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Big 10-4, Rubber Ducky: songs about trucks and trucking

March 20, 2025 Peter Kimpton

Ready to roll? A Peterbilt 389

They’re a great, sometimes romantic, sometimes tragic vehicle for human stories, and have nomadic culture of their own. This week we musically celebrate this freight transport, with all sorts of payloads and other services. Where better to listen to music?

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In African, blues, avant-garde, calypso, classical, comedy, country, dance, disco, drone, dub, easy listening, electronica, exotica, experimental, folk, funk, hip hop, gospel, indie, instrumentals, jazz, krautrock, lounge, metal, music, musical hall, musicals, playlists, pop, postpunk, prog, psychedelia, reggae, punk, rock, rocksteady, showtime, ska, songs, soul, soundtracks, traditional, trip hop Tags songs, playlists, trucks, lorries, trucking, Finn Murphy, Jerry Reed, Steve Earle, Joanna Dunham, Amy E. Butcher, books, Film, film soundtrack, George Raft, Humphrey Bogart, Stanley Baker, Patrick McGoohan, Sean Connery, William Hartnell, Sid James, David McCallum, Steven Spielberg, Richard Matheson, Dennis Weaver, Burt Reynolds, CB radio, slang, language, Sam Peckinpah, Kris Kristofferson, George Miller, Chloé Zhao, Frances McDormand, Henri-Georges Clouzot
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Playlists: songs about decluttering, reducing, purging and tidying

March 18, 2025 Peter Kimpton

Neat neat neat …

Spring cleaning season is in full swing - tidying, cleaning or paring back, from belongings to unwanted relationships, guest of the week Severin clears the bar with some very neat work inspired by last week’s topic

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In blues, calypso, classical, comedy, country, dance, disco, drone, dub, easy listening, electronica, exotica, experimental, folk, funk, hip hop, indie, instrumentals, jazz, lounge, metal, music, musical hall, musicals, playlists, pop, postpunk, prog, psychedelia, punk, reggae, rock, rocksteady, showtime, ska, songs, soul, soundtracks, traditional, trip hop Tags decluttering, tidying, reducing, purging, Biteback, Mitski, Joss Stone, Sparks, Youssou N'Dour, Carmen McRae, Tapper Zukie, The Average White Band, The Beatles, The Wombles, Furry Lewis, Eminem, Joanna Newsom, The Spaniels, Martha Reeves & The Vandellas, Billie Holiday, Teenage Fanclub, Peggy Lee, Maxine Nightingale, Half Man Half Biscuit, Sammy Kershaw, Gala, Nina Simone, The Go-Betweens, Deco*27, Hatsune Miku, Jane Jarvis, Tindersticks, Neil Young, Femi Kuti, Abbey Lincoln, Vivian Stanshall, severin, Severin
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Less is more? Songs about decluttering, reducing, purging and tidying

March 13, 2025 Peter Kimpton

How my living room does not look

With spring cleaning possibly on the to-do list, practical and creative decluttering, not merely in the house, but all kinds of editing out, paring back, chiselling, sifting, trimming, shaving, scaling or downsizing, all expressed in song. Check out some experts’ tidy tips too…

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In African, avant-garde, blues, calypso, classical, comedy, country, dance, disco, drone, dub, easy listening, electronica, exotica, experimental, folk, funk, gospel, hip hop, indie, instrumentals, jazz, krautrock, lounge, metal, music, musical hall, musicals, playlists, pop, postpunk, prog, psychedelia, punk, reggae, rock, rocksteady, showtime, ska, songs, soul, soundtracks, traditional, trip hop Tags songs, playlists, tidying, decluttering, editing, reducing, William Morris, Nathan W. Morris, Socrates, Henry David Thoreau, Film, Ernest Hemingway, William Carlos Williams, poetry, Jules Verne, hoarding, Samuel Beckett, Francine Jay, Joshua Becker, Marie Kondō
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Playlists: songs about absurdity and absurdism

March 11, 2025 Peter Kimpton

Players enter. But where’s the Wurlitzer …?

Strange goings on and off occur this week as the curtain opens for a theatrical absurdity featuring cast of random characters including this week’s guest guru, Loud Atlas, inspired by last week’s topic and Samuel Beckett. Fish. Wurlitzer. Balloon.

