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Playlists: songs about the media of listening to recorded music

February 15, 2022 Peter Kimpton

What goes around …

Record players and vinyl, cassettes and stereo systems, 8-tracks, radios and cassettes, this week we’ve got it taped on every format as guest MussoliniHeadkick spins superb playlists inspired by nominations from last week’s topic

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In avant-garde, calypso, comedy, country, dance, disco, dub, electronica, experimental, folk, funk, hip hop, indie, instrumentals, metal, jazz, music, musical hall, musicals, playlists, pop, postpunk, prog, punk, reggae, rock, rocksteady, showtime, ska, songs, soul, soundtracks, traditional Tags music technology, turntables, stereo systems, cassettes, vinyl, Flanders and Swann, Todd Snider, Ben Lee, The dB's, Stereolab, Corinne Bailey Rae, Criminal Element Orchestra, Supergrass, Reggae Roast, Brian Setzer, LL Cool J, Big Audio Dynamite, Billy Childish, Bow Wow Wow, Darren Hayman, Slade, Hall & Oates, The Ramones, Aerosmith, Cliff Richard, Dub Syndicate, Lana Del Rey, Misty's Big Adventure, This Poison!, Nurse With Wound, MussoliniHeadkick
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Gut instinct? Songs about the sixth sense

February 3, 2022 Peter Kimpton

Cross my palm with song suggestions, and I see a future where there will be wonderful new playlists …

Do we have one, or is it fake? Both. But either way, this week’s theme, inspired by approaching the Song Bar’s Sixth Birthday as all about intuition, a gut instinct, a feeling in your bones, notions of unknown source, sensing something without knowing why

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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, playlists, musicals, pop, postpunk, prog, punk, reggae, rock, rocksteady, showtime, songs, ska, soul, soundtracks, traditional Tags sixth sense, perception, psychology, physionomy, Amit Kalantri, Albert Einstein, Holbrook Jackson, Arthur Conan Doyle, Bill Hicks, animals, animal behaviour, dogs, cats, birds, Jane Goodall, third eye, Amy Leigh Mercree, George Harrison, Paul McCartney, John Lennon, Henry Reed, David Bowie, Sia, Arlo Parks, Brian May, Flea, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, David Lynch, Alejandro Jodorowsky, Alan Turing, Malcolm Gladwell, Johann Kaspar Lavater, psychics, clairvoyance, Uri Geller, Guillermo del Toro, William Lindsay Gresham, M Lamar Keene, Cyril Henry Hoskin, The Sixth Sense, Film, books
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Playlists: songs to start the morning

February 2, 2022 Peter Kimpton

Time to wake …

Songs to get your up and motivated, or songs that are also about the morning? Don’t be alarmed, it’s all covered in this special two-parter, picked by guest of the week DiscoMonster from a huge dawn chorus of nominations from the past week

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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, reggae, punk, rock, rocksteady, ska, songs, soul, soundtracks, traditional Tags songs, playlists, morning, Dave Griffiths, Tim Renwick, The Stone Roses, The Boo Radleys, Spyro Gyra, The Monkees, Sheryl Crow, The Commodores, Saint Etienne, Mura Masa, slowthai, Block 16, Jon Lucien, Beck, Squeeze, Sandy Denny, Sparklehorse, Nina Persson, Lemon Sol, Gabriels, Marvin Gaye, war, Melanie, Franco & TPOK Jazz, Quincy Jones, Ras Michael, The Sons of Negus, Talk Talk, Holly Herndon, Journey, Nazz, Menace, Dr K Gyasi & His Noble Kings, DiscoMonster
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So, who's next? Songs about hope

January 20, 2022 Peter Kimpton

From 1920s speakeasy …

Even in the face of despair, it’s something in our DNA, focusing on the unknown immediate or distant future, where there's a feeling, a desire, a belief, or confidence that something good might happen that can be expressed in all sorts of lyrics and stories

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In avant-garde, African, blues, calypso, classical, comedy, country, dance, disco, drone, dub, electronica, experimental, folk, funk, gospel, hip hop, indie, jazz, instrumentals, metal, music, musical hall, musicals, playlists, pop, postpunk, prog, punk, reggae, rock, rocksteady, showtime, ska, songs, soul, soundtracks, traditional Tags songs, playlists, hope, Hope & Anchor, Leonard Cohen, Anne Frank, Immanuel Kant, Emily Dickinson, John Cleese, Film, children, climate change, psychology, The Damned, The Stranglers, Yann Martel, John Lennon, Alfred Lord Tennyson, Leo Tolstoy, Percy Shelley, poetry, TS Eliot, Allen Ginsberg, Francis Bacon, Arthur Wing Pinero, Albert Camus, Soren Kierkegaard, John Milton, Friedrich Nietzsche, George Eliot, GK Chesterton, Victor Hugo, Alain de Botton, Vaclav Havel, Frank Warren, Maxine Hong Kingston, Albert Einstein, Bill Evans, Tony Bennett
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Playlists: songs about eternity

