• Themes/Playlists
  • New Songs
  • Albums
  • Word!
  • Index
  • Donate!
  • Animals
  • About/FAQs
  • Contact
Menu

Song Bar

Street Address
City, State, Zip
Phone Number
Music, words, playlists

Your Custom Text Here

Song Bar

  • Themes/Playlists
  • New Songs
  • Albums
  • Word!
  • Index
  • Donate!
  • Animals
  • About/FAQs
  • Contact

Not quite as it seems: songs about tricksters, trickery and fakery

August 28, 2025 Peter Kimpton

Who the Puck? A 1629 depiction of the traditional English and Celtic trickster

It’s everywhere in the modern world, particularly in politics, but the dark arts of the trickster have been around in folklore and mythology for thousands of years, so a starting point, let’s back to go forward …

Read more
In African, avant-garde, blues, bossa nova, calypso, classical, comedy, country, dance, disco, drone, dub, easy listening, electronica, exotica, experimental, folk, funk, gospel, hip hop, indie, instrumentals, jazz, krautrock, lounge, metal, music, musical hall, musicals, playlists, pop, postpunk, prog, psychedelia, punk, reggae, RnB, rock, rocksteady, samba, showtime, ska, songs, soul, soundtracks, traditional, trip hop Tags tricksters, mythology, folklore, Lewis Hyde, Thomm Quakenbush, Byrd Gibbens, George Carlin, Terry Pratchett, Tom Robbins, Christopher Paolini, Seneca The Younger, Sun Tzu, Leonardo Da Vinci, Martin Farquhar Tupper, Robert Higgs, Bill Press, William Shakespeare, Shakespeare, Greek mythology, Norse mythology, Celtic mythology, indigenous culture, animals, Allen Ginsberg, Ken Kesey, Squeeze, OK Go, Michel Gondry, Rene Magritte, Salvador Dali, The White Stripes, Bonobo
Comment

Playlists: songs about hypnosis

June 10, 2025 Peter Kimpton

Counting down…

It’s in the eyes, but also now in the ears. From the spellbinding to the entrancing, the auto suggestive to the regressive, it’s time to subliminally enter the super spiral – this week’s countdown is by VikingChild, who will mesmerise you with playlists inspired by last week’s topic

Read more
In African, avant-garde, blues, classical, comedy, country, dance, disco, drone, dub, easy listening, electronica, exotica, experimental, folk, funk, gospel, hip hop, indie, instrumentals, jazz, krautrock, lounge, metal, music, musical hall, musicals, playlists, pop, postpunk, prog, psychedelia, punk, reggae, RnB, rock, rocksteady, ska, songs, showtime, soul, soundtracks, traditional, trip hop Tags songs, playlists, hypnosis, psychology, auto suggestion, Richard Feynman, The Flaming Lips, Ukelilli, Clan of Xymox, The Three O'Clock, Sterling Holloway, Angelina Jordan, Daevid Allan, La Rabbia, Girls Names, Workin' Man Noise Unit, Simple Minds, Dead Can Dance, Eivør Pálsdóttir, The Church, Jimi Tenor, Janelle Monae, Keith and Tex, Hypnotone, Lady Saw, Al Quick and the Masochists, Audioslave, Scritti Politti, Mark Stewart, The Blackheart Orchestra, The White Stripes, System of a Down, System Of A Down, Cabaret Voltaire, The Mighty Lemon Drops, Dream Police, Plimsouls, Linda Jones, Spacemen 3, Grace Jones, VikingChild
Comment

Playlists: songs about items bought in a hardware store

December 4, 2024 Peter Kimpton

The full works …

Need to nail down that job you’ve been putting of? Short of tools and other materials? Inspired by songs nominated from last week’s topic, guest TatankaYotanka has a superb musical shopping list and gets it all stylishly done

