Your Custom Text Here
Guitar and singing legend Sister Rosetta Tharpe
Big flamboyant, expressive voices to call-and-response choirs, praise and looking for answers? This week we soul search into gospel’s musical styles infused into other genres, from soul to R&B, hip hop to rock, folk and indie
Read more
Scott Walker. Wave goodbye to any Manhattan meaning
Not a single song has anything to do with what it says on the tin. But after many wonderful wrongfooting nominations, brilliant guest playlister Olive Butler puts them in an entertaining form of order
Read more
The art of incongruity: This is Spinal Tap
This week we look at titles that appear to have nothing to do with the songs they signpost, using words that don’t appear in the lyrics, and seem to create an interesting and entertaining dissonance
Read more
Linda Ronstadt, Dolly Parton and Emmylou Harris
Intricate jazz to country three-part harmony, postpunk, pop, indie, hip-hop, Cuban traditional to perfect Persian drumming, playlister Nilpferd picks a perfect ‘triumph-virate’ of holy trinities across genres
Read more
Three-dog night
Triangles and holy trinities, this week let’s explore the musical dynamic within groups in which three artists perform as a self-contained unit, not merely pop, jazz, classical, or folk, but across all all genres
Read more
Hot shot Lou Reed
Lou Reed to Tom Waits, Susanne Sundfør to Sandy Denny, inspired by a salvo of superb nominations, this week’s chief arms officer Suzi shoots out in all contexts to hit the target with two sharp-shooting playlists
Read more
Wild West guitar wiz Wilko Johnson
Bang bang! This week it’s time to find your range, come out with all guns blazing with songs about bullets, guns, cannons, bows and arrows. Gun culture arguments and more, let’s shoot from the hip
Read more
Roy Orbison: he drove all night …
From personal obstacles to the wider struggle in war, this week’s selections by guest playlister Marco den Ouden meet the challenges of hundreds of nominations with wonderful vim, vigour and variety
Read more
Towards armistice: some of the First World War determined
On the eve of the First World War Armistice centenary, this week we look at songs about striving through extremely difficult circumstances, whether in conflict or peacetime, extreme or daily situations
Read more
Stray Cat Strut …
Strolling, sauntering, strutting, ambling, rambling, hiking and meandering, from a week of walking nominations, these lists by guest ambulatory expert Abahachi will take you through many wonderful countries, genres and gaits
Read more
No two walks are the same …
We all walk slightly differently, so this week it’s all about music that expresses various strolls, swings, swaggers, ambles or strides, and whether in politics or personal, marching bands or military, let’s capture the movement of the people
Read more
Hellishly good
Drumming to drones, strange sounds are coming out the Song Bar stereo this week. Is in the Devil’s work? Not quite, but this week’s guest takeitawayGuru, inspired by your nominations, has got devilishly good lists
Read more
The Devil does his thing in Tenacious D
Who’s your devil in disguise? Who has all he best tunes? This week, in a fun week leading up to Halloween, let’s explore songs that mention, in whatever form, the Devil, Satan and any other names he takes
Read more
Martin Luther King, 28 August 1963
Conflict to the Equals, Peggy Seeger to the Pointer Sisters, Kamasi Washington to John Coltrane, this week’s playlists chosen by guest pejepeine from a wonderful week of egalitarian-spirited nominations, are a dream come true
Read more
Peter Norman, Tommie Smith and John Carlos, 200m medal ceremony, Mexico 1968
Whatever the platform, the genre or message, this week we’re exploring the issue of equality, if not being the same, from gender to race, politics to work, how to get and if it’s even possible, all through lyrics
Read more
Alice Coltrane
Harp on? This week’s guest guru magicman argues it’s really best to just let the music speak for itself, especially when it comes to two playlists of exquisite sounds plucked and stroked those many strings
Read more
Harpo’s serious moments …
From the serenity and complexity of fingers sweeping strings to the twanging of the Jew’s harp, from the lyricism of the lyre to the zing of the zither, let’s stretch out with suggestions featuring these instruments
Read more
Elvis Costello: rich in idioms, allusions, vernacular phrases and rictus-inducing puns
How do you reduce more than 1,000 song suggestions into two perfectly phrased playlists of just 26 songs? If that feels beyond the pale, then the play’s the thing for this week’s superb guest ShivSidecar
Read more
Does this raise or lower the bar …?
Feeling on song? They may be derived from literature, media or historic, regular usage, but this week we’re looking how common phrases can jump out at you in lyrics, and ideally are used creatively or cleverly
Read more
Oh England … Kate Bush
This is England. It began with a journey on the A roads and B roads, but instead of taking a geographical journey, this week’s guest barbryn travelled to the heart of identity, ascending beautiful heights, led by the lark
Read more