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Blow your own: songs with trumpet solos

November 27, 2025 Peter Kimpton

Miles Davis, 1973

Across the centuries and the genres, it’s been a loud, distinct and expressive instrument sounding events as well as many emotions. This week, from classical to jazz, pop and beyond, what does a great solo bring to song? Suggest your examples …

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In African, avant-garde, blues, classical, calypso, bossa nova, comedy, country, dance, disco, drone, dub, easy listening, experimental, folk, funk, gospel, hip hop, indie, instrumentals, jazz, krautrock, lounge, music, musicals, playlists, pop, postpunk, prog, psychedelia, punk, reggae, RnB, rock, rocksteady, samba, showtime, ska, songs, soul, soundtracks, traditional Tags trumpet, songs, instruments, instrumentals, Miles Davis, William Shakespeare, John Donne, William Wordsworth, Joseph Addison, Theodore Hesburgh, Dizzy Gillespie, Louis Armstrong, Quincy Jones, Wynton Marsalis, Humphrey Lyttelton, New Orleans, Chet Baker, Clifford Brown, Herb Albert, Gottfried Reiche, JS Bach, Cat Anderson, Maynard Ferguson
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Playlists: songs from New Orleans and south Louisiana

August 31, 2022 Peter Kimpton

Mahalia Jackson at the New Orleans Jazz Festival, 1970

Where might you find some of the best music from NOLA and beyond? The streets are alive with it at every corner. After last week’s big blast of nominations, guest magicman takes us on a fantastic tour of some of the area’s finest artists. Oh what a night!

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In blues, country, dance, disco, folk, experimental, funk, gospel, hip hop, indie, instrumentals, jazz, music, playlists, pop, showtime, soul, traditional Tags songs, playlists, Louisiana, New Orleans, Kid Sheik, John Handy, Aaron Neville, James Booker, Professor Longhair, King Oliver, Slim Harpo, Cleoma Breaux, Jackson Square Allstars, Sugar Boy Crawford, Iry LeJeune, Buckwheat Zydeco, Smiley Dorsey, Smiley Lewis, Lee Dorsey, Benny Spellman, Ernie K. Doe, Mahalia Jackson, Rebirth Brass Band, Irma Thomas, Robert Parker, Better Than Ezra, Galactic, Sidney Bechet, Lillian Boutte, Andrew Duhon, Zachary Richard, Jessie Hill, Fats Domino, Big Freedia, Kermit Ruffins, magicman
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Bayou tapestry: songs from New Orleans and south Louisiana

August 25, 2022 Peter Kimpton

He’s got this all sown up: Mardi Gras Indian costume

This week it’s time to take a full taste of unique blend of music by exclusively musicians from the southern half of Louisiana – not merely New Orleans, but also Baton Rouge and all around this coastal region where tragedy and vitality, and creativity co-exist

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In African, avant-garde, blues, calypso, comedy, country, dance, disco, experimental, folk, hip hop, gospel, indie, instrumentals, jazz, metal, music, musicals, playlists, pop, postpunk, psychedelia, songs, soul, traditional Tags songs, playlists, Louisiana, New Orleans, Ian McNulty, James Lee Burke, Dr John, Trombone Shorty, The Meters, Harry Shearer, Allen Toussaint, Baton Rouge, colonialism, slavery, American Civil War, George W Bush, Hurricane Katrina, Buddy Bolden, King Oliver, Sidney Bechet, Louis Armstrong, Jelly Roll Morton, Louis Prima, Fats Domino, Dave Bartholomew, Dale Hawkins, Aaron Neville, Professor Longhair, Cosimo Matassa, Rice and Gravy Records, All For One Records, Cash Money Records, Mardi Gras, John Kennedy Toole, Tennessee Williams, Ann Rice
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Stop and listen: street music from buskers to marching bands

September 30, 2021 Peter Kimpton
Italian street harpist in 19th-century London

Italian street harpist in 19th-century London

It’s time to take the show on the road and pick out videos of street music with all the spirit, authenticity and vivaciousness that comes from the passing setting, the spontaneity, urgency, oddness, originality or unexpected brilliance

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In African, avant-garde, blues, calypso, classical, comedy, country, dance, disco, drone, dub, electronica, folk, funk, gospel, hip hop, indie, jazz, instrumentals, metal, music, musical hall, playlists, musicals, pop, postpunk, punk, prog, reggae, rock, rocksteady, songs, ska, showtime, soul, soundtracks, traditional Tags songs, playlists, street music, busking, buskers, traditional, brass, gypsy music, New Orleans, New York, Moondog, marching bands
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Fourth of July? Songs about parades and processions

July 4, 2019 Peter Kimpton
Onwards!

Onwards!

They express the joys, hopes, triumphs and tragedies of the human race coming together, – mixed emotions, war to civil rights, weddings to funerals, religious and sports to military might to floral festivals. But where do they come up in song?