Read more
In African, avant-garde, blues, calypso, classical, comedy, country, dance, disco, drone, dub, easy listening, electronica, exotica, experimental, folk, funk, 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 Tags songs, playlists, tools, hardware stores, Weird Al Jankovic, The Heptones, Pete Seeger, Dave & Ansell Collins, Ambrose Slade, The Fall, Arrogant Worms, Nora Dean, Albert King, Einstürzende Neubauten, The Other Two, Stereolab, King Tubby, World Saxophone Quartet, The Soft Boys, The White Stripes, Alt-J, Moderat, fiona apple, Blink-182, Peter and the Test Tube Babies, Gilbert & Sullivan, Doyle Carte Opera Company, Leadbelly, The Breeders, Roky Erickson, Mudhoney, Fleetwood Mac, Spencer Davis Group, Bob Marley & The Wailers, Bob Marley, The Staple Singers, Sarah Blasko, The Go-Betweens, David Rudder, Sensational Alex Harvey Band, Van Der Graaf Generator, Perfect Giddimani, Peter Hammill, David Thomas, Two Pale Boys, The Gaylads, Leo Graham, Wilfred, The Legendary Pink Dots, TatankaYotanka
Comment

Playlists: songs about ice cream

August 7, 2024 Peter Kimpton

Serving now …

Seductive servings, unusual flavours, and mystery men and women. This week’s musical serving has got it all, packed with colours and innuendo, it’s a delicious combination put together by guest skilful scooper EnglishOutlaw from last week’s topic

Read more
In blues, avant-garde, calypso, comedy, country, dance, disco, easy listening, electronica, exotica, experimental, folk, funk, indie, instrumentals, jazz, music, playlists, pop, postpunk, prog, psychedelia, rock, reggae, songs, soul, traditional Tags ice cream, dessert, Metronomy, Louis Prima, The Bedroom Philosopher, Paolo Conte, Tom Waits, Lorraine Bowen, Raye, Holy Fuck, James Lee Stanley, Peter Tork, Kyary Pamyu Pamyu, Sarah McLachlan, Doris Day, Ellis Paul, Eliseo Román, Art Brut, Kelis, The White Stripes, Delta 5, Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Wilco, EnglishOutlaw
Comment

Olympic winners or losers? Songs about or featuring national anthems

July 25, 2024 Peter Kimpton

Allons enfants! It’s time for those anthems, but with a deeper look, as the Paris Olympics opens and celebrates its centenary

As the 2024 Paris Olympics opens, we examine the strange nature of the national anthem, for better or worse, not merely in versions thereof, but also songs and works which feature clips or renditions, or lyrically reference or talk about the concept itself even in more general terms

Read more
In African, avant-garde, blues, calypso, classical, comedy, country, dance, disco, drone, dub, easy listening, electronica, exotica, experimental, folk, funk, gospel, hip hop, indie, instrumentals, jazz, krautrock, lounge, metal, music, musical hall, musicals, playlists, pop, postpunk, prog, psychedelia, punk, reggae, rock, rocksteady, showtime, ska, songs, soul, soundtracks, traditional, trip hop Tags national anthems, songs, playlists, Paris, Ocean Vuong, Jimi Hendrix, Billy Connolly, Lana Del Rey, Lyle Lovett, Dave Barry, John Bull, BBC, La Marseillaise, Casablanca, Film, Jeremy Bentham, Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle, William Blake, Hubert Parry, The White Stripes, Jack White, New Zealand, Charlie Brooker, Black Mirror, John William Fenton, Japan, Yoshiisa Oku, Akimori Hayashi, South Africa, Nelson Mandela, Johnny Carson, Roseanne Barr, Hugh Jackman, Tommie Smith, Chris Hoy, Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, Giuseppi Verdi, Mozart
Comment

How childish! It's songs about immaturity

May 25, 2023 Peter Kimpton

Look back in Angus …

Knob gags and pranks to child savants, this week it’s about not growing up, the pros and cons that entails, from annoying, destructive self-centredness to touching naivety, lack of experience but also hunger to discover, playful creativity. Plenty of examples to inspire, but how is this expressed in song?

