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Playlists: songs featuring trumpet solos

December 3, 2025 Peter Kimpton

Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers with Lee Morgan on trumpet

From fanfares to fantastic technical feats and emotional melodies, the trumpet’s bold, bright but versatile sound is captured from classical to jazz, pop and beyond in perfect playlists picked by Loud Atlas from last week’s topic

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In blues, avant-garde, calypso, classical, comedy, country, dance, disco, drone, dub, easy listening, experimental, funk, gospel, instrumentals, jazz, lounge, music, musical hall, musicals, playlists, pop, postpunk, psychedelia, rock, showtime, ska, songs, soul, soundtracks, traditional Tags Haydn, Wynton Marsalis, Maggie Jones, Louis Armstrong, Dick Dale, Dick Dale & His Del-Tones, Herbie Hancock, Freddie Hubbard, Belle & Sebastian, Mick Cooke, Herb Albert, Billy Joel, Yo La Tengo, Roy Campbell Jr, Julian Cope, Yona, Orkestri Liikkuvat Pilvet, Ray Burretto, Roberto Rodríguez, René López, Donald Byrd, Rufus Wainwright, Miles Davis, Art Blakey, Lee Morgan, The Waterboys, Katzenjammer, Chuck Mangione, The Carpenters, Dinah Washington, Al Hirt, Blasterjaxx, Timmy Trumpet, Cake (band), Tomoo, Blur, Chet Baker, Otis Taylor, Brandon Woody, Luie Luie, The Boo Radleys, OMC, Nino Rota, Laufey, Bruce Springsteen, Randy Brecker, Loud Atlas
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Playlists: single-minded songs

November 14, 2023 Peter Kimpton

Single-minded pursuits: Roxy Music

It might mean concentration, determination, persistence, relentlessness, and even obsessive behaviour, but while that perhaps thinking of one thing, or one person, but this is a topic has gathered a broad range of music and ideas. Guest Sidecar Shiv reveals more in fabulous playlists picked from last week’s topic

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In African, avant-garde, blues, classical, country, dance, disco, drone, dub, electronica, experimental, folk, funk, hip hop, indie, instrumentals, jazz, krautrock, music, playlists, pop, postpunk, prog, psychedelia, punk, reggae, rock, showtime, rocksteady, ska, songs, soul, soundtracks, traditional Tags songs, playlists, Primal Scream, The Fugees, Muhammad Ali, A Tribe Called Quest, Busta Rhymes, John Forte, Nico Wayne Toussaint, The Impressions, David Holmes, Raven Violet, Taylor Swift, Roxy Music, Animals That Swim, Dave Hause, Fountains of Wayne, Fiona Apple, The Animals, Dean Parrish, Nocturnal Emissions, U2, The Sound, Talking Heads, The Temptations, Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes, Boogie Down Productions, Giant Crab, Kevin Coyne, PJ Harvey, Bobbie Gentry, Amy MacDonald, Sufjan Stevens, Neil Young, The Triffids, Iris DeMent, Julian Cope, Husker Du, Eurythmics, The Eurythmics, Ronnie Lane, Slim Chance, Della Reese, ShivSidecar, Sidecar Shiv
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Playlists: songs about reading

September 20, 2023 Peter Kimpton

Talking Heads - but what’s in the book?

Read all about it! Or in some cases, don’t believe a word. From books to letters to the media and more, guest of the week George Boyland picks out a classy selection from last week’s topic nominations. Browse and enjoy …

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In blues, calypso, comedy, country, dance, disco, folk, funk, indie, jazz, music, musical hall, playlists, pop, postpunk, prog, punk, reggae, psychedelia, rock, rocksteady, showtime, ska, songs, soul, soundtracks, traditional Tags reading, books, letters, newspapers, news, media, Liverpool, songs, playlists, Billy Bragg, The Boomtown Rats, Edwin Starr, Johnnie Taylor, Pete Townshend, NIck Lowe, Talking Heads, Blind Willie Johnson, McCarthy, PJ Harvey, Joan Armatrading, Swell Maps, Gordon Lightfoot, Rocket From The Tombs, David Crosby, Fairport Convention, Belle & Sebastian, Grant Hart, Future of the Left, The Bevis Frond, Reggae George, Elvis Costello, Julian Cope, Western Promise, George Boyland
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Playlists: songs about perfection

