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Playlists: songs about underdogs

October 23, 2024 Peter Kimpton

Underdog under dog

From the financially underprivileged to the militarily outnumbered, sporting longshots to those barred by the race, from last week’s topic suggestions, guest Loud Atlas’ powerful picks show how the apparent minnows can become mighty

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In African, avant-garde, blues, classical, comedy, country, dance, disco, drone, dub, easy listening, electronica, exotica, experimental, folk, funk, gospel, hip hop, instrumentals, indie, jazz, krautrock, lounge, metal, music, musicals, playlists, pop, postpunk, prog, punk, psychedelia, reggae, rock, rocksteady, showtime, ska, songs, soul, soundtracks, traditional, trip hop Tags Sly & The Family Stone, Archie Roach, Blind Alfred, Jim Croce, Spoon, Johnny Horton, Bob Marley, Bob Marley & The Wailers, Allison Russell, Peter Sarstedt, Todd Duncan, Nat King Cole, Paul Robeson, Bill Conti, Keith Hampshire, Chumbawamba, Alicia Keys, Joe Walsh, Public Enemy, The Nashville Teens, Boomtown Rats, The Boomtown Rats, Pulp, The Clash, Guignol, Mischief Brew, Danny Kaye, Stornaway, Cast of Hamilton, Ren, Nick Drake, Liza Minnelli, Loud Atlas
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Playlists: songs with more questions than answers

September 28, 2022 Peter Kimpton

Bande à part: Roxy Music

Inspired by Jean-Luc Godard and the French New Wave cinema movement, music poses questions in all forms - in sound, form, structure, as well as lyrics. Picking from last week’s topic, guest playlister pejepeine has excellent answers by example

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In avant-garde, blues, classical, comedy, experimental, folk, funk, indie, instrumentals, jazz, music, musicals, playlists, pop, postpunk, prog, psychedelia, punk, hip hop, gospel, electronica, songs, rock, reggae, soul, soundtracks, traditional Tags songs, playlists, French New Wave, Jean-Luc Godard, Charlie Parker, Joao Gilberto, Annette Peacock, Paul Bley, Roxy Music, Gang of Four, Boards of Canada, Cat Stevens, Reeps One, Jefferson Airplane, Public Enemy, Rosalia, Stereolab, Mitsujibungaka, Diana Ross, Johnny Nash, Supertramp, The Grateful Dead, Les Paul, Mary Ford, Moloko, Wire, Stump, Barry Mann, Hortense Ellis, Jean Constantin, Film, film soundtrack, pejepeine
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A matter of degree: songs about higher education and graduation

May 5, 2022 Peter Kimpton

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

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

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

November 11, 2021 Peter Kimpton

Look no further. The greatest. Muhammad Ali

This week, from lyrical non-ironic self-proclamation to nuanced false narrators, a brimming edition of self-aggrandisement with a dash of arrogance, of big-headed and bombastic braggadocio, of cockiness, conceited crowing and crazed confidence, with a dollop of self-delusion …

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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, jazz, metal, music, musical hall, musicals, playlists, pop, postpunk, prog, punk, reggae, rock, rocksteady, showtime Tags songs, playlists, boasting, bragging, narcissism, showing off, self-deceit, hyperbole, Muhammad Ali, Mae West, Mark Twain, Brian Clough, Diego Maradona, animal behaviour, Jane Austen, Samuel Johnson, George Cruikshank, satire, Kanye West, Donald Trump, Desert Island Discs, Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Englebert Humperdinck, Flavor Flav, Public Enemy, Lauryn Hill, Taylor Swift, Lady Gaga, Britney Spears, Bobby Brown, Mick Jagger, The Rolling Stones, Film, Lil Wayne, Justin Bieber, Steve Coogan, Alan Partridge, Arturo Gatti, The 1948 Show, Tim Brooke-Taylor, John Cleese, Graham Chapman, Marty Feldman, Mike Royko, Hollywood, Paris, Julian Barnes, Ralph Waldo Emerson, A.A. Milne, Hunter S. Thompson, Bertrand Russell
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Playlists: songs about the rhythm, beat or boogie