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In avant-garde, blues, calypso, classical, comedy, country, disco, dance, drone, dub, easy listening, electronica, exotica, experimental, folk, funk, hip hop, indie, instrumentals, jazz, krautrock, lounge, metal, music, musical hall, musicals, playlists, pop, postpunk, prog, psychedelia, punk, reggae, rock, rocksteady, showtime, ska, songs, soul, soundtracks, traditional, trip hop Tags songs, playlists, theatre, Samuel Beckett, Albert Camus, Frank Zappa, Dicky Doo and The Don'ts, Norm Burns, The Burning Hell, Ivor Cutler, Bob Dylan, Sparks, Family Fodder, Erutan, Bodo Wartke, Marti Fischer, The Kinks, Serge Gainsbourg, The Deep Freeze Mice, Mono No Aware, Laibach, Bing Crosby, William Bendix, Sir Cedric Hardwicke, Momus, Mr Scruff, Barnes & Barnes, Roger Miller, The Beatles, Chad Morgan, John Hiatt, Yello, Les Fleur De Lys, They Might Be Giants, Luan Luis Guerra 4.40, Manfred Mann, Scooter, Blind Blake, Comedian Harmonists, The Cure, Andrew Bird, Klaatu, Motion City Soundtrack, Loud Atlas
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Stop making sense: songs about absurdity and absurdism

March 6, 2025 Peter Kimpton

Playtime: Jacques Tati’s masterpiece about modern life (1967)

Strange, surreal, ironic, absurdity very much part of life, and absurdism is all about embracing the freedom with its meaninglessness. Exploring influences from Camus to Tati, Milligan to Python to Lynch, how is it expressed in music?

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In African, avant-garde, blues, calypso, classical, comedy, country, dance, disco, drone, dub, easy listening, electronica, exotica, experimental, folk, funk, gospel, hip hop, indie, instrumentals, jazz, krautrock, lounge, metal, music, musical hall, musicals, playlists, pop, postpunk, prog, psychedelia, punk, reggae, rock, rocksteady, showtime, ska, songs, soul, soundtracks, traditional, trip hop Tags songs, playlists, absurdity, absurdism, philosophy, MC Escher, books, art, Film, Miguel de Cervantes, Cervantes, Søren Kierkegaard, Soren Kierkegaard, Cicero, Albert Camus, Bertrand Russell, Karl Marx, Steven Wright, Spike Milligan, Franz Kafka, Edward Lear, Lewis Carroll, Jean-Paul Sartre, second world war, Myth of Sisyphus, Eugene Ionesco, Samuel Beckett, Jacques Tati, David Lynch, Joseph Heller, Monty Python
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Playlists: songs about the colour grey

March 5, 2025 Peter Kimpton

Assorted greys

Darker or lighter, a broad wave of moods, emotions, contexts, and objects come into focus with this insiightful selections as guest of the week ajostu examines this colour in lyrics, from a slate of suggestions in last week’s topic

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In African, avant-garde, blues, calypso, comedy, colours, country, dance, disco, drone, dub, easy listening, electronica, exotica, experimental, folk, funk, gospel, hip hop, indie, instrumentals, jazz, krautrock, lounge, metal, music, playlists, pop, postpunk, prog, psychedelia, punk, reggae, rock, rocksteady, showtime, ska, songs, soul, soundtracks, traditional, trip hop Tags songs, playlists, colours, grey, Tomas Tranströmer, Rufus Wainwright, Leadbelly, Paranoid Visions, Kathryn Williams, Neill MacColl, Saint Etienne, New Young Pony Club, Felt, Stella Donnelly, Lior, U2, Soccer Mommy, Richard Thompson, XTC, Charlotte Hatherlay, Moderate Rebels, YMO, Abyssanctum, VNV Nation, LCD Soundsystem, When, Spirit, Tokiko Kato, Kiyoshi Hasegawa, Kenshi Yonezu, Masaki Suda, Ichiko Aoba, Jan Garbarek, ajostu
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A shade more interesting: songs about the colour grey

February 27, 2025 Peter Kimpton

Dappled greys on a misty morning …

An unheralded hue between black and white, it’s the shade of ambiguity, subtlety, diplomacy and poetry. Dove, slate, mountain, pewter, flint, pebble, dawn, snail trail, bark, granite, graphite, bone, frost, smoke, mist, also in many animals and metaphors, so how does it work in culture and song?

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In African, avant-garde, blues, calypso, classical, colours, comedy, country, dance, disco, drone, dub, easy listening, electronica, exotica, experimental, folk, funk, gospel, hip hop, indie, instrumentals, jazz, krautrock, lounge, metal, music, musical hall, musicals, playlists, pop, postpunk, prog, psychedelia, punk, reggae, rock, rocksteady, showtime, ska, songs, soul, soundtracks, traditional, trip hop Tags songs, playlists, colours, grey, gray, Agatha Christie, Charles Dickens, George RR Martin, animals, minerals, Oscar Wilde, George Clooney, El Greco, Rembrandt, Anthony Van Dyke, art, William Gibson, David Bowie, Keir Starmer, Emmanuel Macron, pigeons, artificial intelligence, nanotechnology, Edwin Morgan, poetry
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Playlists: songs about the number 9

