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Playlists: songs about fingers and thumbs

May 14, 2025 Peter Kimpton

Everything Everywhere All At Once … but in which direction do this week’s song choices point?

With a digital delivery stretching many fascinating directions and contexts, this week’s guest playlister ajostu finds his touch with all sorts of musical and lyrical fingersmithing and thumb skills, inspired by last week’s topic

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In African, avant-garde, blues, calypso, classical, comedy, country, dance, disco, drone, dub, easy listening, electronica, exotica, experimental, folk, funk, hip hop, indie, instrumentals, jazz, gospel, krautrock, lounge, music, musical hall, musicals, playlists, pop, postpunk, prog, psychedelia, punk, reggae, RnB, rock, rocksteady, showtime, ska, songs, soul, soundtracks, traditional Tags songs, playlists, fingers, thumbs, hands, The Creatures, Silver Apples, Jackie Leven, Editors, Black Francis, Ruby, Phyllis DIllon, Danny Kaye, Abba, Thomas Lang, Cult With No Name, Cocteau Twins, Crowded House, Lucy Dacus, Pearl Jam, Dorothy Ashby, Hiatus Kaiyote, The Eleventh House, Larry Coryell, The Choice Four, Donna Summer, Airto, Frank Zappa, John Lee Hooker, Wes Montgomery, Clarion Fracture Zone, Maurice Ravel, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Jean Martinon, Claude Debussy, Elephant Gym, Radwimps, ajostu
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Playlists: songs with tautonyms and other repeat-word phrases

May 1, 2024 Peter Kimpton

Record bags: That Damned’s 7-inch sleeve from 1977

Echoing syllables and words across history, the animal kingdom, cultures and genres, this poetic linguistic effect brought a bountiful and vibrant supply of nominations. Guest playlister Maki picks a poetic selection to capture their glory

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In African, avant-garde, blues, calypso, classical, comedy, country, dance, disco, drone, dub, electronica, folk, experimental, funk, indie, jazz, krautrock, music, playlists, pop, postpunk, prog, psychedelia, punk, reggae, rock, rocksteady, showtime, ska, songs, soul, soundtracks, traditional Tags language, playlists, tautonyms, The Archies, Abba, Gillian Hills, The Milkees, Ronnie Cook & The Gaylads, Dub Syndicate, Burning Spear, A Taste of Honey, Talk Talk, Teenage Fanclub, The Damned, Los Bárbaros, Rihanna, Django Reinhardt, Erik Truffaz, Philou Louzolo, Coole Joe, Elivira, Tinariwen, Touki, Soraya, Erykah Badu, Scooter, The Grateful Dead, A Certain Ratio, The Jamaicans, Miriam Makeba, The Delfonics, Fox, Goldfrapp, Otis Redding, Jacques Brel, Joe Strummer & The Mescaleros, Joe Strummer, King Crimson, Iggy Pop, John Lee Hooker, Rockin' Sydney, Middle of The Road, The Mamas and Papas, Dicky Doo and The Don'ts, Baby Ford, Cab Calloway, Fela Kuti, The Undertones, The Stranglers, Fruko y Sus Tesos, Bebe, Maki, Celia & The Mutations
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Brief notes: songs inventively using acronyms

October 5, 2023 Peter Kimpton

Cat scan?

They’re a very common part of our language, but in lyrics or titles where are they consciously and creatively used? With meaning instantly recognisable or more cryptically unpacked, their sound might perhaps be used musically or to help create memorable lines or rhymes

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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, acronyms, language, Dr Seuss, Milton Friedman, media, military, technology, Ancient Rome, religion, second world war, Film, Robin Williams, radio, lonely hearts ads, internet, Abba, XTC, Sparks, Franz Ferdinand, REM
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How childish! It's songs about immaturity

May 25, 2023 Peter Kimpton

Look back in Angus …

Knob gags and pranks to child savants, this week it’s about not growing up, the pros and cons that entails, from annoying, destructive self-centredness to touching naivety, lack of experience but also hunger to discover, playful creativity. Plenty of examples to inspire, but how is this expressed in song?

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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 songs, playlists, immaturity, adolescence, children, growing up, Jeff Buckley, Dave Barry, Ogden Nash, TS Eliot, Woody Allen, Jhonen Vasquez, John Kenneth Galbraith, Tom Standage, Immanuel Kant, Isaiah Berlin, Arnold J. Toynbee, Jean Piaget, Wilhelm Stekel, Erich Fromm, Georg Büchner, Germaine Greer, Tom Robbins, Vladimir Nabokov, Lise Sarfati, Anthony Burgess, Henry Purcell, Suzi Quatro, Gary Numan, Abba, Bjorn Ulvaus, Daryl Hall, The Spice Girls, Geri Halliwell, Ezra Furman, Jack White, Meg White, The White Stripes, Jack Wild, Film, musicals, The Simpsons, Mickey Rourke, Katharine Hepburn, Gene Wilder, Norman Wisdom, Spongebob Squarepants, South Park, Matt Stone, Monty Python
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Playlists: songs with notable outros and codas

