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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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Playlists: songs about the Devil, Satan, Lucifer …

October 31, 2018 Peter Kimpton
Hellishly good

Hellishly good

Drumming to drones, strange sounds are coming out the Song Bar stereo this week. Is in the Devil’s work? Not quite, but this week’s guest takeitawayGuru, inspired by your nominations, has got devilishly good lists

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In blues, country, dance, electronica, folk, metal, jazz, music, playlists, pop, postpunk, prog, punk, rock, songs, soul Tags Songs, playlists, Devil, Satan, Lucifer, Cozy Powell, Zeal & Ardor, Van Halen, INXS, Blues Pills, Band of Skulls, Florence and the Machine, Austin Lucas, Buddy Guy, Beck, Drive-By Truckers, Chris De Burgh, Deepset, Iron Maiden, The Civil Wars, Wayne Shorter, Charlie Daniels Band, Frank Zappa
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Just for the hell of it: songs about the Devil, Satan, Lucifer …

October 25, 2018 Peter Kimpton
The Devil does his thing in Tenacious D

The Devil does his thing in Tenacious D

Who’s your devil in disguise? Who has all he best tunes? This week, in a fun week leading up to Halloween, let’s explore songs that mention, in whatever form, the Devil, Satan and any other names he takes

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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, traditional, soundtracks Tags Songs, playlists, Devil, Satan, Oscar Wilde, George Harrison, Tom Waits, William Shakespeare, Goethe, George Whitfield, Little Richard, film, Ben Wheatley, Devil's Elbow, Niccolò Paganini, Robert Johnson, David Bowie, Henry Fielding, Gary Busey, Marilyn Manson, Aleister Crowley, Robert Louis Stevenson, Debbie Harry, Blondie, C.S. Lewis, Milton, Buckethead, Hieronymous Bosch, Emo Philips, Mercedes McCambridge, The Exorcist, Martin Luther, Thomas Moore, William Blake, Charles Baudelaire
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Playlists: songs about equality

October 24, 2018 Peter Kimpton
Martin Luther King, 28 August 1963

Martin Luther King, 28 August 1963

Conflict to the Equals, Peggy Seeger to the Pointer Sisters, Kamasi Washington to John Coltrane, this week’s playlists chosen by guest pejepeine from a wonderful week of egalitarian-spirited nominations, are a dream come true

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In blues, country, dance, disco, dub, electronica, folk, hip hop, instrumentals, jazz, music, playlists, pop, punk, reggae, rock, songs, soul Tags Songs, playlists, equality, politics, society, Martin Luther King, Conflict, Yothu Yindi, The Equals, Boy George, Culture Club, Field Music, Robb Johnson, Bonnie Raitt, Peggy Seeger, John Coltrane, The Pointer Sisters, Pangaea, Kamasi Washington, The Au Pairs, Aretha Franklin, The Ting Tings, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Roots Manuva, Hugh Mundell, Eddie Cochran, Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, Jamila Lewis, Hurray for the Riff Raff, Johnny Cash, John Martyn, The Isley Brothers, Mr Fingers, pejepeine
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Stand up for your mics: songs about equality

October 18, 2018 Peter Kimpton
Peter Norman, Tommie Smith and John Carlos, 200m medal ceremony, Mexico 1968

Peter Norman, Tommie Smith and John Carlos, 200m medal ceremony, Mexico 1968

Whatever the platform, the genre or message, this week we’re exploring the issue of equality, if not being the same, from gender to race, politics to work, how to get and if it’s even possible, all through lyrics

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In blues, classical, country, dance, disco, dub, electronica, folk, gospel, indie, instrumentals, jazz, metal, music, musicals, playlists, pop, postpunk, prog, punk, reggae, rock, rocksteady, showtime, ska, songs, soul Tags Songs, playlists, equality, politics, gender, race issues, sport, Black Power salute 1968, Tommie Smith, Olympic Games, Mexico, John Carlos, Peter Norman, Kurt Vonnegut, Keith Richards, Malcolm X, Mahatma Gandhi, John le Carre, William Shakespeare, Mary Wollstonecraft, Bob Dylan, education, family, childhood, children, racism, Vietnam War, Muhammad Ali, Sam Cooke, James Brown, suffrage, suffragettes, Emmeline Pankhurst, Millicent Fawcett, Charlotte Manning, Donald Trump, Mike Pence, Ban Ki-moon, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Timothy Leary, William Golding, Socrates, Iris Murdoch, Pink, Peterloo Massacre, Manchester, Henry Hunt, Martin Luther King, John F Kennedy, Jimi Hendrix, Terry Eagleton, Friedrich Nietzsche, Harvey Milk, George Orwell, Winston Churchill, Waturu Watari, Honore de Balzac, Douglas Adams, Josh Homme
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Playlists: songs and music with harps, lyres or zithers