February 22, 2022 Peter Kimpton

Chet Baker: in search of the ideal

Days, nights or settings, love, relationships, words, compliments or phrasing, sounds, singing and so much more, guest of the week Loud Atlas comes up with all the aces with series of immaculate playlist choices reflecting last week’s perfect topic

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In African, avant-garde, blues, comedy, country, dance, disco, drone, 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 Amen Corner, Julian Cope, Ella Fitzgerald, Fairground Attraction, The Saints, The Beautiful South, Toots and the Maytals, Ismael Rivera and Cortijo Y Su Combo, Bronski Beat, Run DMC, Chet Baker, The Hillside Singers, Paul Robeson, The The, Lou Reed, The Flour Blazes, Billie Holiday, Clark Terry, Paul Gonsalves, Eddie Palmieri, Chip Taylor, The New Ukrainians, Lloyd Cole and the Commotions, Badfinger, Indigo Girls, Dorothy Love Coates, The Undertones, Harry Nilsson, Paolo Nutini, Elizabeth & The Catapult, The Duckworth Lewis Method, Loud Atlas
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Playlists: songs about the September 11 attacks

September 14, 2021 Peter Kimpton
Just before the second plane hit the South Tower

Just before the second plane hit the South Tower

Twenty years on from that most dramatic and tragic day of 9/11, from anger and outrage to soft, sensitive memorials, guest playlister Loud Atlas picks a poignant and sensitive set of lists from an outpouring of excellent nominations

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In blues, country, dance, disco, drone, dub, electronica, experimental, folk, funk, hip hop, indie, instrumentals, jazz, playlists, pop, postpunk, prog, punk, rock, ska, songs, soul, traditional Tags 9/11, September 11 Attacks, terrorism, memorials, New York, And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Deadead, Bert Jansch, Sleater-Kinney, Living Colour, Bruce Springsteen, John Hiatt, Dream Theater, Craig Finn, Mary Chapin Carpenter, David Rovics, Black Eyed Peas, Anohni, Steve Reich, Beastie Boys, The Beastie Boys, Sage Francis, Richard Shindell, Jello Biafra, The Guantanamo School of Medicine, Julian Cope, Rod Macdonald, Lupe Fiasco, Team America, Michael Franti, Spearhead, Fred Smith, Robb Johnson, The Restarts, Wax Audio, Jack Warshaw, Loud Atlas
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Playlists: songs about quiet

April 29, 2020 Peter Kimpton
Shhh! It’s Björk

Shhh! It’s Björk

What does it mean to have quiet in your life? Inspired by hundreds of song nominations from last week’s topic, guest playlister DiscoMonster, puts together music through the prism of a story about truths, conflict and stillness

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In blues, country, dance, disco, electronica, experimental, folk, funk, gospel, hip hop, indie, instrumentals, jazz, metal, music, musicals, playlists, pop, postpunk, prog, punk, reggae, rock, ska, soul, traditional, songs Tags songs, playlists, quiet, The Zombies, Bjork, Fleet Foxes, Jorge Drexler, The Go-Betweens, Jamie xx, Bahama Soul Club, Nina Simone, Prince, Massive Attack, 'Til Tuesday, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Julian Cope, Depeche Mode, Japan, Parliament, Ibrahim Ferrer, Imara Portuondo, Miles Davis, Yona & Orkesteri Liikkuvat Pilvet, Kuusumun Profeetta, RiLF
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Herd this one? Songs about four-legged livestock

August 8, 2019 Peter Kimpton
Woolly thinking? Alpacas are in on the act, of course.

Woolly thinking? Alpacas are in on the act, of course.

