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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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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, showtime, ska, rocksteady, songs, soul, soundtracks, traditional Tags songs, playlists, nuts, seeds, fruit, food, Matshona Dhliwayo, William Shakespeare, Brian Eno, Monty Python, Ai Weiwei, Thomas Heatherwick, art, architecture
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Playlists: songs about tomorrow

November 24, 2021 Peter Kimpton

She’ll wait, but it finally brings her turn: Rhiannon Giddens

When is it coming? When do you want it? Now? After waves of nominations, tomorrow comes in many parties and parts, in imagination, on the clock, in emotions, and more, in a mammoth collection of clever categories chosen by guest playlister Nicko

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In African, avant-garde, blues, 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, ska, songs, soul, soundtracks, traditional Tags tomorrow, songs, playlists, The Cure, The Byrds, Bob Dylan, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Rhiannon Giddens, Gram Parsons, Emmylou Harris, Mitski, Southwest F.O.B., The Beatles, Roger Whittaker, Spacemen 3, Love And Rockets, The Durutti Column, Hendrickson Road House, Screaming Blue Stars, McDonald & Giles, The Vibrators, Tindersticks, The WordD, Definition of Sound, Lou Pride, Bill Wells, Aidan Moffat, Al Green, Radio Tarifa, Rokia Traoré, William Onyeabor, Soko, Takashi Shimura, Icehouse, Barrington Levy, Gabriel Omolo & His Apollo Komesha, Junior Wells, Nicko
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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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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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In African, avant-garde, blues, calypso, classical, country, dance, disco, drone, dub, electronica, experimental, folk, funk, gospel, indie, instrumentals, jazz, music, playlists, pop, postpunk, prog, punk, reggae, rock, rocksteady, showtime, ska, songs, soul, soundtracks, traditional Tags playlists, songs, instrumentals, elephants, mammoths, mammals, animals, Oscar Brown Jr, Tom Tom Club, Laleh, Burning Spear, June Tabor, Art Blakey, North Atlantic Invasion Force, Osibisa, Tame Impala, A Camp, Fungas, Stackridge, Mandy Miller, Chakra Bleu, Syd Barrett, Henry Mancini, Toy Dolls, Lena, CW Peake, John Greaves, Peter Blegvad, Lisa Herman, Trilok Gurtu & The Glimpse, Prince, Leon Rosselson, MS Subbulakshmi, King Crimson, Natalie Merchant, Nilesh Moharir, Mangesh Borgaonkar, Spruhar Joshi, Vidulgoi Ooyoo, Pigeon Milk, Them Crooked Vultures, Bonnie Raitt, Was (Not Was), severin, Severin, Mammut, Kuricorder Quartet
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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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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: 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 …

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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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In African, blues, avant-garde, classical, comedy, country, dance, drone, disco, dub, electronica, experimental, funk, hip hop, indie, instrumentals, jazz, metal, music, musicals, playlists, pop, postpunk, prog, punk, reggae, rock, ska, showtime, rocksteady, songs, soul, soundtracks, traditional Tags songs, playlists, horror, Film, film soundtrack, books, fiction, Mary Shelley, Charles Baudelaire, Bram Stoker, H.P. Lovecraft, Truman Capote, Edgar Allan Poe, Stephen King, Alfred Hitchcock, Joseph Conrad, Francis Ford Coppola, Marlon Brando, Halloween, Bela Lugosi, architecture, Mervyn Peake, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Bauhaus, The Damned, Killing Joke, Theda Bara, Washington Irving, Georges Méliès, FW Murnau, Max Schreck, Kate Bush, David Byrne, Luis Bunuel, Bob Dylan, Blue Oyster Cult, Deep Purple, Vampire Weekend, Creedence Clearwater Revival, The Ramones, Robert Bloch, The Simpsons, Stanley Kubrick
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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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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, musicals, musical hall, playlists, pop, postpunk, prog, punk, reggae, rock, rocksteady, showtime, ska, songs, soul, soundtracks, traditional Tags tea, playlists, songs, China, Thomas De Quincey, William Gladstone, Henry James, Arthur Wing Pinero, Lu T'ung, Lin Yutang, Frances Hardinge, East India Company, India, Sri Lanka, Japan, Turkey, Morocco, Rwanda, Mali, Boy George, Mick Jagger, Mary J Blige, Ray Mears, C.E. Murphy, Father Ted, television, Comedy, Tony Benn, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Leo Tolstoy, Mikhail Bulgakov, Samuel Johnson, James Boswell, C.S. Lewis, Jane Austen, Wilkie Collins, George Orwell, Rabindranath Tagore, Kakuzō Okakura, Muriel Barbery, Carol Ann Duffy, poetry, drinks
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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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In African, avant-garde, blues, calypso, comedy, country, dance, classical, disco, drone, dub, electronica, experimental, folk, funk, gospel, indie, instrumentals, jazz, metal, music, musical hall, musicals, pop, playlists, showtime, rocksteady, rock, songs, soul, soundtracks, traditional, reggae, punk, prog, postpunk Tags songs, playlists, buskers, street bands, street music, marching bands, Aryeh & Gil Gat, Windslide, Zaz, opera, Ennio Morricone, Guitar Wifie, Nile Rodgers, Fanfare Ciocarlia, Gogol Bordello, Ataca Paca, Clanadonia, Luke Jerram, Tommy and Mary, Probes, Lamba Pomme, Philip Roebuck, Amadou Diagne, Portico Quartet, Meute, Urban Sax, Tytheroygatra, Fantazio, Le SNOB, Daniel and Isaac Gonora, Bomba Estéreo, pejepeine
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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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Playlists: songs about nothing