October 17, 2018 Peter Kimpton
Alice Coltrane

Alice Coltrane

Harp on? This week’s guest guru magicman argues it’s really best to just let the music speak for itself, especially when it comes to two playlists of exquisite sounds plucked and stroked those many strings

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In classical, dance, electronica, folk, instrumentals, jazz, indie, hip hop, music, playlists, pop, rock, songs, soul, traditional Tags Songs, playlists, harp, zither, lyre, Sarah Deere-Jones, Alice Coltrane, Lila Downs, Zeena Parkins, Joanna Newsom, Brandy & Monica, Dorothy Ashby, Agnes Obel, Sona Jobarteh, Cat Power, Claude Debussy, Joni Mitchell, Inez & Charles Foxx, Stevie Wonder, Edmar Castaneda, Harpo Marx, DnA: Delyth and Angharad Jenkins, Andreas Vollenweider, Ketama, Toumani Diabate, Jose Soto, Catatonia, Philip Glass, Lucinda Belle Orchestra, The Carter Family, Kasumi Watanabe, John Zorn, The Gnostic Trio, Dizzee Rascal, Florence and the Machine, magicman
Comment

Pluck up courage: songs and music with harps, lyres and zithers

October 11, 2018 Peter Kimpton
Harpo’s serious moments …

Harpo’s serious moments …

From the serenity and complexity of fingers sweeping strings to the twanging of the Jew’s harp, from the lyricism of the lyre to the zing of the zither, let’s stretch out with suggestions featuring these instruments

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In blues, classical, comedy, country, dance, disco, dub, electronica, folk, gospel, hip hop, indie, instrumentals, jazz, music, playlists, pop, postpunk, prog, punk, reggae, rocksteady, rock, songs, soul, soundtracks Tags Songs, playlists, harp, zither, lyre, Harpo Marx, George RR Martin, Alfred Lord Tennyson, Igor Stravinsky, William Billings, Petrarch, poetry, John Lydon, Dorothy Ashby, Bill Withers, Stevie Wonder, Derek Bell, The Chieftains, Bjork, The Beatles, Zeena Perkins, Joanna Newsom, William Butler Yeats, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Thomas Moore, Henry Longfellow, Marx Brothers, PJ Harvey, Orson Welles, Anton Zaras, Johann Albrechtsberger, Beethoven, Uutai, The Who
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Going for a song: lyrics using idioms, common phrases and expressions

October 4, 2018 Peter Kimpton
Does this raise or lower the bar …?

Does this raise or lower the bar …?

Feeling on song? They may be derived from literature, media or historic, regular usage, but this week we’re looking how common phrases can jump out at you in lyrics, and ideally are used creatively or cleverly

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In blues, classical, comedy, country, dance, disco, dub, electronica, folk, gospel, hip hop, indie, jazz, metal, music, musical hall, musicals, playlists, pop, postpunk, prog, punk, reggae, rock, showtime, ska, songs, soul Tags Songs, playlists, language, idioms, William Shakespeare, Shakespeare, film, Music, Homer, George Orwell, Yes Minister, Matt Groening, The Simpsons, Futurama, Walt Disney, Coen Brothers, David Coleman, sport, football, Bobby Moore, Glenn Hoddle, Stuart Pearce, Craig Brown, Rio Ferdinand, Kevin Keegan
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Playlists: songs about England … and the English

October 3, 2018 Peter Kimpton
Oh England … Kate Bush

Oh England … Kate Bush

This is England. It began with a journey on the A roads and B roads, but instead of taking a geographical journey, this week’s guest barbryn travelled to the heart of identity, ascending beautiful heights, led by the lark

