secret Love.jpeg
Jan 9, 2026
Dry Cleaning: Secret Love
Jan 9, 2026

New album: This third LP by the London experimental post-punk quartet with the distinctive, spoken, droll delivery of Florence Shaw, is packed with striking, vivid, often non seqitur lyrics capturing life’s surreal mundanities and neuroses with a sound coloured and polished by Cate Le Bon as producer

Jan 9, 2026
Various - Icelock Continuum.jpeg
Dec 31, 2025
Various Artists: ICELOCK CONTINUUM
Dec 31, 2025

New album: An inspiring, evocative, sensual and sonically tactile experimental compilation from the fabulously named underground French label Camembert Électrique, with range of international electronic artists capturing cold winter weather’s many textures - cracking, delicate crunchy ice, snow, electric fog, and frost in many fierce and fragile forms across 98 adventurous tracks

Dec 31, 2025
Favourite Albums of 2025 - Part 3.jpeg
Dec 18, 2025
Favourite albums of 2025 - Part Three
Dec 18, 2025

Welcome to the third and final part of Song Bar favourite albums of 2025. There is also Part One, and Part Two. There is no countdown nor describing these necessarily as “best” albums of the year, but they are chosen by their quality, originality and reader popularity

Dec 18, 2025

new songs …

Featured
Nathan Fake.jpeg
Jan 28, 2026
Song of the Day: Nathan Fake - Slow Yamaha
Jan 28, 2026

Song of the Day: Hypnotic electronica with woozy layers of smooth resonance and a lattice of shifting analogue patterns by the British artist from Norfolk, taken from his forthcoming album, Evaporator, out on InFiné Music

Jan 28, 2026
Charlotte Day Wilson - Lean.jpeg
Jan 27, 2026
Song of the Day: Charlotte Day Wilson - Lean (featuring Saya Gray)
Jan 27, 2026

Song of the Day: Stylish, striking, sensual experimental electro-pop and R&B in this fabulous collaboration between the two Canadian singer/ multi-instrumentalist from Toronto, out on Stone Woman Music/ XL Recordings

Jan 27, 2026
Lime Garden - 23.jpeg
Jan 26, 2026
Song of the Day: Lime Garden - 23
Jan 26, 2026

Song of the Day: Wonderfully catchy, witty, quirky indie pop about age and adjustment by the Brighton-formed quartet fronted by Chloe Howard, heralding their upcoming album Maybe Not Tonight, out on So Young Records on 10 April

Jan 26, 2026
Madra Salach - It's A Hell Of An Age - EP.jpeg
Jan 25, 2026
Song of the Day: Madra Salach - The Man Who Seeks Pleasure
Jan 25, 2026

Song of the Day: A powerful, slow-simmering and gradually intensifying, drone-based original folk number about the the flipsides of love and hedonism by the young Irish traditional and alternative folk band, with comparisons to Lankum, from the recently released EP It's a Hell of an Age, out on Canvas Music

Jan 25, 2026
Adult DVD band.jpeg
Jan 24, 2026
Song of the Day: Adult DVD - Real Tree Lee
Jan 24, 2026

Song of the Day: Catchy, witty, energised acid-dance-punk with echoes of Underworld and Snapped Ankles by the dynamic, innovative band from Leeds in a new number about a dodgy character of toxic masculinity and online ignorance, and their first release on signing to Fat Possum

Jan 24, 2026
Arctic Monkeys - Opening Night - War Child - HELP 2.jpeg
Jan 23, 2026
Song of the Day: Arctic Monkeys - Opening Night (for War Child HELP 2 charity album)
Jan 23, 2026

Song of the Day: A simmering, potent, contemplative new track by acclaimed Sheffield band, their first song since 2022’s album The Car, with proceeds benefiting the charity War Child, heralding the upcoming HELP (2) compilation out on 6 March with various contributors

Jan 23, 2026
White Denim - Lock and Key.jpg
Jan 22, 2026
Song of the Day: White Denim - (God Created) Lock and Key
Jan 22, 2026

Song of the Day: The Austin, Texas-formed LA-based rockers return with an infectiously catchy groove fusing rock, funk, dub, soul, and down-dirty blues with some playful self-mythologising and darker themes, heralding 13th album, 13, out on 24 April via Bella Union

