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Iran has a long and rich musical culture
It’s a country constantly in the news, but also portrayed through a western lens. This week, it’s time to search for another Persian perspective through the prism of music and poetry for some golden discoveries …
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Songs pour out …
A fluid topic, fountains strike a deep emotional chord, while sometimes reflective and philosophical, cover a range from loneliness and sorrow to exaltation and celebration. Marco den Ouden turns on the the tap, inspired by the past week’s nominations
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From the 1959 film Black Orpheus (Orfeu Negro), a key year for bossa nova …
It’s time to source and serve out this charming, cool Brazilian rhythmic genre that began in the 1950s, whether it’s songs by the original artists, with different twists and mixes, as well as in many later songs it has flavoured
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Vietnam in ‘65
It’s 50 years since this devastating conflict ended, yet its consequences and lessons remain largely unlearned. But it also coincided with, and help inspire, a wealth of music. Here is some background …
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Inca Trail, Peru
Timeless travelling, personal and universal, from the minor the major way, this topic less about about passing through, going somewhere, even if that destination may end up being an existential nowhere. It’s the romance of the road, the tantalising tread of the trail, the perception of the path
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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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The bells! The bells! Handheld bells ...
They resonate through time, marking beginnings and endings, life and death, and have a host of meanings and contexts. Alone or in harmony, large or small, as instrument or sound effect, what tintinnabulum tickles your fancy in music?
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Sleeve of Japrocksampler: How the Post-war Japanese Blew Their Minds on Rock 'n' Roll – by Julian Cope (2007)
It’s a huge market for the industry, inspired by outsider music, and this extraordinary land also delivers much of its own, but what songs captures the essence of Japanese people and culture? Here’s a tiny dish of metaphorical sushi to get your tastebuds tingling ….
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You simply don’t mess with Tura Satana, portraying Varla in 1965’s Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill!
Ambiguous, mysterious, sexy, full of charm but also harm, they're the objects of obsession, as it's often unclear what the balance of good-bad may be. Fictional or real, famous or personal, let's find songs inspired by them ...
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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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Elvis snaps to it
Got that rhythm? This week, songs on which we hear prominently the body percussion rhythms of dexterous human extremities – of fingers, hands, feet and toes, snapping, tapping, and stamping, though not the more common hand-clapping which has been a separate topic
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Three-part harmony …
It’s a vast sonic language, mostly beyond our understanding, but with a more subconscious appreciation, has been incorporated in different genres of music, from field recordings and samples, or even those mimicked by the human voice or by instruments
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Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band
Trousers, pants, hotpants and other leggings, not to mention even a couple of legless numbers, from the beautiful to the bawdy, this week’s music definitely doing the talking and walking is picked by guest Marco den Ouden from last week’s topic
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Tactile pleasures ….
Tactile sensations are among our most primitive and deep-seated of the five senses, but how are they expressed in lyrics? From the gentle, sensual and pleasurable to the painful, it’s time the channel the somatosensory system in song form
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Jacqueline du Pré with Daniel Barenboim
With its beautiful, versatile vocal sound, this baroque instrument features not classical pieces but genres of all kinds. But where does it play a strong, influential and essential part? And perhaps alongside the sound, where it might also feature in lyrics?
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Moving moment? Anatoly Karpov …
Concentration, drive, relentless purpose and pursuit are needed for certain levels of achievement, but how is it expressed in song lyrics? In finding love or 'the one", to work, to gain acclaim, achieve fame, or a particular goal? For inspiration here are examples in music, film, sport and more …
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Just the ticket: pricey or priceless?
Whether music, sport, film, travel, or wider culture, they mean different things to different individuals, but all are items that trigger or preserve memories, personal or more universal. Let’s explore these specific objects in song, overall or in specific lyrical detail
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Water year it’s been …
It’s time to reflect on an extraordinary year, about events public or personal, to celebrate those artists who have sadly left us, and also include in particular your discoveries in music old or new, here at the Bar or elsewhere
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Musical minerals?
Music is indisputably good for you, but how is this expressed in song, for improvement of mood, brain and body? Firstly this might come up lyrics, but also this topic can get more subjective and more impressionist with songs that really hit the spot
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The flurry of first light
Morning always comes, but how might you start it musically? This is a topic not about the morning and everything that goes with it, although those details may figure, but is one more about complementary mood, style, feeling and pace
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