From cows to horses, sheep, pigs, ox, goats, donkeys, alpacas, llamas and more, this week let’s look into songs about the farming and husbandry of quadrupeds, our relationship with them and also what they say about us

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In avant-garde, blues, classical, comedy, country, dance, disco, dub, electronica, experimental, folk, funk, gospel, hip hop, indie, instrumentals, jazz, metal, music, playlists, pop, postpunk, prog, punk, rock, rocksteady, ska, songs, soundtracks, soul, traditional Tags songs, playlists, animals, livestock, farming, David Lynch, Johnny Mercer, Elvis Presley, Julian Cope, Gary Larson, religion, The Bible, Hinduism, George Orwell, Robert Plant, Grant Wood, Kate Bernheimer, art, books, Oliver Cromwell, Colin Wilson, Ray Davies, The Kinks, Alexander The Great, Thomas De Quincey, George Stubbs, John Miles (painter), Pigcasso, Matt Groening, The Simpsons, Zazie Beetz, climate change, kulning
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Playlists: songs about the lost and found

June 26, 2019 Peter Kimpton
Finding Julian? More than one saint is involved this week …

Finding Julian? More than one saint is involved this week …

On a mission for the missing to a feast of the found, from the divine inspiration of last week’s nominations, guest guru Maki turns to to more than one source of saintly wisdom to help ‘cope’ with choosing two supreme playlists

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In avant-garde, dance, country, disco, dub, electronica, experimental, folk, indie, jazz, music, playlists, pop, postpunk, prog, punk, reggae, rock, songs, soul Tags songs, playlists, lost, found, saints, martyrs, Tom Waits, Regina Spektor, Steel Pulse, Julian Cope, Richard Hawley, Christine and the Queens, Pepé Kallé, Nyboma, The Cramps, White Lies, Ballboy, Fugazi, Barrington Levy, The Waterboys, The Fiery Furnaces, John Lee Hooker, Babyshambles, Lorraine Silver, Ketama, Toumani Diabate, Jose Soto, Sade, Lisa Stanfield, Argentina (music artist)
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Playlists: songs featuring personification

March 19, 2019 Peter Kimpton
Rokia Traoré … dancing with a constant companion Mélancolie

Rokia Traoré … dancing with a constant companion Mélancolie

The Bar is delighted. Places, emotions, elements, the weather and even music itself take human traits as this week’s guru Uncleben is excellence personified, guiding through two exhaustive and illuminating playlists on this topic

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In blues, classical, country, dance, disco, dub, electronica, folk, gospel, hip hop, indie, jazz, music, metal, playlists, pop, postpunk, prog, punk, reggae, rock, songs, soul, traditional Tags songs, playlists, personification, poetry, John Milton, The Incredible String Band, Philip Jeays, Slapp Happy, Henry Cow, Ella Fitzgerald, Rokia Traoré, Sandra Carrasco, The Young 'Uns, Bill Wells, Aidan Moffat, Indian Ocean, Frank Sinatra, Neko Case, Bob Marley, Electric Light Orchestra, Grace Jones, Julian Cope, Reparata & The Delrons, The Auteurs, Ann Peebles, The Meters, Art Pepper, B.J. Thomas, James Brown, The Very Things, The Kinks, Richard Strauss, Jessye Norman, Def Leppard, Black Star, Common, Mos Def, Talib Kweli, Uncleben
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Playlists: songs using idioms, common phrases and expressions

October 10, 2018 Peter Kimpton
Elvis Costello: rich in idioms, allusions, vernacular phrases and rictus-inducing puns

Elvis Costello: rich in idioms, allusions, vernacular phrases and rictus-inducing puns

How do you reduce more than 1,000 song suggestions into two perfectly phrased playlists of just 26 songs? If that feels beyond the pale, then the play’s the thing for this week’s superb guest ShivSidecar

