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Black Box Recorder – The English Motorway System

June 11, 2018 Peter Kimpton
The Facts of Life album artwork

The Facts of Life album artwork

Song of the Day: After James Carr's Dark Street and Van Morrison's Bright Road, let's now travel down the darkly humorous musical highway of the English trio, first from their second album The Facts of Life

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In 2000, electronica, pop Tags songs, song of the day, Black Box Recorder, Luke Haines, The Auteurs, John Moore, Jesus & Mary Chain, Sarah Nixey, roads, Kraftwerk, pop
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LUMP (Laura Marling & Mike Lindsay) – Curse of the Contemporary

June 1, 2018 Peter Kimpton
Hair today. Mysterious LUMP dancing.

Hair today. Mysterious LUMP dancing.

Song of the Day: Yesterday we highlighted two of Joni MItchell's finest from, and with a California connection, here an English singer-songwriter with a voice that soars with comparable quality, alongside beautiful, otherworldly music from the Tunng frontman and producer

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In 2018, electronica, folk Tags songs, song of the day, LUMP, Laura Marling, Mike Lindsay, Tunng
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King Creosote & Jon Hopkins – Bubble / Bats In The Attic

May 16, 2018 Peter Kimpton
The album cover of Diamond Mine (2011)

The album cover of Diamond Mine (2011)

Song of the Day: Continuing with more Scottish-flavour collaborations, more exquisite songs, here by Fife's Kenny Anderson joining forces with the English electronica musician and producer from the 2011 album Diamond Mine

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In 2011, electronica, folk Tags songs, song of the day, King Creosote, Jon Hopkins, folk, electronica
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LCD Soundsystem – Losing My Edge / Killing Joke – Change

May 7, 2018 Peter Kimpton
The sleeve for LCD Soundsystem's debut first single

The sleeve for LCD Soundsystem's debut first single

Song of the Day: After our previous Eric B. and Rakim number, Know The Ledge, it's a different, double-edged song, and a debut by Brooklyn's James Murphy and co satirising the fear of not staying in vogue

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In 2002, 2005, 1980, electronica, dance, post-punk, psychedelia, krautrock Tags songs, song of the day, LCD Soundsystem, James Murphy, Killing Joke, Daft Punk
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I Monster – Daydream In Blue/ Gunter Kallman Choir/ Wallace Collection – Daydream

April 18, 2018 Peter Kimpton
 I Monster

 I Monster

Song of the Day: To go with the flowering of British weather, let's dream to some electronic psychedelia by the Sheffield-based pair of Dean Holder and Jarrod Gosling from their 2003 album Neveroddoreven and its sampled origins

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In 1969, 1970, 2003, electronica, pop, psychedelia, trip-hop Tags song of the day, songs, sampling, I Monster, Jarrod Gosling, Dean Holder, Günter Kallman Choir, Wallace Collection, Tchaikovsky, psychedelia
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A Guy Called Gerald – Voodoo Ray

April 6, 2018 Peter Kimpton
Manchester's Hacienda in 1988

Manchester's Hacienda in 1988

Song of the Day: After yesterday's classic Orb track, another club classic, this time from 1988 and synonymous with the acid rave scene of Manchester's Hacienda, but also the offbeat sample Derek and Clive aka Peter Cook and Dudley Moore

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In 1988, dance, electronica, fusion, jazz Tags songs, song of the day, A Guy Called Gerald, Gerald SImpson, Manchester, Hacienda, Derek and Clive, Peter Cook, Dudley Moore, Nicola Collier, 808 State
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The Orb – Little Fluffy Clouds

April 4, 2018 Peter Kimpton
The 1990 cassette single

The 1990 cassette single

Song of the Day: A nimbus-rich 1990 song much loved by anyone of a certain age who went out during a particular era - the dance and club scene of the late 80s and onwards, but who are the voices and samples within it?