April 4, 2023 Peter Kimpton

Seamlessly beautiful ending: boygenius aka Julien Baker, Lucy Dacus and Phoebe Bridgers

From the seamlessly beautiful to the outrageously expansive, the gently whispered to the incendiary solo freakout, where do you start with great outros? From the beginning to the end (of the end), AmyLee picks a blistering selection from last week’s topic nominations

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In avant-garde, blues, country, experimental, electronica, folk, funk, hip hop, indie, jazz, music, playlists, pop, postpunk, prog, psychedelia, punk, rock, soul, songs Tags songs, playlists, codas, outros, Emerson Lake & Palmer, The Rolling Stones, Jacksoul, The Beatles, boygenius, Phoebe Bridgers, Julien Baker, Lucy Dacus, Olivia Chaney, Lana Del Rey, Richard Hawley, New Order, Velvet Underground, The Beach Boys, Ride, Yes, The Stranglers, Jimi Hendrix, Billy Hallquist, The Move, Strawberry Children, Abba, Cowboy Junkies, Roxy Music, Television (band), Microdisney, Garolou, Echo and the Bunnymen, Fad Gadget, The Guess Who, The Decemberists, Jackie Leven, King Creosote, Oasis, David Bowie, The Race Marbles, Stevie Wonder, Ice-T, System Of A Down, GBH, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Lynyrd Skynyrd, The Smiths, The Bevis Frond, AmyLee
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Spinal tap? Get back: songs about the vertebral column and neck

September 8, 2022 Peter Kimpton

Man Ray’s Le Violon d'Ingres (1924)

Human or animal, literal or metaphorical, spines slender, broad, sexy, defined, fat, muscular, hairy, strong, weak, in pain, broken, bent, tough, rough, rippling or tingling, in any context, it’s time to put our backs into this song subject

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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, metal, musical hall, musicals, music, playlists, pop, postpunk, prog, psychedelia, punk, reggae, rock, rocksteady, showtime, ska, songs, soul, soundtracks, traditional Tags songs, playlists, backs, spines, vertebrae, necks, biology, Man Ray, Socrates, Paramahansa Yogananda, Joseph Pilates, Agnetha Fältskog, Abba, Reba McEntire, St Vincent, Johnny Mercer, Eminem, evolution, apes, mammals, animals, slavery, American Civil War, Hippocrates, Denise Austin, Don Davis, Bernard Sumner, Peter Gabriel, Leonard Cohen, Conor Oberst, Don Henley, The Eagles, Kurt Cobain, Elizabeth Taylor, John Mellencamp, Flannery O'Connor, Angela Bassett
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Playlists: songs about life in the 19th century

August 10, 2022 Peter Kimpton

Let’s dance through some 19th century history ….

It brought enduring global change, from the Industrial Revolution to the American Civil War and abolition of slavery. Inspired by last week’s song nominations, guest Shiv SideCar captures the century in a series of historic playlists

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In African, avant-garde, blues, calypso, comedy, country, dance, dub, experimental, folk, electronica, indie, jazz, music, musical hall, playlists, pop, postpunk, psychedelia, prog, punk, rock, rocksteady, showtime, ska, songs, soul, soundtracks, traditional Tags songs, playlists, United States of America, American Civil War, slavery, Babe Ruth, London, Merthyr Rising, emigration, Ireland, Germany, France, Paul Cezanne, Battle of Waterloo, The Beach Boys, Bob Dylan, Burning Spear, Woody Guthrie, RIchie Havens, Clutch, Sound Experience, Elton John, Rosanne Cash, Etta James, Billy Joel, XTC, The Fall, Chumbawamba, Megson, The Men They Couldn't Hang, The Pogues, David Bridie, Amon Düül II, Jonathan Richman, The Modern Lovers, Neil Innes, Brigitte Fontaine, Abba, Ed Harcourt, The Charlatans (US), Warren Zevon, The Unthanks, Public Image Limited, Titus Andronicus, Dead Moon, Culture, Lake Ruth, Jad & David Fair, Thee Headcoatees, Buffy Sainte-Marie, The Long Ryders, Blyth Power, Al Stewart, Madness, Paul Roland, Meic Stevens, The Would-Be-Goods, The Teardrop Explodes, New Model Army, ShivSidecar, Sidecar Shiv
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Playlists: songs about gratitude

January 5, 2022 Peter Kimpton

Earth, Wind, Fire and a whole lot more to be thankful for …

A truly upbeat and positive way to start off 2022, a deliciously mix of disco, funk and pop, folk and more from Detroit to Scotland, Chile to Africa and beyond, picked by guest DJ PopOff! from last week’s many song suggestions

