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Avalon man: Mississippi John Hurt
Avalon to Cádiz, New York City to Paris, Mexico to West Indies, this week’s playlists make up a music journey of poetic proportions, an atlas d’amour perfectly prepared by guest picker Uncleben, jet propelled by last week’s huge topic
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The heart-shaped island, Galesnjak, Croatia
Where are we going, exactly? With lyrical or title references as specific and detailed as possible, let’s take a global trip of songs and music giving affection to particular towns, areas, viewpoints, streets, or even smaller nooks and crannies
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Martha, my dear: Rufus Wainwright with his beloved fellow singer sister
Deep affection, solidarity, loyalty, but also a variety of bittersweet melanges, this week, after a tsunami of perceptive suggestions, guest of the week George Boyland picks songs of deep emotion and variety that sing out for the sister
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Ibeyi’s Lisa-Kaindé Diaz and Naomi Diaz
Young, older, tender, close, bosom pals, supportive, mother-some to fierce, bitchy, inter-family rivals and constantly bothersome. They come in all shapes and types, and whether it’s by any songwriter, or from within a sibling band, let’s sing out for the sister
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Chet Baker: in search of the ideal
Days, nights or settings, love, relationships, words, compliments or phrasing, sounds, singing and so much more, guest of the week Loud Atlas comes up with all the aces with series of immaculate playlist choices reflecting last week’s perfect topic
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Evolution’s purest clickbait: kitten in field
Nothing’s ideal, no one’s impeccable, nothing’s completely pure, but this week it’s time to search for the beautifully formed, the perfectly pitched, the adorably flawless and more as the lyrical focus. Or that’s the plan …
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What goes around …
Record players and vinyl, cassettes and stereo systems, 8-tracks, radios and cassettes, this week we’ve got it taped on every format as guest MussoliniHeadkick spins superb playlists inspired by nominations from last week’s topic
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In living Memorex …
Lyrics that refer to listening methods: gramophones to turntables and records, radio, cassettes and reel-to-reels, CDs to MP3s, iPods to the internet cloud and streaming platforms. When it comes to revolutions, there’s always a revival …
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Trust your senses: Björk
intuition to the unexplained, new realms of perception to deja vu, telepathy and the astral plane, all this and more in a pair of perceptive playlists picked by guest of the week Suzi from the most recent topic
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Cross my palm with song suggestions, and I see a future where there will be wonderful new playlists …
Do we have one, or is it fake? Both. But either way, this week’s theme, inspired by approaching the Song Bar’s Sixth Birthday as all about intuition, a gut instinct, a feeling in your bones, notions of unknown source, sensing something without knowing why
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Time to wake …
Songs to get your up and motivated, or songs that are also about the morning? Don’t be alarmed, it’s all covered in this special two-parter, picked by guest of the week DiscoMonster from a huge dawn chorus of nominations from the past week
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The flurry of first light
Morning always comes, but how might you start it musically? This is a topic not about the morning and everything that goes with it, although those details may figure, but is one more about complementary mood, style, feeling and pace
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Harvesting hope: The Isley Brothers
Chosen from a vast number of suggestions from last week’s topic, from the 1930s to the past year, jazz, soul, reggae, pop and more, guest playlister DiscoMonster reaps a harvest of uplifting songs to put a spring in your step
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From 1920s speakeasy …
Even in the face of despair, it’s something in our DNA, focusing on the unknown immediate or distant future, where there's a feeling, a desire, a belief, or confidence that something good might happen that can be expressed in all sorts of lyrics and stories
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Round and round: a timeless track coming up from Signs of Life by Penguin Cafe Orchestra …
Space, time, the rhythms of life, expressions of the divine, love? Eternity in its many permutations is to be found in these captivating playlists picked by guest ajostu, inspired by the near-endless nominations from last week’s topic
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Forever falling upwards down MC Escher’s stairs
How to we capture or express it? Through love, art, death, heaven, hell or other forms? Particularly song. This week’s largely lyrical topic ponders on the forever, the permanent, the endless and goes to infinity and beyond …
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Evelyn Glennie in action. She makes an even younger arrival on this week’s lists …
Marimba, xylophone, glockenspiel, vibraphone, balafon and more, from 1930s jazz heyday to the present, from full fusion to bare bones tradition and across every imaginable genre, guest Nilpferd feels the vibes with a wonderful range of playlists picked from last week’s topic
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Marimba or xylophone vibes? Name that instrument ….
What ideas strike you? Let’s explore the prominent playing of hand hammer- or mallet-hit idiophones, metallophones and chordophones, from xylophones, vibraphones, glockenspiels, balafons, marimbas, including hammered dulcimers and steel drums
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Earth, Wind, Fire and a whole lot more to be thankful for …
A truly upbeat and positive way to start off 2022, a deliciously mix of disco, funk and pop, folk and more from Detroit to Scotland, Chile to Africa and beyond, picked by guest DJ PopOff! from last week’s many song suggestions
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This week it’s half full
From formal politeness and etiquette to the deeply unexpressed and private, it’s time to find all forms of thankfulness in song form, covering a range of subject matter, from the self to others, simplicity in nature to wider society
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