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Playlists: songs about strategic and dangerous waters

April 1, 2026 Peter Kimpton

Spin the music: this week’s playlists pull in a swirl of superb stories

Yaaaaar, me hearties! Troubled waters to dire straits, the world is full of hazardous seas from bad weather to human folly and war. Inspired by last week’s topic nominations, guest Captain Marconius tells many a rich tale with his canticle pickings …

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In avant-garde, African, blues, calypso, classical, country, dance, drone, dub, easy listening, electronica, exotica, experimental, folk, funk, indie, instrumentals, jazz, krautrock, lounge, music, musicals, playlists, pop, postpunk, prog, psychedelia, punk, reggae, rhythm and blues, RnB, rock, rocksteady, samba, showtime, ska, songs, soul, soundtracks, traditional Tags songs, playlists, oceans, water, history, seafaring, The The, The Bee Gees, David King Bolger, The Tragically Hip, Fleetwood Mac, Beatnik Turtle, Ralph McTell, Paco de Lucia, Brand New, Mick Harvey, Amanda Acevedo, Gillian Welch, Alison Krauss, Emmylou Harris, Stan Rogers, The Unthanks, Gill Scott-Heron, Brian Jackson, Albany Shantymen, Neil Gaiman, The FourPlay String Quartet, Morphine, The Fisherman's Friends, Panssarijuna, The McCalmans, The Police, Corrie Folk Trio, Alfred Apaka, New Order, Nick Cave, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Vance Joy, Johnny Preston, Long Johns, Lionel Long, The Kilkennys, Alan Avon & The Toyshop, Enya, Radio Birdman, The Simpsons, Gentle Giant, Bristol's Hope, Frankie Paul, Cedric Myton & The Congos, Blind Willie Johnson, The Saints, Amelia Coburn, Peter Hammill, Gorky's Zygotic Mynci, Freddie Hubbard, Henry Jackson, Dirty Three, Inlay, Laura Estees, Sven Libaek, Weather Report, Avril Lavigne, The Evaporators, Marco den Ouden, Marconius
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Playlists: songs defined or redefined by television

November 27, 2024 Peter Kimpton

Are you watching? The musical and visual chemistry of Breaking Bad

Sometimes the visual and audible become inextricable. From nostalgia to drama, guest of the week Loud Atlas channels nominations from last week’s TV topic into playlists that are must-sees and required listening

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In avant-garde, blues, calypso, African, 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, rock, rocksteady, showtime, ska, songs, soul, soundtracks, traditional, trip hop Tags songs, playlists, television, television themes, The Blind Boys of Alabama, Blind Boys of Alabama, Tom Waits, The Wire, The Lightning Seeds, Match of the Day, REM, The Bear, Sven Libaek, Inner Space, Los Jaivas, television news, Irma Thomas, Black Mirror, Barry White, Linda Ronstadt, The Last of Us, Modern English, Stranger Things, Kate Bush, Vince Guaraldi, Fonola Band, Charlie Brown, Colin Hay, Scrubs, The Polyphonic Spree, Lemon Jelly, Spaced (TV series), Badfinger, Breaking Bad, Gioacchino Rossini, The Lone Ranger, The Ventures, Hawaii Five-O, Nick Cave, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Peaky Blinders, Cream, Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Alabama 3, The Sopranos, Delia Derbyshire, Doctor Who, The Decemberists, Manifest, The Cramps, Wednesday (TV series), Pérez Prado, advertising, Phil Collins, Booker T and the MGs, The Bee Gees, Baby Reindeer, Oasis, The Royle Family, John Willamson, Burke's Backyard, Blind Faith, 3 Body Problem, Gen Hoshino, Spy x Family, Nat King Cole, Fallout, CCS, Top of the Pops, Gabriel Fauré, Billy Walker, Lola Marsh, Beethoven, Nina Simone, Loud Atlas
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Playlists: songs that energise

November 20, 2024 Peter Kimpton

Go!: The Go! Team

It’s positive, infectious, subjective yet strangely magical in effect. Spread across the genres and inspired by last week’s topic, ParaMhor brings his superb selection of music that will brighten your day and put a spring in your step