January 18, 2022 Peter Kimpton

Round and round: a timeless track coming up from Signs of Life by Penguin Cafe Orchestra …

Space, time, the rhythms of life, expressions of the divine, love? Eternity in its many permutations is to be found in these captivating playlists picked by guest ajostu, inspired by the near-endless nominations from last week’s topic

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In African, avant-garde, classical, colours, calypso, comedy, dance, disco, dub, electronica, experimental, folk, funk, hip hop, indie, instrumentals, jazz, music, musicals, playlists, pop, postpunk, prog, punk, reggae, rock, rocksteady, ska, songs, soul, soundtracks, traditional Tags songs, playlists, eternity, The Rheingans Sisters, These New Puritans, Penguin Cafe Orchestra, Bill Fay, George Friederic Handel, Handel, The Divine Comedy, Jim Croce, Wilco, Bjork, Emily Hall, Yes, Roy Wood, paul simon, Moloko, Half Japanese, Linda Lewis, New Order, Shoukichi Kina, The Mystic Revealers, Sergio Mendes, India Arie, The Black Keys, Pom Pom Squad, Super Furry Animals, Massive Attack, Anne Dudley, Jaz Coleman, Elyssa Samsel, Sakamoto Maaya, cosmo@bouso-P., ajostu
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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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Playlists: songs about tradition

December 21, 2021 Peter Kimpton

British and German troops buck tradition, but also honour it, during the Christmas Day truce of 1914, to play football instead of war

Ancient religions to strange festivals, drinking rituals to counting sheep to chasing cheeses, small slices of history to long formed social behaviour, enjoy wonderful stories and playlists picked by guest Marco den Ouden from last week’s topic

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In blues, comedy, country, experimental, folk, instrumentals, jazz, music, musical hall, musicals, playlists, pop, postpunk, rock, songs, soul, soundtracks, traditional Tags songs, playlists, tradition, Topol, Fiddler On The Roof, musicals, Steeleye Span, Jake Thackray, Giorgio Moroder, The Maccabees, Die 3 Besoffskis, Takashi Hirayaus, Bob Brozman, Les Innocents, Shikata Akiko, Lila Downs, Mike Harding, Tim Minchin, Nat King Cole, Hen Ogledd, Samingad, Dadawa, The Saw Doctors, Show Of Hands, Sea Power, B Movie, Billy Idol, The Fantastics, Richard Thompson, Linda Thompson, Joni Mitchell, NIck Lowe, Careg Lafar, Heilung, Peter Gabriel, Waylon Napadogan, John McCutcheon, Sonny Boy Williamson II, Chloe Adams, The Kickstands, Stan Getz, Stanley Clarke, Jon Simon, Bruce Springsteen, Sufjan Stevens, John Coltrane, Alex Khaskin, Swing Out Sister, Peter Green, Simani, Big Crosby, The Irish Rovers, National Lampoon, Marco den Ouden
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Sign of the Tyne: songs from and about North East England

December 9, 2021 Peter Kimpton

Central Newcastle with the Gateshead Sage music venue on the left

Songs that capture the character and style, landmarks, culture, people and history for the area that’s defined by the likes of Newcastle upon Tyne and Gateshead, Sunderland, Middlesbrough, Durham, Darlington, Northumberland and more

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In avant-garde, blues, comedy, country, dance, disco, drone, dub, electronica, experimental, folk, funk, indie, instrumentals, jazz, metal, music, musicals, playlists, pop, postpunk, prog, punk, reggae, rock, rocksteady, showtime, ska, songs, soul, soundtracks, traditional Tags songs, playlists, North East England, Newcastle upon Tyne, Sunderland, Middlesbrough, Durham, history, society, Field Music, Nadine Shah, Du Blonde, Beth Jeans Houghton, The Animals, Sting, DIre Straits, Bryan Ferry, Chris Rea, Neil Tennant, Futureheads, Maxïmo Park, Toy Dolls, Geordie, Trevor Horn, Prefab Sprout, Lindisfarne, Dubstar, Whitesnake, Charles Avison, Jarrow March, protest, Our Friends In The North, Peter Flannery, television, drama, Sam Fender, Paul Gascoigne, Viz Magazine, Viz magazine, Vic Reeves, Bob Mortimer, Ian Le Frenais
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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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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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Playlists: Boastful songs