Read more
In African, avant-garde, blues, calypso, classical, colours, comedy, country, dance, disco, drone, dub, electronica, experimental, folk, funk, gospel, hip hop, indie, instrumentals, jazz, krautrock, metal, music, musical hall, musicals, playlists, pop, postpunk, prog, psychedelia, punk, reggae, rock, rocksteady, showtime, ska, songs, soul, soundtracks, traditional Tags songs, playlists, immaturity, adolescence, children, growing up, Jeff Buckley, Dave Barry, Ogden Nash, TS Eliot, Woody Allen, Jhonen Vasquez, John Kenneth Galbraith, Tom Standage, Immanuel Kant, Isaiah Berlin, Arnold J. Toynbee, Jean Piaget, Wilhelm Stekel, Erich Fromm, Georg Büchner, Germaine Greer, Tom Robbins, Vladimir Nabokov, Lise Sarfati, Anthony Burgess, Henry Purcell, Suzi Quatro, Gary Numan, Abba, Bjorn Ulvaus, Daryl Hall, The Spice Girls, Geri Halliwell, Ezra Furman, Jack White, Meg White, The White Stripes, Jack Wild, Film, musicals, The Simpsons, Mickey Rourke, Katharine Hepburn, Gene Wilder, Norman Wisdom, Spongebob Squarepants, South Park, Matt Stone, Monty Python
Comment

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 …

Read more
In African, avant-garde, blues, country, dance, disco, drone, electronica, dub, experimental, folk, funk, gospel, indie, instrumentals, jazz, metal, music, playlists, musicals, pop, postpunk, prog, punk, reggae, rock, rocksteady, showtime, ska, songs, soul, soundtracks, traditional Tags songs, playlists, horror, gothic, Film, film soundtrack, Goblin, Steeleye Span, Billie Eilish, Mirel Wagner, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Sonic Youth, The Cure, Slint, Las Limiñanas, The Smiths, Alice Donut, Utsu-P, The Pogues, Bruce Springsteen, The Doobie Brothers, Comus, The Herd, The Human League, Motorhead, Black Sabbath, Scott Walker, Artie Shaw, Nina Simone, Alice Cooper, Depeche Mode, Bauhaus, Cocteau Twins, Fields of the Nephalim, Sopor Aeternus, Carolanne Pegg, trees, Yoko Ono, Mogwai, The May Company, Sunny Day Real Estate, The Sleepy Jackson, Royal Trux, The Go-Betweens, The Naxalites, Ultimate Spinach, La Carniceros del Norte, Maria Theresa Vega, General Echo, Bob Marley & The Wailers, Frank Zappa, Royal Bangs, Tropical Trash, Kings of Leon, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Talking Heads, The White Stripes, AmyLee
Comment

Playlists: songs about playing cards

August 17, 2021 Peter Kimpton
Ace solos …

Ace solos …

What will be turned? High rollers to full houses, this week the deck, and the record player, is stacked with wonderful winners as guest George Boyland plays his hand from a selection of nominations from last week’s topic

Read more
In blues, avant-garde, country, dance, disco, dub, electronica, experimental, folk, funk, indie, music, musicals, playlists, pop, postpunk, prog, punk, reggae, rock, rocksteady, ska, songs, soul, soundtracks, traditional Tags songs, playing cards, games, The Cuban Brothers, Ronnie Lane, Slim Chance, Prefab Sprout, Ray Charles, Max Romeo, Etta James, The White Stripes, Little Feat, Stephen Stills, Bob Dylan, Bob Marley & The Wailers, Joni Mitchell, Offa Rex, Peter Hammill, Spirit, Boogie Down Productions, Anti-Nowhere League, Fairport Convention, And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Deadead, Sippie Wallace, Holly Golightly, Blind Willie McTell, XTC, Streetwalkers, George Boyland
Comment

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

Read more
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
Comment

Dynamic duos: songs with just two performers

November 12, 2020 Peter Kimpton
Fragile, insecure synchronicity. Simon & Garfunkel.