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In African, calypso, blues, classical, comedy, country, dance, disco, easy listening, electronica, exotica, experimental, folk, funk, gospel, hip hop, indie, instrumentals, jazz, lounge, krautrock, music, playlists, pop, postpunk, prog, psychedelia, punk, reggae, rock, rocksteady, showtime, ska, songs, soul, soundtracks, traditional, trip hop Tags songs, playlists, energising songs, energy, The Cult, The Kinks, Jackson Sisters, Blondie, Big Star, Jesus & Mary Chain, Otis Redding, The Go! Team, The Associates, Robert Randolph and the Family Band, Mahlathini, The Mahotella Queens, Gong Gong Gong, Art Tatum, Bo Diddley, Lulu, The Jacksons, Roger and the Gypsies, Kanda Bongo Man, James Brown, Sote, The Fire Engines, Nice as Fuck, Amyl and the Sniffers, The Ruts, King Crimson, Sergei Prokofiev, The MVPs, The Bhundu Boys, Gonzalez, Suede, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Nick Cave, Keith Jarrett, ParaMhor
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Playlists: songs about bears

September 18, 2024 Peter Kimpton

Hello, what's that I hear? Songs about ...?

Teddys to Winnie The Pooh, Paddington to Rupert, grizzlies to polar bears, we've got the full range of soft, full and fierce for you as guest of the week Carpgate takes us from caves to woods and beyond, inspired by last week's topic

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In African, avant-garde, blues, calypso, comedy, country, dance, dub, drone, easy listening, electronica, experimental, folk, funk, indie, instrumentals, krautrock, metal, music, playlists, pop, postpunk, prog, punk, psychedelia, reggae, rock, rocksteady, ska, songs, soul, soundtracks, traditional Tags Anne Murray, Jackie Lee, Loggins and Messian, The Cure, Shel Silverstein, The Tragically Hip, David Allan Coe, Nick Cave, Warren Ellis, Corb Lund, Mudslide, A Camp, Christophe Maé, Youssou N'Dour, Paul Westerberg, Zebra, The Damned, Arctic Monkeys, Grauzone, The Stranglers, Future of the Left, Linton Kwesi Johnson, Sugaray Rayford, CW McCall, Tim Minchin, Blancmange, Nervous Nellie, Niños Mutantes, Tall Like Tyrion, The Mrs Ackroyd Band, Peter Gabriel, Yoko Ono, The Cosmic Dead, Dismal Abysmals, Bus Station Loonies, Peter and the Test Tube Babies, Carpgate
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Playlists: songs about the colour brown

September 4, 2024 Peter Kimpton

Howlin’ Wolf in his prime …

Tinted with the wrong associations and overshadowed by other colours, brown is heavily underrated. But it has a natural beauty and vast range, as shown by these perfect shade of playlists picked by guest Loud Atlas from last week's topic

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In African, avant-garde, blues, calypso, classical, colours, 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, rock, rocksteady, showtime, ska, songs, soul, soundtracks, traditional, trip hop Tags brown, colours, playlists, songs, Ken Nordine, Don Cherry, Howlin' Wolf, Jake Thackray, The Po' Ramblin' Boys, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Nick Cave, Glenn Miller, The Corries, Sonny Rollins, Milton Nascimento, D'Angelo, Billy Bragg, Van Morrison, Oscar Brown Jr, Stevie Wonder, Leon Bridges, Kaleidoscope (US), Guy Clark, Los Mocosos, The Purple Gang, Sam & Dave, Lil Hardin Armstrong, India Arie, Brad Paisley, Serge Gainsbourg, Slash, Shonen Knife, Heino, Loudon Wainwright III, Johnny Cash, Yussef Dayes, Tom Misch, Slim Gaillard, Mad Agnes, Loud Atlas
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Microphone closeness? Songs featuring crooners

April 4, 2024 Peter Kimpton

Tony Bennett and Amy Winehouse. But how many crooners are there in this photo?

