[tweetmeme]If there’s one app that’s making music happen on the Mac, it’s Bowtie. Since day one, Bowtie has supported custom themes using just HTML and CSS, and there has been an explosion of Bowtie themes since then. The beauty of this theming engine, is that it relies a lot on the current version of Webkit that’s running on your Mac, so whenever new browser technologies are made available, the themes can take advantage of them. I’ve covered some themes on SA before, but there’s a fresh list of some of the most amazing Bowtie themes out there.

The theme used in the header is Vinyl2 by Laurent Baumann. And obviously, it sits beautifully on your desktop. Instead of play/pause controls, it beautifully springs out a way to rate your songs (displayed in the screenshot is the expanded view).

In stark contrast, sits Minimal, the cleanest of Bowtie themes. Minimal is just a little play pause button, with the track counter spinning around it. One of those must have themes. Pictured here is the MinimalMod by Jerome Verzier, based on the original by Philip Antoni.

If themes bother you by their virtue of not being visible at all times, Curl is one theme you can’t go wrong with. Place it at any corner (it automatically snaps into correct orientation) and have that artwork peek through. The one pictured here is the CurlAlt by dr.vox, based on the original by Philip Antoni. [Update: Laurent Baumann claims the original original curl theme—’Swirl‘—was designed by him. I wouldn’t know really.]

Similar to Curl in its approach, Embedded by GYH makes as though it’s pinned to your wallpaper. It could do a little more work, and doesn’t work with most backgrounds, but I’m featuring it anyway.

Rexcon2 by Matthew Rex is still the best full-functionality Bowtie theme out there. It’s not my ideal kind of them however.

Here’re three similar themes. The one right at the top is <a newwtarget=”_bl href=”http://macthemes2.net/forum/viewtopic.php?id=16792497″>Zukunft Condensed by Alx and janik. Works great on lighter backgrounds. In the middle lies the Subtitle theme by Jerome Verzier; great on darker backgrounds. And the typographical extravaganza at the bottom is TypographicBlurred by Jerome Verzier again.

Extremely simple, yet those controls look so juicy I could chew on them all day. Works great on any wallpaper. Playlet, by CupofJoe.

Prepare to have your mind blown away. Not necessarily the most practical of themes, but it definitely wins the title as the most impressive Bowtie theme. Created by Cherochang (Darren Coates?) at MacThemes, Transformers is a living, breathing, even self-aware theme that prances around your desktop. It’s a joy to watch. Screenshots don’t do justice to this theme, so you either download it, or watch the demo video.

As usual, if you think I’ve missed any good ones (I’m sure I have), please let me know in the comments and I’ll add them in.