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Non-stop hits: music featuring instruments struck by hand-held hammers and mallets

January 6, 2022 Peter Kimpton

Marimba or xylophone vibes? Name that instrument ….

What ideas strike you? Let’s explore the prominent playing of hand hammer- or mallet-hit idiophones, metallophones and chordophones, from xylophones, vibraphones, glockenspiels, balafons, marimbas, including hammered dulcimers and steel drums

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In African, avant-garde, blues, classical, calypso, country, dance, disco, experimental, dub, funk, folk, gospel, hip hop, indie, instrumentals, jazz, music, playlists, pop, prog, postpunk, reggae, rock, ska, songs, soul, traditional Tags music, idiophones, instruments, metallophones, chordophones, xylophones, glockenspiels, marimbas, vibraphones, balafons, xylosynths, Lionel Hampton, Jason Arkis, Roy Ayers, Nathaniel Bartlett
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Thank you for the music: songs about gratitude

December 30, 2021 Peter Kimpton

This week it’s half full

From formal politeness and etiquette to the deeply unexpressed and private, it’s time to find all forms of thankfulness in song form, covering a range of subject matter, from the self to others, simplicity in nature to wider society

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In African, avant-garde, blues, calypso, classical, comedy, country, dance, disco, drone, dub, electronica, experimental, folk, funk, gospel, indie, hip hop, instrumentals, jazz, metal, music, musical hall, musicals, playlists, pop, postpunk, prog, punk, reggae, rock, rocksteady, showtime, ska, songs, soul, soundtracks, traditional Tags songs, playlists, music, A.A. Milne, Marcel Proust, Friedrich Nietzsche, William Shakespeare, Shakespeare, Irving Berlin, Joseph Stalin, Joyce Brothers, Thich Nhat Hanh, Epicurus, Ralph Waldo Emerson, John Milton, Gertrude Stein, Carole King, Doris Day, Winston Churchill, John F Kennedy, Voltaire
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Reflections on 2021: in news, music and snakes

December 23, 2021 Peter Kimpton

What’s eating you, eh? “Uh-oh, here we go again,” says the ouroboros

This week it’s time to look back at 2021, and with a wry introduction here, various events, stories, and experiences, and so to share favourite music that came out, was newly discovered, topics enjoyed and thoughts on 2022

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In African, avant-garde, blues, calypso, classical, comedy, country, dance, disco, drone, dub, electronica, experimental, folk, funk, 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 year review, 2021, Karl Marx, Covid-19, lockdown, US politics, UK politics, Christmas, Japanese chindogu, vaccinations, public health, satire, Chris Morris, Charlie Brooker, Boris Johnson, climate change
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Surf this: songs about crowds

December 2, 2021 Peter Kimpton

It’s Coney Island, baby

Good mass gatherings to bad, random or organised, peaceful marches to riots, gigs, sports events, and even songs that feature crowd noises, join the in-crowd and suggest your songs that describe and capture the behaviour of the collective conscious

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In African, avant-garde, blues, calypso, classical, comedy, country, dance, disco, drone, dub, electronica, experimental, folk, funk, gospel, hip hop, indie, instrumentals, jazz, metal, music, musical hall, musicals, playlists, pop, postpunk, prog, punk, reggae, rock, rocksteady, showtime, ska, songs, soundtracks, soul, traditional Tags songs, playlists, crowds, psychology, human behaviour, animal behaviour, animals, protest, sport, live music, William Wordsworth, Terry Pratchett, Rachel Cohn, George Carlin, Charles MacKay, Flannery O'Connor, David Sedaris, Covid-19, music festivals, Thomas Fuller, BF Skinner, Gustave Le Bon, Carl Jung, Elias Canetti, Aldous Huxley, Jean Cocteau, Jack Black, School of Rock, poll tax, Martin Luther King, Darnell Lamont Walker, refugees, Dobie Gray
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Playlists: songs about nuts and edible seeds

November 30, 2021 Peter Kimpton

Put your hands together for these tasty playlist treats ….