This week it’s time to to get close to the microphone explore the evolution of crooning in the full range, the style, the technique, the good, bad and ugly, emotive, intimate and excellent, the creative, the cosy, and the cringeworthy, the sensitive and sentimental

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In blues, avant-garde, classical, comedy, funk, indie, jazz, musical hall, musicals, music, playlists, pop, soul, songs, soundtracks, traditional Tags crooning, songs, playlists, Tony Bennett, Amy Winehouse, Rudy Vallee, Vachel Lindsay, Frank Sinatra, Scott Walker, Panda Bear, Marc Bolan, Al Jolson, microphone, audio technology, "Whispering" Jack Smith, Frank Crumit, Gene Austin, Art Gillham, Jack LIttle, Lloyd Bacon, Film, film soundtrack, David Manners, Harry Frommermann, Willy Fritsch, Rudi Schuricke, Vic Reeves, Des O'Connor, Morecambe & Wise, television, standup comedy, Louis Armstrong, Dan Grissom, Nat King Cole, Chet Baker, João Gilberto, Harry Connick Jr, Jamie Cullum, Michael Buble, Big Crosby, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr, Bobby Darin, Marvin Gaye, Elvis Presley, Eddie Vedder, Tori Amos, Billie Eilish, Nina Simone, Nick Cave, Alex Turner, Arctic Monkeys, Richard Hawley
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Playlists: songs about pioneers

October 17, 2023 Peter Kimpton

Some of the groundbreaking cast of The Real Ambassadors, including Dave Brubeck and Louis Armstrong

Traversing not just wildernesses, this week’s topic celebrates those who found forms of new territory, land, sea, or space, to those who broke new ground in their specialist field. For these, guest of the week Marco den Ouden creates landmark playlists inspired by last week’s topic

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In African, avant-garde, blues, calypso, classical, comedy, country, dance, disco, electronica, experimental, folk, funk, gospel, hip hop, indie, instrumentals, jazz, krautrock, metal, music, musicals, playlists, pop, postpunk, psychedelia, prog, reggae, rock, songs, soul, soundtracks, showtime Tags pioneering, history, Horrible Histories, Elton John, Mark Knopfler, James Taylor, Klaus Badelt, Public Service Broadcasting, John Stewart, John Denver, The Sweet, Dominique Moore, Katie Melua, Daft Punk, Syran Mbenza, Ensemble Rumba Kongo, Dave Brubeck, Louis Armstrong, Lambert Hendricks & Ross, Split Enz, Roxette, Fess Parker, Ron Goodwin, Phil Lynott, Ani di Franco, Utah Phillips, Neil Young, Neil Young & Crazy Horse, Simple Minds, Procul Harum, Jon and Vangelis, Bruce Cockburn, Blakie & The Rodeo Kings, Jen Cloher, Paul McCartney, New Christy Minstrels, High Llamas, The Long Ryders, Nick Cave, Dion, Smokey Robinson, Gap Band, Stevie Wonder, Tapper Zukie, Etta James, Bob Dylan, Janis Martin, Chick Corea, Max Richter, Vangelis, Allan Holdsworth, REM, Bill Conti, London Symphony Orchestra, Laika and the Cosmonauts, Yuri Honing, Embryo, Charles Mingus, Miles Davis, Groove Collective, The Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger
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Playlists: songs about libraries

August 15, 2023 Peter Kimpton

Silence, knowledge, and lust - it’s all to be found in the library …

Objects of intellectual interest to persons of desire – it all goes on in the library. Picking from the shelves of last week’s nominations, guest playlister Loud Atlas presents a carefully crafted catalogue that captures the A-Zs of library’s social intrigue

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Look here! Songs about searching, seeking and quests

April 13, 2023 Peter Kimpton

Search engines … Monty Python and The Holy Grail. The low-budget classic film was variously funded by among others, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Jethro Tull's Ian Anderson, Charisma Records, and possibly Elton John

Love, food, shelter, identity, meaning? Rare vinyl? Most of our existence is about searching for something, but in what ways is this expressed in song lyrics? Here’s some other forms of inspiration and, after all, what is the true holy grail?

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In African, avant-garde, blues, calypso, classical, comedy, country, dance, disco, drone, dub, electronica, experimental, folk, funk, gospel, hip hop, indie, instrumentals, jazz, krautrock, metal, music, musical hall, musicals, playlists, pop, postpunk, prog, psychedelia, punk, reggae, rock, rocksteady, showtime, ska, songs, soul, soundtracks, traditional Tags Monty Python, Vincent Van Gogh, Jeanette Winterson, Donovan, Shannon L Adler, Isaac Asimov, Bernard Lovell, Jimmy Buffett, David Bowie, Werner Herzog, David Lowery, Juliette Binoche, Paulo Coelho, Kurt Vonnegut, Haruki Murakami, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Janis Joplin, Norman Cousins, Oscar Wilde, Joseph Rain, Quentin Crisp, lonely hearts ads, Bruce Springsteen, Guns 'n' Roses, Metallica, Pixies, Sparks, Russell Mael, Arvo Pärt, Viv Albertine, Nick Cave, Mary J Blige, television, Film, film soundtrack
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Playlists: songs that give you goosebumps

