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Coming up … sounds from another planet …
They’re full of the bleeps, beeps and strange sounds we associate with travel and life beyond Earth, and some are also about that theme. Inspired by last week’s theme, guest space captain ParaMhor takes us on fabulous a journey to the great musical beyond …
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Paul Kelly: a perennial Song Bar favourite storyteller
Time waits for no one, but many songs are ageless. With perspectives looking back and forward, and many great stories, guest of the week Barbryn picks a fabulous selection inspired by last week’s topic
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Cultured vultures: The Jungle Book brings about surprise levels of support via the medium of song
This Bar creates them too, but what about songs in playlists? From assorted human and animal encounters, generational pals to cultural social crossovers, guest Loud Atlas brings them all together in wonderful entertainment inspired by last week’s topic
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A world united? Live Aid, 13th July 1985
It will be 40 years ago this weekend. An extraordinary event and background story, and a global sense of positivity, but what did all mean then, and now? To mark the anniversary, let’s celebrate and reflect with this theme
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Simmering power? That’s Cat Power
Renewed, re-imagined, whether by the same artist or covered by another, with a stripped back, unplugged sound, a song can be opened up anew in emotions and lyrics. Guest Loud Atlas artfully explores the magic of the acoustic, inspired by last week’s topic
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Bowie in reference …
Comedy songs to Major Tom, Ziggy to Thin White Duke, all the way to Blackstar, his sheer inventive influence extends across musical time and space. Inspired by last week’s topic, big Bowie fan Vikingchild takes us on a wonderfully entertaining journey of range and reference
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David Bowie, 1947 – 2016
It’s a Bowie celebratory week, not really seeking out covers of his songs, but where he’s been referenced in the work of others, with mention of his various personas, his song titles, his lyrics and also his musical styles. It will hopefully uncover a wealth of surprises and genres
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Dappled greys on a misty morning …
An unheralded hue between black and white, it’s the shade of ambiguity, subtlety, diplomacy and poetry. Dove, slate, mountain, pewter, flint, pebble, dawn, snail trail, bark, granite, graphite, bone, frost, smoke, mist, also in many animals and metaphors, so how does it work in culture and song?
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Beautifully sad symmetry by Celeste
Mirrored lyrical patterns create an aural symmetry l that appeals to listeners, especially in pop music’s chorus. Inspired by last week’s nominations, guest playlister Maki weighs up the lyric sheets to create a perfect balance
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‘Fearful symmetry’? More to reflect on …
It’s pleasing to ear and eye, verbally, musically and rhythmically, so let’s seek songs with forms of lyrical antimetabole, the repetition of one or more words in successive clauses, but a transposed order
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Who is it? Bjork, of course, jingling a silvery Alexander McQueen number
They’re sometimes the sound of Christmas, but these resonant instruments can crop up in all sorts of situations and music. Reverberating from last week’s topic, guest VikingChild creates Xmas and non-Xmas selections and are extremely a-pealing. Let them ring out!
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It's highly subjective, but we're throwing out there what songs, or pieces, give you that big physical or mental boost. So, what music puts a pep in your step? What pushes out the puissance, releases the pizzazz, flows the juice, brings vim, vitality, vigour, zest, zing or the zip?
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Muhammad Ali, then Cassius Clay, was complete underdog when he faced Sonny Liston in the shock defeat of 1964
You’ll find them in real life or fiction, history and myth, sport, music, school, prison, books or film, but the arc of the underdog always inspires emotions and makes for a great story. How is it conveyed in song?
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Lounge lizard
We live much of our waking lives in them – working and socialising, swivelling to dining to reclining, sofas and couches, ornate thrones to humble stools, beanbags, pouffes, to the office, barber’s, dentist’s and beyond, but how do they sit up in song?
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Funkadelic: forever expansive
They're almost alway more expansive than the 7-inch versions, and this week guest DiscoMonster chooses albums cuts is simply far more satisfying experience, musically and lyrically, inspired by last week's topic
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Just a little heavy on the foundation, fellas?
Lipstick to mascara, eyeshadow to foundation, music stars have always been putting on a performance persona mask. Cosmetics do strange things to us. In a narrative, they could leave traces of romantic encounters, make for a great vivid detail in lyrics, as well as an extended metaphor. So a rather different way this week, it's time to face the music …
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Singularly different: The Undisputed Truth
Sometimes they were an inspiration improvement, sometimes an editing and style aberration. Picking out the differences from last week’s singular topic, guest playlister ParaMhor cleverly chooses the contrasts for better or worse
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A top shot at songcraft … LDR
Sweetest, biggest, baddest, punniest, funniest, spinniest, dreamiest, wooziest? Many more most ‘ests’ feature this week in the very best of superlative selections by guest playlister Uncleben, taking the very best shot from last week’s many nominations
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Calm looks: from Beyoncé’s Lemonade:designs based on Yoruba culture by Brooklyn Nigeria-born designer Laolu Senbanjo
From Arican itutu to European sprezzatura, American jazz and poetry to hip hop, and a lot more besides, how do you define coolness, whether in lyrics, or expressed in the music itself? It’s time to compose yourselves with some cultural inspiration …
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Revolutionary warnings: Crass
Coercion, violence and suppression, it’s a recurring cycle through history. Spanning the globe with philosophy and genre, guest playlister Marco den Ouden examines the big questions about autocracy and anarchy, picked from last week’s topic nominations
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