February 26, 2025 Peter Kimpton

The Number 9’s getting up a head of steam this week …

Let us count the ways … distance, temperature, dates, states of being mind and muse, trains, rockets and other transports of delight all come in this wonderful cloud nine presentation by guest Nicko inspired by last week’s Song Bar Ninth Birthday topic

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In African, avant-garde, blues, calypso, comedy, country, dance, disco, drone, dub, easy listening, electronica, exotica, experimental, folk, funk, gospel, hip hop, indie, instrumentals, jazz, krautrock, lounge, metal, music, musical hall, musicals, playlists, pop, postpunk, prog, psychedelia, punk, reggae, rock, rocksteady, showtime, ska, songs, soul, soundtracks, traditional, trip hop Tags nine, numbers, Sun Ra, Linda Thompson, Albert Hammond, Suzanne Vega, Texas Gladden, Sisters of Mercy, Patti Smith, The Damned, Sonny Boy Williamson II, Wilson Pickett, Tarheel Slim, Pam Grier, Alt-J, Henry Cow, RIta Hayworth, Anita Ellis, Esperanza Spalding, Caetano Veloso, Nguyên Lê, Einstürzende Neubauten, REM, Moldy Peaches, The Now, The Robins, Woody Guthrie, Dickey Lee, Roxy Music, John Lennon, Plastic Ono Band, 3rd Line Butterfly, Gwen McCrae, The Seeds, Metá Metá, Edgar, Heliocentrics, Julius Daniel, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, The Monroe Brothers, Joe Simon, Nicko
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We’re up to the nines: songs about the number IX

February 20, 2025 Peter Kimpton

Nine lives …

It’s a Song Bar Ninth Birthday Special: But where does this number come up in song? It’s idiomatic, it’s an upside-down 6, three thrices, an imperfect, perfectly odd number, associated with inspiration, the surreal, power, wisdom, evil, euphoria, looking your best, and, whether it’s morning or night, for work or rest, always a striking time

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In African, avant-garde, blues, calypso, classical, comedy, country, dance, disco, drone, dub, easy listening, electronica, exotica, experimental, folk, funk, gospel, hip hop, indie, instrumentals, jazz, krautrock, lounge, metal, music, musical hall, musicals, playlists, pop, postpunk, prog, psychedelia, punk, reggae, rock, rocksteady, showtime, ska, songs, soul, soundtracks, traditional, trip hop Tags numbers, nine, 9, Michel de Montaigne, Jon Bon Jovi, Earl Wilson, Jane Austen, John Rawlett, Greek mythology, Shakespeare, William Shakespeare, India, China, religion, mythology, Norse mythology, Anton LaVey, Inside No. 9, Steve Pemberton, Reece Shearsmith, Thomas Fuller, William Hamilton, Robert Burns, Samuel Fallows
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Playlists: songs about houses

February 18, 2025 Peter Kimpton

What’s down the musical street this week?

Well kept or run down, large or small, opulent or modest, houses and homes come in all shapes and sizes and see all the ups and downs of life. Inspired by last week’s topic, guest writer Barbryn creates playlists that will make you feel right at home

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In African, blues, calypso, comedy, country, dance, disco, dub, easy listening, electronica, exotica, experimental, folk, funk, indie, instrumentals, jazz, krautrock, lounge, musicals, music, musical hall, playlists, pop, postpunk, prog, psychedelia, punk, reggae, rock, rocksteady, showtime, ska, songs, soul, soundtracks, traditional, trip hop Tags houses, songs, playlists, Rosemary Clooney, The Fall, Mark E Smith, Crosby Stills Nash & Young, The Four Tops, Grant Hart, Hubert Porter, George Moxey's Calypso Quintet, Kacey Musgraves, Miranda Lambert, Paul Kelly, Katherine Priddy, Tom Waits, Madness, The Pretty Things, LCD Soundsystem, X, Eels, Beach House, The Cinematic Orchestra, Danny Schmidt, Alasdair Roberts, Olivia Chaney, Françoise Hardy, Roberta Flack, I'm From Barcelona, Barbryn
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Something to dwell on: songs about houses

February 13, 2025 Peter Kimpton

How will this play out? Saxophone house

They hold stories and emotions, habits, laughs, lives and deaths, but how are they portrayed in song? From the personal to the political, it’s time see see how our homes will play out when they are foremost in lyrics …