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In dance, disco, dub, electronica, folk, country, blues, hip hop, indie, jazz, music, playlists, pop, postpunk, punk, reggae, rock, songs, soul Tags songs, playlists, idioms, The Teardrop Explodes, Julian Cope, Peter Hammill, Orange Juice, Edwyn Collins, The Mission, Wayne Hussey, Elvis Costello, Elvis Costello & The Attractions, The Temptations, Norman Whitfield, William Bell, Nancy Sinatra, Lee Hazelwood, Todd Rundgren, Propaganda, Terence F. Clark, Me'Shell NdegéOcello, Daouda Koné, Bob Marley, Rita & The Tiaras, Viva Voce, King Creosote, Jon Hopkins, Colourbox, The Mother Hips, Mary Gauthier, Gary Louris, Max Romeo & The Upsetters, Easterhouse, Cock Sparrer, Ronnie Burns, John Greaves, Peter Blegvad, Lisa Herman, Black Box Recorder, Sidecar Shiv
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Playlists: songs about oddballs, outcasts and outsiders

August 29, 2018 Peter Kimpton
Bunny Wailer

Bunny Wailer

Bunny Wailer, Blind Melon, Beastie Boys, Blur … there all here, you know, and very different. And that’s just a few of the Bs. This week’s guest playlist writer amylee gives you a whole lot more than fantastic playlists inspired by last week’s topic.

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In blues, colours, comedy, country, dance, disco, dub, electronica, folk, gospel, hip hop, indie, instrumentals, jazz, music, playlists, pop, postpunk, prog, punk, reggae, rock, rocksteady, ska, songs, soul Tags Songs, playlists, outsiders, outcasts, eccentricity, oddballs, Monty Python, The Ramones, Le Tigre, The Lewis Sisters, Arcade Fire, The Cure, Bunny Wailer, Blind Melon, Beastie Boys, Barbara Manning, Blur, Chumbawumba, Jackie Leven, Julian Cope, David Bowie, The Charlatans, The Shins, Barenaked Ladies, Mitski, The Strawbs, Dexys Midnight Runners, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Betty Davis, Was (Not Was), Cameo, Ian Dury & The Blockheads, The Fall, Stratford Mercenaries, Okkervil River, Joni Mitchell, Todd Rundgren, Susan McKeown, Belle & Sebastian, Beck, Soundgarden, AmyLee
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Let them all in: songs about oddballs, outcasts and outsiders

August 23, 2018 Peter Kimpton
Heading your way .. Julian Cope as Mr Squbbsy in London, 1990.

Heading your way .. Julian Cope as Mr Squbbsy in London, 1990.

Eccentric historical figures to those who are currently out there, black sheep to persons offbeat, songs that express the outsider/insider paradox, this week let’s open our doors to songs about difference

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In blues, classical, comedy, country, dance, disco, dub, electronica, folk, gospel, hip hop, indie, instrumentals, jazz, metal, music, musicals, playlists, pop, postpunk, prog, punk, reggae, rock, rocksteady, showtime, ska, songs, soul Tags songs, playlists, oddballs, eccentricity, outsiders, outcasts, Julian Cope, Captain Beefheart, Vivian Stanshall, Colin Wilson, Quentin Crisp, William Blake, Lady Gaga, Dame Edith Sitwell, David Bowie, Iggy Pop, Brian Wilson, The Beach Boys, Lee Scratch Perry, Frank Zappa, Aphex Twin, David Lynch, books, Friedrich Nietzsche, Albert Camus, Jean-Paul Sartre, HG Wells, TS Eliot, Vincent Van Gogh, George Bernard Shaw, Vaslav Nijinsky, TE Lawrence, Michael Jackson, Kevin Rowland, Tiny Tim, Gerald Tyrwhitt / Baron Berners, Francis Henry Egerton, William Buckland, Howard Hughes, Keith Moon, Oliver Reed, John Waters, Grace Jones, Meat Loaf, Janet Fitch, Joseph Conrad
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Playlists: songs about immortality and longevity

May 2, 2018 Peter Kimpton
A voice everlasting: Mahalia Jackson

A voice everlasting: Mahalia Jackson

Want to achieve immortality? After a fountain of youth of song nominations last week, guest playlist writer treefrogdemon takes amusing musical solutions via reincarnation to science, Neil Young, Bob Dylan to David Bowie