Coconuts to nutmeg and kandy corn, peanuts to pistachio to pecans, the seed store has been filled up to the brim with tasty musical treats from last week’s topic, picked and served up in a delicious set of lists by clever top nut Tatanka Yotanka

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In African, avant-garde, blues, calypso, comedy, country, dance, disco, dub, electronica, experimental, folk, funk, hip hop, indie, instrumentals, jazz, music, musicals, musical hall, playlists, pop, postpunk, prog, punk, reggae, rock, rocksteady, showtime, ska, songs, soul, soundtracks, traditional Tags playlists, nuts, seeds, fruit, food, songs, Macka B, Thelonius Monk, Macy Gray, The Soft Boys, Devandra Banhart, Charles Trenet, Ivor Cutler, Mischief Brew, Trilok Gurtu, Captain Beefheart, Heino, Warmduscher, Golden Smog, Juliette Greco, Cai Bin Lang, The Melodians, Pee Wee Ellis, The Turtles, Sunny Sharrock, Time Hart, Maddy Prior, The Ink Spots, Spearhead, Michael Franti, Mother Goose, Louis Jordan, Johnny Cash, Tennessee Ernie Ford, Chaotic Dischord, Splodge, The Lovely Eggs, The Young 'Uns, Billy Cotton and His Band, Damien Rice, The Sweet, Jimmy Buffett, Abba, Kid Creole and the Coconuts, Tony Allen, Hugh Masekela, The Tragically Hip, Ty Segall, Manu Dibango, Augustus Pablo, Johnny Gentle, Laurel Aitken, Pigbag, George Brassens, TatankaYotanka
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Crack on: songs about nuts and edible seeds

November 25, 2021 Peter Kimpton

Time to get nutty

What’s the crack? This week we’re taking on a tasty topic of these edible forms of shelled fruit, from peanuts to coconuts, pecans, pistachios to walnuts, pumpkin seeds and more, as the primary subject or prominently mentioned in lyrics

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Happening now: songs about tomorrow

November 18, 2021 Peter Kimpton

Tomorrow’s World - 1970s science TV programme from the past about the future

It’s linked to today and yesterday, but the anticipation or idea of tomorrow is the focus, and in this theme, not just word that appears somewhere in lyrics, but plays a central or prominent role or within it, expresses in many ways

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In African, avant-garde, blues, calypso, classical, comedy, country, dance, disco, drone, dub, electronica, experimental, folk, funk, gospel, hip hop, indie, instrumentals, jazz, metal, music, musical hall, musicals, playlists, pop, postpunk, prog, punk, rock, reggae, rocksteady, showtime, ska, songs, soul, soundtracks, traditional Tags songs, playlists, time, tomorrow, Tomorrow's World, television, science, technlogy, science fiction, Oscar Wilde, William Shakespeare, Shakespeare, ee cummings, Edward Young, James Joyce, Ivan Turgenev, Dr Seuss, Bob Dylan, David Bowie, Vivian Leigh, Film, Bill Murray, Groundhog Day, Kraftwerk, John Dankworth, television themes, Richard Denton, Martin Cook, The Tomorrow People, Dudley Simpson Orchestra, Bob Marley, Rex Harrison, Sia, Gloria Estefan, Pablo Picasso, Chuck Close, Joan Rivers, Amy Winehouse, Marc Bolan, Mahatma Gandhi, Margaret Fuller, Malala Yousafzai, John Dryden, Martin Luther, Joan of Arc, Franz Kafka, Walter Payton, Hunter S. Thompson, Mary Webb, Gore Vidal, George MacDonald, Leo Buscaglia, Winston Churchill, Gracie Allen, Martin Luther King, Lewis Carroll
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This topic is the greatest! Boastful songs

November 11, 2021 Peter Kimpton

Look no further. The greatest. Muhammad Ali

This week, from lyrical non-ironic self-proclamation to nuanced false narrators, a brimming edition of self-aggrandisement with a dash of arrogance, of big-headed and bombastic braggadocio, of cockiness, conceited crowing and crazed confidence, with a dollop of self-delusion …

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In African, avant-garde, blues, calypso, classical, comedy, country, dance, disco, drone, dub, electronica, experimental, folk, funk, gospel, hip hop, indie, jazz, metal, music, musical hall, musicals, playlists, pop, postpunk, prog, punk, reggae, rock, rocksteady, showtime Tags songs, playlists, boasting, bragging, narcissism, showing off, self-deceit, hyperbole, Muhammad Ali, Mae West, Mark Twain, Brian Clough, Diego Maradona, animal behaviour, Jane Austen, Samuel Johnson, George Cruikshank, satire, Kanye West, Donald Trump, Desert Island Discs, Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Englebert Humperdinck, Flavor Flav, Public Enemy, Lauryn Hill, Taylor Swift, Lady Gaga, Britney Spears, Bobby Brown, Mick Jagger, The Rolling Stones, Film, Lil Wayne, Justin Bieber, Steve Coogan, Alan Partridge, Arturo Gatti, The 1948 Show, Tim Brooke-Taylor, John Cleese, Graham Chapman, Marty Feldman, Mike Royko, Hollywood, Paris, Julian Barnes, Ralph Waldo Emerson, A.A. Milne, Hunter S. Thompson, Bertrand Russell
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Playlists: songs about elephants and mammoths