Jan 22, 2026
Holy Fuck band.jpeg
Jan 21, 2026
Song of the Day: Holy Fuck - Evie
Jan 21, 2026

Song of the Day: The Canadian experimental indie rock and electronica quartet from Toronto return with a pulsating new track of thrumming bass and shimmering keyboards, heralding their forthcoming new album Event Beat, out on 27 March via Satellite Services

Jan 21, 2026
KAVARI.jpeg
Jan 20, 2026
Song of the Day: KAVARI - IRON VEINS
Jan 20, 2026

Song of the Day: Exciting, cutting-edge electronica and hardcore dance music by innovative the Birkenhead-born, Glasgow-based artist Cameron Winters (she), with a stylish, striking video, heralding the forthcoming EP, PLAGUE MUSIC, out digitally and on 12-inch vinyl on 6 February via XL Recordings

Jan 20, 2026
Asap Rocky - Punk Rocky.png
Jan 19, 2026
Song of the Day: A$AP Rocky - Punk Rocky
Jan 19, 2026

Song of the Day: The standout catchy hip-pop/soul/pop track from the New York rapper aka Rakim Athelston Mayers’ (also the husband of Rihanna) recently released album, Don’t Be Dumb, featuring also the voice of Cristoforo Donadi, and out on A$AP Rocky Recordings

Jan 19, 2026
Buck Meek - The Mirror.jpeg
Jan 18, 2026
Song of the Day: Buck Meek - Gasoline
Jan 18, 2026

Song of the Day: The Texas-born Big Thief guitarist returns with an beautifully stirring, evocative, poetic love-enthralled indie-folk single of free association made-up words and quantum leap feelings, rolling drums and strums, heralding his upcoming fourth solo album, The Mirror, out on 27 February via 4AD

Jan 18, 2026
Alexis Taylor - Paris In The Spring.jpeg
Jan 17, 2026
Song of the Day: Alexis Taylor - Out Of Phase (featuring Lola Kirke)
Jan 17, 2026

Song of the Day: A crisp, catchy fusion of synth-pop, cosmic country and some NYC-garage odyssey with references to two films by David Lynch from the Hot Chip frontman, heralding his upcoming sixth solo album, Paris In The Spring, out on 13 March via Night Time Stories

Jan 17, 2026

Word of the week

Featured
Zumbador dorado - mango bumblebee Puerto Rico.jpeg
Jan 22, 2026
Word of the week: zumbador
Jan 22, 2026

Word of the week: A wonderfully evocative noun from the Spanish for word buzz, and meaning both a South American hummingbird, a door buzzer, and symbolic of resurrection of the soul in ancient Mexican culture, while also serving as the logo for a tequila brand

Jan 22, 2026
Hamlet ad - Gregor Fisher.jpg
Jan 8, 2026
Word of the week: aspectabund
Jan 8, 2026

Word of the week: This rare adjective describes a highly expressive face or countenance, where emotions and reactions are readily shown through the eyes or mouth

Jan 8, 2026
Kaufmann Trumpeter 1950.jpeg
Dec 24, 2025
Word of the week: bellonion (or belloneon)
Dec 24, 2025

Word of the week: It sounds like a bulbous, multi-layered peeling vegetable, but this obscure mechanical musical instrument invented in 1812 in Dresden consisted of 24 trumpets and two kettle drums and, designed to mimic the sound of a marching band, might also make your eyes water

Dec 24, 2025
Hangover.jpeg
Dec 4, 2025
Word of the week: crapulence
Dec 4, 2025

Word of the week: A term that may apply regularly during Xmas party season, from the from the Latin crapula, in turn from the Greek kraipálē meaning "drunkenness" or "headache" pertains to sickness symptoms caused by excess in eating or drinking, or general intemperance and overindulgence

Dec 4, 2025
Running shoes and barefoot.jpeg
Nov 20, 2025
Word of the week: discalceate
Nov 20, 2025

Word of the week: A rarely used, but often practised verb, especially when arriving home, it means to take off your shoes, but is also a slightly more common adjective meaning barefoot or unshod, particularly for certain religious orders that wear sandals instead of shoes. But in what context does this come up in song?

Nov 20, 2025

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