January 10, 2023 Peter Kimpton

The inner beast: Sinéad O’Connor

Was it the music, the voice, the lyrics, or all three? In a truly hair-raising (in the all the right ways) opener to 2023, guest playlister Maki creates two superbly shivery and inspiring lists from a wide choice of possibilities from last week’s topic

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In African, classical, drone, dub, experimental, folk, gospel, indie, jazz, playlists, pop, postpunk, punk, psychedelia, reggae, rock, songs, ska, soul, soundtracks, traditional, blues Tags songs, playlists, goosebumps, Lana Del Rey, Nick Cave, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Sevdaliza, Mozart, Marian Anderson, JS Bach, Jacques Brel, Ana Moura, David Essex, Sinead O'Connor, Hem, The Pretenders, The Clash, FKA Twigs, The Congos, Lucy Dacus, The Grimethorpe Colliery Band, Collage, Propaganda, Kathleen Battle, Wynton Marsalis, The Stranglers, Macy Gray, Maki
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Soft and sharp: songs about roses

May 20, 2021 Peter Kimpton
Red and white Rosa Osiria

Red and white Rosa Osiria

Romance, death, pain or beauty, petals or thorns? In titles or lyrics of song, literal or metaphor, as symbols or even as names, including also instrumentals, it’s time to gather musical blooms inspired by this particular flower

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In African, avant-garde, blues, calypso, classical, country, dance, disco, dub, 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, playlists, roses, flowers, botany, poetry, books, Film, television, art, Robert Burns, Henri Matisse, Syd Barrett, Matshona Dhliwayo, Oscar Levant, Ancient Greece, religion, Christianity, Wars of the Roses, Thin Lizzy, Joni Mitchell, Twin Peaks, Pan's Labyrinth, H.L. Mencken, Bernard Williams, Dale Carnegie, Arthur Miller, Jean Cocteau, Fidel Castro, Tina Charles, Charles Bradley, Johnny Mercer, Ellen Key, Emily Bronte, Daphne du Maurier, William Blake, WB Yeats, Ireland, Sylvia Plath, Kylie Minogue, Nick Cave
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Reflect back on this: meta songs

January 7, 2021 Peter Kimpton
Getting right into each other: ABBA

Getting right into each other: ABBA

Songs about themselves. Does this sound loopy? You’re right. It’s all about the self-referential to any aspect of a songs’s own music, structure, instruments, format, lyrics and more. Droste effect? Mirroring? It’s all about the song

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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, music, musical hall, musicals, playlists, pop, postpunk, prog, reggae, punk, rock, rocksteady, showtime, ska, songs, soul, soundtracks, traditional Tags songs, playlists, meta-songs, paradox, Rudolf Carnap, Douglas Hofstadter, Badly Drawn Boy, Nick Cave, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Public Image Limited, Carly Simon, James Taylor, Al Green, Jeffrey Lewis, Leonard Cohen, Elton John, Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band, Belle & Sebastian, The Beatles, OutKast, Matching Mole, heraldry, mise en abyme, art, Giotto, Jan Van Eyck, Jan Misset, brands, MC Escher, Film, Orson Welles, Woody Allen, Charlie Kaufman, Philip K Dick, Laurence Sterne, Russell Hoban, The Simpsons, Mandelbrot, Pink Floyd
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Notes on the new normal: songs about what is or isn't regular, typical or natural

November 26, 2020 Peter Kimpton
We’re normal … The Bonzos

We’re normal … The Bonzos

Regular? Standard? Stereotype? Average? Typical? Natural? What does normal mean, and how might it be explored in song lyrics? From people to behaviour, families to jobs to towns, and any other context, it’s all a matter of perspective