November 9, 2021 Peter Kimpton

We are family …

Huge size, unusual grace and beauty to how humans behave towards them, reggae to rock, pop, folk and jazz, classical and traditional, guest Severin took on a mammoth task from all the nominations to create great playlists to trumpet about

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Trumpet this: songs about elephants and mammoths

November 4, 2021 Peter Kimpton

Pianist Paul Barton is joined by a Thai trumpeter …

The big tusk ahead: actual or metaphorical, fictional, real, or idiomatic, in nature or captivity, it’s time to gather the herd, stroll or stampede through your musical collections and celebrate these magnificent huge creatures of trunk in song

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In African, avant-garde, blues, calypso, classical, comedy, country, dance, disco, drone, dub, electronica, experimental, folk, funk, 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, elephants, mammoths, animals, evolution, biology, Lyall Watson, John Donne, Ted Hughes, Dr Seuss, Sir David Attenborough, Jennifer Richard Jacobson, Paul Barton, Beethoven, Henry Mancini, television, Blue Peter, Graydon Carter, poaching, conservation, Peter Matthiessen, National Geographic, Ivan Krylov, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Mark Twain, Jimmy Durante, Broadway, Film, film soundtrack, Gus Van Sant, Jack London, Disney, Ganesh, India, Hinduism, religion, Buddhism, Thai Elephant Orchestra, Richard Lair, Lawrence Anthony, Africa, Kira Jane Buxton
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Playlists: songs about outlaws and rebels

November 2, 2021 Peter Kimpton

Ned Kelly: tough Irish teenager to infamous Australian armour-plated outlaw – inspiration for many song nominations, but which survived?

From an infamous armour-plated Australian to a whole rogues’ gallery of bandits, buccaneers, and highwaymen, a huge response to last week’s topic brought forth musical guest gang leader Maki who made rich pickings with everything from folk to reggae and rock

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In African, blues, calypso, country, folk, gospel, indie, music, musicals, musical hall, playlists, pop, postpunk, punk, reggae, rock, rocksteady, ska, songs, soul, soundtracks, traditional Tags The Grateful Dead, Paul Kelly, Fun Lovin' Criminals, Haze, José Mercé, The Cimarons, John Legend, Prefab Sprout, Justin Townes Earle, The Dogs D'Amour, Loreena McKennitt, Aswad, Gregory Isaacs, David Rovics, New Riders of the Purple Sage, Gene Clarke, Carla Olsen, Los Tigres del Norte, Scritti Politti, The Teardrop Explodes, Peter Frampton, Chumbawamba, Lila Downs, Maki
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Wanted, dead or alive: songs about outlaws and rebels

October 28, 2021 Peter Kimpton

The Wild Bunch Gang, with Butch Cassidy, front right, and Harry Longabaugh, aka Sundance Kid, seated left

Catch this if you can. It’s time to stand, or sit, and deliver. Figures real or fictional, outlaws or those against the establishment, or the spirit of rebellion in all forms, let’s explore this primal instinct in myth, romance and fact via story and song

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Playlists: songs about tea

October 12, 2021 Peter Kimpton
It pours out …

It pours out …

Full of flavour and variety, complex and yet simple, stimulating as well as relaxing. And that’s just the tea. For even more refreshment, have a pot of this deliciously refreshing selection by guest DiscoMonster from huge pouring of nominations

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Ideas brewing? Songs about tea

October 7, 2021 Peter Kimpton
Hot on the horizon: The Meitan Tea Museum in Guizhou Province, China stands more than 70 metres in height

Hot on the horizon: The Meitan Tea Museum in Guizhou Province, China stands more than 70 metres in height

The routine, the ceremony, the warming up, the cooling down, the flavour, the comfort, the refreshment and everything that goes with it. This week we’re brewing up and leafing through our music collections …

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Playlists: street music from buskers to bands

October 6, 2021 Peter Kimpton
Urban Sax

Urban Sax

Spontaneous, weird, wonderful, brash and brilliant to the totally bonkers, with a bustling street of suggestions, playing all around the world, guest playlister pejepeine selects his favourites from gypsy to bagpipes, one-man bands to big groups

