The Monthly Playlist: July

Although I’ve been busy pottering away monthly over on Apple music, it’s been a while since I’ve shared one of my monthly playlists (with more specific ‘Lockdown Listens‘ taking priority over the funny last few months)…

Anyway! To start your weekend, I thought I’d share some of the songs I’ve had on repeat over the last 31 days. Joe recently acknowledged that he does tend to hear the same things played again and again- but it’s because when I come across, or rediscover something I love, it is ALL I WILL PLAY (which is why making playlists serves me so well).

These playlists take me back to certain points in the month- small moments or afternoons at my desk, car drives with my brother in the country and lazy afternoons in the garden. This Months is a real mix of some golden oldies (I am a seventies radio DJ thank you for asking, and yes that is Barry Blue on the playlist) and some newer discoveries- and I hope you enjoy repeating it as much as I have…

1. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – There She Goes My Beautiful World
2. Talking Heads – Road To Nowhere
3. David Bowie – Oh You Pretty Things
4. Melody Gardot – Morning Sun
5. The Velvet Underground – There She Goes Again
6. The Cure – In Between Days
7. David Bowie – Fill Your Heart
8. Arlo Parks – Black Dog
9. Babeheaven – Seabird
10. The Alessi Brothers – Oh Lori
11. Phoebe Bridgers – Kyoto
12. HAIM – Los Angeles
13. King Gizzard & The Wizard Lizard – Pop In my Step
14.  Tame Impala – Sundown Syndrome

 

15. Molly Burch – I Adore You

16. The Sure Fire Soul Ensemble – Impeach The President

17. King Gizzard & The Wizard Lizard – Honey

18. Laura Marling – Daisy

19. Barry blue – (Dancin’) On A Saturday Night

20. Pavement – Harness Your Hopes

21. Joy Mumford – The One

22. Johnny Flynn – Home & Dry

23. The Murlocs – Promblematic Subject

24. June Carter Cash – Time’s A Wastin’

25. Elvis Presley, Ann Margret – The Lady Loves Me

The Lockdown Listens: My ‘It’s A School Night’ Playlist

*including images that feel, arguably, anything less than zen- AND A GREASE SOUNDTRACK VINYL*

It’s no secret that I’m a bit of a serial playlist maker, and whilst I’ve very much indulged in my fist-pumping-WE-GOT-THIS-TUNES throughout lockdown, sometimes you just need something a little more relaxed when a motivational sing song feels a little much (and yes, I did just say that)…

Whether you’re making dinner, scrolling in the bath (guilty) or making the long commute from the top of your stairs to the bottom- escaping with something that isn’t Take On Me, is sometimes actually quite necessary.

This has quickly become one of my favourite Spotify listens and with some of my favourite artists from Laura Marling, Stornoway (who are so, so perfect for a good chill) and some newer discoveries like Aldous Harding- I hope this little listen helps anyone unwind, or takes them away for a little bit (even if it’s just when you’re making the bed in the morning)…

Listen to the full playlist here!

1. Bombay Bicycle Club – Lights Out, Words Gone, 2. HAIM – Summer Girl, 3. Stornoway – Zorbing, 4. Arcade Fire – Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains), 5. James Blake – Can’t Believe The Way We Flow, 6. Vampire Weekend, Steve Lacey – Flower Moon, 7. Summer Camp – The Ugly Truth, 8. George Harrison – All Things Must Pass, 9. Paul McCartney, Linda McCartney – Ram On, 10. Mark Ronson, Yebba – Don’t Leave Me Lonely, 11. Francis and the Lights, Bon Iver – Friends, 12. Dusty Springfield – Take Another Little Piece Of My Heart, 13. Arlo Parks – Cola, 14. Gorillaz – On Melancholy Hill, 15. Beach Fossils – Sometimes, 16. Beach House – Zebra, 17. Solange – Losing You, 18. We Are Scientists – After Hours, 19. The Growlers – Rare Hearts, 20. Laura Marling – Crawled Out Of The Sea, 21. Laura Marling – Cross You Fingers, 22. Cass McCombs – Windfall, 23. John Lennon – Mind Games, 24. Feist – Mushaboom, 25. Cat Power – Sea of Love, 26. Stornoway – I Saw You Blink, 27. Aldous Harding – The Barrel, 28. George Harrison – My Sweet Lord, 29. Nico – These Days, 30. Sharon Van Etten – Seventeen, 31. Johnny Flynn – Brown Trout Blues, 32. Belle & Sebastian – The Boy With the Arab Strap, 33. Beirut – Postcards from Italy, 34. LCD Soundsystem – All My Friends, 35. Father John Misty – Real Love Baby, 36. Iron & Wine – Time After Time, 37. Fleet Foxes – White Winter Hymnal, 38. Fleetwood Mac – Songbird, 39. The Beatles – Julia