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In 1990, dance, electronica, pop, psychedelia Tags songs, song of the day, The Orb, Alex Paterson, Jimmy Cauty, The KLF, Martin "Youth" Glove, Kris "Thrash" Weston, Rickie Lee Jones, Ennio Morricone, Steve Reich, Pat Metheny, Harry Nilsson, film soundtrack, sampling
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Yello - The Race / Oh Yeah

March 21, 2018 Peter Kimpton
Racing Yello? Dieter Meier and Boris Blank

Racing Yello? Dieter Meier and Boris Blank

Song of the Day: After the perfect pace and beautiful simplicity of Kraftwerk's Autobahn, here's a contrast race forward from handcraft in Germany to flashy millionaire Switzerland, snorting that white line of road into an 80s concoction of speed-and-coke-crazy synth sampling

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In 1985, 1992, pop, electronica Tags songs, song of the day, Yello, Switzerland, car racing, Formula One, Dieter Meier, Boris Blank, electronica, synth pop
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Kraftwerk – Autobahn

March 20, 2018 Peter Kimpton
Kraftwerk in more recent performance of that timeless classic

Kraftwerk in more recent performance of that timeless classic

Song of the Day: Our previous two selections have been big synth pop hits, but here is where that all really came from – down an unclogged motorway all the way to Düsseldorf, and the timelessly influential work of Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider

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In electronica, pop, 1974 Tags song of the day, songs, Kraftwerk, electronica, pop, Ralf Hütter, Florian Schneider, Germany
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The Human League - Love Action (I Believe In Love)

March 19, 2018 Peter Kimpton
The Human League, featuring Phil Oakey, third from left.

The Human League, featuring Phil Oakey, third from left.

Song of the Day: More love song action, and groundbreaking synth pop, following yesterday's Eurythmics, with Phil Oakley and the Sheffield crew pumping out a classic from the 1981 album Dare

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In 1981, electronica, pop Tags song of the day, songs, Human League, Phil Oakey, electronica, synth pop, Ian Burden, Lou Reed, Iggy Pop
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Eurythmics – Love Is A Stranger

March 18, 2018 Peter Kimpton
The odd couple. Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart.

The odd couple. Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart.

Song of the Day: The 'love is' mini-theme today moves onto to a different genre – early 80s electronica pop, served up by the enigmatic Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart

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In 1983, pop, electronica Tags songs, song of the day, Annie Lennox, Dave Stewart, electronica, pop, Eurythmics
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Field Music – Count It Up

February 5, 2018 Peter Kimpton
Field Music's 2018 album Open Here

Field Music's 2018 album Open Here

Song of the Day: How to create a value system for modern life? Just as this is hard to quantify, it is equally difficult to categorise the musical style of the Sunderland band, whose latest, sixth album, Open Here, addresses a variety of contemporary issues

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In 2018, indie, pop, electronica Tags songs, song of the day, Field Music, David Brewis, Peter Brewis, David Byrne, Memphis Industries
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Can – Come Sta, La Luna / Chain Reaction

January 29, 2018 Peter Kimpton
Over the moon and far away: Can in 1973 and their cover for the album Soon Over Babaluma

Over the moon and far away: Can in 1973 and their cover for the album Soon Over Babaluma

Song of the Day: Continuing the lunar theme, and extending to the outer limits of experimentalism after Moondog and Captain Beefheart, the sequence also ties in with the German band also highly influential on the late Mark E Smith

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In 1973, psychedelia, krautrock, jazz, electronica, avant garde Tags Can, Michael Karoli, Irmin Schmidt, Jami Liebezeit, Holger Czukay
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Chrome Hoof – Tonyte / Spokes of Uridium

December 4, 2017 Peter Kimpton
Chrome Hoof. From another time, another place …

Chrome Hoof. From another time, another place …

Song of the Day: Another selection made on the hoof, and today we're really pushing to the outer reaches of experimentation with the strange fusion of dance, psychedelia, prog-rock, jazz and electronica provided by London group from their second album, 2007's Pre-Emptive False Rapture