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In African, avant-garde, blues, calypso, classical, comedy, country, dance, disco, drone, dub, easy listening, electronica, exotica, experimental, folk, funk, gospel, hip hop, indie, instrumentals, jazz, krautrock, lounge, metal, music, musical hall, musicals, playlists, pop, postpunk, prog, psychedelia, punk, rock, reggae, rocksteady, showtime, ska, songs, soul, soundtracks, traditional, trip hop Tags songs, playlists, houses, homes, Karl Pilkington, Le Corbusier, architecture, Jonathan Carroll, David Hockney, Joan Rivers, Zsa Zsa Gabor
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Playlists: songs about the Roman Empire

February 11, 2025 Peter Kimpton

A few members of Rome’s classic band lineup

Empires rise and crumble, but few on a scale as that of Ancient Rome. Following last week’s topic, guest playlister Marco den Ouden is inspired to create a musical arc to match Gibbon’s famous historical magnus opus

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In avant-garde, blues, calypso, classical, comedy, country, dance, disco, drone, dub, easy listening, electronica, exotica, experimental, folk, funk, gospel, hip hop, indie, instrumentals, jazz, krautrock, lounge, music, musical hall, musicals, playlists, pop, postpunk, prog, psychedelia, punk, reggae, rock, rocksteady, showtime, ska, soul, soundtracks, songs, traditional, trip hop Tags songs, playlists, Ancient Rome, emperors, Marco den Ouden, Caligula, Claudius, Momus, Angela & Jeff Van Dyck, Miles Davis, Triumvirat, Bob Dylan, spin doctors, The Last Dinner Party, Frances Barber, Groundation, Theatre of Hate, Bastille, Goldblade, Christopher Purves, Monty Python, Eric Idle, Bulat Okudsava, Saul Williams, Zack de la Rocha, Morcheeba, Nova Mob, The Stranglers, Soft Cell, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Inner Circle, Oli Julian, Sam Cooke, Frankie Howerd, Lloyd Jones, Perry Keyes, Terry Callier, Sugar Minott, Current 93, Molly Nilsson, James Reynes, Lisa Gerrard, Hans Zimmer, Matt Pless, Mark Knopfler, The Divine Comedy, Olivia Chaney, Wilfred Joseph, Julius Fucik, Colosseum, Nero & The Gladiators, Jo Jo Bennett, Chris Potter, Bud Powell, The Fleshtones, Land Observations
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Carpe diem: songs about the Roman Empire

February 6, 2025 Peter Kimpton

All musical roads lead to … Rome

Gladiators to gods, togas to street names, emperors to orgies, invasions to inventions, it’s the empire that arguably has the most lasting effect and resonance with the present, but how is it referenced in song?

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In African, avant-garde, blues, calypso, classical, colours, comedy, country, dance, disco, drone, dub, easy listening, electronica, exotica, experimental, folk, funk, gospel, hip hop, indie, instrumentals, jazz, krautrock, music, metal, lounge, musical hall, musicals, playlists, pop, postpunk, prog, psychedelia, punk, reggae, rock, rocksteady, showtime, ska, songs, soul, soundtracks, traditional, trip hop Tags songs, playlists, Ancient Rome, Roman Empire, empires, Titus Livius, emperors, Tacitus, Julius Caesar, Cicero, Juvenal, Marcus Aurelius, Claudius, Cervantes, Miguel de Cervantes, Edward Gibbon, Donald Trump, Henry Kissinger, Camille Paglia, James Buchan, Emperor Augustus, Hadrian, Commodus, Caligula, Derek Jacobi, George Eliot, Monty Python, Seneca, Publilius Sysru
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Playlists: songs about salt

February 5, 2025 Peter Kimpton

This one is near Minsk, but what colours have been crafted out out from this week’s musical salt mine?

Cooking to chemistry, seafaring to salty tears and a sprinkling of sounds from across the world, from Alabama to Japan to the Middle East and Australia, guest playlister Nicko concocts a truly seasoned and tasty set of selections from last week’s topic

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In African, avant-garde, blues, calypso, comedy, country, dance, disco, drone, dub, easy listening, electronica, exotica, experimental, folk, funk, gospel, hip hop, indie, instrumentals, jazz, krautrock, lounge, metal, music, musical hall, musicals, playlists, pop, postpunk, prog, psychedelia, punk, reggae, rock, rocksteady, showtime, ska, songs, soul, soundtracks, traditional, trip hop Tags Salt, songs, playlists, minerals, Martin Simpson, Andy Cutting, Nancy Kerr, My Friend The Chocolate Cake, The Chills, The Pineapple Thief, Mammút, Karine Polwart, boygenius, Rocío Márquez, Zetetics, Prince Alla, Bedouin Soundclash, Ai Otsuka, Red Foley, Frederick Knight, Pere Ubu, Kate McGarrigle, Kate and Anna McGarrigle, Los Falcons, Milton Nascimento, The Triffids, Hope Sandoval, The Decemberists, Julian Lennon, The National, Madrugada, Sweeping Promises, Jack White, Alice Donut, Papa Charlie Jackson, Gino Paoli, Kip Hanrahan, Dinah Washington, T-Bone Walker, Nicko
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Just the right amount of ... songs about salt

January 30, 2025 Peter Kimpton

Guitar licks …

A staple of our diet, contained in the body, but also necessary be restocked for health, sodium chloride has thousands of uses, and has been a human obsession for centuries, seeping in our language, but how is it served up in song?

