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Hook into: great riffs of the 21st century

January 29, 2026 Peter Kimpton

It might start with the fingers, but your ears will tell you what makes a great riff

A term coined in the early the 20th century, often played on guitar but also on piano and other instruments, this core, repetitive musical phrase could be even more memorable and catchy than the sung melody. But what riffs have you humming from the last 25 years?

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Playlists: songs about very specific or obscure numbers

October 15, 2025 Peter Kimpton

Doctor Steel and his robot band

How does it all add up? Is there any logic to it. There are thousands of songs that include numbers, but what about the very specific ones? Inspired by last week’s topic, see how it all took shape in this alternative Fibonacci sequence

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Playlists: songs about darkness

July 29, 2025 Peter Kimpton

Facing the dark: Find out who below …

Death, fear, the unknown, but most of all affecting beauty - darkness brings a breadth of scenarios and emotions, all brought to light by guest of the week ParaMhor with powerful picked lists inspired by last week’s theme

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Playlists: songs about chains

June 18, 2025 Peter Kimpton

Unchained vocals: Big Mama Thornton

Shackled or bound by love’s emotions, our DNA or the constraints of body or mind in and out of slavery or imprisonment, guest of the week MussoliniHeadkick finds all the right links to pull listeners in

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Playlists: songs about absurdity and absurdism

March 11, 2025 Peter Kimpton

Players enter. But where’s the Wurlitzer …?

Strange goings on and off occur this week as the curtain opens for a theatrical absurdity featuring cast of random characters including this week’s guest guru, Loud Atlas, inspired by last week’s topic and Samuel Beckett. Fish. Wurlitzer. Balloon.

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Enter with: songs about tickets, passes and invitations

January 16, 2025 Peter Kimpton

Paper trail or older entrance …

Cultural events to sport, travel, parties or imagined prizes in lotteries, whether as literal or as metaphor in lyrics, it's all about those bits of real or virtual paper allowing access. Where will yours get you?

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Playlists: where album tracks are better than singles versions

October 9, 2024 Peter Kimpton

Funkadelic: forever expansive

They're almost alway more expansive than the 7-inch versions, and this week guest DiscoMonster chooses albums cuts is simply far more satisfying experience, musically and lyrically, inspired by last week's topic

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In disco, dance, experimental, funk, indie, hip hop, jazz, music, playlists, pop, postpunk, punk, psychedelia, prog, rock, songs, soul Tags playlists, albums, Curtis Mayfield, The Doors, Malo, Santana, David Bowie, Buffalo Springfield, Redbone, Funkadelic, Isaac Hayes, Dexys Midnight Runners, The Stranglers, Japan, DiscoMonster, The Cure, Pet Shop Boys, The Human League, Saint Etienne, Wamdue Project, Brothers Johnson, war, Chambers Brothers, Blue Oyster Cult, Frankie Goes To Hollywood
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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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Kiss and makeup: songs about cosmetics

September 5, 2024 Peter Kimpton

Just a little heavy on the foundation, fellas?

Lipstick to mascara, eyeshadow to foundation, music stars have always been putting on a performance persona mask. Cosmetics do strange things to us. In a narrative, they could leave traces of romantic encounters, make for a great vivid detail in lyrics, as well as an extended metaphor. So a rather different way this week, it's time to face the music …

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In African, avant-garde, blues, calypso, classical, colours, country, comedy, dance, drone, disco, 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 cosmetics, makeup, music, songs, playlists, Marilyn Monroe, Marilyn Manson, Coco Chanel, Helena Rubinstein, Nina Dobrev, Little Richard, Lady Gaga, Calvin Klein, Robert Smith, The Cure, theatre, fashion, Film, relationships, Lillie Langtry, Joan Crawford, Suzi Quatro, Kiss, The New York Dolls, David Bowie, Peter Gabriel, Ghost, Mimi Choi
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Playlists: songs about jumping

March 6, 2024 Peter Kimpton

This joint is jumping …

There are many reasons to leave the ground spontaneously, such as for dancing, sex and relationships, but also more darkly - suicide. But inspired by the many leap of musical imagination from last week’s topic, guest pejepeine’s playlists will have you jumping for joy

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What's left behind? Songs about legacy

August 17, 2023 Peter Kimpton

Honest legacy? Park (bench) your musical heritage here …

How will you leave it, or be left? It’s a profound idea to think of how we’ll be remembered, or forgotten, as material, ethereal and emotional remains, or what others might leave to us. So let’s widen our musical legacy with some more song ideas on this topic …

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How does it end? Songs with notable outros and codas

March 30, 2023 Peter Kimpton

What goes around …

The end has to come, but how, in an outro or coda, does a song or piece offer something different, original, unusual or memorable, musically or even lyrical form, a twist, a mood change, upbeat, downbeat or even a sense of unresolved mystery?

