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Playlists: songs about thunder and lightning

August 19, 2025 Peter Kimpton

Where will choices strike for this week’s lists?

One strike ncan remind us that nature is really boss, and for a songwriter, thunder and lightning can signify and express many meanings and emotions. Picked from last week’s topic nominations, guest ajostu’s playlists will go down a storm

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In African, avant-garde, blues, bossa nova, calypso, classical, comedy, country, dance, disco, drone, dub, easy listening, electronica, exotica, experimental, folk, funk, gospel, hip hop, indie, instrumentals, jazz, krautrock, lounge, metal, music, musical hall, musicals, playlists, pop, postpunk, prog, psychedelia, punk, reggae, RnB, rock, rocksteady, samba, ska, showtime, songs, soul, soundtracks, traditional, trip hop Tags songs, playlists, Thunder, lightning, storms, weather, meteorology, Feist, David Byrne, St Vincent, Maruja, Witch, Bim Sherman, Eddie Floyd, Big Maybelle, Mahlathini, The Mahotella Queens, Los Relampagos, Cedric Congo meet Mad Professor, Chi Coltrane, Toyah, The 6ths, Claire Grogan, Shawn Phillips, Johann Strauss II, John Philip Sousa, Duke Ellington, Chaka Kahn, The Weather Girls, Leona Lewis, LUMP, Jake Bugg, Bob Lind, Ray Charles, Willie Nelson, The Grateful Dead, Micah Thomas, Kit Downes, Oddgeir Berg Trio, ajostu
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Playlists: songs about paths, tracks, trails and roads

January 29, 2025 Peter Kimpton

Follow this musical trail ….

From tiny woodland byways to endless stretching highways, across history and continents, Devon to Scotland, America to Australia, guest playlister Shiv Sidecar takes us on a fabulous musical journey inspired by last week’s topic

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In African, avant-garde, blues, calypso, country, dance, drone, dub, exotica, easy listening, electronica, experimental, folk, indie, instrumentals, jazz, krautrock, lounge, music, playlists, pop, postpunk, prog, psychedelia, punk, reggae, rock, rocksteady, showtime, ska, songs, soul, soundtracks, traditional Tags songs, playlists, roads, paths, trails, Nick Drake, Archie Roach, Linkin Park, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Alasdair Roberts, The Aislers Set, Buddy Miles, Mazzy Star, Pavlov's Dog, Show Of Hands, The Move, The Triffids, Dengue Fever, Metric, Ivor Cutler, The Grateful Dead, Neil Young, Midnight Oil, Japanese Breakfast, Lil Nas X, Billy Ray Cyrus, Kevin Morby, Jackie Leven, Karine Polwart, Lal Waterson, Robb Johnson, JJ Cale, Bo Diddley, U-Roy, Billy Butler, Shocking Blue, The Factory, David Byrne, Nina Nastasia, Dan Fogelberg, Lightnin' Hopkins, PJ Harvey, Cult Maniax, Lhasa, Ralph MacDonald, Super Furry Animals, trees, The Battered Ornaments, The Gun Club, Plainsong, XTC, ShivSidecar, Sidecar Shiv, Gillian Welch
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Playlists: songs in Spanish

September 6, 2023 Peter Kimpton

Johnny Pacheco & Celia Cruz

¡Hola! Mexico, Colombia, Argentina, Puerto Rico, Chile, USA, of course Spain itself and beyond, it’s a language of passion and storytelling. After last week’s big topic nominations, guest playlister magicman presents a wealth of wonderful numbers