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In African, avant-garde, blues, calypso, classical, comedy, country, dance, disco, dub, electronica, experimental, folk, funk, gospel, hip hop, indie, jazz, metal, music, musical hall, musicals, playlists, pop, postpunk, prog, punk, reggae, rock, rocksteady, showtime, ska, songs, soul, soundtracks, traditional Tags songs, playlists, the new normal, normality, Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band, NIcki Minaj, Sigmund Freud, Jo Brand, Alejandro Jodorowsky, Mitch Hedberg, Star Trek, George Takei, Edward Furlong, Terminator, Arnold Schwarzenegger, The Addams Family, Grace Jones, Whoopi Goldberg, Tayla Parx, River Phoenix, Sia, Kate Bush, Nick Cave, Yo-Yo Ma, Lykke Li, George Herbert Mead, PJ O'Rourke, Roddy Doyle, Michel Foucault, Kevin Sorbo, Orson Welles, Rosa Parks, naturism, Glory Pearl, Glen Donnelly, The Slits
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Eureka! Songs about realisation, discovery and enlightenment

November 19, 2020 Peter Kimpton
Right place at the right time come into focus …

Right place at the right time come into focus …

Moments of realisation? From scientific to practical, physical, emotional, philosophical or spiritual, expressed in one lyrical line, one musical rush, or building slowly, and then suddenly and unexpectedly coming into focus in song

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Playlists: songs with non sequiturs

June 24, 2020 Peter Kimpton
Sparks are eating apparently nothing to do with what their song is about …

Sparks are eating apparently nothing to do with what their song is about …

From the witty to the weird, the irreverent to the irrelevant, the poetic to the potty, after a huge outpouring of nominations, guest playlister severin serves up a superb menu of cutting-edge and classic musical conundrums

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Playlists: songs about stars

April 1, 2020 Peter Kimpton
David Bowie of course. Star from start to finish.

David Bowie of course. Star from start to finish.

An astronomically huge topic resulting in a galaxy of nominations. This week’s guest playlister Amylee not only listened to them all, but turned them into a stellar set of songs spanning the musical universe

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Gently does it: songs about gentleness

February 13, 2020 Peter Kimpton
Koko and friend

Koko and friend

Soothing words, a light touch; holding baby, stroking an animal; lifting a fragile glass a measured, restrained response to tense moments, rage or violence; the soft caress of a light breeze across the eyelids, let’s gently let it out in song

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In African, avant-garde, blues, calypso, classical, comedy, country, dance, disco, dub, electronica, experimental, folk, funk, gospel, hip hop, indie, jazz, instrumentals, metal, music, playlists, musicals, pop, postpunk, prog, punk, reggae, rock, ska, songs, rocksteady, showtime, soul, traditional, soundtracks Tags songs, playlists, human behaviour, animals, animal behaviour, psychology, politics, Koko the gorilla, David Bowie, Dylan Thomas, James Dean, Saint Francis de Sales, William Shakespeare, Mahatma Gandhi, Hermann Hesse, Ian Brown, The Stone Roses, Joe Cocker, John Keats, Morrissey, The Smiths, Graeme Souness, Nick Cave, Aristotle, Coco Chanel, Honore de Balzac, George Herbert, Robert Browning, William Hazlitt, Friedrich Nietzsche, Mark Twain, Martin Farquhar Tupper, Charles Lamb, Charles Dickens, Haruki Murakami, Anne 'Ninon' de L'Enclos, Queen Elizabeth I, Judy Garland, Rene Zellweger, Abraham Lincoln, Charlie Chaplin
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Playlists: songs that reference nursery rhymes

February 12, 2020 Peter Kimpton
Nice guitar licks …

Nice guitar licks …

From Beautiful Pea Green Boat to Rockabye, they float up in a whole range song contexts and genres. Picking out perfect examples nominated in last week’s topic, guest playlister EnglishOutlaw takes us from innocence to experience

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Playlists: songs about nicknames and pseudonyms

January 15, 2020 Peter Kimpton
They call him … Otis Redding. But what other moniker does his emotional music inspire?

They call him … Otis Redding. But what other moniker does his emotional music inspire?