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Playlists: songs about butterflies and moths

March 15, 2023 Peter Kimpton

This week’s topic attracted a rainbow range of music and lyrics

Multi-coloured and international, from caterpillars to these winged insects in their full glory and the beauty, tragedy and majesty that they represent, all are captured in beautiful playlists gathered by guest Severin from last week’s topic

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Playlists: songs and music featuring the double bass

August 23, 2022 Peter Kimpton

Esperanza Spalding

Supportive thrum, steady walking or free-flowing virtuosity, smooth or thumping, bowed or plucked, this big daddy of the stringed instruments is a beautiful beast, especially in these playlist plucked out by Loud Atlas from last week’s topic

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Playlists: songs about paradise

July 13, 2022 Peter Kimpton

Lost Horizon (1937), based on James Hilton’s 1933 novel

Heaven can wait, so they say, but there’s no longer a need, but a musical utopia is here in a fabulous collection of playlists picked by guest of the week Nicko, taking us to a better place and inspired by last week’s topic

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Playlists: songs about tomorrow

November 24, 2021 Peter Kimpton

She’ll wait, but it finally brings her turn: Rhiannon Giddens

When is it coming? When do you want it? Now? After waves of nominations, tomorrow comes in many parties and parts, in imagination, on the clock, in emotions, and more, in a mammoth collection of clever categories chosen by guest playlister Nicko

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Playlists: gothic, creepy, scary, horror-inspired songs

October 26, 2021 Peter Kimpton

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 …

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Playlists: songs about nothing

September 29, 2021 Peter Kimpton
Nothing is a hard to a-void

Nothing is a hard to a-void

Empty hearts and vacuums to voids, sweet nothings to total zeroes, last week we presented the Song Bar visitors a whole load of nothing, and led by guest playlister ParaMhor, who made perfect picks, it really turned into something …

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Playlists: songs about indifference

April 6, 2021 Peter Kimpton
Honey badger: ‘Yeah? And? So what?’

Honey badger: ‘Yeah? And? So what?’

As independent and tough as the honey badger, these playlists rise above any concerns. They don’t care what anyone else thinks. How come? They are brilliantly compiled by guest AmyLee, picked from hundreds of nominations

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In blues, country, dance, disco, electronica, experimental, folk, funk, gospel, indie, instrumentals, jazz, music, playlists, pop, postpunk, prog, punk, reggae, rock, songs, soul, traditional, soundtracks Tags songs, playlists, indifference, Irma Thomas, Frank Zappa, The Lyrics, The Byrds, Kirsty MacColl, Smokey Robinson, bread, Alison Krauss, Union Station, John Prine, Morrissey, Green Day, Nirvana, Sick On The Bus, The Stooges, Graham Parker, The Leisure Society, The Flaming Lips, Spiritualized, The Grateful Dead, Hank Mobley, Steely Dan, Candi Staton, George Jones, America, Elliott Smith, Velvet Underground, Belle & Sebastian, Snog, Fiona Apple, Dead Can Dance, Everything But The Girl, The Go-Betweens, Primitive Radio Gods, The Folk Implosion, Transvision Vamp, Liam Lynch's Lynchland, Chicago, Ten Years After, Courtney Barnett, The Cure, Sleaford Mods, Alternative TV, The Defects, The White Stripes, The Rolling Stones, Leonard Cohen, The Smiths, The Brian Jonestown Massacre, Anti-Nowhere League, AmyLee
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Playlists: songs about body language and gestures

March 2, 2021 Peter Kimpton
It’s no illusion: Imagination becomes reality at this week’s Song Bar body politic

It’s no illusion: Imagination becomes reality at this week’s Song Bar body politic

Affectionate punches to bootylicious body talk, blank expressions and other bodily connections, after waves of physical communication from Song Bar nominations, guest pejepeine’s big gesture is to pick perfect playlists