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In African, avant-garde, blues, dance, country, disco, dub, electronica, experimental, folk, funk, gospel, hip hop, indie, jazz, instrumentals, music, playlists, pop, postpunk, prog, reggae, rock, ska, showtime, songs, soul, traditional Tags songs, playlists, gratitude, Andrew Gold, Abba, Melbourne Ska Orchestra, The Whitlams, Horace Silver, William DeVaughn, Earth Wind & Fire, Violetta Parra, Peter Hammill, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Mischief Brew, Alanis Morissette, Kate Rusby, The Proclaimers, Stromae, Bjork, Adeva, Fatoumata Diawara, King Sunny Ade, Tania Maria, Salt-N-Pepa, En Vogue, Natalie Cole, Billy Paul, The Grateful Dead, Neil Michael Hagerty, TItan Go Kings, Beastie Boys, The Beastie Boys, Teenage Fanclub, XTC, YUI, Sinead O'Connor, Bat For Lashes, Christina Aguilera, Grigory Leps, Timor Rodriguez, Dido, Markus Reuter, The Hooters, PopOff!
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Playlists: songs about nuts and edible seeds

November 30, 2021 Peter Kimpton

Put your hands together for these tasty playlist treats ….

Coconuts to nutmeg and kandy corn, peanuts to pistachio to pecans, the seed store has been filled up to the brim with tasty musical treats from last week’s topic, picked and served up in a delicious set of lists by clever top nut Tatanka Yotanka

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In African, avant-garde, blues, calypso, comedy, country, dance, disco, dub, electronica, experimental, folk, funk, hip hop, indie, instrumentals, jazz, music, musicals, musical hall, playlists, pop, postpunk, prog, punk, reggae, rock, rocksteady, showtime, ska, songs, soul, soundtracks, traditional Tags playlists, nuts, seeds, fruit, food, songs, Macka B, Thelonius Monk, Macy Gray, The Soft Boys, Devandra Banhart, Charles Trenet, Ivor Cutler, Mischief Brew, Trilok Gurtu, Captain Beefheart, Heino, Warmduscher, Golden Smog, Juliette Greco, Cai Bin Lang, The Melodians, Pee Wee Ellis, The Turtles, Sunny Sharrock, Time Hart, Maddy Prior, The Ink Spots, Spearhead, Michael Franti, Mother Goose, Louis Jordan, Johnny Cash, Tennessee Ernie Ford, Chaotic Dischord, Splodge, The Lovely Eggs, The Young 'Uns, Billy Cotton and His Band, Damien Rice, The Sweet, Jimmy Buffett, Abba, Kid Creole and the Coconuts, Tony Allen, Hugh Masekela, The Tragically Hip, Ty Segall, Manu Dibango, Augustus Pablo, Johnny Gentle, Laurel Aitken, Pigbag, George Brassens, TatankaYotanka
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Playlists: songs about being single

September 1, 2021 Peter Kimpton
Sparks: the Mael brothers are simply married to their music

Sparks: the Mael brothers are simply married to their music

It’s time to see what resulted at last week’s Song Bar Singles Night. Sad, lonely to deliriously happy and free, the resultant songs go in many directions, all married together in poignant, perceptive and playful lists by guest picker pejepeine

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In avant-garde, country, dance, disco, electronica, experimental, folk, funk, hip hop, indie, jazz, music, musical hall, playlists, pop, postpunk, prog, punk, rock, ska, songs, soul, traditional, soundtracks Tags songs, playlists, being single, relationships, Fousheé, Lush, The Brooklyn Bridge, Nina Simone, Jake Thackray, Melissa Manchester, Mary Gauthier, Sparks, Ariana Grande, Jill Scott, Combo Los Galleros, Lucy González, Lunay, Daddy Yankee, Bad Bunny, The Radiators, Moondog, Bessie Smith, Abba, Beabadoobee, Sunfire, Helen Merrill, Slapp Happy, Original Carter Family, Ry Cooder, Days N' Daze, Billy Idol, Pet Shop Boys, Cameo, Wham!, Chic, Karin Krog, pejepeine
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Playlists: songs about wings

August 3, 2021 Peter Kimpton
Crane at sunset

Crane at sunset

Music on the magic of flight to the feathery movement of mythology and morality tales, beautiful murmurations to deadly war munitions, guest playlister Marco den Ouden marvellously spreads his wings from a vast array of song nominations

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In African, avant-garde, blues, calypso, classical, country, dance, disco, dub, electronica, experimental, folk, funk, gospel, hip hop, indie, instrumentals, jazz, music, musical hall, musicals, playlists, pop, postpunk, prog, punk, reggae, rock, rocksteady, showtime, ska, songs, soul, soundtracks, traditional Tags songs, playlists, Katrin Finch, Sekou Keita, Ziggy Marley, Elizabeth Mitchell, Hans Theesink, The Decemberists, Alan Parsons, Elton John, The D-Day Darlings, Cheap Trick, Joni Mitchell, Edgar Broughton Band, Morphine, Jimmy Buffett, Little Mix, Reverand Utah Smith, Everly Brothers, The Beatles, Barclay James Harvest, The Bells, Abba, Mr. Mister, Marlene Dietrich, Willie Nelson, Matt Anderson, Leon Russell, Malú, Julien Clerc, Peter Hammill, Anne Murray, BYU Women's Chorus, Eric Wiseacre, Nina Simone, Billie Eilish, Van Dyke Parks, Billie Jo Spears, Loretta Lynn, Anastacia, Tom Russell, Ruby and the Romantics, Patti Austin, Little Simz, Paul Robeson, Richard Thompson, Kiri Te Kanawa, Johnny Wiggs, Nils Frahm, Jean Luc Ponty, Mesa Music Consort, Johnny Hodges, Wild Bill Davis, Kitaro, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Socrates, Plato, Mohammed Ali, Salvador Dali, Marco den Ouden, Muhammad Ali
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Public exposure: songs about museums, galleries and exhibitions