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In blues, country, dance, electronica, folk, indie, jazz, music, playlists, pop, postpunk, punk, rock, songs, soul Tags Songs, playlists, immortality, longevity, The Highwaymen, Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Kris Kristofferson, Neil Young, Karine Polwart, Julian Cope, Heaven 17, Cadaver Club, Mahalia Jackson, Hank Williams, Delano Stewart, Bob Dylan, Jason Isbell, The 400 Unit, Van Der Graaf Generator, David Bowie, Lord Huron, Grant Lee Buffalo, Sinead O'Connor, Slapp Happy, The Grateful Dead, Loudon Wainwright III, The Bangles, The Dirty Guv'nahs, Sarah Vaughan, Slint, The Magnetic Fields
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Playlists: songs about natural disasters and climate events

September 20, 2017 Peter Kimpton
This week's playlists are whipping up a storm

This week's playlists are whipping up a storm

Pompeii to pollution, plague, pestilence and pressure drop, volcanoes, falling rocks, Fiery Furnaces to forest fires, this week's playlists by guest writer ParaMhor, whipped up by last week's topic, will surely go down a storm

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In playlists, rock, songs, music Tags Songs, playlists, storms, weather, meteorology, Nova Mob, Julian Cope, Big Dipper, Tony Clarke, Beck, Monsoon, Mos Def, The Fiery Furnaces, Toots and the Maytals, John and Beverley Martyn, Robert Fripp, Peter Gabriel, Kathryn Kluge, Kim Allen Kluge, The Doors, Lloyd Cole and the Commotions, Captain Beefheart, Eric Bibb, Randy Newman, Diana Jones, Tom Russell Band, SRC, Villagers, Honolulu Mountain Daffodils, The Horrors, Imagine Dragons, Chris T-T & The Hoodrats, The Grateful Dead, Massive Attack, ParaMhor
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Take a deep breath: songs with arresting opening lines

July 27, 2017 Peter Kimpton
The art of the opening

The art of the opening

Profound statements to emotional exclamations, sexual provocation to oddball situation, suggest your favourite and outstanding starter lyrics as we examine a host of musical and literary examples at the bar

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Tags songs, lyrics, opening lines, books, Dodie Smith, Chuck Palahniuk, Neil Gaiman, James Joyce, Charles Dickens, Rose Macaulay, George Orwell, Stephen Crane, LP Hartley, Iain Banks, The Carpenters, Chuck D, Public Enemy, Nina Simone, Leonard Cohen, Suede, Brett Anderson, Roy Orbison, Screamin' Jay Hawkins, Silver Jews, LL Cool J, Beck, Julian Cope, The Teardrop Explodes, The Fall, Mark E Smith, Bob Dylan, The Bee Gees, Barry Gibb, The Rolling Stones, Mick Jagger, Elvis Costello, Morrissey, The Smiths, Paul Simon, St Vincent, Arctic Monkeys, Alex Turner, Shaun Ryder, The Happy Mondays, Mucclusky, Prince, Queen, Freddie Mercury, Jacques Brel, Scott Walker, The Pogues, David Bowie, Patti Smith, Nick Cave, The Doors
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Playlists: krautrock songs and beyond

June 21, 2017 Peter Kimpton
Faust in their Wümme studio in 1971

Faust in their Wümme studio in 1971

Kraftwerk to Neu! Bowie to The Fall! Leaping into last week's surprise topic, guest writer Flatfrog takes a voyage of discovery to playlist prime originals and others hugely influenced by this German genre

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In playlists, music, songs Tags songs, playlists, krautrock, electronica, Germany, Kraftwerk, The Cure, Faust, Hawkwind, Cluster, Julian Cope, Neu!, Stereolab, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Brian Eno, Udo Lindenberg, The Fall, Mark E Smith, Nina Hagen, Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark, OMD, Joy Division, DAF (Deutsche-Amerikanishe-Freundshaft), Amon Düül II, Amon Düül, Einstürzende Neubaten, Einstürzende Neubauten, Groep 1850, Kraan, David Sylvian, Tangerine Dream, Vangelis, David Bowie, film soundtrack, Flatfrog
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Was ist Krautrock? Kosmische to Maschine – songs that say 'we go our own way’

