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Reina de las Rancheras… Rocío Dúrcal
From Spain itself to the Americas – Mexico, Colombia, Cuba, Argentina, Puerto Rico and more – to the US and beyond, it’s the second most spoken native language in the world. From soothing, passionate, poetic beauty to the gritty and guttural, let’s gather some of the most melodious examples …
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It’s time to give those records a spin, but who will get round first?
It’s a competitive world out there, whether that’s in sports, business or looking for love. A stellar set of songs and nominators from last week’s topic, chosen by excellent referee Uncleben who waves the chequered flag, and they’re off …!
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Is competition healthy, or is life a beach?
In school, sport, politics, love, business and much more in life, competitiveness is instilled as part of our nurture, but in our nature. This week, from the mainstream to the obscure, we seek songs about all sides, good and bad and not just to win …
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Stevie Wonder has a strong connection with the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr …
It runs within us all, but how is it expressed in song? From major moments and figures in history to personal stories, and even the legacy in our genes, guest Marco den Ouden covers a brought range in fine detail with playlists picked from last week’s topic
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Honest legacy? Park (bench) your musical heritage here …
How will you leave it, or be left? It’s a profound idea to think of how we’ll be remembered, or forgotten, as material, ethereal and emotional remains, or what others might leave to us. So let’s widen our musical legacy with some more song ideas on this topic …
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Silence, knowledge, and lust - it’s all to be found in the library …
Objects of intellectual interest to persons of desire – it all goes on in the library. Picking from the shelves of last week’s nominations, guest playlister Loud Atlas presents a carefully crafted catalogue that captures the A-Zs of library’s social intrigue
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Part of the Reading Room of the magnificent Royal Portuguese Cabinet of Reading (Real Gabinete Português de Leitura), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
It's time to open up volumes of songs, from referencing libraries as locations, and the knowledge therein, but also stories of visitors, encounters, librarians, subtle dramas, the act of lending, borrowing and related metaphors. That’s the ticket, so where will your browsing take you?
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New York manic street preacher, 1987. Photograph by DiscoMonster
Good, bad, mad and sometimes downright nasty, they come in many forms, but preachers are almost always charismatic. Inspired by last week’s congregation of nominations, guest playlister DiscoMonster delivers an inspiring bible-sized musical sermon on the subject
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Peoples Temple leader Reverend Jim Jones in his classic shades at an anti-eviction rally in San Francisco in 1977 with Rev. Cecil Williams
From the divine to the ridiculous, they’ve accompanied others’ lives from birth to marriage and death, stand for moral guidance but sometimes go badly astray, but are fascinatingly charismatic, flawed and human. With inspiration here from real life to film and fiction, how are they captured in song?
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Late nights with a transcendent genius: Mark E Smith with Brix
Leading you down the garden path and beyond? Taking liberties with the facts? After a flurry of fabulous stories from last week’s topic, guest playlister ParaMhor narratives a host of colourful tale tales that can’t help but pull you in …
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Leaps of imagination …
Witty, mischievous absurdity, hairy hopelessness, irrelevant incidents, or audible anticlimax and a pointless punchline? It’s time to examine the art of tall storytelling in song. Enjoy some examples in comedy and literature here, but how will your suggestions end up?
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Children in poverty in Manchester, early 1900s
It comes in many forms, but is often most powerful when it’s a hidden, secret shame. Picking from many great nominations out of last week’s topic, guest of the week DiscoMonster posts a powerful, personal narrative alongside his playlist
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“Actually, I think you’ll find these are not stocks, it’s a pillory …”
Far bigger than embarrassment, shame can be private, deep-seated and complex, covering all sides of society, psychology, religious, private or public life, a many-sided identity that can be corrosive but also controlling, useful but also harmful. How does it show in song?
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Get on up with the meaty Mountain …
It’s nothing to do with meat to eat,, but this doesn’t stop these playlists, picked from last week’s tasty, succulent but very subjective topic by guest MussoliniHeadkick, being a complete feast of of very fulfilling sounds. Pass the gravy …
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Deep and meaty?
This week’s topic is sensual rather than cerebral, and extremely subjective. It’s less a lyrical lookup, more seeking out music that makes you, at least metaphorically, vibrate, and even salivate. Please suggest examples and describe the accompanying feeling
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Can boredom and banality become such an art form that they become exciting, or snorefest into the stimulating? Picking from last week’s topic, guest playlister Olive Butler presents a magnificent selection of mundanity
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Classic postcards going places …
Could this be a beautiful beige blank canvas for the imagination? A breeding ground from boring suburbia from which to escape, or a one-horse town where nothing happens? It’s time to celebrate the mundane with music …
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Orange beauty …
It’s a magical and at times surreal period at the end of day. Inspired by all the nominations from last week’s topic, guest playlister Shiv Sidecar picks a set of beautiful lists capturing a full spectrum of light, sounds, moods and genres. What a beauty.
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Sunsets inspire both profundity and cliché …
With a full spectrum of light as well as emotions, this week as light lingers on longest in the western hemisphere, it’s time to capture that strange time of adjustment between day and evening and all that it inspires …
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Promising everything: Them featuring the young Van Morrison
Is everything awesome or is it awful, or the full works in between? There’s a whole spectrum of ideas and feelings about ‘everything’ expressed in song, and from last week’s topic guest playlister Noodsy very neatly picks great numbers to capture the big picture
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