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Jaw harp player and throat singer Olena Uutai
It’s an oddball analogue voice distorter, a rural robot, a boing from history's beyond, but what’s the buzz? This instrument has many international variants, spans history and many genre from folk to blues, rock to pop and beyond right up to the present
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The great Dinah Washington enjoyed slipping one in
Various professions, food and all seemingly innocent activities get the full suggestive double meaning dose this week in a splendidly entertaining set of lists picked by Marco den Ouden from last week’s hot topic
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Doubly horny
It’s a figure of speech in which two meanings, one obvious, the other less so, sometimes suggestive or sexual, though not always, hover simultaneously. But how do they come up in song lyrics?
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Heard it through … The Slits
A genre-jumping, globe-spanning musical adventure brings glorious reinterpretative entertainment as guest of the week Nilpferd presents playlists inspired by last week’s topic
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Cuba’s classical and dance band maestro José Julián Jiménez (violin), with sons Manuel (piano), and Measio (cello) in Leipzig, Germany, c. late 19th century
It’s an activity popular as a breakthrough or learning tool, but can also be done with originality and style. Which songs are so good that they’ve crossed continents, languages or genres into something new because their melody holds a timeless appeal?
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Songs will pour out …
Inspired by the hypnotic, relaxing and therapeutical flow of nominations for last week’s topic, guest playlister TatankaYotanka channels this joy into instrumental and sung streams. Water great idea!
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Loch Lomond, in the west of Scotland
It’s time for inspiration to spring up, not about past topics rivers or seas, instead brooks, streams, lagoons, billabongs, burns, bayous, rills, canals, reservoirs, opening out into vast lochs and lakes, some even bigger than countries. How are they expressed in song lyrics?
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The magnificent Sister Rosetta Tharpe
It may be a term that sets up a situation in which one person or entity has power over another, but somehow it has inspired oodles of great music. Guest playlister MussoliniHeadkick picks favourites from last week’s topic
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A surprising final act of mercy: Bladerunner (1982) with Rutger Hauer and Harrison Ford
From wars to trade tariffs, it’s arguably never been more absent and more required in the modern world. But here, with some cinematic inspiration, how is it expressed in song? With idioms or stories, calling for, or dispensing it, and much more …
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David Bowie, 1947 – 2016
It’s a Bowie celebratory week, not really seeking out covers of his songs, but where he’s been referenced in the work of others, with mention of his various personas, his song titles, his lyrics and also his musical styles. It will hopefully uncover a wealth of surprises and genres
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The art of trucking …
It’s a subject dominated by the country & western style, but this nomadic road freight culture is also soundtracked by other styles. Inspired by last week’s topic, Big Wheeled Marco den Ouden takes us on an international truck trip
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Ready to roll? A Peterbilt 389
They’re a great, sometimes romantic, sometimes tragic vehicle for human stories, and have nomadic culture of their own. This week we musically celebrate this freight transport, with all sorts of payloads and other services. Where better to listen to music?
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Neat neat neat …
Spring cleaning season is in full swing - tidying, cleaning or paring back, from belongings to unwanted relationships, guest of the week Severin clears the bar with some very neat work inspired by last week’s topic
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How my living room does not look
With spring cleaning possibly on the to-do list, practical and creative decluttering, not merely in the house, but all kinds of editing out, paring back, chiselling, sifting, trimming, shaving, scaling or downsizing, all expressed in song. Check out some experts’ tidy tips too…
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Players enter. But where’s the Wurlitzer …?
Strange goings on and off occur this week as the curtain opens for a theatrical absurdity featuring cast of random characters including this week’s guest guru, Loud Atlas, inspired by last week’s topic and Samuel Beckett. Fish. Wurlitzer. Balloon.
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Playtime: Jacques Tati’s masterpiece about modern life (1967)
Strange, surreal, ironic, absurdity very much part of life, and absurdism is all about embracing the freedom with its meaninglessness. Exploring influences from Camus to Tati, Milligan to Python to Lynch, how is it expressed in music?
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Assorted greys
Darker or lighter, a broad wave of moods, emotions, contexts, and objects come into focus with this insiightful selections as guest of the week ajostu examines this colour in lyrics, from a slate of suggestions in last week’s topic
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Dappled greys on a misty morning …
An unheralded hue between black and white, it’s the shade of ambiguity, subtlety, diplomacy and poetry. Dove, slate, mountain, pewter, flint, pebble, dawn, snail trail, bark, granite, graphite, bone, frost, smoke, mist, also in many animals and metaphors, so how does it work in culture and song?
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The Number 9’s getting up a head of steam this week …
Let us count the ways … distance, temperature, dates, states of being mind and muse, trains, rockets and other transports of delight all come in this wonderful cloud nine presentation by guest Nicko inspired by last week’s Song Bar Ninth Birthday topic
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Nine lives …
It’s a Song Bar Ninth Birthday Special: But where does this number come up in song? It’s idiomatic, it’s an upside-down 6, three thrices, an imperfect, perfectly odd number, associated with inspiration, the surreal, power, wisdom, evil, euphoria, looking your best, and, whether it’s morning or night, for work or rest, always a striking time
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