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In blues, classical, comedy, country, dance, disco, dub, electronica, folk, hip hop, indie, instrumentals, jazz, music, playlists, pop, postpunk, prog, reggae, rock, punk, ska, songs, soul Tags Songs, playlists, England, society, social class, history, Vaughan Williams, Kate Bush, Max Wall, Luke Haines, Lowkey, Mai Khalil, Nerina Pallot, Mark Stewart & the Maffia, Babyshambles, Half Man Half Biscuit, The Clientele, Frank Turner, The Young 'Uns, Patty Duke, Kano, MC Lars, The Creepers, The Long Blondes, Darren Hayman, The Jellybottys, Billy Bragg, Billy Bragg and the Blokes, The Oysterband, PJ Harvey, George Butterworth, Dreadzone, Saint Etienne, Barbryn
Comment

Merry? Divided? Dreaming? It's songs about England

September 27, 2018 Peter Kimpton
England is dreaming? … Who? Keith, Roger, Pete and John

England is dreaming? … Who? Keith, Roger, Pete and John

Let’s take a musical trip around this strange, sceptr’d isle, this land of eccentric frontmen, this place of punk and flourishing fashion, to pick up lots of place names and perhaps also define the nature of being English

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In blues, classical, comedy, country, dance, disco, dub, electronica, folk, gospel, hip hop, indie, jazz, metal, music, musical hall, musicals, playlists, pop, postpunk, prog, punk, reggae, rock, rocksteady, showtime, ska, songs, soul Tags Songs, playlists, England, The Who, Napoleon Bonaparte, John Lydon, Beyonce, William Shakespeare, Shakespeare, Brexit, social class, sport, cricket, football, Bill Bryson, David Crystal, Pennine Way, Sex Pistols, Ian Brown, The Stone Roses, Naomi Campbell, fashion, Malcolm Gladwell, Pete Townshend, JK Rowling, Brian Eno, HG Wells, Otis Redding, H.P. Lovecraft, Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, Merchant-Ivory, film, television, Brideshead Revisited, Ken Loach, Monty Python, Eric Idle, WH Auden, Noam Chomsky, monarchy, royalty, revolution, English Civil War
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Playlists: songs about fractions and portions

September 26, 2018 Peter Kimpton
Creative halves: Two Kings In A Cipher - DOP (Deric Angelettie) and the Noble Ahmen-Ra (Ron Lawrence)

Creative halves: Two Kings In A Cipher - DOP (Deric Angelettie) and the Noble Ahmen-Ra (Ron Lawrence)

How do you separate so many great nominated songs into two playlists? This week’s guest, ParaMhor, divided and conquered hundreds of suggestions into two brilliant divisions, from Beatles to Steely Dan

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In blues, comedy, country, dance, disco, dub, electronica, folk, gospel, hip hop, indie, jazz, music, musicals, playlists, pop, postpunk, prog, punk, reggae, rock, ska, songs, soul, soundtracks Tags Songs, playlists, fractions, portions, The Beatles, George Harrison, Trash Can Sinatras, Rain Parade, Liza Minnelli, Definition of a King, Delaware, Mavis Staples, Memphis Slim, Willie Dixon, Billy Fury, Madeleine Peyroux, Robb Johnson, David Boulter, Stuart Staples, Kurt Wagner, Augustus Pablo, The Dominoes, Gary US Bonds, ZZ Hill, Alternative TV, Monty Python, Jack, Gene Pitney, OV Wright, Bella Hardy, Thin Lizzy, dEUS, Joe Gibbs & The Professionals, Steely Dan, Jeff Tweedy, Wilco, ParaMhor, Drop Nineteens, Two Kings In A Cipher
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Playlists: song lyrics with strange, rare or unlikely words

September 19, 2018 Peter Kimpton
The divine Joanna Newsom: diluvian shoulders to magnetic embrace, balletic and glacial, of bear’s insatiable shadow

The divine Joanna Newsom: diluvian shoulders to magnetic embrace, balletic and glacial, of bear’s insatiable shadow

From antirrhinums of Jake Thackray to the pretentious Pet Shop Boys to the hyperbolic hippopotamus of Sparks, this week’s guest EnglishOutlaw articulates wonderfully wordy playlists from last week’s topic