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Tags songs, Spanish, Elvira Rios, Ela Minus, Invisible, Rosalía, Chalino Sanchez, Consuelo Velasquez, Los Saicos, Celia Cruz, Johnny Pacheco, Los Chunguitos, Mercedes Sosa, Ibeyi, Mala Rodriguez, Aventura, Judy Santos, Las Ketchup, Fania All Stars, Hector Lavoe, Xavier Cugat, Carmen Castil, November Ultra, La Sonora Del Caribe, Shakira, Gipsy Kings, Lila Downs, The Plugz, Luis Fonsi, Daddy Yankee, Chabuca Grande, Azucar Moreno, Jessie Reyez, David Byrne, Agapito Pascual, La Sonora Santanera, Victor Jara, La Luz Mandarina, Lecuona Cuban Boys, Buena Vista Social Club, Arsenio Rodriguez, Desi Arnaz, Sylvia Rexach, Chavela Vargas, Eddie Palmieri, Joe Cuba Sextet, Los Tigres del Norte, Benny Moré, Los Zafiros, Ibrahim Ferrer, magicman
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Playlists: songs about distractions, diversions and digressions

January 18, 2023 Peter Kimpton

Driven to distraction? Amy Winehouse

Relationships, work, TV, the internet - we all get pulled towards things that perhaps aren’t planned, but is this also all losing control and trying to regain it? Guest of the week ajostu picks two perfect playlists to focus on this topic out of last week’s nominations

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In African, avant-garde, blues, comedy, country, dance, disco, drone, dub, electronica, folk, experimental, funk, gospel, hip hop, indie, jazz, music, playlists, pop, postpunk, prog, psychedelia, punk, reggae, rock, songs, ska, soul, soundtracks, traditional Tags distraction, diversions, digression, procrastination, GANGgajang, The Human Hearts, Jenny Toomey, Amy Winehouse, Bess Atwell, Sara Jarosz, Donovan Woods, People Project, Brooklyn Funk Essentials, Half Man Half Biscuit, Subhumans, I Monster, Electronic, Son Lux, Mitski, David Byrne, Coldcut, Adam Freeland, Soccer96, Alabaster DePlume, James Domestic, Kormac, Irvine Welsh, Mehliana, Carter The Unstoppable Sex Machine, Fred Eaglesmith, Craig Finn, Hitsujibungaku, ajostu
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A matter of degree: songs about higher education and graduation

May 5, 2022 Peter Kimpton

Jarvis Cocker’s student pass for the art course he took when aged 25

Days of college, university, polytechnic, art school, institute or more, this week we examine education after secondary or high school and graduation, what it all means, from learning to social experience, captured though the prism of song

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In African, avant-garde, blues, classical, comedy, country, dance, disco, drone, dub, electronica, experimental, folk, funk, gospel, hip hop, indie, instrumentals, jazz, metal, music, musical hall, musicals, playlists, pop, postpunk, prog, psychedelia, punk, reggae, rock, rocksteady, showtime, ska, songs, soul, soundtracks, traditional Tags songs, playlists, further education, college, university, Jarvis Cocker, Anton Chekhov, Stephen Hawking, Derek Bok, Samuel Beckett, Bob Dylan, Frank Zappa, Joni Mitchell, Billy Gibbons, ZZ Top, Talking Heads, David Byrne, Steely Dan, Public Enemy, Chuck D, Queen, The Commodores, Pink Floyd, Vampire Weekend, education
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There goes the neighbourhood: songs about the urban environment

March 17, 2022 Peter Kimpton

Urban jungle? A growing trend …

Ugly or beautiful, hostile or friendly, boring or dynamic, urban environments are where people live but they are constantly in flux. This week it’s time to get a different sense of place in this potentially vast subject that also can do into tiny detail

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In African, avant-garde, blues, calypso, classical, colours, country, dance, disco, drone, dub, electronica, folk, experimental, funk, gospel, hip hop, indie, instrumentals, jazz, metal, music, musical hall, musicals, playlists, pop, postpunk, prog, punk, reggae, rock, rocksteady, showtime, ska, songs, soul, soundtracks, traditional Tags songs, playlists, cities, urban life, urban environments, urban sprawl, Italo Calvino, Charles Dickens, David Byrne, Socrates, Umberto Eco, Thomas Pynchon, Elliot Connor, Joan Didion, Cyril Connolly, John Steinbeck, Patrick Geddes, Christopher Morley, Philip K Dick, Bladerunner, books, Film, Bernard Herrmann, Toyko, Minoru Mukaiya
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Goth, gore and more: scary, creepy, horror-inspired songs