Fragile, insecure synchronicity. Simon & Garfunkel.

What makes for a great duo and how does is that dynamic expressed? Perfect balance of sound? Unspoken understanding and harmony? Symbiosis of roles? Contrast in character? Fragility, insecurity and tension? It’s time for two’s company …

Read more
In African, avant-garde, blues, calypso, classical, country, dance, disco, dub, electronica, experimental, folk, funk, hip hop, indie, instrumentals, jazz, music, musicals, playlists, pop, prog, punk, reggae, rock, songs, ska, soul, soundtracks, traditional Tags songs, playlists, duos, duets, Simon & Garfunkel, paul simon, Art Garfunkel, Carl Jung, Dolly Parton, film soundtrack, Film, John Boorman, Eric Weissberg, Steve Mandell, Arthur "Guitar Boogie" Smith, Everly Brothers, The White Stripes, Jack White, Sleaford Mods, Pet Shop Boys, Daft Punk, Eric B & Rakim, Thelonius Monk, John Coltrane, Richard Thompson, Linda Thompson, The Black Keys, Suicide, Sparks, First Aid Kit
Comment

Playlists: songs about babies

October 14, 2020 Peter Kimpton
Kate and Anna McGarrigle sing about baby Rufus …

Kate and Anna McGarrigle sing about baby Rufus …

Planned, unplanned, loved or otherwise, they bring intense emotions and also in songs and stories about them. From conception parenting, guest playlister George Boyland delivers the full package from a vast number of nominations

Read more
In blues, comedy, country, dance, dub, electronica, experimental, folk, gospel, indie, jazz, music, funk, traditional, soul, songs, rock, reggae, punk, prog, postpunk, pop, playlists Tags songs, playlists, babies, Pink Floyd, Jimi Hendrix, The Who, Kate and Anna McGarrigle, Sly & The Family Stone, Charlie Feathers, Swamp Dogg, Judy Henske, Lauryn Hill, The White Stripes, Lead Belly, Leadbelly, The Pretenders, Spirit, The Grateful Dead, Jonathan Richman, Natalie Merchant, Cream, Brandi Carlile, Peter Blegvad, Cocteau Twins, Emmylou Harris, Gillian Welch, Alison Krauss, Paul Weller, Captain Beefheart, Free, Ivor Cutler, Slapp Happy, Nick Cope, George Boyland
Comment

Playlists: songs about hitchhiking

July 3, 2019 Peter Kimpton
Who will get a pickup this week?

Who will get a pickup this week?

Breakdowns to what’s around the bend, picking up from last week’s topic’s many passengers, our guest driver takeitawayGuru takes us on a fabulous rockin’ rollin’ journey with his pick of songs that really catch a musical ride

Read more
In blues, comedy, country, dance, folk, indie, instrumentals, jazz, metal, playlists, pop, postpunk, prog, punk, rock, songs, soul, traditional Tags songs, playlists, hitchhiking, Sheryl Crow, Tom Robinson, Savoy Brown, Boston, Vanity Fair, Bruce Springsteen, Earl Wright and his Orchestra, Dolly Parton, David Allan Coe, Lyle Lovett, Travis Tritt, Attila The Stockbroker, Simon & Garfunkel, Pearl Jam, The Ramones, Gov't Mule, The Grateful Dead, Tom Waits, The White Stripes, The Mutton Birds, Roger Waters, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Red City Radio, Heart, Black Ace, Green Day, takeitawayGuru
Comment

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

Read more
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 nursing and healthcare

July 11, 2018 Peter Kimpton
Feeling better yet? It's all part of the service …

Feeling better yet? It's all part of the service …

Hospital care, pills, patients and patience, we’ve got a musical medicine cabinet of the finest healthcare for you, administered by guest playlist writer Dr Severin and readers nursing great song suggestions

