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Yoda. Seeing the lighter side
This week we’re not being clever,, simply seeking wisdom in individual lyrics or across a whole song. From philosophers to musicians to authors, how is is it gained, through humility, experience, courage, or a just turn of phrase?
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Roxy Music – everyone gets their moment
Covert crushes, hopeless longing or sinister obsession? All this and more with two lists of brilliance and passion from the Temptations to Divine Comedy and beyond, skilfully picked by this week’s guest Severin from last week’s topic
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He nose, but does she? Cyrano de Bergerac
Clandestine cravings and crushes? To spice up a romantic tradition, this week’s topic is all about secret love longings expressed through song, here inspired by real-life examples of musicians, alongside film, books and theatre
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What musical treasure will enter the vaults this week?
Wall Street to the Federal Reserve, bank robbing to banks that rob, all the musical investment on last week’s topic has gathered interest and culminated in two astutely calculated playlists by this week’s guest Ravi Raman
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Barrrowland Ballroom, Glasgow
Glasgow to Chicago, London and Liverpool to Lisdoonvarna and all the way to Mali, inspired by many reader nominations around the globe, this week’s playlister pejepeine takes us on a tantalising tour of magical musical locations
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It’s just a stage I’m going through: Bregenz Music Festival in Austria
Bars, basements, intimate, sweaty or large or legendary, forests, festivals, stratospheric stadia, snug pubs to prisons, caves to operatic amphitheatres, let's musically celebrate venues and spaces mentioned by, or associated with songs
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Don’t do it, Father Dougal …
… and how can it all go right? This week let’s see if we can make musical manoeuvres in the current climate, causes and cures for crises, whether they be political social, economic or personal
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David Bowie and ‘family’ on the set of The Man Who Fell To Earth
Transcending distance and time, and sometimes in another dimension, space itself, this week we look to go the full distance to explore the trials and triumphs of enduring love, or otherwise, made or broken by absence
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Heartstrings are harder to repair that guitars …
From gaffer and duct tape, housing to mending a broken heart, let’s repair towards fantastic playlists created by the handy skills of our guest treefrogdemon, who was inspired by a full toolkit of suggestions from last week’s topic
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Global repair
From cars to people, mind and body, clocks or guitars, the world at large or little local difficulties, let’s start 2019 by fixing up and looking sharp with skills and toolkits on this topic
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Stop me if you’ve heard that one before …
Is there an echo in here? Those with sharp ears will enjoy some remarkable and fun comparisons as this week’s playlister Olive Butler perfectly picks out some of the soundalikes from a double topic over the festive period
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Superb lyrebird - sounds like everything else, but nothing sounds like it.
The topic over the Christmas holiday season is a form of convivial, parlour game in which pairs of songs can be nominated that share musical or other echoes - but which came first and where are the comparisons? You decide …
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Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy aka Will Oldham, and friend
It may be the most precious love of all, but sometimes not fully felt until it’s gone. Guest playlist writer EnglishOutlaw tells a moving tale alongside beautiful, emotional songs from last week’s topic
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Not so strange bedfellows: Eric and Ernie
The non-sexual, non-romantic sort is what makes up most of the love we experience in life, so whether that concerns real or fictional experiences, let’s define and explore it as expressed in song lyrics
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Scott Walker. Wave goodbye to any Manhattan meaning
Not a single song has anything to do with what it says on the tin. But after many wonderful wrongfooting nominations, brilliant guest playlister Olive Butler puts them in an entertaining form of order
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The art of incongruity: This is Spinal Tap
This week we look at titles that appear to have nothing to do with the songs they signpost, using words that don’t appear in the lyrics, and seem to create an interesting and entertaining dissonance
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Three-dog night
Triangles and holy trinities, this week let’s explore the musical dynamic within groups in which three artists perform as a self-contained unit, not merely pop, jazz, classical, or folk, but across all all genres
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Hot shot Lou Reed
Lou Reed to Tom Waits, Susanne Sundfør to Sandy Denny, inspired by a salvo of superb nominations, this week’s chief arms officer Suzi shoots out in all contexts to hit the target with two sharp-shooting playlists
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Wild West guitar wiz Wilko Johnson
Bang bang! This week it’s time to find your range, come out with all guns blazing with songs about bullets, guns, cannons, bows and arrows. Gun culture arguments and more, let’s shoot from the hip
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Roy Orbison: he drove all night …
From personal obstacles to the wider struggle in war, this week’s selections by guest playlister Marco den Ouden meet the challenges of hundreds of nominations with wonderful vim, vigour and variety
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