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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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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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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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In African, avant-garde, blues, country, dance, disco, drone, electronica, dub, experimental, folk, funk, gospel, indie, instrumentals, jazz, metal, music, playlists, musicals, pop, postpunk, prog, punk, reggae, rock, rocksteady, showtime, ska, songs, soul, soundtracks, traditional Tags songs, playlists, horror, gothic, Film, film soundtrack, Goblin, Steeleye Span, Billie Eilish, Mirel Wagner, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Sonic Youth, The Cure, Slint, Las Limiñanas, The Smiths, Alice Donut, Utsu-P, The Pogues, Bruce Springsteen, The Doobie Brothers, Comus, The Herd, The Human League, Motorhead, Black Sabbath, Scott Walker, Artie Shaw, Nina Simone, Alice Cooper, Depeche Mode, Bauhaus, Cocteau Twins, Fields of the Nephalim, Sopor Aeternus, Carolanne Pegg, trees, Yoko Ono, Mogwai, The May Company, Sunny Day Real Estate, The Sleepy Jackson, Royal Trux, The Go-Betweens, The Naxalites, Ultimate Spinach, La Carniceros del Norte, Maria Theresa Vega, General Echo, Bob Marley & The Wailers, Frank Zappa, Royal Bangs, Tropical Trash, Kings of Leon, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Talking Heads, The White Stripes, AmyLee
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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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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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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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In African, avant-garde, blues, calypso, classical, comedy, country, dance, disco, drone, dub, electronica, folk, funk, gospel, hip hop, indie, jazz, instrumentals, metal, music, musical hall, playlists, musicals, pop, postpunk, punk, prog, reggae, rock, rocksteady, songs, ska, showtime, soul, soundtracks, traditional Tags songs, playlists, street music, busking, buskers, traditional, brass, gypsy music, New Orleans, New York, Moondog, marching bands
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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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In African, avant-garde, blues, country, dance, disco, drone, dub, electronica, experimental, folk, funk, gospel, hip hop, indie, instrumentals, jazz, music, playlists, pop, postpunk, punk, reggae, rock, rocksteady, ska, songs, soul, soundtracks, traditional Tags songs, playlists, nothing, nihilism, Aristotle, Albert Einstein, Ella Fitzgerald, Edith Piaf, The Flirtations, The Small Faces, The Go! Team, Ezra Furman, Townes Van Zandt, The Beatles, The Cure, Velvet Underground, Lil Nas X, Sinead O'Connor, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, John Cooper Clarke, The Ugly Ducklings, Joyside, Stiff Little Fingers, Orchestre Poly Rhythmo, Hirth Martinez, The Pop Group, Boy Harsher, Piers Faccini, Swans, Amorphous Androgynous, Aimee Mann, Tintern Abbey, ParaMhor, Ebony Alleyne
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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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In African, avant-garde, blues, calypso, classical, comedy, country, dance, disco, drone, dub, electronica, folk, experimental, 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 nothing, playlists, songs, philosophy, mathematics, Oscar Wilde, Samuel Beckett, Leo Tolstoy, John Cage, A.A. Milne, Kevin Macdonald, Film, documentary, Joe Simpson, Simon Yates, Boney M, Martin Hannett, silence, Friedrich Nietzsche, nihilism, punk, Charles Bukowski, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Branwell Brontë, Chuck Palahniuk, Marty Rubin, TS Eliot, Trent Reznor, J. Cole, Werner Herzog, Juansen Dizon, Albert Camus, John Fowles, Alan Moore, C.S. Lewis, Thomas Stark, K.C. Cole, Plato, Libba Bray
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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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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, rocksteady, ska, songs, soul, soundtracks, traditional Tags songs, playlists, wolves, wolf, animals, animal behaviour, Bela Lugosi, Margaret Atwood, Rudyard Kipling, William Shakespeare, Shakespeare, Farley Mowat, Jack London, JW Curran, Plautus, evolution, George RR Martin, Game of Thrones, mythology, fairy tales, Joseph Jacobs, Grimm Brothers, Henry David Thoreau, Walt Disney, Lon Chaney, John Landis, Film, film soundtrack, Michael Jackson, Neil Jordan, Angela Carter, JRR Tolkien, Shaun Ellis, Neil Gaiman, Terry Pratchett, Joseph Stalin, Nikita Khrushchev, Russia, John Webster, theatre, Lana Turner, Jennifer Donnelly, FT McKinstry
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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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In avant-garde, African, blues, country, dance, drone, disco, dub, electronica, experimental, folk, funk, gospel, hip hop, indie, jazz, metal, playlists, pop, postpunk, prog, punk, reggae, songs, soul, soundtracks, traditional Tags songs, playlists, September 11 Attacks, 9/11, New York, terrorism, CIA, US foreign policy, George W Bush, Osama Bin Laden, Afghanistan, war on terror, surveillance
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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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In African, avant-garde, blues, calypso, country, dance, disco, dub, electronica, drone, experimental, folk, funk, hip hop, indie, instrumentals, metal, jazz, music, musical hall, musicals, playlists, pop, postpunk, prog, reggae, rock, ska, songs, soul Tags songs, playlists, rainbows, northern lights, aurora borealis, Death Cab for Cutie, Nick Nicely, Yona & Orkesteri Liikkuvat Pilvet, Gurrumul Yunupingu, Ali Akbar Khan, John Handy, Dr. L. Subramaniam, Chet Baker, Contrary Parade, Leon Bibb, Harry Nilsson, Israel Kamakawiwoʻole, Miles Davis, Black Uhuru, Sugata Masaki, Goose House, Patti Smith, Astrud Gilberto, Soft Cell, Jimi Hendrix, Andy Partridge, ReoNa, Hoshino Sakura
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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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Playlists: songs about being single