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In blues, comedy, country, dance, disco, electronica, folk, hip hop, indie, jazz, metal, music, playlists, pop, postpunk, prog, punk, rock, songs, soul Tags Songs, playlists, words, dictionary, Kirsty MacColl, Sparks, Oi Polloi, Pet Shop Boys, Momus, Frank Zappa, Ian Dury & The Blockheads, Jake Thackray, Organized Konfusion, Teenage Fanclub, Stevie Wonder, Joanna Newsom, Travelling Wilburys, The Gourds, The Divine Comedy, Mighty Sparrow, John Betjeman, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Lorde, Paul Kelly, Mose Allison, Vivian Stanshall, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Inkubus Sukkubus, Tyla J Pallas, EnglishOutlaw
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Playlists: songs about authenticity and fakery

September 12, 2018 Peter Kimpton
Bright Sparks. The very real Ron and Russell pose a few questions and have some of the answers

Bright Sparks. The very real Ron and Russell pose a few questions and have some of the answers

Got a problem? Sex and relationships? Work? Retail choices? All your questions will be answered by this week’s problem-solving guru Uncleben, who turns from agony uncle into ecstasy-inducing music playlister

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In blues, comedy, country, dance, disco, dub, electronica, folk, gospel, hip hop, indie, jazz, instrumentals, music, playlists, pop, postpunk, prog, punk, reggae, rock, ska, songs, soul Tags Songs, playlists, authenticity, forgery, fakery, fake news, sex, relationships, Sparks, Angelica, Jeffrey Lewis, Mischief Brew, Hole, Courtney Love, BIg Youth, The Hold Steady, Charles Mingus, Buzzcocks, Superorganism, The Strawbs, Big Star, Russell Morris, The Dramatics, Arctic Monkeys, Roxy Music, Lyle Lovett, Slapp Happy, The Bevis Frond, Rozetta Johnson, The Jigsaw Seen, Eric Matthews, Smashing Pumpkins, Curtis Mayfield, Geraldine Hunt, Coldcut, Roots Manuva, Roxanne Shanté, Pete Shelley, Theodor Adorno, philosophy, psychology, Uncleben
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The real thing? Songs about authenticity and fakery

September 6, 2018 Peter Kimpton
Genuine lip syncers Milli Vanilli

Genuine lip syncers Milli Vanilli

Being true to yourself or others to genuine article in objects, this week we’re seeking songs that, in lyrics, are about searching for authenticity, but might sometimes find the opposite from forgery to falsehood, bootleg to bullshit

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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 Tags Songs, playlists, authenticity, forgery, fake news, books, Film, media, art, Margery Williams, Toy Story, WH Auden, Bruce Chatwin, Robert Tonkinson, Australia, Aboriginal, Milli Vanilli, Muddy Waters, The Rolling Stones, blues, collectables, marketing, fashion, Thomas Hobbes, Coco Chanel, Eric Cantona, Carl Jung, Milan Kundera, Albert Camus, Jim Jarmusch, Jean-Luc Godard, David Bowie, Elmyr de Hory, Han van Meegeren, Robert Driessen, Peter Guber, George Cruikshank, The Hives
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Playlists: songs about brevity

September 5, 2018 Peter Kimpton
Not much time? Ari Up! The Slits

Not much time? Ari Up! The Slits

It only takes a minute (or a second) to click on this link, but once you do, your brief encounter with these pithy, witty playlists by guest picker Severin will make you linger on lyrical gems about love’s fast passing and much more

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In blues, country, dance, disco, dub, electronica, folk, gospel, hip hop, indie, jazz, music, playlists, pop, postpunk, prog, punk, reggae, rock, songs, soul Tags Songs, playlists, brevity, The Jam, Paul Weller, Connie Converse, The Slits, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Nick Cave, So Solid Crew, Nico, Doris Troy, Say Sue Me, Natacha Atlas, Tavares, Maddy Prior and the Girls, High Contrast, The Unthanks, Major Lance, Warlock, Fleetwood Mac, The Easybeats, Jazmine Sullivan, The Stranglers, The Zombies, The Cure, Madonna, Justin Timberlake, Timbaland, Whitey, Eddi Reader, Inner Life, Jocelyn Brown, Pink Floyd, Kuricorder Quartet, Severin, severin
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Time is short: songs about brevity

