Your Custom Text Here
Fancy a lift? Taxi balloons and more, satirising the trend for ‘lofty projects’ by George Cruickshank, 1825
Floating escape and adventure to crashing tragedy, this inflatable movement can bring delight and disaster. Inspired by last week’s topic, guest pejepeine picks perfect playlists to lift spirits and transport the musical imagination
Read more
Heard it through … The Slits
A genre-jumping, globe-spanning musical adventure brings glorious reinterpretative entertainment as guest of the week Nilpferd presents playlists inspired by last week’s topic
Read more
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
Read more
Rogues’ gallery, some of the many …
Notorious, violent, controlling, paranoid, ruthless, and excessive, history is filled with them, their rise supported by the fear and apathy. Constantly a threat, from history to the present and future, what are their traits, and how are they portrayed in song?
Read more
Goblin: legendary Italian creators of the 1977 Suspiria soundtrack
After a marvellously monstrous nomination response to this topic, guest playlister Amylee picks out a huge house of horror to be enjoyed, from scary soundtracks to freaky folk traditional, zombie rock apocalypses to gruesome gore. The devil has all the best tunes …
Read more
John, Yoko and Paul. Compromise is a divisive but potent issue …
It’s all about the C-word in song, but does it strengthen or weaken us? Does it hold society together or kill artistic integrity? You can’t always get what you want, but can you give a little, take it a little? Can we work it out, or just do it my way?
Read more
Do your wurst: What could go horribly right? The Producers (1967) starring Gene Wilder and Zero Mostel
The brilliantly bad to the awesomely atrocious, whether in sound or lyrics, this week it's time to stretch the realms of musical and lyrical taste into the outer regions, and boldly go where we've never been before
Read more
Timeless melodies: a page from the Antikamnia Chemical Company’s Skeleton Calendar for 1901
When does The Fall come, is it in autumn or spring? And what and when might Brian Eno or Vashti Bunyan bring? All this and more as this week’s playlister Rachel Courtney aka uneasy listening gets creative with musical calendars
Read more
Scott Walker. Wave goodbye to any Manhattan meaning
Not a single song has anything to do with what it says on the tin. But after many wonderful wrongfooting nominations, brilliant guest playlister Olive Butler puts them in an entertaining form of order
Read more
How does Two Suns end up? Bat For Lashes is joined by Scott Walker
Where will it all end? With medicine, moonlight, sleep or a starship? All of these and much more, as our guest playlist writer ParaMhor picks two superb sets of conclusions to hundreds of nominated songs
Read more
Song post from space: a 1959 Romanian stamp depicts Laika the Soviet canine cosmonaut
Dogs, cats, foxes, trucks, museum relics, or lighthouses, this week's playlist writer barbryn hasn't just collected songs, but a supremely illuminating story of alternative voices and perspectives
Read more
Joan's not in love, but …
Madness to metaphor, the sacred to the profane, there are many ways to start a song. Inspired by last week's many nominations, guest writer severin creates two cleverly crafted playlists of examples
Read more
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
Read more
Feast your eyes on Screamin' Jay Hawkins
Fairy-tale dreams to strange train journeys, Visions of Johanna to Elvis Presley's lost Jesse, guest writer Severin takes us into weird and wonderful world inspired by last week's song nominations
Read more
Unit Delta Studio in 1966, set up by Delia Derbyshire of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop
From the dark, discordant and disturbing to the bright lights of virtuosity, this week's guru Flatfrog chooses playlists of cutting-edge creativity and evolutionary leap from your song suggestions
Read more