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Our birthday celebrations are going with a bang
Suddenly, out of nowhere we are 10 years old! A big celebration then, and a theme that’s surprising (or is it?) with lyrically with narrative twists, or unpredictable turns of phrase, bizarre sounds, odd instruments, strange key changes, or structures made to take the listener by surprise
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Doctor Steel and his robot band
How does it all add up? Is there any logic to it. There are thousands of songs that include numbers, but what about the very specific ones? Inspired by last week’s topic, see how it all took shape in this alternative Fibonacci sequence
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Songs will pour out …
Inspired by the hypnotic, relaxing and therapeutical flow of nominations for last week’s topic, guest playlister TatankaYotanka channels this joy into instrumental and sung streams. Water great idea!
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Captain Beefheart … of course
Prepare for a journey into the unknown and deeply strange. Whether in lyrics or musical sound or structure, guest playlister severin leads us through canticular caverns of wonder, inspired by last week’s topic
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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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Psych is always on the move …
Delay, fuzz, distortion, flanger, echo, sitars, and mind-altering drugs? It’s a style chiefly associated with the late-60s but what are it’s key characteristics and where else do they come up in the world of music? Let’s go on a journey through time and space …
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Elvis Costello. But which side?
What music pumps up, or becalms your pulse? From fast pace, to a fierce vocal, searing lyrics, to minimalism, silence and space? Inspired by nominations from last week’s topic, guest playlister MussoliniHeadkick picks two highly effective and contrasting A-lists …
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Vladmir Kush’s African Sonata
From practical life problems, work, relationships, craft or crisis, to all sorts of creative problems, or even channelling dreams, it’s time to access the right hemisphere and see how the imagination can be used, as expressed in song lyrics. Read on for more stimulation …
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Time to get nutty
What’s the crack? This week we’re taking on a tasty topic of these edible forms of shelled fruit, from peanuts to coconuts, pecans, pistachios to walnuts, pumpkin seeds and more, as the primary subject or prominently mentioned in lyrics
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But … who’s the ace?
Queens, kings, aces and jacks, jokers and dealers, tricks and games, winners and loses, gambling, risk, and making the best of the hand you’re dealt, this week it’s time to shuffle the musical pack and see what’s in hand on this theme
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Velvet Underground, including John Cale and Lou Reed
It can be minimal, relaxing, and meditative, or disturbing, loud and challenging, but in its purest form or within any genre, drone music, played or sung, centres on a single sustained note or long chord that dominates the entire song or piece
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Roses of many colours decorate this week’s lists …
Whether wild or cultivated, on western plains to eastern mountains, country gardens or inner city, guest flower picker AmyLee creates a bloomin’ marvellous bouquet of music to display a fabulous selection of aural and lyrical colours
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Now they all come together …
They’re big, and fierce, and beautiful; unpredictable, wild and exhilarating. And that’s not just those big, stripy cats. We’re also talking about this amazing ambush of playlists, picked from a wild jungle of brilliant suggestions by guest Severin
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Long exposure: who is spinning this ferris and other records for the playlists?
Rolling in with a big, beautiful range of rotating artists and contexts, sounds and genres, guest playlister ParaMhor spins a lovely selection of discs picked from a multiple revolutions nominated from last week’s topic
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The Red Army Choir gives it some welly
Time to sing out! This week, in any genre, music and songs featuring choirs, whether they are the main performers, or come alongside other musicians or singers and then play a prominent or pivotal role
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Smooth liquid sound: a 1947 Rickenbacker
Smoothly glidin’, slidin’, pickin’, these playlists with players from the US to India, Hawaii to Sweden picked by guest Marco den Ouden, are a treasure chest of beautiful sounds and genres spanning blues, rock, country and way more across the big neck
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Spread of styles? Swan Lake Madness …
Intercutting genres with anything from musical saws to theremins, from electric to acoustic, jazz to hip hop, this week’s playlists, picked by guest Nilpferd, inspired by last week’s topic, truly traverse the ages
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Sparks are eating apparently nothing to do with what their song is about …
From the witty to the weird, the irreverent to the irrelevant, the poetic to the potty, after a huge outpouring of nominations, guest playlister severin serves up a superb menu of cutting-edge and classic musical conundrums
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Herd this? Non sequiturs are instrumental in this week’s musical zoo
Often poetic, strange, vivid, but definitely illogical, this week we explore lyrics that don’t really follow what preceded it, but somehow their meaninglessness masquerading as meaning, can also end up being something highly musical
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Fancy a stretch on The Stranglers’ longship? All part of this week’s musical journey
Yorkshire moors to oceans wide, endless deserts to mountains high, through genres and geography, mapping from a massive musical landscape of songs from last week’s topic, guest playlister Maki takes us on a splendid journey
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