September 1, 2021 Peter Kimpton
Sparks: the Mael brothers are simply married to their music

Sparks: the Mael brothers are simply married to their music

It’s time to see what resulted at last week’s Song Bar Singles Night. Sad, lonely to deliriously happy and free, the resultant songs go in many directions, all married together in poignant, perceptive and playful lists by guest picker pejepeine

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In avant-garde, country, dance, disco, electronica, experimental, folk, funk, hip hop, indie, jazz, music, musical hall, playlists, pop, postpunk, prog, punk, rock, ska, songs, soul, traditional, soundtracks Tags songs, playlists, being single, relationships, Fousheé, Lush, The Brooklyn Bridge, Nina Simone, Jake Thackray, Melissa Manchester, Mary Gauthier, Sparks, Ariana Grande, Jill Scott, Combo Los Galleros, Lucy González, Lunay, Daddy Yankee, Bad Bunny, The Radiators, Moondog, Bessie Smith, Abba, Beabadoobee, Sunfire, Helen Merrill, Slapp Happy, Original Carter Family, Ry Cooder, Days N' Daze, Billy Idol, Pet Shop Boys, Cameo, Wham!, Chic, Karin Krog, pejepeine
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Not just 45s: songs about being single

August 26, 2021 Peter Kimpton
Greta Garbo - a singular inspiration for many a song

Greta Garbo - a singular inspiration for many a song

Welcome to the special Song Bar Singles Night, where, with the help of many special guests who chat freely on the subject, we seek songs on the ups and downs of the single state, from loneliness to blissful solitude, dating and even giving yourself a helping hand …

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In African, avant-garde, blues, calypso, comedy, classical, country, dance, disco, drone, dub, electronica, experimental, folk, hip hop, gospel, funk, indie, jazz, instrumentals, music, metal, musicals, playlists, pop, postpunk, prog, punk, reggae, rock, showtime, rocksteady, ska, songs, soul, soundtracks, traditional Tags songs, playlists, being single, solitude, Charles Bukowski, Cyrano de Bergerac, Edmond Rostand, Mae West, Jean-Paul Sartre, Oscar Wilde, Woody Allen, animals, Greta Garbo, Jane Austen, Charlotte Bronte, Thomas Hardy, Louisa May Alcott, Orson Welles, Henry David Thoreau, Lana Del Rey, Maya Angelou, William Blake, Alfred Lord Tennyson, Mary Wollstonecraft, Thomas De Quincey, Martin Buber, Alex Karate, Christina Aguilera, Sue Grafton, Voltaire, Gloria Steinem, Chuck Palahniuk, Julie Delpy, Zsa Zsa Gabor, William Carlos Williams, Billy Idol, Katy Perry, Audrey Hepburn, Cyndi Lauper, Lily Tomlin, Christopher Hampton, George Carlin, Milos Forman, Sigmund Freud
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Playlists: songs about Liverpool and Merseyside

August 24, 2021 Peter Kimpton
What will emerge out of the mist on the Mersey ….?

What will emerge out of the mist on the Mersey ….?