September 29, 2021 Peter Kimpton
Nothing is a hard to a-void

Nothing is a hard to a-void

Empty hearts and vacuums to voids, sweet nothings to total zeroes, last week we presented the Song Bar visitors a whole load of nothing, and led by guest playlister ParaMhor, who made perfect picks, it really turned into something …

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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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In African, blues, calypso, country, dance, disco, drone, dub, electronica, experimental, folk, funk, gospel, indie, instrumentals, jazz, music, musical hall, musicals, playlists, pop, postpunk, prog, punk, reggae, rock, rocksteady, showtime, ska, songs, soul, soundtracks, traditional Tags songs, playlists, wolves, animal behaviour, Spinerette, Yabby You, Clarence 'Gatemouth' Brown, First Aid Kit, Kokia, Carleen Anderson, Howlin' Wolf, Kvelertak, Catie Curtis, Lucio Dalla, Hedningama, Oreana, Dennis Brown, The Cramps, The Mountain Goats, Lightnin' Hopkins, Maggie Rogers, Marianne Faithfull, Los Lobos, Kikuo, The Real Tuesday Weld, Johnny Winter, BIg Youth, Warren Zevon, The HU, The Grateful Dead, Gary Shearston, Sam The Sham And The Pharoahs, Black Eyes, Les Savy Fav, Steel Pulse, Duran Duran, Aurora, Severin, severin
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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 the September 11 attacks

September 14, 2021 Peter Kimpton
Just before the second plane hit the South Tower

Just before the second plane hit the South Tower

Twenty years on from that most dramatic and tragic day of 9/11, from anger and outrage to soft, sensitive memorials, guest playlister Loud Atlas picks a poignant and sensitive set of lists from an outpouring of excellent nominations

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In blues, country, dance, disco, drone, dub, electronica, experimental, folk, funk, hip hop, indie, instrumentals, jazz, playlists, pop, postpunk, prog, punk, rock, ska, songs, soul, traditional Tags 9/11, September 11 Attacks, terrorism, memorials, New York, And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Deadead, Bert Jansch, Sleater-Kinney, Living Colour, Bruce Springsteen, John Hiatt, Dream Theater, Craig Finn, Mary Chapin Carpenter, David Rovics, Black Eyed Peas, Anohni, Steve Reich, Beastie Boys, The Beastie Boys, Sage Francis, Richard Shindell, Jello Biafra, The Guantanamo School of Medicine, Julian Cope, Rod Macdonald, Lupe Fiasco, Team America, Michael Franti, Spearhead, Fred Smith, Robb Johnson, The Restarts, Wax Audio, Jack Warshaw, Loud Atlas
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Call 9/11: songs relating to the September 11 attacks

