Your Custom Text Here
The GOAT? Or just a goat?
We’re not exaggerating, from most beautiful to the fastest, craziest hottest or worst, this week it’s songs centrally featuring that adjective or adverb that expresses that the thing or person described has possessing more of that particular quality than anything or anyone else of that type
Read more
We’ve got shoal: silver herring
Congregations to murders, vaquejada to izinyoni, Scotland to England and Spain, Africa to Brazil and beyond, collective nouns add vivd poetry to song lyrics. Guest playlister Maki picks out some collective colour from last week’s theme
Read more
Through the darkness …
Nautical life-saving stories to metaphorical naval-gazing declarations of love, this topic sheds light on different contexts, and across a range of genres, inspired by last week’s nominations, is a bright star in the hands of guest keeper Nicko and his playlists
Read more
Sound waves and beyond …
Pointing, clapping, nodding, waving, thumbs up, thumbs down, high fives and much more, there’s no end to the lyrical gesticulation on offer signalled from last week’s topic by guest playlister Loud Atlas, whose presentation and choices should attract a salute and long applause
Read more
Slowdive back in the day … but now reaching a new audience
Jazz, classical, acoustic rock to neo-folk, gentle pop and soul to ambient electronica, there’s a whole texture of sounds audible when the bang of drums and other struck percussion are absent. Inspired by last week’s topic, guest Nilpferd brilliantly guides us through a more delicate, nuanced musical experience
Read more
This joint is jumping …
There are many reasons to leave the ground spontaneously, such as for dancing, sex and relationships, but also more darkly - suicide. But inspired by the many leap of musical imagination from last week’s topic, guest pejepeine’s playlists will have you jumping for joy
Read more
One giant leap: Bob Beamon’s long jump record at the Mexico City 1968 Olympics stood for at an unusually lengthy 23 years
A Thursday on 29 February rarely happens, so let’s not skip it: Songs about jumps, leaps, bounds, hurdles, vaults of all kinds, literal and metaphorical, no t random occurrence of a related words, but where the leap in question is central to to the song's theme. Get inspired by many varied contexts and guests in the Bar …
Read more
Itching to have a go …
Got that tingle but don’t know how to reach it? Found the right spot but scratching makes it itchier? Inspired by last week’s topic, guest playlister EnglishOutlaw has a variety of melodious ointment to express and find musical relief
Read more
Bear with us …
Let’s satisfy the itch across many musical surfaces with a multi-pronged backscratcher, not just on lyrical flesh, but also the tight skin of drums, wires, guitar strings, resonant idiophones or the hollow or solid wooden bodies of stringed instruments, and of course, using vinyl turntables …
Read more
Blessed or cursed? How how will it play out…?
Mysterious places, songs and secrets. This week’s wonderfully vivid playlist, inspired by last week’s topic, sets an intriguing narrative in a mysterious establishment run by a shady figure. But will it take a dark or a light path? Guest writer Maki sets the scene …
Read more
Fatoumata Diawara
It could be pilfered by pirates or dug up by explorers, but treasure comes in many forms. In Song Bar’s Eighth Birthday week, guest ajostu finds many sorts of pieces of eight from around the globe in a truly celebratory set of lists inspired by a topic to treasure
Read more
Eight? How many pieces do you have?
Precious, rare, valuable, timeless? Monetary or something more intangible? How do you define treasure? This week we celebrate eight years of of Song Bar from a phase from a Robert Louis Stevenson novel and seeking songs on this theme
Read more
Tea time at the Bar? Alternative servings …
Pleased to meter? 5, 7, 11, 13, 15 or even 17? We’ve got all the strange signature numbers for you here in brilliantly arrhythmic playlists by guest of the week Barbryn, making it really count from last week’s topic nominations
Read more
After a short paws …what happens next?
Hard to beat? Not necessarily. While most songs are in 4/4 time, and others in 3/4 waltz, there are many fascinating variants that push the boundaries, often in a catchy way. It’s not necessary here to name the numbers, just how it feels when you count …
Read more
A shade better …
Jazz bop the hep hipsters, slick sunglasses to sharp dressed men, expressed in lyrics and sound, this week’s smooth operator is guest Loud Atlas, who picks some sublime and prime examples from last week’s coolness topic
Read more
Calm looks: from Beyoncé’s Lemonade:designs based on Yoruba culture by Brooklyn Nigeria-born designer Laolu Senbanjo
From Arican itutu to European sprezzatura, American jazz and poetry to hip hop, and a lot more besides, how do you define coolness, whether in lyrics, or expressed in the music itself? It’s time to compose yourselves with some cultural inspiration …
Read more
Revolutionary warnings: Crass
Coercion, violence and suppression, it’s a recurring cycle through history. Spanning the globe with philosophy and genre, guest playlister Marco den Ouden examines the big questions about autocracy and anarchy, picked from last week’s topic nominations
Read more
Rogues’ gallery, some of the many …
Notorious, violent, controlling, paranoid, ruthless, and excessive, history is filled with them, their rise supported by the fear and apathy. Constantly a threat, from history to the present and future, what are their traits, and how are they portrayed in song?
Read more
Touching company: Fever Ray
A touchy subject? Yes but also a very tactile and effective one in song. Getting physical, metaphysical, metaphorical, sensual, sexual, communal, biblical, spiritual and much more, guest Uncleben finds true feeling in superb playlists inspired by last week’s topic
Read more
Tactile pleasures ….
Tactile sensations are among our most primitive and deep-seated of the five senses, but how are they expressed in lyrics? From the gentle, sensual and pleasurable to the painful, it’s time the channel the somatosensory system in song form
Read more