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In dance, electronica, glam rock, pop, prog rock, psychedelia, jazz, 2007 Tags songs, song of the day, Chrome Hoof, Leo Smee, Milo Smee, Shingai Shoniwa, The Noisettes
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RJD2 – A Beautiful Mine (Mad Men theme) / 1976 / Let There Be Horns

November 8, 2017 Peter Kimpton
From the video for Let There Be Horns

From the video for Let There Be Horns

Song of the Day: Echoing yesterday's great drum break, let's now celebrate the work of the Ohio multi-instrumentalist and hip-hop artist, who is behind the theme tune to Mad Men, and so much more

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In jazz, funk, electronica, hip hop, 2004, 2006, 2010 Tags songs, song of the day, instrumentals, TV theme, funk, jazz, Mad Men, MHz Legacy, Icebird, Aceyalone, Pigeon John, RJD2
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Plaid – Itsu

September 27, 2017 Peter Kimpton
Warp(ed). Plaid's Andy Turner and Ed Handley (sort of)

Warp(ed). Plaid's Andy Turner and Ed Handley (sort of)

Song of the Day: Connecting to yesterday's Nicolette song, one from her album 1996 producers, the electronic music duo Andy Turner and Ed Handley. This inventively witty track from the 2003 album Dial P (Warp) builds beautifully with a series of clicks, beats and buzzes, with a video by the French collective Pleix that satirises the world of marketing and meat production

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In electronica, dance, 2003 Tags song of the day, songs, Plaid, electronica, marketing, Warp Records
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Nicolette – No Government / Don't Be Afraid

September 26, 2017 Peter Kimpton
From the cover of Nicolette's album Let No-One Live Rent Free in Your Head

From the cover of Nicolette's album Let No-One Live Rent Free in Your Head

Song of the Day: Alongside Tricky, another collaborator who appeared on Massive Attack's 1994 album Protection, Scottish/Nigerian Londoner Nicolette Love Suwoton's slightly forgotten gem from her brilliant second LP Let No-One Live Rent Free in Your Head, is a sensual mix of electronica, pop, jazz and and trip-hop, yearning for an apolitical utopia

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In jazz, hip hop, electronica, pop, trip-hop, 1996 Tags songs, song of the day, Nicolette, Massive Attack, Tricky, trip-hop, pop, jazz, electronica, Tom Waits, Plaid, Billie Holiday
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St Vincent - Los Ageless / New York

September 21, 2017 Peter Kimpton
Swan song? St Vincent in the New York video

Swan song? St Vincent in the New York video

Song of the Day: Two contrasting songs from the artist also known as Annie Clark, mixing sassy, satirical techno pop with intelligent social observation, the other a soulful love song. Both are about opposite cities of the US and from her forthcoming album Masseduction

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In 2017, pop, electronica, soul Tags songs, song of the day, St Vincent, Annie Clark, New York, Los Angeles, love songs
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DRINK OF THE WEEK

Napue dark gin


SNACK OF THE WEEK

crudités platter


New Albums …

Featured
Favourite Albums of 2025 - Part 3.jpeg
Dec 18, 2025
Favourite albums of 2025 - Part Three
Dec 18, 2025

Welcome to the third and final part of Song Bar favourite albums of 2025. There is also Part One, and Part Two. There is no countdown nor describing these necessarily as “best” albums of the year, but they are chosen by their quality, originality and reader popularity

Dec 18, 2025
Favourite albums of 2025 - Part Two.jpeg
Dec 17, 2025
Favourite albums of 2025 - Part Two
Dec 17, 2025

Welcome to the second part of Song Bar favourite albums of 2025. There is also a first part and a third part this week. There is no countdown nor describing these necessarily as “best” albums of the year, but they are chosen by their quality, originality and reader popularity

Dec 17, 2025
Favourite albums of 2025 - Part 1 updated.jpg
Dec 16, 2025
Favourite albums of 2025 - Part One
Dec 16, 2025

Welcome to the first part of Song Bar favourite albums of 2025. There will also be a second and third part this week. There is no countdown nor describing these necessarily as “best” albums of the year, but they are chosen by their quality, originality and reader popularity