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Stop and listen: street music from buskers to marching bands

September 30, 2021 Peter Kimpton
Italian street harpist in 19th-century London

Italian street harpist in 19th-century London

It’s time to take the show on the road and pick out videos of street music with all the spirit, authenticity and vivaciousness that comes from the passing setting, the spontaneity, urgency, oddness, originality or unexpected brilliance

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It's something: songs about nothing

September 23, 2021 Peter Kimpton
White nothing? Not quite

White nothing? Not quite

This week, with a host of guests to inspire, it’s songs all about nowt, nought, the big nada, zilch, and by association, no one, nobody, but of course in whatever context, there's always someone, a something, a story, a feeling behind it

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Playlists: songs about wolves

September 21, 2021 Peter Kimpton
We are family …

We are family …

They’ve roamed the globe, howling out for attention. But which survived? Norway to Sweden to Italy, north America and beyond, two packs of superb songs circling many genres are picked by guest playlister Severin from a wonderful wilderness of nominations

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Give them a howl: songs about wolves

September 16, 2021 Peter Kimpton
Arctic wolves in full song

Arctic wolves in full song

Hunter or hunted, in a pack or working alone, in metaphor or myth, human connections from werewolf to dire wolf, this week they are all at the door, so it’s time to howl out your song suggestions referring magnificent canis lupus

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Playlists: songs about rainbows and the northern lights

September 7, 2021 Peter Kimpton
Rainbow aurora …

Rainbow aurora …

The magic, the mystery and a dash of science, it’s all rolled into one beautiful spectrum of songs chosen by guest playlister Hoshino Sakura from last week’s vast and exquisite sky full of nominations. Most enlightening!

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DRINK OF THE WEEK

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SNACK OF THE WEEK

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New Albums …

Featured
Tessa Rose Jackson - The Lighthouse.jpeg
Jan 29, 2026
Tessa Rose Jackson: The Lighthouse
Jan 29, 2026

New album: Beautiful, intricate, understated, poetic and intelligent, this warm, inviting experimental folk by the Dutch-British singer-songwriter is the first LP under her own name, having previously released three as the artist Someone

Jan 29, 2026
Lucinda Williams - World's Gone Wrong.jpeg
Jan 28, 2026
Lucinda Williams: World's Gone Wrong
Jan 28, 2026

New album: The acclaimed veteran country, rock and Americana singer-songwriter and multi-Grammy winner’s latest LP has a title that speaks for itself, but is powerful, angry, defiant and uplifting, and, recorded in Nashville, features guest vocals from Norah Jones, Mavis Staples and Brittney Spencer

Jan 28, 2026
Clotheline From Hell.jpeg
Jan 27, 2026
Clothesline From Hell: Slather On The Honey
Jan 27, 2026

New album: His moniker mischievously named after a wrestling move, a highly impressive, independently-created experimental, psychedelic rock debut the the Toronto-based multi-instrumentalist and singer-songwriter Adam LaFramboise

Jan 27, 2026
Dead Dads Club.jpeg
Jan 27, 2026
Dead Dads Club: Dead Dads Club
Jan 27, 2026

New album: Dynamic, passionate, heart-stirring indie rock in this project fronted by Chilli Jesson (formerly bassist of Palma Violets) with songs spurred by the trauma of losing his father 20 years ago, retelling a defiant and difficult aftermath, with sound boosted by producer Carlos O’Connell of Fontaines D.C.

Jan 27, 2026
The Paper Kites - IF YOU GO THERE, I HOPE YOU FIND IT.png
Jan 25, 2026
The Paper Kites: If You Go There, I Hope You Find It
Jan 25, 2026

New album: Warm, tender, gently-paced, calmly reflective, beautifully soothing, poetic, melancholic alternative folk and Americana by the band from Melbourne in their seventh LP in 15 years

Jan 25, 2026
PVA - No More Like This.jpeg
Jan 24, 2026
PVA: No More Like This
Jan 24, 2026

New album: Inventive, alluring, sensual, mysterious, minimalistic electronica, trip-hop and experimental pop by the London trio of Ella Harris, Joshua Baxter and Louis Satchell, in this second album following 2022’s Blush, boosted by the creativity of producer and instrumentalist Kwake Bass