September 9, 2021 Peter Kimpton
New York, 11th September 2001

New York, 11th September 2001

Songs about the shock, panic, in remembrance, tributes, heroism, terrorism, consequences, conspiracy theories and how things bite back? This week, 20 years on, it’s time to try and capture memories and thoughts of this world-changing tragedy

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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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Celestial phenomena: songs about rainbows and the northern lights

September 2, 2021 Peter Kimpton
Aurora borealis in Iceland

Aurora borealis in Iceland

Intangible, evasive, fleeting, precious, in constant flux, a source of awe, excitement, sometimes primal fear, of mythical beauty and infinite moods, hues and colours, its time to capture these celestial miracles in song

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DRINK OF THE WEEK

spring blossom cocktail


SNACK OF THE WEEK

cherry blossom easter egg


New Albums …

Featured
Snail Mail - Ricochet.jpeg
Apr 7, 2026
Snail Mail: Ricochet
Apr 7, 2026

New album: American indie singer-songwriter Lindsey Jordan returns with a third LP, awash with natural tendency for shoegaze-y melancholy, but also with a warm embrace of jangly and acoustic guitars in this introspective release about time, fading friendships, mortality, the afterlife, and the quiet terror of watching the things you love slip away

Apr 7, 2026
Dark Sky Reservation by LYR.jpeg
Apr 6, 2026
LYR: Dark Sky Reservation
Apr 6, 2026

New album: Filled with beautiful stillness and vivid, intricate images, gentle wit, lilting profundity and contemplative moments, this gorgeously illuminating third experimental LP by the trio of UK poet laureate Simon Armitage and musicians Richard Walters and Patrick J Pearson begins on the constellatory contradiction that the furthest points of light in our skies can only be seen in the dark

Apr 6, 2026
Birding by deary.jpeg
Apr 5, 2026
deary: Birding
Apr 5, 2026

New album: A shimmering, sparkling, ethereal dream-pop and shoegaze debut by the London trio with an ornithological theme in the context of human impact, and significant echoes in flight of their key influences Cocteau Twins, Lush, My Bloody Valentine, and Slowdive

Apr 5, 2026
Vol.II by Angine de Poitrine.jpeg
Apr 4, 2026
Angine de Poitrine: Vol. II
Apr 4, 2026

New album: A weirdly wonky hot sensation on social media, the mysterious Quebec duo are instantly recognisable by their oddball, masked polka dot disguises, but this second release of mostly instrumental prog-rock bendy loops and riffs between guitar and drums remain just as mesmeric in their musical skill and complexity

Apr 4, 2026
Thundercat - Distracted.jpeg
Apr 4, 2026
Thundercat: Distracted
Apr 4, 2026

New album: Rich, deep, squelchy grooves and high falsetto in the distinctively funky-jazz-soul-afrofuturistic-cosmic-rock return of the outstanding Los Angeles bass player with his first LP for six years, and an impressive array of collaborators, including Mac Miller, Tame Impala, Flying Lotus, A$AP Rocky, and The Lemon Twigs

Apr 4, 2026
Memorials - All Clouds Bring Not Rain.jpeg
Apr 1, 2026
MEMORIALS: All Clouds Bring Not Rain
Apr 1, 2026

New album: Innovative, eclectic fusion of psychedelia, folk, dub, krautrock, 60s soul, garage rock, prog, pop, electronica and 70s spiritual jazz by the Canterbury experimental duo of Verity Susman and Matthew Simms

Apr 1, 2026
 Against the Dying of the Light by José González  2.jpeg
Apr 1, 2026
José González: Against The Dying Of The Light
Apr 1, 2026

New album: A gentle, reflective, meditative, but quietly defiant fifth LP by the Swedish-Argentine indie-folk guitarist and singer-songwriter, following his last, Local Valley, broadening his perspective in an urgent call to preserve the light of humanity as technology advances in ironically darkening world

Apr 1, 2026
Raye - This Music May Contain Hope.jpg
Apr 1, 2026
RAYE: This Music May Contain Hope
Apr 1, 2026

New album: A highly entertaining, exuberantly stylish, cross-genre 17-track, 73-minute odyssey by the London popstar, with a huge musical show of a second LP, spanning swing-era jazz to soul, R&B, house music, pop, dance, gospel, classical and the full kitchen sink, with orchestral band, family members, Hans Zimmer, and even Al Green