October 21, 2021 Peter Kimpton

Nosferatu, 1922

Whether inspired by fictional horror in books or film, or indeed horrors of the real world, physical or psychological, stylishly goth or gruesomely gory, this Halloween-inspired topic is all about songs that send a shiver up the spine

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In African, blues, avant-garde, classical, comedy, country, dance, drone, disco, dub, electronica, experimental, funk, hip hop, indie, instrumentals, jazz, metal, music, musicals, playlists, pop, postpunk, prog, punk, reggae, rock, ska, showtime, rocksteady, songs, soul, soundtracks, traditional Tags songs, playlists, horror, Film, film soundtrack, books, fiction, Mary Shelley, Charles Baudelaire, Bram Stoker, H.P. Lovecraft, Truman Capote, Edgar Allan Poe, Stephen King, Alfred Hitchcock, Joseph Conrad, Francis Ford Coppola, Marlon Brando, Halloween, Bela Lugosi, architecture, Mervyn Peake, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Bauhaus, The Damned, Killing Joke, Theda Bara, Washington Irving, Georges Méliès, FW Murnau, Max Schreck, Kate Bush, David Byrne, Luis Bunuel, Bob Dylan, Blue Oyster Cult, Deep Purple, Vampire Weekend, Creedence Clearwater Revival, The Ramones, Robert Bloch, The Simpsons, Stanley Kubrick
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Take a chanson me: songs about singing

February 27, 2020 Peter Kimpton
SInging. Part of our evolution …

SInging. Part of our evolution …

It’s time to sing out suggestions on this lyrical, meta-topic – from the perspective of singer or listener, by humans, animals or birds, whether for love, warning, fear, joy or despair, or singing simply to exist, make others aware

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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, metal, music, musical hall, musicals, playlists, pop, postpunk, prog, punk, reggae, rock, rocksteady, showtime, ska, songs, soul, soundtracks, traditional Tags songs, Ella Fitzgerald, Janis Joplin, Bjork, Leonard Cohen, Shakespeare, William Shakespeare, Edith Piaf, Maria Callas, Christina Aguilera, Kevin Ayers, Cervantes, Marty Rubin, JRR Tolkien, John Milton, Alexander Pope, Cab Calloway, Ray Charles, Andrea Bocelli, David Byrne, Thom Yorke, Neil Young, Michael Stipe, REM, Rebecca Pederson, Usama Rasheed, Donovan, Irish Murdoch, Harper Lee, Percy Shelley
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It's got legs: songs about furniture

December 19, 2019 Peter Kimpton
The Radiogram: perhaps he most important piece of furniture in many a 20th-century childhood home

The Radiogram: perhaps he most important piece of furniture in many a 20th-century childhood home

Rockin' chairs and recliners to tables and desks, sofas, wardrobes, amoires, beds, side tables to dining suites, lyrically as passing image, or as a main subject, let’s furnish this week’s song theme with some solid support

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In African, avant-garde, blues, classical, country, dance, disco, dub, electronica, experimental, folk, funk, gospel, hip hop, indie, instrumentals, metal, music, musicals, playlists, pop, postpunk, punk, prog, reggae, rock, ska, songs, soul, soundtracks, traditional Tags songs, furniture, Arthur Conan Doyle, Jaimoe, The Allman Brothers Band, Tim Vine, Les Dawson, Bob Dylan, Howlin' Wolf, Factory Records, Tony Wilson, Andy Woodcock, design, Film, Dave Grohl, Ikea, Oprah Winfrey, David Byrne, Charles Eames, Jack White, Erik Satie, Janet Street-Porter, Henri Matisse, Roald Dahl
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Vote on what lies beneath: songs about trust

December 12, 2019 Peter Kimpton
Nose. We all knows … what lies, above. And below, look out for capo alert …