August 26, 2020 Peter Kimpton
Grace Jones swings it …

Grace Jones swings it …

Three keywords that have inspired legions of songs from disco to reggae, pop to hip hop, blues to rock and more. Guest AmyLee compiles a sequence of brilliant beating heart playlists that refer to them all from huge wave of nominations

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In African, blues, dance, country, disco, dub, electronica, experimental, funk, gospel, hip hop, indie, instrumentals, jazz, music, playlists, pop, postpunk, prog, rock, reggae, punk, ska, songs, soul, soundtracks, traditional Tags songs, playlists, rhythm, beat, boogie, The Go-Go's, Blur, Van Der Graaf Generator, Mott The Hoople, Serge Gainsbourg, Madonna, DeBarge, Us3, Peter Broggs, Grace Jones, A Tribe Called Quest, Bomb The Bass, The Rolling Stones, Kool & The Gang, John Lee Hooker, Sonny and Cher, Stone Poneys, The Happenings, The Cascades, Mark Kozelek, Slapp Happy, Electronic, The Cro-Magnons, A.D.O.R., Salt-N-Pepa, Public Enemy, Mantronix, The Slits, Betty Davis, Willie Mitchell, Major Lance, Thin Lizzy, Little Feat, Happy Mondays, Lou Reed, The Clash, Parliament, King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, AmyLee
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Playlists: songs about or inspiring motivation

January 8, 2020 Peter Kimpton
Chuck Brown and The Soul Searchers

Chuck Brown and The Soul Searchers

A funktastic, upside perspective set of playlists chosen by guest DJ Bear from hundreds of nominations by readers sets the new year of 2020 where it needs to be on the energetic, positive good foot

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In blues, country, dance, disco, folk, funk, gospel, hip hop, indie, jazz, metal, music, playlists, pop, rock, songs, traditional, soul Tags songs, playlists, motivation, Carole King, Peter Gabriel, Frankie Miller, The Soul Searchers, Chuck Brown, McFadden & Whitehead, Irene Cara, Matthew Wilder, The B52's, Vienna Teng, Sonic Boom 6, Nils Lofgren, Oysterband, Karine Polwart, Hot Lips Page, Sammy Davis Jr, Koko Taylor, Mitsura, Lloyd Michaels, The Pointer Sisters, The Staple Singers, Julia and Company, Johnny Kemp, Public Enemy, A Tribe Called Quest, Soul II Soul, Gabby Young and Other Animals, Boo Radleys, The Proclaimers, Twisted Sister, Survivor, Katy Perry, Fleetwood Mac, John Lennon, The Exciters, Beverly, The Isley Brothers, The Zombies, T Rex, Journey, Swing Out Sister, Abigail, Maria Bethânia, Gal Costa
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Come together: songs from supergroup albums

November 21, 2019 Peter Kimpton
Cream, with a heavy dose of Ginger

Cream, with a heavy dose of Ginger

Collaborations, surprising or predictable, are of what music is made. But this week’s topic focuses on artists from different, already successful acts who collaborate not only on one song or performance, but a whole LP or more

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In avant-garde, blues, classical, country, dance, disco, dub, electronica, experimental, folk, funk, gospel, hip hop, indie, instrumentals, jazz, metal, music, musical hall, musicals, playlists, pop, postpunk, prog, punk, reggae, rock, rocksteady, showtime, ska, songs, soul, soundtracks, traditional Tags songs, albums, supergroups, Cream, Ginger Baker, Jack Bruce, Eric Clapton, Blind Faith, Peter Frampton, Steve Winwood, Crosby Stills & Nash, Bad Company, Rio, Rainbow, The Traveling Wilburys, Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Jeff Lynne, Roy Orbison, Tom Petty, Them Crooked Vultures, Dave Grohl, Josh Homme, John Paul Jones, The Raconteurs, The Dead Weather, Jack White, The Good The Bad and the Queen, Damon Albarn, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, The Birthday Party, Gallon Drunk, The Highwomen, Brandi Carlile, Maren Morris, Amanda Shires, Natalie Hemby, Gorillaz, Chickenfoot, Joe Satriani, Van Halen, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Les Claypool's Bucket of Bernie Brains, Primus, Buckethead, Parliament, Funkadelic, LSD, Labrinth, Diplo, Sia, Oysterhead, The Police, Phish, Plastic Ono Band, Prophets of Rage, Rage Against The Machine, Public Enemy, Mike + The Mechanics, Genesis, Squeeze, Sad Café, Nevermen, Faith No More, TV On The Radio, cLOUDDEAD, Folkearth, Five Finger Death Punch, Alice Cooper, The Firm, McBusted, FFS, Franz Ferdinand, Sparks
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Out of this oeuvre? Songs and music that defy genre definition