Apr 1, 2026
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Mar 30, 2026
Pitou: P2
Mar 30, 2026

New album: Brilliantly quirky, original second LP of experimental folk pop by the Amsterdam artist, who has the free spirited musical adventurousness reminiscent of Tune-Yards’ Merrill Garbus and Fiona Apple in this clever, playful, stop-start work with oodles of vocal loops and layering, electronica and unusual field recordings across themes of freedom and restlessness

Mar 30, 2026
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Mar 29, 2026
Robyn: Sexistential
Mar 29, 2026

New album: After a break of seven years, the hugely influential 46-year-old Swedish pop star returns with a new burst of alternative, electro-pop bangers, in this ninth LP, now subverting themes of romantic love in another context since having gone through having IVF and becoming a single parent

Mar 29, 2026
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Mar 29, 2026
The Twilight Sad: It's The Long Goodbye
Mar 29, 2026

New album: The Glasgow indie rockers fronted by vocalist James Graham and guitarist Andy MacFarlane return with a tempestuous, highly emotional and moving sixth LP, their first for seven years, with musical input from The Cure’s Robert Smith, fuelled by the illness and passing of Graham’s mother and his subsequent mental health struggles

Mar 29, 2026
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Mar 28, 2026
Courtney Barnett: Creature of Habit
Mar 28, 2026

New album: The Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist returns after a five-year gap to bring more of her witty, indie-country-rock, but with a bittersweet flavour, and an emotionally resonant record that explores change and the central question: how to get out of your own way so you can truly feel your life

Mar 28, 2026
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Mar 26, 2026
Ego Ella May: Good Intentions
Mar 26, 2026

New album: Beautifully crafted but effortlessly performed, a wonderful release of delicious, classy, smooth and smoky soul, jazz and RnB by the London singer-songwriter who has vocal and stylistic qualities reminiscent of Erykah Badu and Sade

Mar 26, 2026
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Mar 25, 2026
Ellie O'Neill: Time of Fallow
Mar 25, 2026

New album: A gorgeous, delicate debut folk LP by the Dublin-based singer-songwriter from County Meath with an exquisite voice, not unlike that of Joni Mitchell, that hovers and rises with expressive control, with themes of memory, grief, desire, and self-reckoning

Mar 25, 2026

new songs …

Featured
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Apr 8, 2026
Song of the Day: Beth Orton - The Ground Above
Apr 8, 2026

Song of the Day: The British singer-songwriter returns with a profound and beautiful new 8-minute eclectic folk-rock number about how humans are “all vulnerable beings living out invincible lives”, suffused with piano and trumpet, and out on Partisan Records

Apr 8, 2026
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Apr 7, 2026
Song of the Day: Liz Lawrence - Black Ulysses
Apr 7, 2026

Song of the Day: A beautifully moving, melodic and poignant acoustic indie-pop single by the acclaimed British singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer, from the upcoming album fifth album Vespers, out on 5 June via Chrysalis Records

Apr 7, 2026
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Apr 6, 2026
Song of the Day: Angelo De Augustine - Empty Shell
Apr 6, 2026

Song of the Day: Beautiful, delicate, tender, elegiac indie folk with chamber strings, by the California singer-songwriter, and friend and associate of Sufjan Stevens, who is an inspiration, heralding his upcoming fifth album Angel in Plainclothes, out on 24 April via Asthmatic Kitty Records

Apr 6, 2026
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Apr 5, 2026
Song of the Day: U2 - Easter Parade
Apr 5, 2026

Song of the Day: After February’s politically themed protest EP Days of Ash, another surprise single and EP, Easter Lily, by the veteran Irish rock band, seasonally themed and reflecting the band’s beliefs, with a classic sound harking back to the past, guitar and synths, and a number described as a devotional song, a celebration of new life, rebirth and resurrection

Apr 5, 2026
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Apr 4, 2026
Song of the Day: Bedouine - Long Way To Fall
Apr 4, 2026

Song of the Day: A beautiful, tender, poignant return by the Syrian-American singer-songwriter Azniv Korkejian, with a strings and piano-based indie-folk number heralding her fourth album Neon Summer Skin, out on 5 June via Bedouine Music/ Thirty Tigers