July 8, 2021 Peter Kimpton
Some of the Horniman Museum’s many musical instruments

Some of the Horniman Museum’s many musical instruments

It’s time to show off your best and most collectible nominations about venues of art and artefacts, whether that is the building, the people, or the interacting with the items within, from grand palaces to tiny garages

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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, metal, music, musical hall, musicals, playlists, pop, prog, punk, rock, reggae, rocksteady, showtime, ska, songs, soul, soundtracks, traditional Tags songs, playlists, museums, art, exhibitions, art galleries, Horniman Museum, Orhan Pamuk, Andy Warhol, Pablo Picasso, Hans-Ulrich Obrist, Bjorn Ulvaus, Abba, Jerry Salz, Thelma Golden, Edmond de Concourt, Michael Dirda, Museum of Broken Relationships, Museum of Youth Culture, Victoria and Albert Museum, Serpentine Gallery, Tilda Swinton, David Bowie, William Boyd, Natural History Museum, Tate Modern, architecture, Thomas Heatherwick, Museum of Modern Art, Viktor Wynd Museum, The British Museum, Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, Derwent Pencil Museum, Lawnmower Museum, Ramones Museum Berlin, Soane Museum, Phallological Museum Iceland, Iceland, MUSA Cancun Underwater Museum, Museum of Bad Art (MOBA), Guggenheim Museum, Frank Gehry, New Zealand
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Out of their time: original songs with a striking retro style

May 13, 2021 Peter Kimpton
Get on the retro (dance) floor …

Get on the retro (dance) floor …

This week we look back to look forward with artists who wrote new songs with a style from the past, ignoring their zeitgeist and harking back to a former era or decade though musical stylings, choice of instruments, lyrics and more

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In African, country, comedy, calypso, dance, disco, dub, electronica, experimental, folk, hip hop, indie, instrumentals, jazz, metal, music, musicals, musical hall, playlists, pop, postpunk, punk, prog, reggae, rock, rocksteady, showtime, songs, ska, soul, soundtracks, traditional, funk Tags songs, playlists, retro, TS Eliot, Michel de Montaigne, Salvador Dali, Criss Jami, WH Auden, Quentin Tarantino, David Bowie, Bauhaus, fashion, Mary Quant, Paul McCartney, Elvis Presley, Little Richard, Muddy Waters, Phil Spector, Stray Cats, Brian Setzer, Gene Vincent, Eddie Cochran, Queen, Freddie Mercury, Wilson Mizner, Stephen Fry, William Burroughs, Chuck Palahniuk, Jean Cocteau, Jean-Luc Godard, Jim Jarmusch, Mick Jagger, Fritz Lang, Terry Gilliam, LoneLady, Pearl Charles, Silvertwin, Carly Simon, Abba, Cabaret Voltaire, Neneh Cherry, St Vincent, Steely Dan, His Master's Voice
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Affairs in order: songs about adultery and infidelity

March 18, 2021 Peter Kimpton
Don’t kid yourself. Secret necking …

Don’t kid yourself. Secret necking …

Cheatin’ hearts to stray cats, liars and game players, this week it’s all about the drama, dalliances, the deceit, the sexy secrecy and risk, the partial or unfolding perspectives, repression, sacrifice, romance or the full tragic, explosive reveal

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In classical, calypso, blues, avant-garde, African, comedy, country, dance, disco, dub, electronica, experimental, funk, folk, gospel, hip hop, indie, instrumentals, jazz, music, musicals, musical hall, playlists, pop, postpunk, prog, punk, reggae, rock, rocksteady, showtime, ska, songs, soul, soundtracks, traditional Tags songs, playlists, infidelity, adultery, cheating, Oscar Wilde, Robert Louis Stevenson, Homer, William Blake, William Shakespeare, Paul Newman, Amy Winehouse, TS Eliot, Millie Jackson, Irma Thomas, Hank Williams, Abba, Agnetha Fältskog, Samuel Johnson, Stephen Frears, Christopher Hampton, Glenn Close, John Malvovich, Mike Nichols, Film, Brokeback Mountain, Dangerous Liaisons, Leo Tolstoy, animals, biology, Albert Camus, Alice Thomas Ellis, Alain de Botton, Olivia Wilde, Julian Lennon, John Lennon, Alanis Morissette, Georges Bizet
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Playlists: songs featuring choirs

September 2, 2020 Peter Kimpton
Soweto Gospel Choir

Soweto Gospel Choir

If ever a music genre brought people together, this is it. Sublime selections in a heartfelt tribute by guest playlister magicman from mass nominations spanning South Africa to Russia, America to India, France, Wales and well beyond