August 30, 2018 Peter Kimpton
Brief Encounter (1945)

Brief Encounter (1945)

Fleeting romance to brief encounters, the transient to the terse, the brusque to burnout, the concise or condensed, our time is limited on Earth, but there’s still enough to suggest songs on this universal subject

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In blues, classical, comedy, country, dance, disco, dub, electronica, folk, gospel, hip hop, indie, instrumentals, jazz, metal, music, musicals, postpunk, prog, punk, reggae, rock, rocksteady, showtime, ska, songs, soul, soundtracks Tags Songs, playlists, brevity, time, William Blake, John Dryden, Franklin D Roosevelt, Napoleon Bonaparte, John Cooper Clarke, Cicero, Louise Brooks, William Shakespeare, Hamlet, Muhammad Ali, Strickland Gillilan, poetry, Stephen Crane, Earnest Hemingway, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Oscar Wilde, Groucho Marx, Catherine The Great, Shirley Conran, Ahmed Mostafa, Benjamin Franklin, Ogden Nash, Bruce Bennett, Friedrich Nietzsche, Anton Chekhov, Elizabeth Bowen, Walter Savage Landor, Mick Jagger, Trevor Howard, Celia Johnson, Brief Encounter, Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Casablanca, Film, Mordecai Richler, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Bladerunner, The White Stripes, The Band
Comment

Playlists: songs about oddballs, outcasts and outsiders

August 29, 2018 Peter Kimpton
Bunny Wailer

Bunny Wailer

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

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

Shiny, shiny: songs about silver and other non-ferrous metals

August 16, 2018 Peter Kimpton
Sounds of silver …

Sounds of silver …

Leaving aside gold, steel and iron, let’s dig out songs that lyrically refer, in literal or metaphorical terms to the poetic or practical qualities of silver, copper, brass, tin, aluminium, tungsten, magnesium and much more

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In blues, classical, colours, country, dance, disco, dub, electronica, folk, gospel, hip hop, indie, instrumentals, jazz, metal, music, musicals, playlists, pop, postpunk, prog, punk, reggae, rock, rocksteady, ska, songs, soul, soundtracks Tags Songs, silver, non-ferrous metals, copper, brass, poetry, Walter de la Mare, P.T. Barnum, Glenn Gould, Joan Baez, Syd Barrett, Dave Hill, Slade, David Bowie, glam rock, periodic table, chemistry, Pink Floyd, Benjamin Franklin, Miles Davis
Comment

Playlists: 12-inch singles and remixes up to 1979

August 15, 2018 Peter Kimpton
Yowsah! Yowsah! Yowsah! It's Chic extending the dance, dance, dance …

Yowsah! Yowsah! Yowsah! It's Chic extending the dance, dance, dance …

Yowsah! Yowsah! Yowsah! This week your feet, 12 inches long or otherwise, will not be able to stop moving as guest playlister DiscoMonster extends an invitation to enjoy his pick of last week’s many great nominations

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In dance, electronica, playlists, pop, postpunk, reggae, rocksteady, songs, soul, dub, disco, punk, music, indie Tags Songs, playlists, 12-inch vinyl, disco, funk, dub, electronica, dance, The Jays, Ranking Trevor, Chic, Nile Rodgers, The Rolling Stones, Dennis Brown, Prince Mohammed, Joe Gibbs & The Professionals, Third World, Parliament, Sylvester, Elias Rahbani, Manu Dibango, Dinosaur, Israel Vibration, Suicide, Lipps Inc., Japan, The Motors, The Whispers, Black Harmony, Chicago, The Jacksons, Joe Simon, North End, Dr. Alimantado, Kiss, Jolly Brothers, Hamilton Bohannon, Loleatta Holloway, Yabby You & Trinity, Patti Labelle, Dillinger, Junior Murvin, Lee Scratch Perry, Television, DiscoMonster
Comment

Spread the groove: 12-inch singles and remixes up to 1979

August 9, 2018 Peter Kimpton
Disco, funk, punk, soul, postpunk, pop, and more were all being spun on 12-inch in the 70s …