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In African, avant-garde, blues, calypso, classical, comedy, country, dance, disco, drone, dub, easy listening, electronica, experimental, exotica, folk, funk, gospel, hip hop, indie, instrumentals, jazz, krautrock, lounge, metal, music, musical hall, musicals, playlists, pop, postpunk, prog, psychedelia, punk, reggae, rock, rocksteady, showtime, ska, songs, soul, soundtracks, traditional, trip hop Tags songs, playlists, salt, minerals, food, food industry, history, China, Mark Kurlansky, Antonio Tabucchi, Karen Blixen, Ancient Rome, Mahatma Gandhi, India, science, geology, Burls Art, Humphry Davy, chemistry
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Playlists: songs about paths, tracks, trails and roads

January 29, 2025 Peter Kimpton

Follow this musical trail ….

From tiny woodland byways to endless stretching highways, across history and continents, Devon to Scotland, America to Australia, guest playlister Shiv Sidecar takes us on a fabulous musical journey inspired by last week’s topic

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In African, avant-garde, blues, calypso, country, dance, drone, dub, exotica, easy listening, electronica, experimental, folk, indie, instrumentals, jazz, krautrock, lounge, music, playlists, pop, postpunk, prog, psychedelia, punk, reggae, rock, rocksteady, showtime, ska, songs, soul, soundtracks, traditional Tags songs, playlists, roads, paths, trails, Nick Drake, Archie Roach, Linkin Park, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Alasdair Roberts, The Aislers Set, Buddy Miles, Mazzy Star, Pavlov's Dog, Show Of Hands, The Move, The Triffids, Dengue Fever, Metric, Ivor Cutler, The Grateful Dead, Neil Young, Midnight Oil, Japanese Breakfast, Lil Nas X, Billy Ray Cyrus, Kevin Morby, Jackie Leven, Karine Polwart, Lal Waterson, Robb Johnson, JJ Cale, Bo Diddley, U-Roy, Billy Butler, Shocking Blue, The Factory, David Byrne, Nina Nastasia, Dan Fogelberg, Lightnin' Hopkins, PJ Harvey, Cult Maniax, Lhasa, Ralph MacDonald, Super Furry Animals, trees, The Battered Ornaments, The Gun Club, Plainsong, XTC, ShivSidecar, Sidecar Shiv, Gillian Welch
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Route notes: songs about paths, tracks, trails and roads

January 23, 2025 Peter Kimpton

Inca Trail, Peru

Timeless travelling, personal and universal, from the minor the major way, this topic less about about passing through, going somewhere, even if that destination may end up being an existential nowhere. It’s the romance of the road, the tantalising tread of the trail, the perception of the path

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In African, avant-garde, calypso, blues, classical, comedy, country, dance, disco, drone, dub, easy listening, electronica, exotica, experimental, folk, funk, gospel, hip hop, indie, instrumentals, jazz, krautrock, lounge, metal, music, musical hall, musicals, playlists, pop, postpunk, prog, psychedelia, punk, reggae, rock, rocksteady, showtime, ska, songs, soul, soundtracks, traditional, trip hop Tags songs, playlists, music, paths, trails, tracks, walking, Bruce Chatwin, Aboriginal, Australia, David Lynch, Muriel Strode, Søren Kierkegaard, Soren Kierkegaard, Robert Motherwell, Joy Division, Peter Saville, Africa, South America, South Africa, Himalayas, Nepal, Ireland, Scotland, Ancient Rome, roads, Hawaii, Appalachian Way, Colorado, Werner Herzog, Film, film soundtrack
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Playlists: songs about tickets, passes and invitations

January 22, 2025 Peter Kimpton

Get your AAA passes here to a full musical experience ….