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In African, classical, folk, gospel, indie, jazz, musicals, pop, showtime, songs, traditional, soul, rock, playlists, music, dance, disco Tags songs, playlists, choirs, Harry Nilsson, Pierluigi Palestrina, L. Subramaniam, Pavel Chesnokov, Michael Jackson, Caetano Veloso, Cerys Matthews, Fron Male Voice Choir, Gabriel Fauré, Soweto Gospel Choir, Aretha Franklin, The Southern California Community Choir, Reverend James Cleveland, Sweet Honey In the Rock, Bulgarian State Radio & TV Female Vocal Choir, Oysterband, Melanie, The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Ray Davies, Crouch End Festival Chorus, Samuel Barber, Chanteurs a la Croix de Cuivre, Zimna Wojna, The Carpenters, Rachmaninov, Scala & Kolacny Brothers, John Taverner, Andi Thakambau, Nicolas Jaar, The Jumping Jacques, Ray Stevens, Sam Smith, Kanye West, Abba, Rod Stewart, The Beatles, Swingle Singers, Vivaldi, Kuban Cossack Choir, magicman
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Playlists: songs and music in three-four time signatures

June 17, 2020 Peter Kimpton
Spanning the ages in 3/4: OMD’s Maid of Orleans

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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In African, avant-garde, blues, classical, calypso, comedy, country, dance, disco, electronica, experimental, folk, funk, gospel, hip hop, indie, instrumentals, jazz, metal, music, musicals, playlists, musical hall, pop, postpunk, prog, punk, reggae, rock, showtime, ska, songs, soul, traditional Tags songs, playlists, waltzes, time signatures, Beethoven, Lee Ashley, Patsy Cline, Bob Dylan, Amadou & Mariam, Estrella Morente, Mall Muzak Orchestra, Max Roach, Funkadelic, Queen, OMD, Juana Molina, Aretha Franklin, Eric Bogle, Maddy Prior and the Girls, Screamin' Jay Hawkins, Françoise Hardy, Grethe & Jørgen Ingman, Jackie Deshannon, Tom Jones, The Rascals, Etta James, Joe Cocker, Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes, The Eagles, Billy Joel, Waylon & Willie, Paul McCartney, Wings, Cocteau Twins, George Michael, Metallica, Seal, Deanna Carter, Goo Goo Dolls, D'Angelo, Alicia Keys, Norah Jones, Audrey Hepburn, Dale Watson, Abba, The Prodigals, DJ Bear
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Playlists: songs applied to Covid-19 lockdown

May 27, 2020 Peter Kimpton
The look of 2020

The look of 2020

Writing from a viral hotbed of Covid-19 lockdown - New York - guest playlister magicman recounts isolation, social chaos, cohesion, anger and laughter with his infectious collection of superb songs nominated by a global Song Bar audience

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Tags songs, playlists, coronavirus, Covid-19, flu pandemic, history, New York, Taiwan, Brazil, Andrew Cuomo, Donald Trump, Sparks, Charley Patton, Bertha Lee, Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy, Master KG, Cosmos People, The Jarmels, Tame Impala, Reg Meuross, Courtney Barnett, Emanel Lasky, Tricot, Tool, Fat Larry's Band, Jon Hopkins, King Creosote, Randy Newman, Hunters & Collectors, Brothers Johnson, Talking Heads, The Unthanks, Abba, The Ethiopians, The Statler Brothers, Jeffrey Lewis, Kate Bush, Norman Cook / Fatboy Slim, Jackie Lee, Kraftwerk, Kate Tempest, Vicetone, Tony Igy, Swans, Soapkills, The Specials, Luke Vibert, Ele, Matt Lucas, Sinead Harnett, Al Green, The Temptations, Massive Attack, Tracey Thorn, Cardi B, iMarkkeyz, Todrick Hall, magicman
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Tell my wife I love her so: songs containing indirect messages

August 1, 2019 Peter Kimpton
Hound of love? Indirect delivery

Hound of love? Indirect delivery

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

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In avant-garde, blues, classical, comedy, country, dance, disco, dub, electronica, experimental, folk, funk, gospel, hip hop, indie, jazz, metal, music, musical hall, musicals, playlists, pop, postpunk, prog, punk, reggae, rock, showtime, songs, soul, soundtracks, traditional Tags songs, playlists, messages, letters, telephone, relationships, family, politics, Norman Whitfield, Barrett Strong, Marvin Gaye, David Bowie, animals, Kurt Cobain, Hunter S. Thompson, Vincent Van Gogh, Virginia Woolf, Wendy O. Williams, Robin Williams, Mick Jagger, Paul McCartney, John Lennon, paul simon, Art Garfunkel, Ray Davies, The Kinks, Abba, Fleetwood Mac, Edmond Rostand, Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Paul Verhoeven, Philip K Dick, George Bernard Shaw, Mark Lanegan
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Meet me in the middle? Songs about compromise

June 13, 2019 Peter Kimpton
John, Yoko and Paul. Compromise is a divisive but potent issue …

John, Yoko and Paul. Compromise is a divisive but potent issue …

It’s all about the C-word in song, but does it strengthen or weaken us? Does it hold society together or kill artistic integrity? You can’t always get what you want, but can you give a little, take it a little? Can we work it out, or just do it my way?