June 15, 2017 Peter Kimpton
Cosmic machines ... Kraftwerk

Cosmic machines ... Kraftwerk

Experimental electronica, or meditative riff and beat repetition? This week from man to machine, Can to Krafwerk, Neu! to Faust, let's celebrate the work and influence of 60s and 70s Germany music revolution

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Tags songs, Germany, krautrock, Can, Neu!, Einstürzende Neubauten, Faust, David Bowie, Brian Eno, Kraftwerk, Iggy Pop, electronica, progressive rock, jazz, minimalism, Berlin, Film, Wim Wenders, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Werner Herzog, Florian Fricke, Popol Vuh, John Peel, Melody Maker, Amon Düül, Munich, Cologne, Düsseldorf, Hans-Joachim Roedelius, Dieter Möbius, John Cage, Michael Rother, Holger Czukay, Jaki Liebezeit, Julian Cope, Tangerine Dream, Ralph Hütter, Cluster
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Playlists: songs inspired by movie and TV stars

April 12, 2017 Peter Kimpton
Johnny Depp and Patti Smith - mutual admiration

Johnny Depp and Patti Smith - mutual admiration

Marilyn Monroe to Jodie Foster to Johnny Depp, Sidney Poitier to Sigourney Weaver, this week's playlists made by guest Mnemosene2 from last week's topic create a constellation of stars. Let's roll the credits …

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In playlists, music, songs Tags songs, Bryan Ferry, Marilyn Monroe, Patti Smith, Johnny Depp, Lou Reed, Andy Warhol, Royal Trux, Steven Seagal, John Grant, Sigourney Weaver, Winona Ryder, Film, Alien, Earthling, Mau, Boris Karloff, Star Trek, Harvey Keitel, Berry Blue, Juliette Binoche, I-Roy, Sidney Poitier, Submarine, Jodie Foster, Slint, Nostagia, The Voodoo Queens, Keanu Reeves, Southpaw Jones, Fatty Arbuckle, Gomez, Sean Connery, Steve McQueen, Suzanne Vega, Gorillaz, Nirvana, Half Man Half Biscuit, The North Sea Scrolls, Luke Haines, Cathal Coughlan, Andrew Mueller, The Jellybottys, Jackie Leven, Eels, Julian Cope, Madonna, James, The Broken Family Band, Yo La Tengo, Blue Oyster Cult, Belle & Sebastian, Mnemosene2, Hollywood, television, fame, Readers Wifes
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Brave, brilliant or embarrassing? ‘Uncharacteristic’ genre-switch songs

February 16, 2017 Peter Kimpton
Jump, they say. But where next? David Bowie

Jump, they say. But where next? David Bowie

Rock band does reggae? Punk band goes country? Rapper does jazz? This week we explore genre-switching or surprise moments in artists’ careers that confounded fans’ expectations

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Tags Songs, genres, rock, reggae, hip hop, jazz, metal, folk, indie, David Bowie, Bob Dylan, Youssou N'Dour, music industry, Kate Bush, Tom Waits, Kevin Ayers, Miles Davis, Robert Wyatt, Julian Cope, Anthony Newley, comedy, Peter Gabriel, Genesis, Alejandro Jodorowsky, Film, James Dean, John Berryman, poetry, Madonna, Lady Gaga, Kenny Rogers, Coen Brothers, The Bee Gees, Iggy Pop, Fleetwood Mac, Johnny Cash, Katy Perry, Christianity, religion, Bjork, punk, The Sugarcubes, Beastie Boys, Belinda Carlisle, The Go-Go's, Plan B, Blue Note, Kevin Rowland, Lana Del Ray, Radiohead, Pixies, Dizzee Rascal, The Black Eyes Peas, Fugees, Snoop Dogg, Joni Mitchell, This is Spinal Tap, Róisín Murphy, The Big Lebowski
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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
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

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
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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
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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
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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

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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