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In avant-garde, blues, comedy, classical, country, dance, disco, dub, electronica, experimental, folk, gospel, hip hop, indie, instrumentals, jazz, metal, music, musical hall, musicals, pop, playlists, postpunk, prog, punk, reggae, rock, rocksteady, showtime, ska, songs, soul, traditional Tags songs, playlists, parades, processions, fourth of July, Independence Day, Philip James Bailey, Mike Ditka, FKA Twigs, US presidents, US politics, Russia, Philippines, First World War, Jack Johnson, boxing, Hawaii, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, John Hancock, Will Smith, Donald Trump, France, Emmanuel Macron, Richard Nixon, John Naisbitt, China, Oliver Stone, Tom Cruise, Mark Twain, Eleanor Roosevelt, Bette Midler, Tom Wolfe, Adam Smith, New Orleans, Rio Carnival, London 2012 Olympics, Gilbert K. Chesterton, David Lee Roth, Prince, Super Bowl
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Strident in song: music that expresses the movement and feeling of walking

November 1, 2018 Peter Kimpton
No two walks are the same …

No two walks are the same …

We all walk slightly differently, so this week it’s all about music that expresses various strolls, swings, swaggers, ambles or strides, and whether in politics or personal, marching bands or military, let’s capture the movement of the people

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In blues, classical, comedy, country, dance, disco, dub, electronica, folk, 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, walking, biology, animals, The Beatles, Monty Python, John Cleese, Friedrich Nietzsche, John Locke, Mason Cooley, Billie Holiday, John Travolta, Lee Marvin, Julie Christie, Film, Ian Brown, Liam Gallagher, Mick Jagger, John Inman, Pink Panther, cats, fashion, Richard Dawkins, Jarrow March, Selma, Detroit, civil rights, Nelson Mandela, marching bands, New Orleans, Russia, military bands, James Vincent McMorrow, Matthew Henry, Hippocrates, Kamasi Washington, Bjork
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Storm warning: songs about natural disasters and climate events

September 14, 2017 Peter Kimpton
Image of Hurricane Patricia (2015) which, off the Pacific coast of Mexico, reached speeds of 345 km/h (215 mph)

Image of Hurricane Patricia (2015) which, off the Pacific coast of Mexico, reached speeds of 345 km/h (215 mph)

Hurricanes, tornados, tidal waves, floods, blizzards, earthquakes to volcanoes, whether about actual events or in metaphor, it's time to batten down the hatches, put out the sandbags and face the music

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Tags Songs, storms, hurricanes, wildfires, volcanos, natural disasters, climate change, meteorology, weather, Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans, Treme, television, television news, media, Dolly Parton, Laurence Olivier, Scott Kelly, waves, tsunamis, art, George Gissing, Bob Dylan, Lena Horne, storm chasing, Twister, film, The Wizard of Oz, George W Bush, Donald Trump, climate change denial, Paris Climate Agreement, David Simon, Villagers, Koch brothers, Sir David Attenborough, Pompeii, St Helens, Iceland, geology, Krakatoa, Walt Disney, Jimmy Buffett
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To reflect on life's passing: songs and music to play at funerals

July 6, 2017 Peter Kimpton
New Orleans jazz can lead a funeral into sombre or upbeat moods

New Orleans jazz can lead a funeral into sombre or upbeat moods

What might be played at yours? The tranquil and reflective? Songs humorous, loud, brash or celebratory? Lyrics personal or universal? This week we create a cultural range as much for those present as the departed

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Tags songs, funerals, death, New Orleans, jazz, Stan Laurel, Ronnie Barker, Brian Blessed, Mark Twain, Frank McCourt, books, Rick Wakeman, Philippines, Ghana, Jessica Mitford, Steve Earle, Bjork, BB King, Mozart, Frédéric Chopin, Fred Astaire
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Who's got the funk? Prince, Parliament and more – elect your favourites

April 20, 2017 Peter Kimpton
Prince, Godfather and King. Three funky greats, among others …

Prince, Godfather and King. Three funky greats, among others …

To commemorate a year since the passing of the Purple One, let's get into the groove to find out what funk is all about, with fat, sexy bass lines, and rhythmic, syncopated riffs running through the body

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Tags songs, funk, Prince, James Brown, Michael Jackson, Bootsy Collins, Parliament, George Clinton, Sly & The Family Stone, The Time, Afrika Bambaataa, jazz, hip hop, Missy Elliott, The Smiths, Talking Heads, Chk Chk Chk, !!!, Yellow Magic Orchestra, Kraftwerk, Led Zeppelin, Robert Plant, Johnny Marr, Stevie Wonder, Zapp Band, Zapp & Roger, Chaka Khan, Rufus, Lyn Collins, Professor Longhair, New Orleans, Dr John, Living Colour, Minneapolis, Chaka Kahn, King Krule, Fela Kuti, Tony Allen, Jah Wobble, Beyonce, Digital Underground, Lenny Kravitz, The Pop Group, A Certain Ratio, 23 Skidoo, Cabaret Voltaire
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DRINK OF THE WEEK

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SNACK OF THE WEEK

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New Albums …

Featured
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
Celeste - Woman of Faces.jpg
Nov 15, 2025
Celeste: Woman of Faces
Nov 15, 2025

New album: The outstanding British singer returns, a long four years after her acclaimed debut Not Your Muse, with a classy, passionate set of nine, simmering, smoky, rippling dramatic, timeless numbers in which her vocal prowess is magnificently on show on songs playing on the theme of self and identity

Nov 15, 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
Cardinals band.jpeg
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
Frank-Popp-Ensemble and Paul Weller.jpeg
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
These New Puritans brothers.jpg
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
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
Fennec fox 2.jpeg
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
Narrowboat.jpeg
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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