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In avant-garde, blues, classical, comedy, country, dance, disco, dub, electronica, experimental, folk, gospel, hip hop, indie, jazz, metal, music, musicals, playlists, pop, postpunk, prog, punk, reggae, rock, rocksteady, songs, soul, soundtracks Tags songs, playlists, compromise, politics, US politics, Brexit, Donald Trump, climate change, climate change denial, music, Film, books, football, sport, George Herbert, Henrik Ibsen, Edmund Burke, Janis Joplin, Bay City Rollers, Marc Bolan, punk, new romantics, goths, heavy metal, rockers, mods, Alain Prost, Scott Walker, PJ Harvey, Captain Beefheart, Tom Waits, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Carole King, Gerry Goffin, Robert Plant, Jimmy Page, Led Zeppelin, The Beatles, Abba, Jerry Leiber, Mike Stoller, Burt Bacharach, Hal David, Nile Rodgers, Bernard Edwards, Norman Whitfield, Barrett Strong, Holland-Dozier-Holland, Talib Kweli, T Bone Burnett, David Bowie, Brian Eno, Bat For Lashes, Peter Hook, New Order, Viv Albertine, Matt Dillon, Louis MacNiece, Irvine Welsh, Mike Leigh, Andrei Tarkovsky, Barack Obama, Mahatma Gandhi, Alan Greenspan, George Clooney, Angela Merkel
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Playlists: electronic music and songs up to 1983

June 6, 2018 Peter Kimpton
Machines unmasked: Hideki Matsutake from the Yellow Magic Orchestra

Machines unmasked: Hideki Matsutake from the Yellow Magic Orchestra

Hums, beats, squelches and clicks, banks of sound and theremins, Delia Derbyshire to Bowie, Eno to the Yellow Magic Orchestra, this week’s guest magicman turns it all on with two brilliant playlists from a host of superb nominations

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In electronica, instrumentals, music, playlists, pop, songs, soundtracks Tags Songs, music, electronics, electronic music, electronica, Clara Rockmore, Camille Saint-Saëns, Rose Royce, Tonto's Expanding Horizon, Harmonia, Emerson, Keith Emerson, Emerson Lake & Palmer, Raymond Scott, Yellow Magic Orchestra, Abba, Todd Rundgren, Curved Air, Conrad Schnitzler, Brian Eno, David Bowie, Delia Derbyshire, Vangelis, Suzanne Ciani, Afrika Bambaataa, Al Massrieen, Annette Peacock, Ashra, Tangerine Dream, Pierre Boulez, This Heat, The Tornados, Louis & Bebe Barron, Lenny White, Beaver & Krause, Kraftwerk, Jean-Jaques Perrey, Nirvana (UK), Hans-Joachim Roedelius, Lipps Inc., Laurie Anderson, magicman
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DRINK OF THE WEEK

Napue dark gin

SNACK OF THE WEEK

crudités platter

New Albums …

Featured
Spíra by Ólöf Arnalds.jpeg
Dec 5, 2025
Ólöf Arnalds: Spíra
Dec 5, 2025

New album: A gorgeous, delicate, ethereal first release in a decade by the Icelandic singer-songwriter, acoustic instruments and her gentle, high, pure voice, all in her native language, caressing this listening experience like pure waters of some slowly trickling glacial stream

Dec 5, 2025
Melody's Echo Chamber - Unclouded.jpeg
Dec 5, 2025
Melody's Echo Chamber: Unclouded
Dec 5, 2025

New album: A fourth album, here full of delicious uplifting, dreamily chic, psychedelic soul pop by the French musician Melody Prochet, with bright, upbeat, optimistic numbers and a title lifted from a quote by the acclaimed Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki, about achieving equilibrium

Dec 5, 2025
Devotion & The Black Divine by anaiis.jpeg
Dec 2, 2025
anaiis: Devotion & The Black Divine
Dec 2, 2025

New album: Following a summer Song of the Day - Deus Deus, a review of the autumn release and third LP by the London-based French-Senegalese singer-songwriter of resonantly beautiful, dynamic, sensual soul, gospel, R&B and experimental and chamber pop, with themes of new motherhood, uncertainty, religion, self-love and acceptance

Dec 2, 2025
De La Soul - Cabin In The Sky.jpeg
Nov 26, 2025
De La Soul: Cabin In The Sky
Nov 26, 2025

New album: The hip-hop veterans return with their first without, yet including the voice of, and a tribute to, founding member Trugoy the Dove, AKA Dave Jolicoeur who passed away in 2023, alongside many hip-hop luminary guests, with trademark playful skits, and all themed around the afterlife

Nov 26, 2025
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Nov 26, 2025
The Mountain Goats: Through This Fire Across From Peter Balkan
Nov 26, 2025