November 17, 2021 Peter Kimpton

Flash, brash and bulging with talent: Grandmaster Melle Mel with the Furious Five

Bombastic braggadocio to self-applauding swagger, sexual prowess and stamina to super-clever slick, non-stop self-description, guest playlister ShivSidecar picks supremely sharp and entertaining sets of songs from early rock’n’roll to soul, hip hop and beyond

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In blues, disco, funk, hip hop, indie, jazz, music, playlists, pop, postpunk, prog, punk, rock, soul, songs, comedy Tags boasting, arrogance, playlists, music, songs, Billy Ward & The Dominoes, Wilson Pickett, James Brown, Rasputin's Stash, Grandmaster Melle Mel & The Furious Five, Roxanne Shanté, Joe Walsh, Brakes, Cat Power, The Temptations, Thee More Shallows, REM, Death In Vegas, Kid Creole and the Coconuts, EPMD, Young MC, The Third Bardo, The Warlocks, Utopia, Candye Kane, Manic Street Preachers, Virgin Prunes, Tom Waits, Juicy Bananas, Eminem, Chance The Rapper, Chelmico, Munchausen, Captain Beefheart, Ian Dury & The Blockheads, Cerys Matthews, David Bowie, The Lower Third, Bette Bright & The Illuminations, The Pipettes, The Beat, Klark Kent, Steve Burns, The Flaming Lips, Sidecar Shiv
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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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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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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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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, outlaws, rebels, Ruth Messinger, Wild Bunch, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Butch Cassidy, Sundance Kid, Thomas Jefferson, Emmeline Pankhurst, Uta Hagen, Albert Camus, Indira Gandhi, Frank Herbert, Elvis Presley, Nina Simone, Marlon Brando, Film, film soundtrack, László Benedek, James Dean, Henry Rollins, Quentin Crisp, Ancient Rome, Middle Ages, Jesus Christ, Robin Hood, Piers Plowman, Juraj Jánošík, Jakub Surovec, Oleksa Dovbush, Rózsa Sándor, Schinderhannes, Hans Kohlhase, Dick Turpin, William Plunkett, James MacLaine, Richard Bayes, Katherine Ferrers, Ned Kelly, Peter Carey, Dwight Eisenhower, Jesse James, John Wesley Hardin, Billy The Kid, George Parrott, Bill Doolin, Robert LeRoy Parker, Belle Starr, Peart Hart, Laura Bullion, Bonnie Parker, Clyde Barrow, Bonnie and Clyde, Thomas Browne, John Waters, Philippe Petit, Joan Jett, Johnny Cash, Michael Franti, El-P, Arthur Miller, Clint Eastwood
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Goth, gore and more: scary, creepy, horror-inspired songs

October 21, 2021 Peter Kimpton

Nosferatu, 1922

Whether inspired by fictional horror in books or film, or indeed horrors of the real world, physical or psychological, stylishly goth or gruesomely gory, this Halloween-inspired topic is all about songs that send a shiver up the spine

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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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In avant-garde, African, blues, calypso, comedy, country, dance, disco, dub, electronica, experimental, folk, funk, indie, instrumentals, jazz, music, musical hall, playlists, pop, postpunk, punk, reggae, rock, rocksteady, ska, songs, soul, traditional Tags songs, playlists, tea, Art Tatum, Dillinger, Masters of Reality, Camille, Melon Kinenbi, Going Under Ground, Shack, Mono, Philip Jeays, Shonen Knife, Lorraine Bowen, Amalia de la Vega, Gracie Fields, Katzenjammer, Jim Noir, Erykah Badu, Harumi, Kelis, Sarah Vaughan, Cat Stevens, Yusuf, Loveninias, Coriky, Sage Francis, Ivor Cutler, Dogshit Sandwich, Gong, Lim Giong, DiscoMonster
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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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DRINK OF THE WEEK

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New Albums …

Featured
Dove Ellis - Blizzard.jpeg
Dec 9, 2025
Dove Ellis: Blizzard
Dec 9, 2025

New album: An extraordinarily mature, passionate, poetic, and outstandingly powerful debut by the Manchester-based Galway-born singer-songwriter, whose soaring delivery has instant echoes of Jeff Buckley and lyrics that go above and beyond

