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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
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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 …
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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
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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?
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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
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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
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The Big If …
Where will it all lead? What are the conditions? Are they zero, first or second? All the ifs and thens are revealed in these wittily entertaining lists compiled by guest Severin, inspired by songs nominated in last week’s opening topic of 2024
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Dark or bright? What’s another year? 2024 …
To start the new year and an uncertain future, it’s time to set up our musical theme with conditional songs - those that usual contain the word ‘if’ and sometimes follow with or an implied or actual, ‘then’. But how will it turn out?
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Fresh frozen? Give peas a chance …
Awash with ads for travel, clothing, leisure, painkillers, marijuana, vegetables, and even items to boost sex life? Well, it’s time to be entertained by a string of non-existent ones, framed in snappy marketing musical form, with playlists picked by guest magicman from last week’s topic
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Selling out? Who’s up for it?
‘Tis the season to be funny or serious, satirical, cerebral or sensual, simple or complex, abstract or expressive, imaginative and ingenious in suggesting songs for existing or fictional products that could appear in ads that don’t exist
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Take notes: the domino effect
Chess, Checkers or Cluedo, Dominoes, Monopoly to Scrabble and much more, the game is afoot, or possibly at hand. Inspired by last week’s playful topic, guest of the week an inspired Maki brings all the pieces to the table
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Game on: all kinds of music are on board …
Not video or cards, this week it’s the turn of games played on a tabletop with moveable pieces, anything from chess to Monopoly, playing out the patterns of human life and behaviour in microcosm. But how are they expressed in song lyrics?
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Original material: Sun Ra
Join this potentially long thread of a subject through time to capture the wonderful weft and warp of songs about all kinds of fabrics natural or otherwise – wool, cotton, hemp, linen, nylon, muslin, silk, and much more, clothing to curtains, their manufacture and industry, metaphor, colourful, darker, or lighter associations
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Stir the Coco … Two of this week’s poisonous co-conspirators …
What’s yours? One person’s poison is another antidote, and this week, inspired by a pick of last week’s entertainingly toxic themed suggestions, guest DiscoMonster serves up deadly themed delights that ironically offer a personal cure …
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The classic poisoner’s choice …
Natural or handmade, animal or chemical, fast or slow, murderous or accidental, we inhabit a world of toxins and venoms, but how are they expressed in song? With inspiration here, the more specific and colourful the better but there’s also the mental and metaphorical …
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Jacqueline du Pré with Daniel Barenboim
With its beautiful, versatile vocal sound, this baroque instrument features not classical pieces but genres of all kinds. But where does it play a strong, influential and essential part? And perhaps alongside the sound, where it might also feature in lyrics?
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Single-minded pursuits: Roxy Music
It might mean concentration, determination, persistence, relentlessness, and even obsessive behaviour, but while that perhaps thinking of one thing, or one person, but this is a topic has gathered a broad range of music and ideas. Guest Sidecar Shiv reveals more in fabulous playlists picked from last week’s topic
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Moving moment? Anatoly Karpov …
Concentration, drive, relentless purpose and pursuit are needed for certain levels of achievement, but how is it expressed in song lyrics? In finding love or 'the one", to work, to gain acclaim, achieve fame, or a particular goal? For inspiration here are examples in music, film, sport and more …
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One giant leap, Felix Baumgartner returns to Earth from 24 miles up, 2012
Recurring dreams, space, tides and the Moon, or perhaps a very weighty animal? Gravity t’s a major force that controls us all, but channelled into playlists by guest of the week George Boyland from last week’s topic, it’s sure to go down very well …
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Falling yet floating? Frozen gravity …
Mass attraction? Or falling in love? This week it’s a fusion of science and art topic, with lyrical fact or metaphor, as we examine one of the most vital and biggest physical interactive forces in our lives (but oddly the weakest of the science big four). But how will this float up or fall in the world of song?
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