There are many, and they might come from a reputation for sexual prowess, musical style, behaviour or appearance. Whatever the sobriquet, or the source, we can certainly name the result: two fantastic playlists from this week’s guest writer Uncleben

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Playlists: songs about fixing, repairing and solving

January 9, 2019 Peter Kimpton
Heartstrings are harder to repair that guitars …

Heartstrings are harder to repair that guitars …

From gaffer and duct tape, housing to mending a broken heart, let’s repair towards fantastic playlists created by the handy skills of our guest treefrogdemon, who was inspired by a full toolkit of suggestions from last week’s topic

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DRINK OF THE WEEK

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New Albums …

Featured
OUTTANATIONAL by Pigeon.jpeg
May 5, 2026
Pigeon: OUTTANATIONAL
May 5, 2026

New album: Hugely enjoyable, stylish, playfully eclectic debut LP of indie, electronica and Afro-disco and krautrock grooves by the Margate band fronted by the multi-lingual artist Falle Nioke from Guinea Conakry, West Africa, with songs about identity and ancestry, and a sound somewhere between New Order and William Onyeabor

May 5, 2026
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May 3, 2026
KNEECAP: FENIAN
May 3, 2026

New album: Still the scourge of the establishment after 2024’s debut LP Fine Art, a hugely entertaining second LP of punchy, slick, defiant Irish Gaelic rap by Belfast’s Mo Chara and Móglaí Bap, and beatmaker DJ Próvaí, with an expanded sound aided by innovative producer Dan Carey and an appearance by Kae Tempest

May 3, 2026
Long Wave Home by Jesca Hoop.jpeg
May 2, 2026
Jesca Hoop: Long Wave Home
May 2, 2026

New album: Brilliantly inventive, eclectic, poetic, experimental folk and art-pop by the acclaimed Manchester-based Californian singer-songwriter and guitarist in her first self-produced album, variously about the end of relationships, life changes, technology’s social effects, Gaza victims and other contemporary issues with perhaps her finest yet

May 2, 2026
Sam Grassie - Where Two Hawks Fly.jpeg
Apr 29, 2026
Sam Grassie: Where Two Hawks Fly
Apr 29, 2026

New album: Beautiful debut LP by the London-based Glaswegian fingerstyle folk guitarist and singer-songwriter, with added saxophone, double bass, flute, clairsach and clarinet in a release of mostly the traditional, covers, sung or instrumental, and supported by the Bert Jansch Foundation

Apr 29, 2026
Irmin Schmidt - Requiem.jpeg
Apr 29, 2026
Irmin Schmidt: Requiem
Apr 29, 2026

New album: A strangely mesmeric, avant-garde and analogue-ambient, field recording-based experimental release by the last surviving founding member of experimental ‘krautrock’ band CAN, who, approaching the age of 89, has also written over 40 TV and film scores

Apr 29, 2026
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Apr 28, 2026
Gia Margaret: Singing
Apr 28, 2026

New album: Gently profound, and full of wondrous, mesmeric, slow, delicate experimental songs, this simple title has a powerful resonance – it is the Chicago artist’s first vocal album since 2018’s There’s Always Glimmer (there have been two instrumental LPs since), having suffered and recovered from a severe vocal injury, she returns with a delicate, candid, whispery but hauntingly beautiful delivery

Apr 28, 2026
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Apr 28, 2026
Angelo De Augustine: Angel in Plainclothes
Apr 28, 2026

New album: A beautiful, delicate fifth LP from the Los Angeles singer-songwriter, friend and collaborator with Sufjan Stevens with whom he shares a stylistic resemblance, here with themes on life's fragility, second chances, and picking up the pieces after an undiagnosed illness forced him to re-learn basic abilities

Apr 28, 2026
Carla dal Forno - Confession.jpeg
Apr 28, 2026
Carla dal Forno: Confession
Apr 28, 2026

New album: This lo-fi, darkly minimalist but also oddly candid fourth LP by the Australian, Castlemaine-based singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist centres on the conflicted, obsessive feelings about “a friendship that became emotionally charged in an unexpected way”, and “an album about closeness that arrives late and unexpectedly. About stability rubbing up against desire.”