Misty Mersey to the streets of Kenny and more, it’s time to weigh up anchor and, inspired by last week’s nominations, explore this liveliest, most celebrated city and beyond, courtesy of terrific tour guide and playlister Alaricmc

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In blues, country, folk, indie, instrumentals, music, playlists, pop, postpunk, prog, punk, rock, ska, songs, soul, soundtracks, traditional Tags songs, playlists, Liverpool, Merseyside, Katrina and the Waves, The Bangles, Bellowhead, The Storm Weather Shanty Choir, Christy Moore, Deaf School, Shack, Hughie Jones, Robb Johnson, Johnny Keating and the Z-Men, Mike Hart, Cilla Black, The Mighty Wah, The Liverpool Scene, James Taylor, Billy Bragg, The Dubliners, Gerry & The Pacemakers, The Beatles, Swallow The Anchor, The Wombats, The Boo Radleys, Ian McNabb, PJ Harvey, Half Man Half Biscuit, Maddy Prior and the Girls, Bob Dylan, Billy Maher, Jeggsy Dodd, John McCutcheon, Serge Gainsbourg, Alaricmc
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Boss! G’wed, it's songs about Liverpool and Merseyside

August 19, 2021 Peter Kimpton
The Fab Four at Pier Head

The Fab Four at Pier Head

To the five boroughs! … of Merseyside, Liverpool city and beyond, this week it’s not about bands from the area, but those who reference its streets, buildings, landmarks, districts, history, the people, accents, broader culture and more

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DRINK OF THE WEEK

Prune juice


SNACK OF THE WEEK

celery sticks in guacamole dip


New Albums …

Featured
Sam Grassie - Where Two Hawks Fly.jpeg
Apr 29, 2026
Sam Grassie: Where Two Hawks Fly
Apr 29, 2026

New album: Beautiful debut LP by the London-based Glaswegian fingerstyle folk guitarist and singer-songwriter, with added saxophone, double bass, flute, clairsach and clarinet in a release of mostly the traditional, covers, sung or instrumental, and supported by the Bert Jansch Foundation

Apr 29, 2026
Irmin Schmidt - Requiem.jpeg
Apr 29, 2026
Irmin Schmidt: Requiem
Apr 29, 2026

New album: A strangely mesmeric, avant-garde and analogue-ambient, field recording-based experimental release by the last surviving founding member of experimental ‘krautrock’ band CAN, who, approaching the age of 89, has also written over 40 TV and film scores

Apr 29, 2026
Gia Margaret - Singing.jpeg
Apr 28, 2026
Gia Margaret: Singing
Apr 28, 2026

New album: Gently profound, and full of wondrous, mesmeric, slow, delicate experimental songs, this simple title has a powerful resonance – it is the Chicago artist’s first vocal album since 2018’s There’s Always Glimmer (there have been two instrumental LPs since), having suffered and recovered from a severe vocal injury, she returns with a delicate, candid, whispery but hauntingly beautiful delivery

Apr 28, 2026
Angel In Plainclothes by Angelo De Augustine.jpeg
Apr 28, 2026
Angelo De Augustine: Angel in Plainclothes
Apr 28, 2026

New album: A beautiful, delicate fifth LP from the Los Angeles singer-songwriter, friend and collaborator with Sufjan Stevens with whom he shares a stylistic resemblance, here with themes on life's fragility, second chances, and picking up the pieces after an undiagnosed illness forced him to re-learn basic abilities

Apr 28, 2026
Carla dal Forno - Confession.jpeg
Apr 28, 2026
Carla dal Forno: Confession
Apr 28, 2026

New album: This lo-fi, darkly minimalist but also oddly candid fourth LP by the Australian, Castlemaine-based singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist centres on the conflicted, obsessive feelings about “a friendship that became emotionally charged in an unexpected way”, and “an album about closeness that arrives late and unexpectedly. About stability rubbing up against desire.”

Apr 28, 2026
Friko - Something Worth Waiting For album.jpeg
Apr 26, 2026
Friko: Something Worth Waiting For
Apr 26, 2026

New album: Passionate, powerful, dynamic indie rock in this sophomore LP by the Chicago-based quartet that gallops forwards with a driving momentum, some elements of early PJ Harvey and Radiohead, and is produced by John Congleton

Apr 26, 2026
White Denim - 13.jpeg
Apr 26, 2026
White Denim: 13
Apr 26, 2026

New album: This 13th LP in two decades by the Austin, Texas rock band fronted by James Petralli has a particularly mischievous experimentalism, spreading styles far beyond breathlessly paced prog rock, with wrily humorous, surreal, personal and passionate numbers across heavy funk, dub, soul, psyche, country, dirty blues and more, joined by host of outstanding extra musicians

Apr 26, 2026
Asili ya Mama by Hukwe Zawose Foundation.jpeg
Apr 24, 2026
Hukwe Zawose Foundation: Asili ya Mama
Apr 24, 2026