Tickets to travel, alluring invitations to important passes come in all forms, and inspired by last week’s topic nominators, guest inspector Loud Atlas brings you access to all areas of musical enjoyment

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In African, avant-garde, blues, calypso, country, comedy, dance, disco, drone, dub, easy listening, electronica, exotica, experimental, folk, funk, gospel, hip hop, indie, instrumentals, jazz, krautrock, lounge, metal, music, musical hall, musicals, playlists, pop, postpunk, prog, psychedelia, punk, reggae, rock, rocksteady, showtime, ska, songs, soul, soundtracks, traditional, trip hop Tags songs, tickets, playlists, invitations, passes, Quincy Jones, The Marvelettes, The Beatles, Fanny, TootArd, Olivia Rodrigo, Gene Wilder, Film, film soundtrack, Della Reese, Half Man Half Biscuit, The Chats, paul simon, Aretha Franklin, Joe Cocker, Tyrone Davis, Silver Cooks & The Gondoliers, Wendy Waldman, The Magicians, Beck, The Kills, Passport, passports, Tracy Chapman, Big Star, Johnny Cash, Hank Williams, Cosmo Sheldrake, The Osmonds, Harry Nilsson, Gladys Knight, English Teacher, Loud Atlas
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Enter with: songs about tickets, passes and invitations

January 16, 2025 Peter Kimpton

Paper trail or older entrance …

Cultural events to sport, travel, parties or imagined prizes in lotteries, whether as literal or as metaphor in lyrics, it's all about those bits of real or virtual paper allowing access. Where will yours get you?

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In African, avant-garde, blues, calypso, classical, comedy, country, disco, dance, drone, dub, easy listening, electronica, exotica, experimental, folk, funk, gospel, hip hop, indie, instrumentals, jazz, krautrock, lounge, metal, music, musical hall, musicals, playlists, pop, postpunk, prog, psychedelia, punk, reggae, rock, rocksteady, showtime, ska, songs, soul, soundtracks, traditional, trip hop Tags songs, playlists, tickets, passes, passports, travel, music, music venues, Hunter S. Thompson, George Carlin, Mercedes McCambridge, Douglas Coupland, Oscar Wilde, Al Gore, Mick Jagger, Lady Gaga, The Cure, Robert Smith, Mark E Smith
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Playlists: songs with lyrical symmetry

January 15, 2025 Peter Kimpton

Beautifully sad symmetry by Celeste

Mirrored lyrical patterns create an aural symmetry l that appeals to listeners, especially in pop music’s chorus. Inspired by last week’s nominations, guest playlister Maki weighs up the lyric sheets to create a perfect balance

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In African, avant-garde, blues, country, dance, disco, easy listening, electronica, exotica, experimental, folk, funk, gospel, hip hop, indie, instrumentals, jazz, krautrock, lounge, music, musical hall, musicals, playlists, pop, postpunk, prog, psychedelia, punk, reggae, rock, rocksteady, showtime, ska, songs, soul, soundtracks, traditional, trip hop Tags symmetry, antimetabole, lyrics, Boyzone, The Eagles, Elvis Costello, Elvis Costello & The Attractions, Dessa, Joyner Lucas, Lin-Manuel Miranda, John Greaves, Peter Blegvad, Lisa Herman, The Piranhas, Celeste, Neil Young, The Osmonds, Elliott Smith, Billy Bragg, The Stylistics, H20, Jah Wobble, Andy Williams, Leonard Cohen, Supertramp, Anais Mitchell, David Bowie, Mala Rodríguez, Maki
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New Albums …

Featured
Austra - Chin Up Buttercup.jpeg
Nov 19, 2025
Austra: Chin Up Buttercup
Nov 19, 2025

New album: This fifth studio LP as Austra by the Canadian classically trained vocalist and composer Katie Stelmanis brings beautiful electronica-pop and dance music, and has a bittersweet ironic title – a caustically witty reference to societal pressure to keep smiling despite a devastating breakup

Nov 19, 2025
Mavis Staples - Sad and Beautiful World.jpeg
Nov 18, 2025
Mavis Staples: Sad and Beautiful World
Nov 18, 2025

New album: A timelessly classy release by the veteran soul, blues and gospel singer and social activist from the Staples Singers, in a release of wonderfully moving and poignant cover versions, beautifully interpreting works by artists including Tom Waits, Curtis Mayfield, Leonard Cohen, and Gillian Welch

Nov 18, 2025
Stella Donnelly - Love and Fortune 2.jpeg
Nov 18, 2025
Stella Donnelly: Love and Fortune
Nov 18, 2025

New album: Finely crafted, stripped back musical simplicity combined with complex melancholic emotions mark out this beautiful, poetic, and deeply personal third folk-pop LP by the Australian singer-songwriter reflecting on the past and present

Nov 18, 2025
picture-parlour-the-parlour-album.jpeg
Nov 17, 2025
Picture Parlour: The Parlour
Nov 17, 2025

New album: Following last year’s EP Face in the Picture, a fabulously stylish, smart, swaggering glam-rock-pop debut LP by the Manchester-formed, London-based band fronted by the impressively raspy, gritty, vibratro delivery of Liverpudlian vocalist and guitarist Katherine Parlour and distinctive riffs from North Yorkshire-born guitar Ella Risi