Read more
In blues, country, dance, electronica, folk, indie, jazz, music, musicals, playlists, pop, postpunk, prog, punk, reggae, rock, songs, soul Tags songs, playlists, medicine, nursing, health, NHS, Vainica Doble, ナース (The Nurse), Jesca Hoop, The White Stripes, Country Joe McDonald, The Rolling Stones, Bo Diddley, PJ Harvey, Manic Street Preachers, Sinead O'Connor, Ministry, Gruff Rhys, Tiger, Joni Mitchell, Parsnip, Budgie, The Ramones, Billy Bragg, Poison Girls, The Who, The Taxpayers, The Buff Medways, Billie and De De and Their Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Goldfrapp, The Black Angels, The Marvelettes, Champion Jack Dupree, The Raw Herbs, Lee Perry, Frida Hyvönen, Frightened Rabbit, The Velvet Underground, Courtney Barnett, A Spectre Is Haunting Europe, Severin
Comment

Playlists: music that marks artistic trends of the 21st century

May 23, 2018 Peter Kimpton
Beyoncé. She's in Formation

Beyoncé. She's in Formation

Dance, hip hop, jazz, soul, indie, rock or pop, music is alive and kicking in new directions this century. Kendrick Lamar to Beyonce, Dizzee Rascal to Sleaford Mods, this week’s playlister Nilpferd picks out some pertinent themes

Read more
In dance, electronica, folk, gospel, hip hop, indie, jazz, instrumentals, music, playlists, pop, postpunk, rock, songs, soul Tags Songs, playlists, 21st-century, millennium, The White Stripes, Jack White, Pussy Riot, Sleaford Mods, Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Dizzee Rascal, Disclosure, Sam Smith, Jlin, Catrin Finch, Sekou Keita, Snarky Puppy, Beyonce, Jason Moran, Me'Shell NdegéOcello, Janelle Monae, Sage Francis, Kamasi Washington, The XX, St Vincent, Fazerdaze, Missy Elliott, Robert Glasper Experiment, Sons of Kemet, GoGo Penguin, Kendrick Lamar, Lana Del Ray, TootArd, Rokia Traoré, Green Day, The Strokes, Agnes Obel, Cigarettes After Sex, The Killers, Gorillaz, Fall Out Boy, We The Kings, Arctic Monkeys, Die Antwoord, Troye Sivan, My Chemical Romance, Twenty One Pilots, Bastille, Panic! At The Disco, Nilpferd
Comment

Playlists: songs about bones

September 13, 2017 Peter Kimpton
You give me femur … Jack and Sally - The Nightmare Before Christmas

You give me femur … Jack and Sally - The Nightmare Before Christmas

After a week of readers digging deep in their collections, this week's osteology expert takeitawayGuru pieces together a superb skeleton of songlists, threaded together by a story of the musically macabre

Read more
In rock, music, playlists, songs, folk, blues, classical Tags songs, playlists, bones, Camille Saint-Saëns, George Thorogood & The Destroyers, Foo Fighters, Editors, Guy Clark, The Cult, London Grammar, Imaad Wasif, Frightened Rabbit, Jon Cleary, Michale Graves, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Bohren and der Club of Gore, Led Zeppelin, The White Stripes, Clouds, Laurel Aitken, Breed, Johnny Kidd & The Pirates, The Killers, Robert Plant, The Sound, The Bevis Frond, The Young 'Uns, Earth, Biffy Clyro
Comment

Wall of sound? Let's enter some songs about rooms

August 24, 2017 Peter Kimpton
Frank Zappa chez parents' living room

Frank Zappa chez parents' living room

Bluesy bathrooms to calypso kitchens, Britpop bedrooms to lovers rock lounges, whether big or small, green or blue, closet or cloister, suggest yours to create a whole building of musical adventure

Read more
Tags songs, rooms, Frank Zappa, Cicero, Groucho Marx, Jimi Hendrix, theatre, YMBBT, Madonna, Stephen Fry, Noel Gallagher, Elton John, Hayden, Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart, Ella Fitzgerald, Chet Baker, RIchie Havens, Jackson 5, Michael Jackson, Johnny Cash, June Carter, The Beach Boys, Brian Wilson, Keith Richards, The Rolling Stones, Helmut Schmidt, The White Stripes, Nick Cave, Francis Bacon, Roald Dahl, Neil Gaiman, books, Andy Kaufman, Comedy, Ray Charles, Muhammad Ali, Chilly Gonzales, Jarvis Cocker, hotels
Comment

Playlists: songs that seem to fit every topic

September 28, 2016 Peter Kimpton
Some universal songs have tears and fears, and Tears for Fears ...