Jan 24, 2026
Imarhan - Essam.jpeg
Jan 20, 2026
Imarhan: Essam
Jan 20, 2026

New album: A mesmeric fourth LP in a decade by the band from Tamanrasset, Algeria, whose name means ‘the ones I care about’, their Tuareg music mixing guitar riffs, pop melodies and African rhythms, but this time also evolves slightly away from the desert blues rocky, bluesy influence of contemporaries Tinariwen with electronic elements

Jan 20, 2026
Courtney Marie Andrews - Valentine.jpeg
Jan 20, 2026
Courtney Marie Andrews: Valentine
Jan 20, 2026

New album: Emotional, beautiful, stirring, Americana, folk and indie-pop by singer-songwriter from Phoenix, Arizona, in this latest studio LP in of soaring voice, strong melodies, love, vulnerability and heartbreak, longing and bravery

Jan 20, 2026
Julianna Barwick & Mary Lattimore - Tragic Magic.jpeg
Jan 18, 2026
Julianna Barwick & Mary Lattimore: Tragic Magic
Jan 18, 2026

New album: Delicate, beautiful, ethereal, meditative new work by the two American experimental composers in their first collaborative LP, with gentle understated vocals, classic synth sounds, and rare harps chosen from from the Paris Musée de la Musique Collection

Jan 18, 2026
Sleaford Mods- The Demise of Planet X.jpeg
Jan 16, 2026
Sleaford Mods: The Demise of Planet X
Jan 16, 2026

New album: The caustic wit of Nottingham’s Jason Williamson and Andrew Fearn return with a 13th LP of brilliantly abrasive, dark humoured hip-hop and catchy beats, addressing the rubbish state of the world, as well as local, personal and social irritations through slick nostalgic cultural reference, some expanded sounds, and an eclectic set of guests

Jan 16, 2026
Sault - Chapter 1.jpeg
Jan 14, 2026
SAULT: Chapter 1
Jan 14, 2026

New album: As ever, released suddenly without fanfare or any publicity, the prolific experimental soul, jazz, gospel, funk, psychedelia and disco collective of Cleo Sol, Info (aka Dean Josiah Cover) and co return with a stylish, mysterious LP

Jan 14, 2026
The Cribs - Selling A Vibe.jpeg
Jan 14, 2026
The Cribs: Selling A Vibe
Jan 14, 2026

New album: A first LP in five years by the likeable and solid guitar indie-rock Jarman brothers trio from Wakefield, now with their ninth - a catchy, but at times with rueful, bittersweet perspectives on their times in the music business

Jan 14, 2026
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Jan 9, 2026
Dry Cleaning: Secret Love
Jan 9, 2026

New album: This third LP by the London experimental post-punk quartet with the distinctive, spoken, droll delivery of Florence Shaw, is packed with striking, vivid, often non seqitur lyrics capturing life’s surreal mundanities and neuroses with a sound coloured and polished by Cate Le Bon as producer

Jan 9, 2026
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Dec 31, 2025
Various Artists: ICELOCK CONTINUUM
Dec 31, 2025

New album: An inspiring, evocative, sensual and sonically tactile experimental compilation from the fabulously named underground French label Camembert Électrique, with range of international electronic artists capturing cold winter weather’s many textures - cracking, delicate crunchy ice, snow, electric fog, and frost in many fierce and fragile forms across 98 adventurous tracks

Dec 31, 2025

new songs …

Featured
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Jan 29, 2026
Song of the Day: Holly Humberstone - To Love Somebody
Jan 29, 2026

Song of the Day: Shimmeringly catchy and singalong, effervescent Abba-esque and Fleetwood Mac-ish piano and synth pop with an eye-catching, vampiric-themed video by the British singer-songwriter from Grantham, heralding her second album Cruel World out on 10 April via Polydor/Universal.

Jan 29, 2026
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Jan 28, 2026
Song of the Day: Nathan Fake - Slow Yamaha
Jan 28, 2026

Song of the Day: Hypnotic electronica with woozy layers of smooth resonance and a lattice of shifting analogue patterns by the British artist from Norfolk, taken from his forthcoming album, Evaporator, out on InFiné Music

Jan 28, 2026
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Jan 27, 2026
Song of the Day: Charlotte Day Wilson - Lean (featuring Saya Gray)
Jan 27, 2026

Song of the Day: Stylish, striking, sensual experimental electro-pop and R&B in this fabulous collaboration between the two Canadian singer/ multi-instrumentalist from Toronto, out on Stone Woman Music/ XL Recordings

Jan 27, 2026
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Jan 26, 2026
Song of the Day: Lime Garden - 23
Jan 26, 2026