Nov 17, 2025
FKA twigs - Eusexua Afterglow.jpeg
Nov 16, 2025
FKA twigs: EUSEXUA Afterglow
Nov 16, 2025

New album: Springing from her much lauded third LP Eusexua, out in January this year, and following a hugely successful and spectacular tour, the innovative British experimental pop artist, dancer and producer extends her palette of ethereal, otherworldly and sensual creations in this new, more carnal, harder, beat-filled parallel release

Nov 16, 2025
Celeste - Woman of Faces.jpg
Nov 15, 2025
Celeste: Woman of Faces
Nov 15, 2025

New album: The outstanding British singer returns, a long four years after her acclaimed debut Not Your Muse, with a classy, passionate set of nine, simmering, smoky, rippling dramatic, timeless numbers in which her vocal prowess is magnificently on show on songs playing on the theme of self and identity

Nov 15, 2025
Clark - Steep Stims.jpeg
Nov 14, 2025
Clark: Steep Stims
Nov 14, 2025

New album: The prolific British experimental electronica artist, Christopher Stephen Clark, who works on film and games music as well as albums, returns with a collection capturing the sprit of making music on old samplers and equipment, whipping up the rising, whooshing wave and piano styles of 90s dance music as well as more intricate sounds

Nov 14, 2025
Danny Brown - Stardust.jpeg
Nov 12, 2025
Danny Brown: Stardust
Nov 12, 2025

New album: The seventh album by the Detroit experimental, eclectic hip-hop and hyper-pop artist pushes the envelope with some extraordinary, dynamic sounds, dance music with warp-speed, slick rapping and multiple guests through an invented “90s-era pop star” persona called Dusty Star

Nov 12, 2025
Hatchie - Liquorice.jpeg
Nov 12, 2025
Hatchie: Liquorice
Nov 12, 2025

New album: With distinct echoes of Cocteau Twins and The Sundays, the third album from Australian indie pop singer-songwriter Harriette Pilbeam is beautifully awash with dream pop guitar effects and her high, sensual breathy vocals, largely co-written with her partner Joe Agius and produced by Jay Som

Nov 12, 2025
Paul Kelly - Seventy.png
Nov 11, 2025
Paul Kelly: Seventy
Nov 11, 2025

New album: The acclaimed, prolific Australian singer-songwriter (and perennial Song Bar playlist favourite) returns with his distinctive, Dylan-esque folk-rock-country with a landmark of age and his 30th studio album, with profound ballad, poetic detail and reflections on age, regrets, lust, love and death

Nov 11, 2025
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Nov 9, 2025
Midlake: A Bridge To Far
Nov 9, 2025

New album: The Denton, Texas band make a welcome return with their distinctively warm, rich, psychedelic folk-rock, marked by close vocal harmonies, acoustic and pedal steel, keyboards and flute, this sixth studio album themed around hope, humility and perseverance, all as a human necessity

Nov 9, 2025
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Nov 8, 2025
Sorry: COSPLAY
Nov 8, 2025

New album: Consistently excellent singles before and heralding this brilliantly odd, clever third album by the London indie band all cement their reputation for a truly original sound filled with a variety of styles, captured in the experimental title of their third LP following 2022’s Anywhere But Here

Nov 8, 2025
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Nov 8, 2025
Juana Molina: DOGA
Nov 8, 2025

New album: A wondrously mesmeric, clever and quirky eighth album of experimental pop by the Argentinian singer, musician and comedian composed largely of analogue synths, originally from improvisations and recorded over several years in her home studio surrounded by her pets

Nov 8, 2025
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Nov 7, 2025
ROSALÍA: LUX
Nov 7, 2025

New album: Grandiose, dramatic, passionate, with extraordinary soaring vocals, melodies and string arrangements, multi-lingual lyrics, the London Symphony Orchestra and with guests including Björk, the Catalan superstar’s fourth LP is a fabulous extravaganza, broadly themed around female saints through history, religion, sex and violence

Nov 7, 2025

new songs …

Featured
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Nov 20, 2025
Song of the Day: Hen Ogledd - Scales Will Fall
Nov 20, 2025

Song of the Day: A strikingly different, wonderfully odd, eccentric and alternative folk and protest song by the British quartet of Richard Dawson, Dawn Bothwell, Rhodri Davies and Sally Pilkington, heralding their upcoming third album Discombobulated, out on 20 February 2026 on Weird World / Domino Records

Nov 20, 2025
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Nov 19, 2025
Song of the Day: Lisa O'Neill - The Wind Doesn't Blow This Far Right (EP)
Nov 19, 2025