Apr 28, 2026
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Apr 26, 2026
Friko: Something Worth Waiting For
Apr 26, 2026

New album: Passionate, powerful, dynamic indie rock in this sophomore LP by the Chicago-based quartet that gallops forwards with a driving momentum, some elements of early PJ Harvey and Radiohead, and is produced by John Congleton

Apr 26, 2026
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Apr 26, 2026
White Denim: 13
Apr 26, 2026

New album: This 13th LP in two decades by the Austin, Texas rock band fronted by James Petralli has a particularly mischievous experimentalism, spreading styles far beyond breathlessly paced prog rock, with wrily humorous, surreal, personal and passionate numbers across heavy funk, dub, soul, psyche, country, dirty blues and more, joined by host of outstanding extra musicians

Apr 26, 2026
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Apr 24, 2026
Hukwe Zawose Foundation: Asili ya Mama
Apr 24, 2026

New album: Wonderfully evocative field recordings release of Wagogo, Waluguru and Wasambaa Tanzanian women singing traditional songs in their villages, rarely heard outside of their own circles, the title is translated as The Origin of Mother, rich in stories and capturing the place where song is first learned, first felt, first shared

Apr 24, 2026
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Apr 23, 2026
They Might Be Giants - The World Is To Dig
Apr 23, 2026

New album: Four decades since their self-titled debut, Brooklyn alternative rockers John Flansburgh and John Linnell return with their 24th LP, packed with of punchy, pacy, wistful, whimsical, clever wordplay and indie rock-pop, buoyantly satirical and also a little world weary at times, they remain oddball, lively commentators on the ongoing absurdity of life

Apr 23, 2026
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Apr 22, 2026
Eaves Wilder: Little Miss Sunshine
Apr 22, 2026

New album: After 2023’s Hookey EP, a strong, passionate indie-dream-pop-shoegaze full debut by the London singer-songwriter, whose breathy voice intertwines with strong, stirring riffs and textured sounds, themed around cycles of nature aiming to explain and celebrate the mercurial nature of human emotional weather

Apr 22, 2026
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Apr 22, 2026
Honey Dijon: The Nightlife
Apr 22, 2026

New album: The irrepressible, prolific and charismatic London-based Chicago DJ, musician, producer and vinyl lover returns with a flamboyantly fun celebration of club and queer culture through the prism of dance music from disco to house, with a wide variety of guest vocalists

Apr 22, 2026

new songs …

Featured
Cowboy Mouth by Sophie Royer.jpeg
May 5, 2026
Song of the Day: Sofie Royer - Cowboy Mouth
May 5, 2026

Song of the Day: A catchy, cool, stylish fusion of indie and electro-pop by the classically trained, California-born, Vienna-based Iranian-Austrian artist, inspired by reading Patti Smith and Sam Shepard’s play of the same title, reimagining the play’s characters as Angel and Cowboy, and out now on Stones Throw Records

May 5, 2026
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May 4, 2026
Song of the Day: Hodge - Wiggler
May 4, 2026

Song of the Day: A hugely fun, energising, infectious, effervescent, repetitive electronic dance track by the Bristol-based DJ/producer (aka Jake Martin) featuring a 3D pipe bassline by Memotone, and released alongside another track,Trust, out on Local Action

May 4, 2026
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May 3, 2026
Song of the Day: Ibibio Sound Machine - Return To Sender
May 3, 2026

Song of the Day: Fizzing with vibrant energy and intricate rhythms, a fabulous new single with a personal accidental backstory by the London electronic afro-funk band out of London fronted by vocalist Eno Williams, out Merge Record

May 3, 2026
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May 2, 2026
Song of the Day: The Puppini Sisters - Total Eclipse of the Heart
May 2, 2026

Song of the Day: A fabulous new version of the Jim Steinman-penned 1983 Bonnie Tyler power pop hit, arranged by Marcello Puppini in an entirely different style for her swing-jazz trio and band, part of their 20th anniversary celebrations and album, The Birthday Party, out now on Millionaire Records

May 2, 2026
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May 1, 2026
Song of the Day: Bleachers - I'm Not Joking
May 1, 2026

Song of the Day: Featuring harpsichord, Hammond organ, Dobro and more, producer Jack Antonoff and his New Jersey rock band return with a heartfelt love song single heralding the upcoming album, Everyone For Ten Minutes, out on 22 May via Dirty Hit

May 1, 2026
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Apr 30, 2026
Song of the Day: Alewya - Selah
Apr 30, 2026

Song of the Day: Striking, stylishly agile electronica and dance with a rich African and Arabian influence by the London-based British singer-songwriter, producer, multidisciplinary artist and model Alewya Demmisse, heralding her upcoming album, Zero, out on 26 June via LDN Records