Dec 16, 2025
Juliana Hatfield.jpeg
Dec 16, 2025
Juliana Hatfield: Lightning Might Strike
Dec 16, 2025

New album: Personal upheaval, grief, powerlessness, trauma, sudden change inform the title and colour the lyrics of this latest LP by the seasoned Boston indie artist but her songs are packed with brutally honest, candid, concise reflections and warm, catchy, stirring riffs and melodies

Dec 16, 2025
Dove Ellis - Blizzard.jpeg
Dec 9, 2025
Dove Ellis: Blizzard
Dec 9, 2025

New album: An extraordinarily mature, passionate, poetic, and outstandingly powerful debut by the Manchester-based Galway-born singer-songwriter, whose soaring delivery has instant echoes of Jeff Buckley and lyrics that go above and beyond

Dec 9, 2025
Spíra by Ólöf Arnalds.jpeg
Dec 5, 2025
Ólöf Arnalds: Spíra
Dec 5, 2025

New album: A gorgeous, delicate, ethereal first release in a decade by the Icelandic singer-songwriter, acoustic instruments and her gentle, high, pure voice, all in her native language, caressing this listening experience like pure waters of some slowly trickling glacial stream

Dec 5, 2025
Melody's Echo Chamber - Unclouded.jpeg
Dec 5, 2025
Melody's Echo Chamber: Unclouded
Dec 5, 2025

New album: A fourth album, here full of delicious uplifting, dreamily chic, psychedelic soul pop by the French musician Melody Prochet, with bright, upbeat, optimistic numbers and a title lifted from a quote by the acclaimed Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki, about achieving equilibrium

Dec 5, 2025
Devotion & The Black Divine by anaiis.jpeg
Dec 2, 2025
anaiis: Devotion & The Black Divine
Dec 2, 2025

New album: Following a summer Song of the Day - Deus Deus, a review of the autumn release and third LP by the London-based French-Senegalese singer-songwriter of resonantly beautiful, dynamic, sensual soul, gospel, R&B and experimental and chamber pop, with themes of new motherhood, uncertainty, religion, self-love and acceptance

Dec 2, 2025
De La Soul - Cabin In The Sky.jpeg
Nov 26, 2025
De La Soul: Cabin In The Sky
Nov 26, 2025

New album: The hip-hop veterans return with their first without, yet including the voice of, and a tribute to, founding member Trugoy the Dove, AKA Dave Jolicoeur who passed away in 2023, alongside many hip-hop luminary guests, with trademark playful skits, and all themed around the afterlife

Nov 26, 2025
The Mountain Goats- Through This Fire Across From Peter Balkan.jpeg
Nov 26, 2025
The Mountain Goats: Through This Fire Across From Peter Balkan
Nov 26, 2025

New album: An evocative musical journey of a concept album by the indie-folk band from Claremont, California, fronted by singer-songwriter John Darnielle, based on a dream of his in 2023 about a voyage to a fictional island by the titular captain, charting adventure, wonder and tragedy

Nov 26, 2025
Allie X - Happiness Is Going To Get You.jpeg
Nov 26, 2025
Allie X: Happiness Is Going To Get You
Nov 26, 2025

New album: A hugely entertaining, witty, droll, inventive, chamber and synth-pop fourth LP with a goth twist by the charismatic and theatrical Canadian artist Alexandra Hughes, who brings paradox and dark themes through sounds that include string quartet, harpsichord, classical and pure pop piano with killer lyrics

Nov 26, 2025
Tortoise - Touch.jpeg
Nov 25, 2025
Tortoise: Touch
Nov 25, 2025

New album: A welcome return with a cinematic and mesmeric groove-filled first studio LP in nine years, and the eighth over all by the eclectic Chicago post-rock/jazz/krautrock multi-instrumentalists Dan Bitney, John Herndon, Douglas McCombs, John McEntire and Jeff Parker

Nov 25, 2025
What of Our Nature by Haley Heynderickx, Max García Conover.jpeg
Nov 24, 2025
Haley Heynderickx and Max García Conover: What of Our Nature
Nov 24, 2025