Nose. We all knows … what lies, above. And below, look out for capo alert …

There’s a UK general election today, but here it’s also time to vote for songs about trust, that fragile but vital hub around which the world spins, in love, family, friendships, the self, creativity, religion, but also played in politics and business

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In African, avant-garde, blues, calypso, classical, comedy, country, dance, disco, dub, electronica, experimental, folk, funk, gospel, hip hop, indie, instrumentals, jazz, metal, music, musical hall, musicals, playlists, pop, postpunk, prog, punk, reggae, rock, showtime, ska, songs, soul, soundtracks, traditional Tags songs, politics, general election, trust, relationships, music, Boris Johnson, Donald Trump, The Daily Mail, The Sun, Lady Gaga, Albert Einstein, NHS, George MacDonald, Stephen King, brands, advertising, Kevin Plank, Charles Spurgeon, Thomas Paine, Stanley Baldwin, Emmeline Pankhurst, William Shakespeare, Evelyn Waugh, Chuck Palahniuk, Marilyn Monroe, Eminem, Cher, Goethe, Graham Greene, Billy Wilder, David Byrne, Billie Eilish, W.C. Fields, Peter Fonda, Heroditus, Neil Gaiman, Bob Dylan, Eartha Kitt, Billy Connolly, Cassette Boy, Stewart Lee, Film, Tim Robbins
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Take your pick: songs about collecting, cataloguing and lists

September 12, 2019 Peter Kimpton
Pick collection …

Pick collection …

Galleries to grand libraries, public or private, unusual or colourful objects, from the oddball to unhealthy obsession, this week we enter the extraordinary world of collecting, listing and cataloguing and everything that motivates it

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In avant-garde, blues, comedy, country, dance, disco, dub, electronica, experimental, folk, funk, gospel, hip hop, indie, instrumentals, music, musicals, playlists, pop, postpunk, rock, ska, songs, soundtracks, traditional, rocksteady Tags songs, playlists, collectables, collecting, lists, John Connolly, Ray Bradbury, Umberto Eco, Bob Dylan, Alec Baldwin, David Lynch, Andy Goldsworthy, Sir David Attenborough, Neil Perryman, art, books, documentary, oology, animals, John Fowles, Marcel Proust, Vladimir Putin, Mikko Hyppönen, surveillance, technology, internet, Trinity College Dublin, libraries, Horniman Museum, Jorge Luis Borges, Penelope Lively, Walter Benjamin, Lynda Resnick, Julie Andrews, Ryuichi Sakamoto, David Byrne, Jeff Tweedy, Roisin Murphy, John Mayall, Anita Shreve, Howard Hodgkin, Cornelia Parker, David Elliott, Paul Mellon, Mackenzie Crook, The Detectorists, television, The Unthanks
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In full swing: songs and instrumentals from New York City

July 18, 2019 Peter Kimpton
There’s more than one way of having in ball in New York. The 1930s …

There’s more than one way of having in ball in New York. The 1930s …

It’s the city of the world that never sleeps, but this week let’s explore what kind of music, particularly instrumentals, but also lyrics, capture the particular spirit, culture, feel and rhythms of its extraordinary five boroughs

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In avant-garde, blues, classical, comedy, country, dance, disco, experimental, electronica, folk, gospel, hip hop, indie, instrumentals, jazz, music, musicals, musical hall, playlists, pop, postpunk, prog, punk, rock, showtime, ska, songs, soul, soundtracks Tags songs, playlists, New York, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Beastie Boys, LCD Soundsystem, Henry Ford, Duke Ellington, Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan, The Bronx, Staten Island, David Byrne, Talking Heads, George Gershwin, Carole King, Gerry Goffin, Neil Diamond, Sonny Bono, paul simon, Broadway, Jack Kerouac, William Burroughs, Andy Warhol, Janis Joplin, Joni Mitchell, Jimi Hendrix, The Grateful Dead, Lou Reed, Bob Dylan, Blondie, The Ramones, Cyndi Lauper, Madonna, B-52s, The New York Dolls, Iggy Pop, David Bowie, Frank Zappa, Dee-Lite, John Lennon, Yoko Ono, Led Zeppelin, Joe Strummer, The Clash, Television (band), Prince, Woody Allen, Lenny Bruce, Richard Pryor, Harlem, Aretha Franklin, Ella Fitzgerald, James Brown, Milos Forman, John Updike, Bette Midler, Martin Scorsese, Robert De Niro, Film, film soundtrack, Jon Voight, Dustin Hoffman, Al Pacino, gangs, Statue of Liberty
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Cracks in the concrete: songs about urban wildlife and nature