New album: Wonderfully evocative field recordings release of Wagogo, Waluguru and Wasambaa Tanzanian women singing traditional songs in their villages, rarely heard outside of their own circles, the title is translated as The Origin of Mother, rich in stories and capturing the place where song is first learned, first felt, first shared

Apr 24, 2026
They Might Be Giants - The World Is To Dig.jpeg
Apr 23, 2026
They Might Be Giants - The World Is To Dig
Apr 23, 2026

New album: Four decades since their self-titled debut, Brooklyn alternative rockers John Flansburgh and John Linnell return with their 24th LP, packed with of punchy, pacy, wistful, whimsical, clever wordplay and indie rock-pop, buoyantly satirical and also a little world weary at times, they remain oddball, lively commentators on the ongoing absurdity of life

Apr 23, 2026
Eaves Wilder - Little Miss Sunshine.jpeg
Apr 22, 2026
Eaves Wilder: Little Miss Sunshine
Apr 22, 2026

New album: After 2023’s Hookey EP, a strong, passionate indie-dream-pop-shoegaze full debut by the London singer-songwriter, whose breathy voice intertwines with strong, stirring riffs and textured sounds, themed around cycles of nature aiming to explain and celebrate the mercurial nature of human emotional weather

Apr 22, 2026
Honey Dijon - The Nightlife.jpeg
Apr 22, 2026
Honey Dijon: The Nightlife
Apr 22, 2026

New album: The irrepressible, prolific and charismatic London-based Chicago DJ, musician, producer and vinyl lover returns with a flamboyantly fun celebration of club and queer culture through the prism of dance music from disco to house, with a wide variety of guest vocalists

Apr 22, 2026
Tiga - HOTLIFE.jpeg
Apr 21, 2026
Tiga: HOTLIFE
Apr 21, 2026

New album: Montreal’s acclaimed electronica/techno/dance artist Tiga Sontag returns with his fourth album - inventively packed with head-nodding, toe-tapping, oddly itchy, infectious grooves, cleverly crafted retro sounds recalling Kraftwerk to acid house and electroclash, insistent bold beats and synth riffs, with lyrics of the existential, droll and surreal

Apr 21, 2026
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Apr 20, 2026
TOMORA: Come Closer
Apr 20, 2026

New album: A striking, dynamic collaboration between Norwegian experimental pop sensation Aurora and Tom Rowlands, one of half of Chemical Brothers, with a sensual, otherworldly energetic fusion of mystical, sensual ambience, and block-rocking dance beats

Apr 20, 2026
Jessie Ware - Superbloom.jpeg
Apr 20, 2026
Jessie Ware: Superbloom
Apr 20, 2026

New album: Following 2020’s What’s Your Pleasure? and 2023’s That! Feels Good!, as well as the successful food podcast Table Manners she hosts alongside her mother, the British pop singer continues to ride the 70s disco ball train, catering to the clever, kitsch and catchy with an ironic wink, adding also a luxuriant garden metaphor

Apr 20, 2026

new songs …

Featured
Bleachers - Everyone For Ten Minutes.jpeg
May 1, 2026
Song of the Day: Bleachers - I'm Not Joking
May 1, 2026

Song of the Day: Featuring harpsichord, Hammond organ, Dobro and more, producer Jack Antonoff and his New Jersey rock band return with a heartfelt love song single heralding the upcoming album, Everyone For Ten Minutes, out on 22 May via Dirty Hit

May 1, 2026
Alewya - Saleh.jpeg
Apr 30, 2026
Song of the Day: Alewya - Selah
Apr 30, 2026

Song of the Day: Striking, stylishly agile electronica and dance with a rich African and Arabian influence by the London-based British singer-songwriter, producer, multidisciplinary artist and model Alewya Demmisse, heralding her upcoming album, Zero, out on 26 June via LDN Records

Apr 30, 2026
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Apr 29, 2026
Song of the Day: Metric - Crush Forever
Apr 29, 2026

Song of the Day: Uplifting, effervescent electro-disco-pop by the Toronto indie rock band, with a song vocalist/keyboardist Emily Haines describes as “my love letter to strong girls in this world”, taken from their recently released 10th album, Romanticize the Dive, out on Metric Music via Thirty Tigers

Apr 29, 2026
Jim Ghedi - The Hungry Child single.jpeg
Apr 28, 2026
Song of the Day: Jim Ghedi - The Hungry Child
Apr 28, 2026

Song of the Day: Dark, gripping, visceral folk by the Sheffield singer-songwriter, with a striking number based on an early 19th-century German poem about the fatal story of a child pleading for food, and, following last year’s acclaimed album, Wasteland, also out on Basin Rock, it heralds his upcoming soundtrack for the Hugh Jackman film, The Death of Robin Hood.