New album: Beautiful, precise, poignant and poetic new folk numbers inspired by the life and music style of Woody Guthrie as the Portland, Oregon and New Yorker, now Portland, Maine-based singer-songwriters bring a delicious duet album, alternating and sharing songs covering a variety of forever topical social issues

Nov 24, 2025
Tranquilizer by Oneohtrix Point Never.jpeg
Nov 24, 2025
Oneohtrix Point Never: Tranquilizer
Nov 24, 2025

New album: Ambient, otherworldly, cinematic, mesmeric, and at times very odd, the Brooklyn-based electronic artist and producer Daniel Lopatin returns with a new nostalgia-based concept – constructing tracks from lost-then-refound Y2K CDs of 1990s and early 2000s royalty-free sample electronic sounds

Nov 24, 2025

new songs …

Featured
Deadletter - To The Brim.jpeg
Dec 19, 2025
Song of the Day: DEADLETTER - To The Brim
Dec 19, 2025

Song of the Day: A moody, mysterious minute-long intro with gentle bursts of brass and woodwind veils what becomes a punchy new lead single by the Leeds post-punk band heralding their second LP - Existence is Bliss out on 27 February via SO Recordings

Dec 19, 2025
Greentea Peng - Prisoners Round.jpeg
Dec 18, 2025
Song of the Day: Greentea Peng - Prisoners Round
Dec 18, 2025

Song of the Day: Following March 2025’s acclaimed album, Tell Dem It’s Sunny, the south-east London artist (aka Aria Wells) returns with another smoky, dark, track with hues of blues, dub and soul and Portishead-esque trip-hop, focusing on the trappings and challenges of modern life

Dec 18, 2025
Kaitlyn Aurela Smith - I Miss The Way You Swim.jpg
Dec 17, 2025
Song of the Day: Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith - I Miss the Way You Swim
Dec 17, 2025

Song of the Day: Beautiful modular synths and intermingling orchestral sounds ripple in this work by the American composer, performer and producer in a piece shaped by loss of someone loved, taken from an upcoming instrumental album Thoughts On The Future, out on Nettwerk Music

Dec 17, 2025
The Paper Kites - If You Go There.jpeg
Dec 16, 2025
Song of the Day: The Paper Kites - Change Of The Wind
Dec 16, 2025

Song of the Day: A beautiful, reflective number by the alternative folk-rock band from Melbourne fronted by Sam Bentley, heralding their seventh studio album If You Go There, I Hope You Find It, out on 23 January via Nettwerk Music Group

Dec 16, 2025
Courtney Marie Andrews - Valentine.jpeg
Dec 15, 2025
Song of the Day: Courtney Marie Andrews - Little Picture Of A Butterfly
Dec 15, 2025

Song of the Day: Beautiful, delicate, fluttering, eclectic, heartbreak folk and Americana by the singer-songwriter from Phoenix, Arizona, heralding her forthcoming new album, Valentine, out on 16 January via Loose Future

Dec 15, 2025
Peter Perrett - Proud To Be Self-Hating.jpeg
Dec 12, 2025
Song of the Day: Peter Perrett - PROUD TO BE SELF-HATING (irony and provocation)
Dec 12, 2025

Song of the Day: The veteran British artist, originally frontman of The Only Ones, and now with three solo albums, who actually has Jewish heritage, releases a gently powerful, nuanced, pro-Palestine acoustic number as a response to ongoing genocide by the Israeli government, out on Domino Records

Dec 12, 2025
Maddie Ashman - Jaded.jpeg
Dec 11, 2025
Song of the Day: Maddie Ashman - Jaded
Dec 11, 2025

Song of the Day: Magical, delicate, eclectic, intricate, experimental microtonal music by the London musician and singer, released alongside a longer track, In Autumn My Heart Breaks

Dec 11, 2025
Ye Vagabonds.jpeg
Dec 10, 2025
Song of the Day: Ye Vagabonds - The Flood
Dec 10, 2025