May 23, 2019 Peter Kimpton
Concrete evidence …

Concrete evidence …

Cats, rats or bats, peregrine falcons to parakeets, foxes and rabbits, bears or boars, and a whole host of other creatures, as well as plants and urban sunsets, this week let’s explore how nature exists in the city as shown in song

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In avant-garde, blues, classical, country, comedy, dance, disco, dub, electronica, experimental, folk, gospel, hip hop, indie, jazz, metal, instrumentals, music, playlists, pop, postpunk, prog, reggae, punk, rock, songs, soul, traditional Tags songs, playlists, animals, animal behaviour, plants, cities, ecology, Sir David Attenborough, Talking Heads, David Byrne, Robert Frost, poetry
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Out of this oeuvre? Songs and music that defy genre definition

April 18, 2019 Peter Kimpton
Genres? What are they?

Genres? What are they?

This week let’s push the envelope and dig out often lesser known artists and works that wriggle away from definition, those who or mix sub-genres and styles with such originality it’s hard to place them. But can you still define them?

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In avant-garde, blues, classical, comedy, country, dance, disco, dub, electronica, experimental, folk, gospel, hip hop, indie, instrumentals, jazz, metal, music, musical hall, musicals, playlists, pop, postpunk, prog, punk, reggae, rock, rocksteady, ska, songs, soul, soundtracks, traditional Tags songs, genres, fusion genres, Tom Waits, Kamasi Washington, Billie Eilish, Arctic Monkeys, Alex Turner, Albert Finney, Alan Sillitoe, David Bowie, Miles Davis, Gazelle Twin, The Residents, FKA Twigs, Avicii, David Byrne, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Damon Albarn, Gorillaz, Public Enemy, Chuck D, Henry Rollins, Herbie Hancock, Jessie J, Taylor Swift, Beck, Danny Boyle, Todd Haynes, Fever Ray, Jeanette Winterson, Italo Calvino, Anthony Newley, J Dilla
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Picture this: songs about painters, painting and drawing

June 22, 2017 Peter Kimpton
1) Keith Richards by Ronnie Wood

1) Keith Richards by Ronnie Wood

This week the Bar becomes a special gallery  filled with music stars' work! Peruse the paintings and name their famous creators, and suggest songs inspired by art and artists from any period or genre

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Tags songs, art, painting, John Constable, Dick Dale, Vincent Van Gogh, Brian Eno, Joni Mitchell, Nat Tate, forgery, David Byrne, The Clash, Mick Jones, Paul Simonon, Jarvis Cocker, Pulp, Chuck D, Freddie Mercury, Pete Townshend, The Who, Queen, Mobb Deep, Michael Stipe, REM, Keith Richards, Ice Cube, Florence Welch, Florence and the Machine, Kanye West, Captain Beefheart, Jeffrey Lewis, Patti Smith, Robert Hughes, Conor Oberst, Lindsey Buckingham, Fleetwood Mac, Cher, Grimes, Jackson Pollock, Pablo Picasso, The Kills, Alison Mosshart, Tony Bennett, Buffy Sainte-Marie, John Williams, Grace Slick, Jerry Garcia, The Grateful Dead, Pharrell Williams, Frida Kahlo, Nick Cave, Wolfgang Puck, Marilyn Manson, Yoko Ono, Bob Dylan, Miles Davis, Jefferson Airplane, Impressionism, pop art, Frederic Chopin, Wassily Kandinsky, Mick Jagger, Ronnie Wood
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Playlists: Who's got the funk?

