October is the mellowest month, said no one in particular. But in a way it is: autumn settling in, the days getting shorter, the leaves beginning to turn, coats and scarves and hats coming out of closets. And here’s a suitably mellow playlist to soundtrack the darkening of the days. (more…)

Autumn is upon us, and here is your September soundtrack: lots of old stuff, a bit of new stuff; New Wave and old soul, rock and pop and a four-song tribute to the songwriting genius of the late great Kris Kristofferson. 

Summer sounds in my August playlist: some classic postpunk (Magazine, Pere Ubu), some classic reggae (Culture and LKJ) and soul (Bill Withers, Gary US Bonds), some old-time country (Gillian Welch, Dwight Yoakam) and nu-skool punk (Dead Pioneers), vintage hip-hop (A Tribe Called Quest, DJ Shadow) and a handful of brand new tunes (Nick Cave, Fontaines DC). Plus the magnificence of Pablo Picasso (Modern Lovers).

Here is my ultimate reggae playlist – drawn mostly from that golden period for classic roots reggae in the mid-Seventies but stretching back to the earlier eras of rocksteady and ska in the mid-Sixties, and edging into the dancehall era of the early Eighties.

(more…)

Welcome to my July playlist, filled with summer sounds to fill the ears on a sunny day. We have everything from Afrobeat to Australian funk, old soul and new jazz, blues and country, punk, techno, reggae and and metal. Plus tributes to the late John Mayall and Martin Phillipps of The Chills.

Summertime, and the listening is easy (Harry Chapin, Micah P Hinson) – and funky (Mirwais, Baxter Dury) and lots more. There’s vintage country (Connie Smith) and ska (Phyllis Dillon), there’s old soul (Jackie Day, Jackie Edwards) and nu-soul (Jordan Rakei), some powerful blues (Buddy Guy, Ruth Copeland), hip-hop old (Nas) and new (Kneecap) and much more.

This month we’ve got garage punk and psych sounds from the ’60s,
some electro funk and classic country, a blend of rockabilly, noise and vintage French folk and some soothing neo-classical piano to end on a quiet note.

Here’s a new playlist for the end of Spring and… hopefully… the start of Summer. There’s seminal hip-hop, hardcore techno, primal punk, vintage soul, vintage folk-rock, funk, country and Congolese rumba. And probably more besides. 

Happy Easter – here’s my March playlist to put a Spring in the air as you open your eggs today. There’s a cracking mix of old and new, borrowed and blue: some drum’n’bass, some soul and reggae, vintage Velvets, country music, banging dance beats and primal punk.

Here is hopefully a final winter warmer, with cuts ranging from the return of Underworld and vintage Aphex Twin to deep cuts by Michael Jackson and Modern English, tributes to lost members of Can and MC5 and some dub reggae to warm the cockles of the ear.