Song of the Day: Wonderfully warm, rich, lively fiddle-driven Irish folk by the award-winning band fronted by Carlow brothers Brían and Diarmuid Mac Gloinn with a heartbreaking number about the housing crisis, heralding their upcoming new album, All Tied Together, out on Rough Trade’s River Lea Recordings on 30 January

Dec 10, 2025
DBA! band.jpeg
Dec 9, 2025
Song of the Day: DBA! A Poet And A Clown
Dec 9, 2025

Song of the Day: Catchy fuzz-guitar indie rock with a swagger by the Liverpool-formed trio of Sam Warren, James Lindberg and Joshua Grant in a song described as “a confessional story of desire tangled with religious guilt”

Dec 9, 2025
Puma Blue - Croak Dream.jpeg
Dec 8, 2025
Song of the Day: Puma Blue - Croak Dream
Dec 8, 2025

Song of the Day: A dark, esoteric, mysterious and stylish title track with a hint of Radiohead and playing with the idea of knowing your future death, from the experimental indie/goth/ambient London artist Jacob Allen’s forthcoming album out on 6 February via Play It Again Sam

Dec 8, 2025
ELIZA - Anyone Else.jpeg
Dec 7, 2025
Song of the Day: ELIZA - Anyone Else
Dec 7, 2025

Song of the Day: Stripped-back, bluesy, fuzzy funk with slight echoes of Prince and alt-R&B are conjured up in this love song by the London-based singer-songwriter Eliza Caird, her first single for two years, now off the mainstream and out on Log Off Records

Dec 7, 2025
SILK SCARF by Tiga & Fcukers.jpg
Dec 6, 2025
Song of the Day: Tiga (featuring Fcukers) - Silk Scarf
Dec 6, 2025

Song of the Day: A fun, sensual, quirkily oddball electronica dance single with a slick, fetish-flirtatious ode to a favourite smooth material by the Montreal musician (Tiga James Sontag) joined here with vocals by the New York band (Shanny Wise and Jackson Walker Lewis), and heralding Tiga’s upcoming album Hotlife, out in April on Secret City Records

Dec 6, 2025

Word of the week

Featured
Hangover.jpeg
Dec 4, 2025
Word of the week: crapulence
Dec 4, 2025

Word of the week: A term that may apply regularly during Xmas party season, from the from the Latin crapula, in turn from the Greek kraipálē meaning "drunkenness" or "headache" pertains to sickness symptoms caused by excess in eating or drinking, or general intemperance and overindulgence

Dec 4, 2025
Running shoes and barefoot.jpeg
Nov 20, 2025
Word of the week: discalceate
Nov 20, 2025

Word of the week: A rarely used, but often practised verb, especially when arriving home, it means to take off your shoes, but is also a slightly more common adjective meaning barefoot or unshod, particularly for certain religious orders that wear sandals instead of shoes. But in what context does this come up in song?

Nov 20, 2025
autumn-red-leaves.jpeg
Nov 6, 2025
Word of the week: erythrophyll
Nov 6, 2025

Word of the week: A seasonally topical word relating to the the red pigment of tree leaves, fruits and flowers, that appears particularly when changing in autumn, as opposed to the green effect of chlorophyll, from the Greek erythros for red, and phyll for leaves. But what of songs about this?

Nov 6, 2025
Fennec fox 2.jpeg
Oct 22, 2025
Word of the week: fennec
Oct 22, 2025

Word of the week: It’s a small pale-fawn nocturnal fox with unusually large, highly sensitive ears, that inhabits from African and Arab deserts areas from Western Sahara and Mauritania to the Sinai Peninsula. But has it ever been seen in a song?

Oct 22, 2025
Narrowboat.jpeg
Oct 9, 2025
Word of the week: gongoozler
Oct 9, 2025

Word of the week: A fabulous old English slang term for someone who tends to stand or sit for long periods staring at the passing of boats on canals, sometimes with a derogatory or at least ironic use for someone who is useless or lazy. But what of songs about this activity and culture?

Oct 9, 2025

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