Disco, funk, punk, soul, postpunk, pop, and more were all being spun on 12-inch in the 70s …

Dub and reggae, funk and disco, hip hop, punk postpunk, pop, electronica and more, this week let's span the 60s-70s period that gave birth to this format and spin favourite records it highlighted

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Tags Songs, playlists, 12-inch vinyl, singles, music production, Tom Moulton, New Order, Peter Hook, Factory Records, dub, King Tubby, Kool Herc, Jamaica, hip hop, James Brown, The Incredible Bongo Band, Babe Ruth, Swamp Dogg, Buddy Fite, The Trammps, Al Downing, South Shore, Donna Summer, Atlantic Records, Double Exposure, Bob Marley, The Clash, The Spinners, Hamilton Bohannon, Eddy Grant, Gorgio Moroder, Marvin Gaye, Sister Sledge, Michael Jackson, The Rolling Stones, Chic, Ja-kki, The Droids, Mathematiques Modernes, Erotic Drum Band, Cloud One, Yellow Magic Orchestra, Tumblack, Manu Dibango, Prince, Sylvester, Space
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New Albums …

Featured
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
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

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
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Dec 3, 2025
Song of the Day: Alewya - Night Drive (featuring Dagmawit Ameha)
Dec 3, 2025

Song of the Day: A sensual, stylish, dreamy electro-pop single by the striking British singer-songwriter, producer, multidisciplinary artist and model Alewya Demmisse, musically influenced by her rich Ethiopian-Egyptian heritage and early childhood upbringings in Saudi Arabia and Sudan

Dec 3, 2025
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Dec 2, 2025
Song of the Day: Radio Free Alice - Rule 31
Dec 2, 2025

Song of the Day: Stirring, passionate indie postpunk by the band based in Melbourne, Australia, with echoes of The Cure’s core sound, new wave, and 90s indie-rock influences, and out on Double Drummer

Dec 2, 2025
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Dec 1, 2025
Song of the Day: Sailor Honeymoon - Armchair
Dec 1, 2025

Song of the Day: Catchy, punchy, fuzz-guitar indie rock with a droll lyrical delivery and some echoes of Wet Leg come in this new single by the trio from Seoul, South Korea, out on Good Good Records

Dec 1, 2025
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Nov 30, 2025
Song of the Day: Ellie O'Neill - Bohemia
Nov 30, 2025

Song of the Day: A beautiful, poetic finger-picking debut folk single with a mystical, distantly stormy twist by the Dublin-based Irish singer-songwriter from County Meath, out now on St Itch Records

Nov 30, 2025
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Nov 29, 2025
Song of the Day: Danalogue - Sonic Hypnosis
Nov 29, 2025

Song of the Day: A full flavour of future-past with mesmeric, euphoric retro acid house and electronica in this new single by Daniel Leavers, producer and the founding member of The Comet Is Coming and Soccer96, out now on Castles In Space

Nov 29, 2025
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Nov 28, 2025
Song of the Day: Cardinals - Barbed Wire
Nov 28, 2025

Song of the Day: Another striking, passionate, punchy, catchy single by the Irish postpunk/indie-folk-rock band from Cork, heralding their upcoming debut album, Masquerade, out on 13 February via So Young Records

Nov 28, 2025
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Nov 27, 2025
Song of the Day: Frank Popp Ensemble (with Paul Weller) - Right Before My Eyes
Nov 27, 2025

Song of the Day: A strong, soaring, emotive, soulful release by the German artist co-written by British singer and former Jam frontman who here sings and plays guitar, the lyrics about witnessing the increasing injustices and demise of the world, out on Unique Records / Schubert Music Europe

Nov 27, 2025
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Nov 26, 2025
Song of the Day: Tessa Rose Jackson - Fear Bangs The Drum
Nov 26, 2025

Song of the Day: Using a musical metaphor, beautiful, crisply rhythmical, soaring piano and atmospheric indie-pop-folk about facing your fears by the Dutch/British singer-songwriter, heralding her forthcoming new album The Lighthouse, out on 23 January 2026 on Tiny Tiger Records

Nov 26, 2025
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
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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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