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Bright Sparks. The very real Ron and Russell pose a few questions and have some of the answers
Got a problem? Sex and relationships? Work? Retail choices? All your questions will be answered by this week’s problem-solving guru Uncleben, who turns from agony uncle into ecstasy-inducing music playlister
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Genuine lip syncers Milli Vanilli
Being true to yourself or others to genuine article in objects, this week we’re seeking songs that, in lyrics, are about searching for authenticity, but might sometimes find the opposite from forgery to falsehood, bootleg to bullshit
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Brief Encounter (1945)
Fleeting romance to brief encounters, the transient to the terse, the brusque to burnout, the concise or condensed, our time is limited on Earth, but there’s still enough to suggest songs on this universal subject
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Bunny Wailer
Bunny Wailer, Blind Melon, Beastie Boys, Blur … there all here, you know, and very different. And that’s just a few of the Bs. This week’s guest playlist writer amylee gives you a whole lot more than fantastic playlists inspired by last week’s topic.
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Heading your way .. Julian Cope as Mr Squbbsy in London, 1990.
Eccentric historical figures to those who are currently out there, black sheep to persons offbeat, songs that express the outsider/insider paradox, this week let’s open our doors to songs about difference
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Sounds of silver …
Leaving aside gold, steel and iron, let’s dig out songs that lyrically refer, in literal or metaphorical terms to the poetic or practical qualities of silver, copper, brass, tin, aluminium, tungsten, magnesium and much more
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Perhaps these steps will lead you to the right key …
Steep, sweeping, stone, wood or metal? This week we're exploring how music give us a certain kind of lift – through lyrics that describe all ways to up or down, on foot or via mechanical means, actual or metaphorical
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Recycled plastic beach sculpture in Rio
It’s multi-shaped, everywhere, and incredibly flexible and versatile, but it’s also an eco nightmare. But how is it represented in song? Fake, cheap, inferior, comical, colourful or weirdly fashionable? Time for a straw poll …
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Last four couples in a 1930s dance marathon
We’re not leaving, but showing endurance, fortitude and steadfastness. There’s a whole lot of staying power going on in this week’s topic, from physical to mental strength …
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Antelope Slot Canyons, Arizona.
A rocky entrance to cool, calm caverns, deadly and beautiful tales of coal miners to digging dwarves, guest playlister takeitawayGuru, inspired by hundred of nominations, takes us on a fantastic underground musical journey
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The astonishing Marble cave, in Rio Tranquilo, Brazil.
This week it's time to dig deep in your record collections for find all things subterranean, whether that's in the beauty of natural geology, to man-made caverns or even the metaphorical underground
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NHS founder Nye Bevan visits Park Hospital, Davyhulme, Manchester, in 1948.
This week we’re giving it the special treatment to mark the NHS 70th anniversary, but also looking for music that mentions any kind of medical care, especially nursing, and its emotional effect in lyrics
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The real thing or substitutes? The Beatles at Madame Tussauds
Are they meant to be better, or not as good, artificial or the real thing? From sport to food, people to plans, work to worries and distraction, let’s explore substitutions in life and music
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Meeting of metaphor or the literal? Well, it's all a question of scale …
No, it’s not the World Cup. Or is it? This week let’s delve into music’s interpretation of the murky world of imagined or otherwise undercover plots from Roswell to JFK, 9/11 to Russian interference, and er … lizards
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Sunset ending? Not every ride goes so smoothly …
No – it’s not the World Cup. This week we’re looking at all kinds of ends of albums and other songs – from surprising, sudden, or summing up, to those that are ambiguous, serious, comical or take us to a new place
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Machines unmasked: Hideki Matsutake from the Yellow Magic Orchestra
Hums, beats, squelches and clicks, banks of sound and theremins, Delia Derbyshire to Bowie, Eno to the Yellow Magic Orchestra, this week’s guest magicman turns it all on with two brilliant playlists from a host of superb nominations
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Shonen Knife are stirring the hot chocolate
Looking for some musical refreshment? From Shonen Knife’s Hot Chocolate to Emmylou Harris’s Deeper Well of water, this week’s playlist writer Rachel Courtney has a fully-stocked bar for you inspired by last week’s nominations
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Beyoncé. She's in Formation
Dance, hip hop, jazz, soul, indie, rock or pop, music is alive and kicking in new directions this century. Kendrick Lamar to Beyonce, Dizzee Rascal to Sleaford Mods, this week’s playlister Nilpferd picks out some pertinent themes
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London Olympic Stadium, 2012. An internet message, but does it also help define music-making culture this century?
This week we’re looking for songs or instrumentals recorded since 2000 that help define what the first 18 years of this century are all about: genres, landmarks, movements, trends, sounds and fusions
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