Dec 9, 2025
Spíra by Ólöf Arnalds.jpeg
Dec 5, 2025
Ólöf Arnalds: Spíra
Dec 5, 2025

New album: A gorgeous, delicate, ethereal first release in a decade by the Icelandic singer-songwriter, acoustic instruments and her gentle, high, pure voice, all in her native language, caressing this listening experience like pure waters of some slowly trickling glacial stream

Dec 5, 2025
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

new songs …

Featured
Courtney Marie Andrews - Valentine.jpeg
Dec 15, 2025
Song of the Day: Courtney Marie Andrews - Little Picture Of A Butterfly
Dec 15, 2025

Song of the Day: Beautiful, delicate, fluttering, eclectic, heartbreak folk and Americana by the singer-songwriter from Phoenix, Arizona, heralding her forthcoming new album, Valentine, out on 16 January via Loose Future

Dec 15, 2025
Peter Perrett - Proud To Be Self-Hating.jpeg
Dec 12, 2025
Song of the Day: Peter Perrett - PROUD TO BE SELF-HATING (irony and provocation)
Dec 12, 2025

Song of the Day: The veteran British artist, originally frontman of The Only Ones, and now with three solo albums, who actually has Jewish heritage, releases a gently powerful, nuanced, pro-Palestine acoustic number as a response to ongoing genocide by the Israeli government, out on Domino Records

Dec 12, 2025
Maddie Ashman - Jaded.jpeg
Dec 11, 2025
Song of the Day: Maddie Ashman - Jaded
Dec 11, 2025

Song of the Day: Magical, delicate, eclectic, intricate, experimental microtonal music by the London musician and singer, released alongside a longer track, In Autumn My Heart Breaks

Dec 11, 2025
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Dec 10, 2025
Song of the Day: Ye Vagabonds - The Flood
Dec 10, 2025

Song of the Day: Wonderfully warm, rich, lively fiddle-driven Irish folk by the award-winning band fronted by Carlow brothers Brían and Diarmuid Mac Gloinn with a heartbreaking number about the housing crisis, heralding their upcoming new album, All Tied Together, out on Rough Trade’s River Lea Recordings on 30 January

Dec 10, 2025
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Dec 9, 2025
Song of the Day: DBA! A Poet And A Clown
Dec 9, 2025

Song of the Day: Catchy fuzz-guitar indie rock with a swagger by the Liverpool-formed trio of Sam Warren, James Lindberg and Joshua Grant in a song described as “a confessional story of desire tangled with religious guilt”

Dec 9, 2025
Puma Blue - Croak Dream.jpeg
Dec 8, 2025
Song of the Day: Puma Blue - Croak Dream
Dec 8, 2025

Song of the Day: A dark, esoteric, mysterious and stylish title track with a hint of Radiohead and playing with the idea of knowing your future death, from the experimental indie/goth/ambient London artist Jacob Allen’s forthcoming album out on 6 February via Play It Again Sam

Dec 8, 2025
ELIZA - Anyone Else.jpeg
Dec 7, 2025
Song of the Day: ELIZA - Anyone Else
Dec 7, 2025

Song of the Day: Stripped-back, bluesy, fuzzy funk with slight echoes of Prince and alt-R&B are conjured up in this love song by the London-based singer-songwriter Eliza Caird, her first single for two years, now off the mainstream and out on Log Off Records

Dec 7, 2025
SILK SCARF by Tiga & Fcukers.jpg
Dec 6, 2025
Song of the Day: Tiga (featuring Fcukers) - Silk Scarf
Dec 6, 2025

Song of the Day: A fun, sensual, quirkily oddball electronica dance single with a slick, fetish-flirtatious ode to a favourite smooth material by the Montreal musician (Tiga James Sontag) joined here with vocals by the New York band (Shanny Wise and Jackson Walker Lewis), and heralding Tiga’s upcoming album Hotlife, out in April on Secret City Records

Dec 6, 2025
Flea - A Plea.jpeg
Dec 5, 2025
Song of the Day: Flea - A Plea
Dec 5, 2025

Song of the Day: A striking, powerful new single by the Red Hot Chilli Peppers bassist (aka Michael Balzary), who brings a fusion of jazz and spoken word with a fabulous band on an impassioned number about the state of the US in a culture of hatred, social and political tensions, out now on Nonesuch Records

Dec 5, 2025
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
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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

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
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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
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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
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