2023

Here’s a slice of steamy Habibi Funk from Beirut’s master musician Charif Megarbane, guaranteed to liven up any summer’s day.

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June 2023 Playlist

1st July 2023 · 2020s, 2023, Playlists

A selection of summer sounds old and new of every genre, from The Rivieras, The Cramps and John Lee Hooker to Magazine, Malcolm McLaren and Martha & The Muffins.

Postpunk meets folk revival with Fontaines D.C. covering Nick Drake’s ethereal Cello Song, from a new tribute album to the late cult folkie.

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In my rarefied musical universe few bands enjoy such exalted status as Sparklehorse. And few artists deserve the accolade ‘genius’ more than Mark Linkous.

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Summer songs don’t get much more summery than this trippy number by Jonathan Wilson, leader of the latterday Laurel Canyon revival.

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This is surely the first film of any kind – not just music videos – whose end credits include someone listed as a “balls volunteer.” You’ll find out why in the first few seconds.

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Allah-Las channel the ghost of Dick Dale in their update of the surf-rock sound half a century later. No surprise that the band come from LA and met while working at Amoeba Records on Sunset Boulevard.

SQÜRL: Meltdown Festival, London – Live Review

SQÜRL at the Royal Festival Hall was a gig with a difference: live music from 2023 accompanying Man Ray’s silent movies from 1923.

Arab Strap: EartH, London – Live Review

Arab Strap perform their 1998 album Philophobia’s songs of seedy sexual encounters and drunken disasters at EartH in Hackney.

The Corner is the standout track on Gold Panda’s latest album The Work – a smooth summer groove with a nice video shot in Berlin. Now it gets a new dimension in his remix featuring not one, not two but three rappers: Open Mike Eagle, Infinite Livez and McKinley Dixon.

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