Apr 28, 2026
holybones with Baxter Dury - SLUGBOY.jpg
Apr 27, 2026
Song of the Day: holybones (with Baxter Dury) - SLUGBOY
Apr 27, 2026

Song of the Day: Dark, unsettling, sleazy and strange, this is arrestingly vivid new collaborative single between the clandestine London electronic collective and the downbeat, deep-voiced poetic Londoner, out on Promised Land Recordings

Apr 27, 2026
Hand Habits - Good Person.jpeg
Apr 26, 2026
Song of the Day: Hand Habits - Good Person
Apr 26, 2026

Song of the Day: Gentle, droll, humorously self-deprecatingly, and also delicately beautiful, this new experimental folk single by the moniker of Los Angeles singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Meg Duffy addresses the love-hate relationship with making music, out on Fat Possum

Apr 26, 2026
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Apr 25, 2026
Song of the Day: Pigeon - Miami
Apr 25, 2026

Song of the Day: Catchy, sunny, upbeawt indie synth-pop with an African twist by the Margate band fronted by Falle Nioke, with flavours of William Onyeabor, Hot Chip and New York 70s disco, heralding their upcoming album OUTTANATIONAL, out on 1 May via Memphis Industries

Apr 25, 2026
Tricky - Out of Place.jpeg
Apr 24, 2026
Song of the Day: Tricky - Out of Place (featuring Marta Złakowska)
Apr 24, 2026

Song of the Day: A pulsating fusion of beats, orchestral strings and the Bristol trip-hop pioneer’s distinctive, deep, croaky voice, with an emotional reference to his daughter Mina Topley-Bird (1995–2019), and heralding his first solo album for six years, Different When It’s Silent, out on 17 June via False Idols

Apr 24, 2026
Beck - Ride Lonsome.jpeg
Apr 23, 2026
Song of the Day: Beck - Ride Lonesome
Apr 23, 2026

Song of the Day: Beautiful, simmering, slow, melancholy and reflective, a surprise single and welcome return by the acclaimed US artist, evoking the haunting, sun-bleached landscapes and musical textures of his 2015 Grammy winning album Morning Phase, out now on Iliad Records/Capitol Records

Apr 23, 2026
Gelli Haha - Klouds.jpeg
Apr 22, 2026
Song of the Day: Gelli Haha - Klouds Will Carry Me To Sleep
Apr 22, 2026

Song of the Day: Described appropriately as somewhere between Studio 42 and Area 51, eccentric, effervescent, spacey, catchy and eclectic disco pop by the Los Angeles artist (aka Angel Abaya, co-written with Sean Guerin) out on Innovative Leisure

Apr 22, 2026
Leenalchi band 2.jpeg
Apr 21, 2026
Song of the Day: LEENALCHI 이날치 - Here Comes That Crow 떴다 저 가마귀
Apr 21, 2026

Song of the Day: Wonderfully catchy, funky, psychedelic and quirky new work by the seven-piece Seoul-based Korean pansori band led by bassist Jang Young Gyu with the title track of their new EP, out on 12 June via Luaka Bop, and heralding a European and North American tour

Apr 21, 2026
Jesca Hoop - Big Storm.jpeg
Apr 20, 2026
Song of the Day: Jesca Hoop - Big Storm
Apr 20, 2026

Song of the Day: Catchy, quirky experimental indie folk-pop by the innovative Manchester-based California artist, featuring a clever video that old footage and Hoop in various vintage guises, heralding her upcoming album Long Wave Home, out on 1 May via Last Laugh / Republic of Music

Apr 20, 2026

Word of the week

Featured
Song thrush 2.jpeg
Apr 23, 2026
Word of the week: throstle
Apr 23, 2026

Word of the week: An archaic, evocative noun with two connected meanings, originally for the song thrush, then later a textiles industrial frame for spinning, twisting and winding machine for cotton, wool, and other fibres simultaneously

Apr 23, 2026
Undine - Novella.jpeg
Apr 9, 2026
Word of the week: undine
Apr 9, 2026

Word of the week: It might sound like the act of abstaining from food, but this noun from derived from undina (Latin unda) meaning wave, refers to mythical, elemental beings associated with water, such as mermaids, and stemming from the alchemical writings of the 16th-century Swiss physician, alchemist and philosopher Paracelsus

Apr 9, 2026
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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
Snail on a wall.jpeg
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
Swordfish.jpg
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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