Apr 4, 2026
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Apr 3, 2026
Song of the Day: Jack White - G.O.D. AND THE BROKEN RIBS / Derecho Demonico
Apr 3, 2026

Song of the Day: The acclaimed rock guitarist-singer-singer of White Stripes fame returns with this punchy, scorching catchy organ-backed, biblical-modern-fable-apocalypse-themed number alongside another, the Led Zeppelin-esque Derecho Demonico, out on his label Third Man Records

Apr 3, 2026
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Apr 2, 2026
Song of the Day: Julia Cumming - Please Let Me Remember This
Apr 2, 2026

Song of the Day: Lush, classic, piano-pop by the New York–born multi-instrumentalist and Sunflower Bean singer and bassist, influenced by Burt Bacharach, Carole King, and heralding her debut solo album, Julia, out on 24 April via Partisan Records

Apr 2, 2026
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Apr 1, 2026
Song of the Day: Jessie Ware - Automatic
Apr 1, 2026

Song of the Day: Infectiously catchy, funk-soul-disco pop by the charismatic singer-songwriter featuring a deep-voiced spoken intro by actor Colman Domingo, and the latest single heralding upcoming sixth album, Superbloom, out on 17 April via Interscope

Apr 1, 2026
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Mar 31, 2026
Song of the Day: Mount Palomar ft. Enola Gay - Feeding Frenzy
Mar 31, 2026

Song of the Day: Pulsating, dark, hard-hitting dance and hip-hop by the Northern Irish music producer, DJ and live electronic hardware artist Neil Kerr, joined by the Belfast indie-noise-punk quartet, on this title track of a new four-track EP, out on Ursa Minor

Mar 31, 2026
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Mar 30, 2026
Song of the Day: Jungle - Carry On
Mar 30, 2026

Song of the Day: Swoonful, beautiful, but also bittersweet and vulnerable, old-fashioned soul-pop by the British band featuring the vocals of Lydia Kitto in a number co-penned with producer Joshua Lloyd Watson, heralding the upcoming album, Sunshine, out on 14 August via Caiola Records / AWAL Recordings

Mar 30, 2026
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Mar 29, 2026
Song of the Day: The Ocelots - Motor Hotel
Mar 29, 2026

Song of the Day: Beautiful, reflective, uplifting alternative folk with banjo, guitar, flute and more by the Wexford Irish twin brothers Brandon and Ashley Watson, from their new five-track EP, Revisions, a mix of new and re-worked, re-recorded numbers

Mar 29, 2026
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Mar 28, 2026
Song of the Day: Lee "Scratch" Perry & Mouse On Mars - Rockcurry
Mar 28, 2026

Song of the Day: A stylish, eclectic, cross-genre single from the late, great, legendary Jamaican producer and performer’s ongoing legacy, heralding his last official album - the project in Berlin with electronic pioneers Mouse on Mars (aka Jan St. Werner and Andi Toma) and the LP - Spatial, No Problem on on 5 June via Domino Records

Mar 28, 2026

Word of the week

Featured
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Mar 27, 2026
Word of the week: veena
Mar 27, 2026

Word of the week: This ornate, curvaceous, south Indian classical instrument, the saraswati veena, is a special bowl lute with a rich, resonant tone, has 24 copper frets with four playing strings and three drone strings, and is used for Carnatic music

Mar 27, 2026
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Mar 12, 2026
Word of the week: wallfish
Mar 12, 2026

Word of the week: It sounds like the singing finned picture ornament Big Mouth Billy Bass that became popular in the late 1990s, but this is a much older noun, derived in Somerset, England, pertains to the climbing gastropod that can slowly climb up any surface

Mar 12, 2026
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Feb 25, 2026
Word of the week: xiphias
Feb 25, 2026

Word of the week: Get the point? This is the scientific name for the swordfish, in full Xiphias gladius (from the Greek and Latin for sword), that extraordinary sea creature with the long, pointy bill. But what of it in song?

Feb 25, 2026
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Feb 12, 2026
Word of the week: yanggeum
Feb 12, 2026

Word of the week: A form or hammered dulcimer, this traditional Korean instrument, with a flat and trapezoidal shape, has seven sets of four metal strings hit by thin bamboo stick

Feb 12, 2026
Zumbador dorado - mango bumblebee Puerto Rico.jpeg
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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