April 26, 2017 Peter Kimpton
Ooh Betty. Davis.

Ooh Betty. Davis.

Inspired by last week's pyroclastic flow of song suggestions, the Song Bar Landlord takes a visit to see who is playing at the House of Funk and finds a vibe that is both super cool and hot, hot, hot

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In playlists, songs, music Tags songs, playlists, funk, Betty Davis, Bill Withers, Marvin Gaye, Sly & The Family Stone, Isaac Hayes, Rose Royce, Talking Heads, Scritti Politti, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Zainichi Funk, David Bowie, David Byrne, Charles Bradley, Ike and Tina Turner, Tina Turner, James Brown, The O'Jays, Michael Jackson, The Isley Brothers, Funkadelic, Wild Cherry Pie, Bobby Byrd, The Philadelphia International All Stars, War, Eumir Deodato, The Explosions, Anette Peacock, A Certain Ratio, Thundercat, Cameo, Kid Creole and the Coconuts, Digital Underground, Basement Jaxx, The Meters, Archie Bell and the Drells, Prince
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Playlists: songs from collaborations and side projects

June 1, 2016 Peter Kimpton
Let's have a big hand for ... James and Luciano

Let's have a big hand for ... James and Luciano

Walk this way! From James Brown to Bob Dylan, Baaba Maal to the Bunnymen, this world would mean nothing without some fabulous collaborations, this week chosen by our guest writer Flatfrog

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Tags songs, collaborations, James Brown, Luciano Pavarotti, Flatfrog, The Blues Brothers, Run DMC, Robert Plant, Alison Krauss, Robert Glasper Experiment, Mos Def, Propellerheads, Shirley Bassey, Mumford & Sons, Baaba Maal, Echo and the Bunnymen, Drummers of Burundi, Buddy Guy, Quinn Sullivan, Traveling Wilburys, The Dukes of Stratosphear, Pythia, Band Aid, Art of Noise, Duane Eddy, Mark Knopfler, Emmylou Harris, Gorillaz, David Byrne, St Vincent, Avicii, Toto, Miles Davis, Shakti, John McLaughlin, David Morales, Jan Gabarek, David McAlmont, Michael Nyman, Diamanda Galas, John Paul Jones, Boogie Woogie Twins, Dr John, Jools Holland, The Glove
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New Albums …

Featured
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
The Mountain Goats- Through This Fire Across From Peter Balkan.jpeg
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
Allie X - Happiness Is Going To Get You.jpeg
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
Tortoise - Touch.jpeg
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
Tranquilizer by Oneohtrix Point Never.jpeg
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
Austra - Chin Up Buttercup.jpeg
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
picture-parlour-the-parlour-album.jpeg
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
FKA twigs - Eusexua Afterglow.jpeg
Nov 16, 2025
FKA twigs: EUSEXUA Afterglow
Nov 16, 2025

New album: Springing from her much lauded third LP Eusexua, out in January this year, and following a hugely successful and spectacular tour, the innovative British experimental pop artist, dancer and producer extends her palette of ethereal, otherworldly and sensual creations in this new, more carnal, harder, beat-filled parallel release

Nov 16, 2025

new songs …

Featured
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
Rule 31 Single Artwork.jpg
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
Sailor Honeymoon - Armchair.jpeg
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
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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
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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
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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
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Nov 23, 2025
Song of the Day: These New Puritans - The Other Side
Nov 23, 2025

Song of the Day: A delicate, tender, and unusually minimalist single, their first since this year’s acclaimed album Crooked Wing, by the Southend-on-Sea-born Barnett twins, here with Jack on improvised piano and George on drums and a soprano register wordless vocal, out on Domino Records

Nov 23, 2025

Word of the week

Featured
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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
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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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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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