Song of the Day: This beautiful title track from the new EP by the Irish folk singer-songwriter from Cavan is a powerful original about man-made, greed-motivated unnatural disasters, joining with five other poignant numbers, including a new version of The Bleak Midwinter, out now on Rough Trade

Nov 19, 2025
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Nov 18, 2025
Song of the Day: congratulations - Fought 4 Love
Nov 18, 2025

Song of the Day: Following This Life, another fun-filled single, here with a floor-stomping glam-style riff, by the Brighton quartet who embrace 80s pop and 90s rock plus a dash of Field Music, Electric 6 and Devo with this stylish anti-love song with entertaining video, heralding their debut LP Join Hands, out on 13 February via Bella Union

Nov 18, 2025
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Nov 17, 2025
Song of the Day: Avalon Emerson & The Charm - Eden
Nov 17, 2025

Song of the Day: Following a series of tracks collectively titled Perpetual Emotion Machine, this separate new release by the New York artist is a breezy, shimmery indie-pop love song with a funky bassline, and out on Dead Oceans

Nov 17, 2025
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Nov 16, 2025
Song of the Day: Elanor Moss - Again, My Love
Nov 16, 2025

Song of the Day: Exquisite, intimate folk with finger-picked guitar and gentle brass accompaniment by the London-based singer-songwriter in this wintry song about how loss and change are necessary for transformation, her first new music for three years, out on Merge Records

Nov 16, 2025
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Nov 15, 2025
Song of the Day: Night Swimming - Submarine
Nov 15, 2025

Song of the Day: Unfolding with a quiet intensity, layered guitars and restrained urgency, this latest single about loss and shock by the Bath/Bristol indie dream-pop/ shoegaze band is a striking way to announce their recent signing to Venn Records

Nov 15, 2025
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Nov 14, 2025
Song of the Day: The Dears - Doom Pays
Nov 14, 2025

Song of the Day: A pulsating new track with a political message and a sound reminiscent of early Roxy Music by the Montreal indie-rock band from their latest album Life Is Beautiful! Life Is Beautiful! Life Is Beautiful! out on Next Door Records

Nov 14, 2025
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Nov 13, 2025
Song of the Day: Bill Callahan - The Man I’m Supposed to Be
Nov 13, 2025

Song of the Day: Resonant, poetic, moody, profound, the acclaimed American singer-songwriter returns with a song exploring feelings of a life that was lived and one that's meant to be, heralding his latest album, My Days of 58, out on 27 February 2026 via Drag City Records.

Nov 13, 2025
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Nov 12, 2025
Song of the Day: Charli xcx - House (featuring John Cale)
Nov 12, 2025

Song of the Day: A potent, surprise collaboration comes all aswirl in this dark, haunting, gothic, cinematic piece of jagged strings and nightmarish, crashing sounds with a spoken monologue by the Velvet Underground Welsh legend dominating this song by British pop superstar best known for Brat, taken from the soundtrack to director Emerald Fennell’s forthcoming film adaptation of Wuthering Heights

Nov 12, 2025
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Nov 11, 2025
Song of the Day: Pictish Trail - Another Way
Nov 11, 2025

Song of the Day: A mesmeric, slow-build psychedelic-electronica-pop eight-minute number of gradual transformation rising to a krautrock-inspired crescendo by the isle of Eigg-based Scottish musician Johnny Lynch heralding his sixth LP Life Slime, produced by Mike Lindsay of Tunng and LUMP, out on 14 November on Lost Map / Fire Records

Nov 11, 2025
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Nov 10, 2025
Song of the Day: The Twilight Sad - Waiting for the Phone Call (featuring The Cure’s Robert Smith)
Nov 10, 2025

Song of the Day: The Scottish post-punk/indie rock band return with a powerful new single about grief, love and mental illness, their first in six years, with guest Robert Smith of The Cure on guitar, and out on Rock Action Records

Nov 10, 2025
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Nov 9, 2025
Song of the Day: Henry Coke - Out of Time
Nov 9, 2025

Song of the Day: “I’m done with you scaring me.” A striking, self-released single for a Sunday by the London musician and producer, born into a lineage of vicars and church leaders, but here candidly addressing the cause of his drift from Christianity in his own passionate address

Nov 9, 2025

Word of the week

Featured
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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
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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
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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
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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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Sep 17, 2025
Word of the week: hiemate
Sep 17, 2025

Word of the week: Pronounced “Hiya Mate”, this is in fact not a friendly informal greeting, but an Old English word, derived from Latin, meaning to spend the winter elsewhere, sounding a bit like hibernate, but different as it requires moving to another place rather than sleeping in the same

Sep 17, 2025

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