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From A to … Zaouli. The traditional dance of the Guro people of central Ivory Coast
No lyrics, all music and floor-filling movement. From formal to spontaneous styles, afrobeat to acid house, and anything in history all the way to zaouli, Zwiefacher, zydeco and zouk-Lambada, the musical dancefloor is all yours …
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Vitruvian Man by Leonardo Da Vinci
‘The heart’s a muscle. I pull it constantly’. Stretching not only the body, but also the mind and musical boundaries, these week’s playlists, expertly exercised by guest TatankaYotanka, help find parts we didn’t even know we had
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Stretch out in the spirit of the 80s
This could be a fine body of work. Everything from stiffness to full fluidity of exercise – bending, flexing, twisting, stretching, it’s time limber up and pick up on songs that capture corporeal movement in any context
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Mona Lisa: the unseen portrait
From Ancient Rome to the Renaissance, sacred, classical, baroque or romantic, or anything from the pop era and beyond, this week let’s try to capture this country of contradictions referring to anything in culture, history, landmarks or more
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Lady Gaga: Just put your paws up – 'cause you were born this way, baby …
Finding the ordinary in the extraordinary to the straight in the straitjacket, this week’s playlists are anything but average, as guest playlister IsabelleForshaw entertainingly reveals that normality is all a matter of perspective
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We’re normal … The Bonzos
Regular? Standard? Stereotype? Average? Typical? Natural? What does normal mean, and how might it be explored in song lyrics? From people to behaviour, families to jobs to towns, and any other context, it’s all a matter of perspective
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To the cosmos and beyond …
Has it ever occurred to you that …. life, the universe and everything could be captured in playlists? This question is answered perfectly by guest ajostu, who picks some profound revelations inspired by last week’s nominations
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Right place at the right time come into focus …
Moments of realisation? From scientific to practical, physical, emotional, philosophical or spiritual, expressed in one lyrical line, one musical rush, or building slowly, and then suddenly and unexpectedly coming into focus in song
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Special siblings: Billie Eilish and Finneas O'Connell
Jazz to hip hop, classical, pop, folk and a whole spectrum of other music from around the world, this week guest playlister Nilpferd picks out some of the finest pairings in music where two individuals are greater together than apart
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Fragile, insecure synchronicity. Simon & Garfunkel.
What makes for a great duo and how does is that dynamic expressed? Perfect balance of sound? Unspoken understanding and harmony? Symbiosis of roles? Contrast in character? Fragility, insecurity and tension? It’s time for two’s company …
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The Go-Betweens
There’s no denying it - this is a subject that is attached to every part of our lives, private and public, and from many nominations, guest playlister AmyLee picks amazing all-encompassing selections to uncover the musical truth
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Monkey business: once wise, now denies …
Politics, climate change, racism, health or personal relationships, all this and more can can come under the umbrella of denial, and in song lyrics it’s a potent area for nuance, irony, emotion, and things that bite back
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Hold on to your headdresses – it’s Heilung
The Halloween runes and the rituals rise up with plenty of antlers and feminine power as guest guru DJ Bear aka PopOff! throws many potent ingredients into the musical cauldron and comes out with playlists that are really cooking
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Austrian Krampus … where paganism does a Christmas album …
Ritualism, celebration, sacrifice, worship of nature, sex and food? Ancient and 20th-century traditions come a procession of all kinds of colourful characters in this week’s theme that heralds horror or pleasure in equal measure
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Correspondence captures time, place, culture and emotions …
Love letters to rejection replies, friendship, work or leisure, written correspondence are the preserved leaves of history, revealing human nature in all its states and culture, but how does it come up in songwriting? Reply here …
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Class reflections: Mighty Mo Rodgers
It’s a life of ups and downs, hopes and dreams. From financial ambition to border immigration, breaking the rules to criticising status quo fools, this week’s playlists, picked from a big crowd of nominations by guest Suzi, are truly classy
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Class act: John Cleese, Ronnie Barker and Ronnie Corbett in 1966
On the move or stuck in one place? Class snobbery to pride, social control to aspiration, it’s a hugely potent part of human life, something that never seems to disappear in stories, situations, and above all the feelings it generates
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Float your ideas, and nevermind the cost. From the Nirvana album …
For crying out loud. This week’s topic is all about those beautiful and cute bundles of joy that we all once were, miracles of wide-eyed wonder as well as guzzling, selfish, exhausting, sleep-sapping, puking bags of expensive energy extraction
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Frank Zappa and the body beautiful
Men, women, babies, society, people of statue, stardom or otherwise, this week no one escapes this week’s scattergun of superbly insulting songs inspired by last week’s topic, chosen with expert evil hilarity by guest Olive Butler
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Malcolm Tucker, insulter in chief, from The Thick Of It
Look sharp! This week we’re adjusting our tone with lyrics that really sharpen the spear, but capture the full spectrum from light, friendly jibe, gentle put-down, discourtesy, invective to scornful verbal attack in killer lines to whole songs
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