Song of the Day: Wonderfully catchy, witty, quirky indie pop about age and adjustment by the Brighton-formed quartet fronted by Chloe Howard, heralding their upcoming album Maybe Not Tonight, out on So Young Records on 10 April

Jan 26, 2026
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Jan 25, 2026
Song of the Day: Madra Salach - The Man Who Seeks Pleasure
Jan 25, 2026

Song of the Day: A powerful, slow-simmering and gradually intensifying, drone-based original folk number about the the flipsides of love and hedonism by the young Irish traditional and alternative folk band, with comparisons to Lankum, from the recently released EP It's a Hell of an Age, out on Canvas Music

Jan 25, 2026
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Jan 24, 2026
Song of the Day: Adult DVD - Real Tree Lee
Jan 24, 2026

Song of the Day: Catchy, witty, energised acid-dance-punk with echoes of Underworld and Snapped Ankles by the dynamic, innovative band from Leeds in a new number about a dodgy character of toxic masculinity and online ignorance, and their first release on signing to Fat Possum

Jan 24, 2026
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Jan 23, 2026
Song of the Day: Arctic Monkeys - Opening Night (for War Child HELP 2 charity album)
Jan 23, 2026

Song of the Day: A simmering, potent, contemplative new track by acclaimed Sheffield band, their first song since 2022’s album The Car, with proceeds benefiting the charity War Child, heralding the upcoming HELP (2) compilation out on 6 March with various contributors

Jan 23, 2026
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Jan 22, 2026
Song of the Day: White Denim - (God Created) Lock and Key
Jan 22, 2026

Song of the Day: The Austin, Texas-formed LA-based rockers return with an infectiously catchy groove fusing rock, funk, dub, soul, and down-dirty blues with some playful self-mythologising and darker themes, heralding 13th album, 13, out on 24 April via Bella Union

Jan 22, 2026
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Jan 21, 2026
Song of the Day: Holy Fuck - Evie
Jan 21, 2026

Song of the Day: The Canadian experimental indie rock and electronica quartet from Toronto return with a pulsating new track of thrumming bass and shimmering keyboards, heralding their forthcoming new album Event Beat, out on 27 March via Satellite Services

Jan 21, 2026
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Jan 20, 2026
Song of the Day: KAVARI - IRON VEINS
Jan 20, 2026

Song of the Day: Exciting, cutting-edge electronica and hardcore dance music by innovative the Birkenhead-born, Glasgow-based artist Cameron Winters (she), with a stylish, striking video, heralding the forthcoming EP, PLAGUE MUSIC, out digitally and on 12-inch vinyl on 6 February via XL Recordings

Jan 20, 2026
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Jan 19, 2026
Song of the Day: A$AP Rocky - Punk Rocky
Jan 19, 2026

Song of the Day: The standout catchy hip-pop/soul/pop track from the New York rapper aka Rakim Athelston Mayers’ (also the husband of Rihanna) recently released album, Don’t Be Dumb, featuring also the voice of Cristoforo Donadi, and out on A$AP Rocky Recordings

Jan 19, 2026
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Jan 18, 2026
Song of the Day: Buck Meek - Gasoline
Jan 18, 2026

Song of the Day: The Texas-born Big Thief guitarist returns with an beautifully stirring, evocative, poetic love-enthralled indie-folk single of free association made-up words and quantum leap feelings, rolling drums and strums, heralding his upcoming fourth solo album, The Mirror, out on 27 February via 4AD

Jan 18, 2026

Word of the week

Featured
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Jan 22, 2026
Word of the week: zumbador
Jan 22, 2026

Word of the week: A wonderfully evocative noun from the Spanish for word buzz, and meaning both a South American hummingbird, a door buzzer, and symbolic of resurrection of the soul in ancient Mexican culture, while also serving as the logo for a tequila brand

Jan 22, 2026
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Jan 8, 2026
Word of the week: aspectabund
Jan 8, 2026

Word of the week: This rare adjective describes a highly expressive face or countenance, where emotions and reactions are readily shown through the eyes or mouth

Jan 8, 2026
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Dec 24, 2025
Word of the week: bellonion (or belloneon)
Dec 24, 2025

Word of the week: It sounds like a bulbous, multi-layered peeling vegetable, but this obscure mechanical musical instrument invented in 1812 in Dresden consisted of 24 trumpets and two kettle drums and, designed to mimic the sound of a marching band, might also make your eyes water

Dec 24, 2025
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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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