New album: An evocative musical journey of a concept album by the indie-folk band from Claremont, California, fronted by singer-songwriter John Darnielle, based on a dream of his in 2023 about a voyage to a fictional island by the titular captain, charting adventure, wonder and tragedy

Nov 26, 2025
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Nov 26, 2025
Allie X: Happiness Is Going To Get You
Nov 26, 2025

New album: A hugely entertaining, witty, droll, inventive, chamber and synth-pop fourth LP with a goth twist by the charismatic and theatrical Canadian artist Alexandra Hughes, who brings paradox and dark themes through sounds that include string quartet, harpsichord, classical and pure pop piano with killer lyrics

Nov 26, 2025
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Nov 25, 2025
Tortoise: Touch
Nov 25, 2025

New album: A welcome return with a cinematic and mesmeric groove-filled first studio LP in nine years, and the eighth over all by the eclectic Chicago post-rock/jazz/krautrock multi-instrumentalists Dan Bitney, John Herndon, Douglas McCombs, John McEntire and Jeff Parker

Nov 25, 2025
What of Our Nature by Haley Heynderickx, Max García Conover.jpeg
Nov 24, 2025
Haley Heynderickx and Max García Conover: What of Our Nature
Nov 24, 2025

New album: Beautiful, precise, poignant and poetic new folk numbers inspired by the life and music style of Woody Guthrie as the Portland, Oregon and New Yorker, now Portland, Maine-based singer-songwriters bring a delicious duet album, alternating and sharing songs covering a variety of forever topical social issues

Nov 24, 2025
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Nov 24, 2025
Oneohtrix Point Never: Tranquilizer
Nov 24, 2025

New album: Ambient, otherworldly, cinematic, mesmeric, and at times very odd, the Brooklyn-based electronic artist and producer Daniel Lopatin returns with a new nostalgia-based concept – constructing tracks from lost-then-refound Y2K CDs of 1990s and early 2000s royalty-free sample electronic sounds

Nov 24, 2025
Iona Zajac - Bang.jpeg
Nov 24, 2025
Iona Zajac: Bang
Nov 24, 2025

New album: A powerful, stirring, passionate and mature debut LP by the 29-year-old Glasgow-based Scottish singer with Polish and Ukrainian heritage who has toured as the new Pogues singer, and whose alternative folk songs capture raw emotions and the experience of modern womanhood, with echoes of PJ Harvey, Patti Smith, Aldous Harding and Lankum

Nov 24, 2025
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Nov 19, 2025
Austra: Chin Up Buttercup
Nov 19, 2025

New album: This fifth studio LP as Austra by the Canadian classically trained vocalist and composer Katie Stelmanis brings beautiful electronica-pop and dance music, and has a bittersweet ironic title – a caustically witty reference to societal pressure to keep smiling despite a devastating breakup

Nov 19, 2025
Mavis Staples - Sad and Beautiful World.jpeg
Nov 18, 2025
Mavis Staples: Sad and Beautiful World
Nov 18, 2025

New album: A timelessly classy release by the veteran soul, blues and gospel singer and social activist from the Staples Singers, in a release of wonderfully moving and poignant cover versions, beautifully interpreting works by artists including Tom Waits, Curtis Mayfield, Leonard Cohen, and Gillian Welch

Nov 18, 2025
Stella Donnelly - Love and Fortune 2.jpeg
Nov 18, 2025
Stella Donnelly: Love and Fortune
Nov 18, 2025

New album: Finely crafted, stripped back musical simplicity combined with complex melancholic emotions mark out this beautiful, poetic, and deeply personal third folk-pop LP by the Australian singer-songwriter reflecting on the past and present

Nov 18, 2025
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Nov 17, 2025
Picture Parlour: The Parlour
Nov 17, 2025

New album: Following last year’s EP Face in the Picture, a fabulously stylish, smart, swaggering glam-rock-pop debut LP by the Manchester-formed, London-based band fronted by the impressively raspy, gritty, vibratro delivery of Liverpudlian vocalist and guitarist Katherine Parlour and distinctive riffs from North Yorkshire-born guitar Ella Risi

Nov 17, 2025

new songs …

Featured
Flea - A Plea.jpeg
Dec 5, 2025
Song of the Day: Flea - A Plea
Dec 5, 2025

Song of the Day: A striking, powerful new single by the Red Hot Chilli Peppers bassist (aka Michael Balzary), who brings a fusion of jazz and spoken word with a fabulous band on an impassioned number about the state of the US in a culture of hatred, social and political tensions, out now on Nonesuch Records

Dec 5, 2025
The Lemon Twigs - I've Got A Broken Heart.jpeg
Dec 4, 2025
Song of the Day: The Lemon Twigs - I've Got A Broken Heart
Dec 4, 2025

Song of the Day: Despite the title, this new double-A single (with Friday I’m Gonna Love You) has a wonderfully uplifting guitar-jangling beauty, with echoes of The Byrds and Stone Roses, but is of course the brilliant 60s and 70s retro sound of the Long Island brothers Brian and Michael D'Addario, out on Captured Tracks