Some universal songs have tears and fears, and Tears for Fears ...

They just keep coming back. What are they? Guest writer takeitawayGuru authentically defines 'asafarae' songs, great works that missed previous lists and cover many topics, all from last week's suggestions

Read more
Tags songs, universal, asafarae, Deacon Blue, Bellowhead, Robert Earl Keene, The Dogs D'Amour, Nirvana (UK), Tyla Pallas, Strangelove, Tears for Fears, Ramsey Trio, Edgar Winters Group, Reef, Mudcrutch, En Vogue, Joan Armatrading, Kate Bush, The Clash, Creed, The Cult, Fleetwood Mac, Genesis, Billy Joel, Led Zeppelin, Moby, Tom Petty, Lou Reed, Soundgarden, Bruce Springsteen, The White Stripes, Nickelback, takeitawayGuru
Comment

Playlists: songs about wanting to be someone else

May 11, 2016 Peter Kimpton
'Now then, Bond, makes sure Jemima does a wee-wee.' 'Yes, ma'am'.

'Now then, Bond, makes sure Jemima does a wee-wee.' 'Yes, ma'am'.

Whether it's aspiring to be Dando or Brando, straight or a spy, this week's top-rank playlists by treefrogdemon chosen from your suggestions have it all, including some topical political humour ...

Read more
Tags songs, music, being someone else, identity, playlists, treefrogdemon, Ben Lee, Brian Fallon, The Jazz Butcher, The Royal Crown Revue, Radiohead, Pink, The Who, Ian Dury & The Blockheads, Lou Reed, Poison Girls, Grauzone, Scouting For Girls, Tom Petty, The Kinks, The New York Dolls, Procol Harum, Devandra Banhart, Phish, Hole, The White Stripes, JJ Burnel, Loudon Wainwright III, Alien Sex Fiend, Richard Thompson
Comment

Playlists: songs with outstanding percussion

March 30, 2016 Peter Kimpton
John Bonham (second from left) was a rock on which Led Zep could roll. Photograph: RV1864

John Bonham (second from left) was a rock on which Led Zep could roll. Photograph: RV1864

Spoons to syncopation, Bonham to big beats, Africa to India, this week's music guru Ravi Raman, keeps up the 'Paice' with a global selection of percussion masterpieces chosen from last week's topic

Read more
Tags percussion, songs, drumming, rock, world music, John Bonham, Split Enz, Noel Crombie, Art Blakey, The Afro-Drum Ensemble, Kodo, Santana, Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Grand Funk Railroad, Steely Dan, Rush, Billy Squier, The Walkmen, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Miles Davis, Max Roach, Tito Puente, Smoke City, Gasper Lawai, Richard Thompson, Cream, Talking Heads, The Beat Farmers, King Crimson, The White Stripes, The Cravats, Ras Michael, Paighat Mani Iyer, Ravi Raman, Konono No 1
Comment
music_declares_emergency_logo.png

Sing out, act on CLIMATE CHANGE

Black Lives Matter.jpg

CONDEMN RACISM, EMBRACE EQUALITY


Donate
Song Bar spinning.gif

DRINK OF THE WEEK

Napue dark gin


SNACK OF THE WEEK

crudités platter


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
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
Running shoes and barefoot.jpeg
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
autumn-red-leaves.jpeg
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
Fennec fox 2.jpeg
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
Narrowboat.jpeg
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

Song Bar spinning.gif