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In avant-garde, blues, disco, dub, experimental, funk, indie, jazz, music, pop, reggae, rock, rocksteady, ska, soul, songs, dance, playlists Tags songs, playlists, gestures, body language, psychology, Dionne Warwick, Hal David, Imagination, Destiny's Child, Françoise Hardy, The Associates, The Cure, The Temptations, Jens Lekman, Tim Buckley, Elastica, The Specials, John Holt, Gregory Isaacs, Johnny Kidd & The Pirates, Charles Mingus, Sarah Vaughan, Miles Davis, Brenton Wood, Solange Knowles, Barbara Lewis, Paramore, The Staple Singers, Patti Austin, Sault, Michael Kiwanuka, Andy Williams, Change, pejepeine
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DRINK OF THE WEEK

Prune juice


SNACK OF THE WEEK

celery sticks in guacamole dip


New Albums …

Featured
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
Gia Margaret - Singing.jpeg
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
Angel In Plainclothes by Angelo De Augustine.jpeg
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
Friko - Something Worth Waiting For album.jpeg
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
White Denim - 13.jpeg
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
Asili ya Mama by Hukwe Zawose Foundation.jpeg
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
They Might Be Giants - The World Is To Dig.jpeg
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
Eaves Wilder - Little Miss Sunshine.jpeg
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
Honey Dijon - The Nightlife.jpeg
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
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Apr 21, 2026
Tiga: HOTLIFE
Apr 21, 2026

New album: Montreal’s acclaimed electronica/techno/dance artist Tiga Sontag returns with his fourth album - inventively packed with head-nodding, toe-tapping, oddly itchy, infectious grooves, cleverly crafted retro sounds recalling Kraftwerk to acid house and electroclash, insistent bold beats and synth riffs, with lyrics of the existential, droll and surreal

Apr 21, 2026
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Apr 20, 2026
TOMORA: Come Closer
Apr 20, 2026

New album: A striking, dynamic collaboration between Norwegian experimental pop sensation Aurora and Tom Rowlands, one of half of Chemical Brothers, with a sensual, otherworldly energetic fusion of mystical, sensual ambience, and block-rocking dance beats

Apr 20, 2026
Jessie Ware - Superbloom.jpeg
Apr 20, 2026
Jessie Ware: Superbloom
Apr 20, 2026

New album: Following 2020’s What’s Your Pleasure? and 2023’s That! Feels Good!, as well as the successful food podcast Table Manners she hosts alongside her mother, the British pop singer continues to ride the 70s disco ball train, catering to the clever, kitsch and catchy with an ironic wink, adding also a luxuriant garden metaphor

Apr 20, 2026

new songs …

Featured
Bleachers - Everyone For Ten Minutes.jpeg
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
Alewya - Saleh.jpeg
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
Jim Ghedi - The Hungry Child single.jpeg
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
holybones with Baxter Dury - SLUGBOY.jpg
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
Beck - Ride Lonsome.jpeg
Apr 23, 2026
Song of the Day: Beck - Ride Lonesome
Apr 23, 2026

Song of the Day: Beautiful, simmering, slow, melancholy and reflective, a surprise single and welcome return by the acclaimed US artist, evoking the haunting, sun-bleached landscapes and musical textures of his 2015 Grammy winning album Morning Phase, out now on Iliad Records/Capitol Records

Apr 23, 2026
Gelli Haha - Klouds.jpeg
Apr 22, 2026
Song of the Day: Gelli Haha - Klouds Will Carry Me To Sleep
Apr 22, 2026

Song of the Day: Described appropriately as somewhere between Studio 42 and Area 51, eccentric, effervescent, spacey, catchy and eclectic disco pop by the Los Angeles artist (aka Angel Abaya, co-written with Sean Guerin) out on Innovative Leisure

Apr 22, 2026
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Apr 21, 2026
Song of the Day: LEENALCHI 이날치 - Here Comes That Crow 떴다 저 가마귀
Apr 21, 2026

Song of the Day: Wonderfully catchy, funky, psychedelic and quirky new work by the seven-piece Seoul-based Korean pansori band led by bassist Jang Young Gyu with the title track of their new EP, out on 12 June via Luaka Bop, and heralding a European and North American tour

Apr 21, 2026
Jesca Hoop - Big Storm.jpeg
Apr 20, 2026
Song of the Day: Jesca Hoop - Big Storm
Apr 20, 2026

Song of the Day: Catchy, quirky experimental indie folk-pop by the innovative Manchester-based California artist, featuring a clever video that old footage and Hoop in various vintage guises, heralding her upcoming album Long Wave Home, out on 1 May via Last Laugh / Republic of Music

Apr 20, 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
Undine - Novella.jpeg
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
Snail on a wall.jpeg
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
Swordfish.jpg
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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