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

Genres? What are they?

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

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

September 13, 2018 Peter Kimpton
Let’s dust off, or blow away the ‘oose’ of our vocabulary air some great words

Let’s dust off, or blow away the ‘oose’ of our vocabulary air some great words

This week let’s delve deep into the musical lexicon for instances where unusual, oddball, inappropriate, funny, pretentious, antiquated or obscure words jump out, sometimes working well, or otherwise

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In blues, classical, comedy, country, dance, disco, dub, electronica, folk, gospel, hip hop, indie, instrumentals, jazz, music, musical hall, musicals, playlists, pop, postpunk, prog, punk, reggae, rock, rocksteady, showtime, ska, songs, soul Tags songs, words, dictionary, language, playlists, lyrics, The Police, Sting, Public Enemy, Chuck D, NWA, Tim Rice, musicals, Blondie, Radiohead, Cole Porter, Tom Lehrer, Vivian Stanshall, They Might Be Giants, Led Zeppelin, Carly Simon
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Playlists: songs about conspiracy theories and paranoia

June 27, 2018 Peter Kimpton
The men from CIA? Fugs-style.

The men from CIA? Fugs-style.

Who are they? Where are they? And what are they doing? Are the answers in songs nominated? It’s time to burrow deep with our mystery guest playlister Deep Throat-Singer to see how the plot plays out …

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In blues, comedy, dance, electronica, folk, hip hop, indie, jazz, music, playlists, pop, postpunk, punk, rock, songs, soul Tags Songs, playlists, paranoia, conspiracy theories, CIA, The Dead Kennedys, The Fugs, Green Day, Rockwell, Garbage, Pearl Jam, Rubella Ballet, Michael Franti, Spearhead, Public Enemy, David Peel & Death, Johnny Bragg, Mojo Dixon and Skid Roper, Tom Waits, 10cc, Cheap Trick, Blink-182, M.I.A., Kraftwerk, Boomtown Rats, Robert Cray, The Testors, The Business, Dr. Alimantado, The Simpsons, Fleetwood Mac, Buffy The Vampire Slayer, television, drama, comedy, Deep Throat-Singer
Comment

Going once, going twice … playlists: songs about sales, selling and bargains

January 17, 2018 Peter Kimpton
Gone!

Gone!

Sold! Paddle at the ready, and waiting for the gavel to drop, this week's excellent guest playlister EnglishOutlaw takes on a musical journey through the auction house, watching other punters and bidding for with some fabulous songs

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In folk, hip hop, indie, music, playlists, metal, pop, punk, rock, songs, soul, country, blues Tags Songs, playlists, selling, bargains, auctions, Fugazi, Tom Waits, Bobby Bare, The Who, Junior Wells, The Velvet Underground, Conflict, Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, Public Enemy, Alan Jackson, Jake Thackray, John McCutcheon, Memphis Minne, Ronnie Spektor, Lambchop, The Mississippi Sheiks, The Streets, Loudon Wainwright III, The Saints, Antidote, The (International) Noise Conspiracy, Manic Street Preachers, Sammy Davis Jr, Weird Al Jankovic, Mischief Brew, EnglishOutlaw
Comment