Apr 30, 2026
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Apr 29, 2026
Song of the Day: Metric - Crush Forever
Apr 29, 2026

Song of the Day: Uplifting, effervescent electro-disco-pop by the Toronto indie rock band, with a song vocalist/keyboardist Emily Haines describes as “my love letter to strong girls in this world”, taken from their recently released 10th album, Romanticize the Dive, out on Metric Music via Thirty Tigers

Apr 29, 2026
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Apr 28, 2026
Song of the Day: Jim Ghedi - The Hungry Child
Apr 28, 2026

Song of the Day: Dark, gripping, visceral folk by the Sheffield singer-songwriter, with a striking number based on an early 19th-century German poem about the fatal story of a child pleading for food, and, following last year’s acclaimed album, Wasteland, also out on Basin Rock, it heralds his upcoming soundtrack for the Hugh Jackman film, The Death of Robin Hood.

Apr 28, 2026
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Apr 27, 2026
Song of the Day: holybones (with Baxter Dury) - SLUGBOY
Apr 27, 2026

Song of the Day: Dark, unsettling, sleazy and strange, this is arrestingly vivid new collaborative single between the clandestine London electronic collective and the downbeat, deep-voiced poetic Londoner, out on Promised Land Recordings

Apr 27, 2026
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Apr 26, 2026
Song of the Day: Hand Habits - Good Person
Apr 26, 2026

Song of the Day: Gentle, droll, humorously self-deprecatingly, and also delicately beautiful, this new experimental folk single by the moniker of Los Angeles singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Meg Duffy addresses the love-hate relationship with making music, out on Fat Possum

Apr 26, 2026
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Apr 25, 2026
Song of the Day: Pigeon - Miami
Apr 25, 2026

Song of the Day: Catchy, sunny, upbeawt indie synth-pop with an African twist by the Margate band fronted by Falle Nioke, with flavours of William Onyeabor, Hot Chip and New York 70s disco, heralding their upcoming album OUTTANATIONAL, out on 1 May via Memphis Industries

Apr 25, 2026
Tricky - Out of Place.jpeg
Apr 24, 2026
Song of the Day: Tricky - Out of Place (featuring Marta Złakowska)
Apr 24, 2026

Song of the Day: A pulsating fusion of beats, orchestral strings and the Bristol trip-hop pioneer’s distinctive, deep, croaky voice, with an emotional reference to his daughter Mina Topley-Bird (1995–2019), and heralding his first solo album for six years, Different When It’s Silent, out on 17 June via False Idols

Apr 24, 2026

Word of the week

Featured
Song thrush 2.jpeg
Apr 23, 2026
Word of the week: throstle
Apr 23, 2026

Word of the week: An archaic, evocative noun with two connected meanings, originally for the song thrush, then later a textiles industrial frame for spinning, twisting and winding machine for cotton, wool, and other fibres simultaneously

Apr 23, 2026
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Apr 9, 2026
Word of the week: undine
Apr 9, 2026

Word of the week: It might sound like the act of abstaining from food, but this noun from derived from undina (Latin unda) meaning wave, refers to mythical, elemental beings associated with water, such as mermaids, and stemming from the alchemical writings of the 16th-century Swiss physician, alchemist and philosopher Paracelsus

Apr 9, 2026
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Mar 27, 2026
Word of the week: veena
Mar 27, 2026

Word of the week: This ornate, curvaceous, south Indian classical instrument, the saraswati veena, is a special bowl lute with a rich, resonant tone, has 24 copper frets with four playing strings and three drone strings, and is used for Carnatic music

Mar 27, 2026
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Mar 12, 2026
Word of the week: wallfish
Mar 12, 2026

Word of the week: It sounds like the singing finned picture ornament Big Mouth Billy Bass that became popular in the late 1990s, but this is a much older noun, derived in Somerset, England, pertains to the climbing gastropod that can slowly climb up any surface

Mar 12, 2026
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Feb 25, 2026
Word of the week: xiphias
Feb 25, 2026

Word of the week: Get the point? This is the scientific name for the swordfish, in full Xiphias gladius (from the Greek and Latin for sword), that extraordinary sea creature with the long, pointy bill. But what of it in song?

Feb 25, 2026
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