Dec 4, 2025
Alewya - Night Drive.jpeg
Dec 3, 2025
Song of the Day: Alewya - Night Drive (featuring Dagmawit Ameha)
Dec 3, 2025

Song of the Day: A sensual, stylish, dreamy electro-pop single by the striking British singer-songwriter, producer, multidisciplinary artist and model Alewya Demmisse, musically influenced by her rich Ethiopian-Egyptian heritage and early childhood upbringings in Saudi Arabia and Sudan

Dec 3, 2025
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Dec 2, 2025
Song of the Day: Radio Free Alice - Rule 31
Dec 2, 2025

Song of the Day: Stirring, passionate indie postpunk by the band based in Melbourne, Australia, with echoes of The Cure’s core sound, new wave, and 90s indie-rock influences, and out on Double Drummer

Dec 2, 2025
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Dec 1, 2025
Song of the Day: Sailor Honeymoon - Armchair
Dec 1, 2025

Song of the Day: Catchy, punchy, fuzz-guitar indie rock with a droll lyrical delivery and some echoes of Wet Leg come in this new single by the trio from Seoul, South Korea, out on Good Good Records

Dec 1, 2025
Ellie O'Neill.jpeg
Nov 30, 2025
Song of the Day: Ellie O'Neill - Bohemia
Nov 30, 2025

Song of the Day: A beautiful, poetic finger-picking debut folk single with a mystical, distantly stormy twist by the Dublin-based Irish singer-songwriter from County Meath, out now on St Itch Records

Nov 30, 2025
Danalogue.jpeg
Nov 29, 2025
Song of the Day: Danalogue - Sonic Hypnosis
Nov 29, 2025

Song of the Day: A full flavour of future-past with mesmeric, euphoric retro acid house and electronica in this new single by Daniel Leavers, producer and the founding member of The Comet Is Coming and Soccer96, out now on Castles In Space

Nov 29, 2025
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Nov 28, 2025
Song of the Day: Cardinals - Barbed Wire
Nov 28, 2025

Song of the Day: Another striking, passionate, punchy, catchy single by the Irish postpunk/indie-folk-rock band from Cork, heralding their upcoming debut album, Masquerade, out on 13 February via So Young Records

Nov 28, 2025
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Nov 27, 2025
Song of the Day: Frank Popp Ensemble (with Paul Weller) - Right Before My Eyes
Nov 27, 2025

Song of the Day: A strong, soaring, emotive, soulful release by the German artist co-written by British singer and former Jam frontman who here sings and plays guitar, the lyrics about witnessing the increasing injustices and demise of the world, out on Unique Records / Schubert Music Europe

Nov 27, 2025
Tessa Rose Jackson - Fear Bangs The Drum 2.jpeg
Nov 26, 2025
Song of the Day: Tessa Rose Jackson - Fear Bangs The Drum
Nov 26, 2025

Song of the Day: Using a musical metaphor, beautiful, crisply rhythmical, soaring piano and atmospheric indie-pop-folk about facing your fears by the Dutch/British singer-songwriter, heralding her forthcoming new album The Lighthouse, out on 23 January 2026 on Tiny Tiger Records

Nov 26, 2025
Melanie Baker - Sad Clown.jpeg
Nov 25, 2025
Song of the Day: Melanie Baker - Sad Clown
Nov 25, 2025

Song of the Day: Catchy, candid, cathartic indie-grunge-pop by the British singer-songwriter from Cumbria in a melancholy but oddly uplifting emotional work-through of depression, love and exhaustion, out now on TAMBOURHINOCEROS

Nov 25, 2025
Holly Humberstone - Die Happy.jpeg
Nov 24, 2025
Song of the Day: Holly Humberstone - Die Happy
Nov 24, 2025

Song of the Day: Luxuriant, breathy, femme-fatale dream pop with a dark, southern gothic, Lana del Rey-inspired, live-fast-die-young theme, and stylish video by the 25-year-old British singer-songwriter from Grantham, out on Polydor/Universal

Nov 24, 2025

Word of the week

Featured
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
autumn-red-leaves.jpeg
Nov 6, 2025
Word of the week: erythrophyll
Nov 6, 2025

Word of the week: A seasonally topical word relating to the the red pigment of tree leaves, fruits and flowers, that appears particularly when changing in autumn, as opposed to the green effect of chlorophyll, from the Greek erythros for red, and phyll for leaves. But what of songs about this?

Nov 6, 2025
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Oct 22, 2025
Word of the week: fennec
Oct 22, 2025

Word of the week: It’s a small pale-fawn nocturnal fox with unusually large, highly sensitive ears, that inhabits from African and Arab deserts areas from Western Sahara and Mauritania to the Sinai Peninsula. But has it ever been seen in a song?

Oct 22, 2025
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Oct 9, 2025
Word of the week: gongoozler
Oct 9, 2025

Word of the week: A fabulous old English slang term for someone who tends to stand or sit for long periods staring at the passing of boats on canals, sometimes with a derogatory or at least ironic use for someone who is useless or lazy. But what of songs about this activity and culture?

Oct 9, 2025
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