Grand openings: great tracks to begin albums, mixtapes or radio shows

January 4, 2018 Peter Kimpton
It's a 2018 curtain raiser …

It's a 2018 curtain raiser …

Songs or instrumentals, suggest music that sets a tone, a pace, a mood or is a statement of intent, and makes a great start to an album, at the top of a radio show or any other work or event

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In playlists, music Tags Songs, playlists, opening tracks, Film, TV themes, television, radio, Bob Dylan, Paul Weller, The Jam, TS Eliot, Terry Pratchett, Pink Floyd, Rick Wakeman, AC/DC, Beyonce, Big John's Rock 'N' Roll Circus, The Grand Opening, John Roger Olsson, Kenny Everett, Barry Levinson, Good Morning Vietnam, Robin Williams, Adrian Cronauer, HBO, The Bee Gees, Saturday Night Fever, John Travolta, James Bond, Shirley Bassey, Adele, Dick Dale, Quentin Tarantino, Pulp Fiction, Martin Scorsese, Taxi Driver, Bernard Herrmann, Spike Lee, Do The Right Thing, Public Enemy, Rosie Perez, Roy Budd, Get Carter, Michael Caine, Harold and Maude, Cat Stevens
Comment

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
Comment

Playlists: songs about chance and coincidence

March 1, 2017 Peter Kimpton
Turning a final corner … George Michael

Turning a final corner … George Michael

Crossing The Streets and serendipity, to turning different corners with George Michael, this week's guest writer Maki takes his chance with not entirely random nominations to create inevitably perfect playlists 

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Tags songs, playlists, chance, coincidence, The Streets, Peter Hammill, Dory Previn, Barenaked Ladies, Jake Thackray, Lise Hvoslef, George Michael, Liza Minnelli, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Public Enemy, Paris, Big Country, Megson, Al Stewart, Silver Jews, dBs, John Martyn, Momoiro Clover Z, The Grateful Dead, Guy Clark, Brother to Brother, Funkadelic, Johnny Thunders & The Heartbreakers, Strangelove, I Am Kloot, U2, Maki, Bill Bryson
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Playlists: songs about fear

October 19, 2016 Peter Kimpton

A shivering Shivaree to the phobias of Jasmine Sullivan, Public Enemy's politics to Kate Bush running, this week's lists by guest writer DiscoMonster will shake you awake

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Tags songs, DiscoMonster, fear, psychology, Shivaree, REM, Doves, Luke Vibert, Jazmine Sullivan, John Cale, Kate Bush, µ Ziq, Split Enz, Sonic Youth, Public Enemy, John Williams, Lisa Germano, Soulsavers, Linton Kwesi Johnson, Tom Robinson, The Originals, David Bowie, Thomas Dolby, Drive-By Truckers, Anthony and the Johnsons, Iron Maiden, Zounds, Ultravox, Artie Shaw, Apoptygma Berzerk, Rotterdam Terror Corps, White Lies, The Fall, Boo Radleys, The Flaming Lips, The Bodines
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Suggest: songs about fighting

June 9, 2016 Peter Kimpton
Poetry in motion ...

Poetry in motion ...

Boxing to street brawling, wrestling to karate or kung fu, Muhammad Ali to Bruce Lee to Big Daddy, throw your musical martial arts skills into the ring by suggesting songs on this subject

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Tags Songs, fighting, boxing, martial arts, Muhammad Ali, George Foreman, James Brown, BB King, Miriam Makeba, Bill Withers, Celia Cruz, The Sugarhill Gang, LL Cool J, Public Enemy, Fugees, Wu-Tang Clan, hip hop, jazz, Joe Frazier, David Beckham, George Carlin, Joe Louis, Mike Tyson, Roberto Duran, Sonny Liston, Sugar Ray Leonard, Bruce Lee, Muay Thai, Brazil, capoeira, wrestling, Big Daddy, Giant Haystacks, Kendo Nagasaki, Luke Haines
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Sing out, act on CLIMATE CHANGE

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CONDEMN RACISM, EMBRACE EQUALITY


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DRINK OF THE WEEK

Napue dark gin


SNACK OF THE WEEK

crudités platter


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
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
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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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