The Lockdown Listens: The Pick Me Up Playlist

The Lockdown Listens: The Pick Me Up 

And a glorious throwback Photo Booth laptop photo shoot, because I know how to create that #content!

I know there’s a million and one playlists that have been made to suit each individual’s lockdown experience, so hey- I thought I’d throw my hat in the ring and offer up my own too! A top 73 (ish) songs that will pretty much always pick me up- from quarantine to PMS and everything in-between- it’s almost always a sure bet.

Now, a heads up- it’s not an overly cool or curated playlist. There’s Luis Fonsi, Daddy Yankee and then KT Tunstall. But there’s also Michael Malarkey, We Are Kings and Harry Styles - so I guess it totally depends what your idea of ‘cool’ is, because whatever end of the spectrum it sits on- this has ‘cool’ no matter how you define it (I think? Oh god I’ve said too much and now the pressure is kicking in).

Anyway- I’ve learnt it’s hard to create the perfect pick me up playlist without it veering into very unusual territory- but I think… *think* it’s a start (although we did go from Sia to Landon Austin to David Guetta, so I’m not over-promising here). I’ll be adding to it on the regs because I know I’ve forgotten a heap of great songs- but if you’re perching your head out of the window for some lunch time rays, heading out for an endorphin fuelled jog, or wondering when to get out of bed- I hope this lifts you a little and you enjoy it!

Here’s the big ol’ link to it on Spotify too– I have Just started My playlists I hope your happy to listen!

The Monthly Playlist: October

AHH! It’s the first of November- which means we pretty much just have Bonfire Night left until full festivities can really begin. I’ve felt particularly autumnal this week, and have been blessed with beautiful afternoons with low seasonal sunshine, hot teas on dog walks and steaming mac ‘n’ cheese on cosy dark evenings. So, after a month consisting of weddings, Halloween and (finally) NEW TAME IMPALA- it’s safe to say October’s playlist is a bit of a mix. I’ve developed a bit of a repetitive Elton John habit, but there’s also some autumnal goodness from Dusty, The Beatles and The Doors (as well as my dads favourite Dylan track/poem too).

Fortunately though, this *was* put together before the MCR news, otherwise I can’t promise it wouldn’t have just been the tinkling of Black Parade keys and very little else. Of course I do still have my Halloween playlist here too– in case you’re still prolonging the spooks for just a little longer…

P.S Although it’s been a while since I’ve done a whole playlist post, my iTunes and playlists always keep on going in the interim, and are organised even when I’m not! So if you do want to stay up to date with my playlists in case a month is missed here (I’m pretty sure there’s one for absolutely everything), you can do so by heading here too

1. Elton John – Honky Cat
2. Perfume Genius – Slip Away
3. Tame Impala – Borderline
4. David Bowie – Golden Years
5. Tennis – I Miss That Feeling
6. Pavement – Stereo
7. Don McLean – American Pie
8. Bob Dylan – Last Thoughts On Woody Guthrie
9. The Doors – Light my Fire
10. DMA’s – Believe
11. Elton John – The Bitch Is Back
12. Dusty Springfield – Spooky
13. The Walters – I Love You So
14. The Beatles – Golden Slumbers/Carry That Weight
15. The Regrettes – California Friends

The Monthly Playlist: April

It’s here! It’s here! April’s playlist is a bit of a big one, because in short- I forgot to start one for May and just kept going (when you got a good thing going and all). After getting carried away after a pizza and impromptu disco dance in Home-slice (where you’ll see that the playlist got populated with many a golden oldie), I then went on to get down with tHe KiDz and discovered Billie Eilish about thirty years after everyone else, but my GOD isn’t Bad Guy a tune! As I described it at the weekend, ‘a bit pumpy, but pretty good nonetheless!’ I’ve also played Quincy Jones until I drove Joe mad, rediscovered a very very old love in Jay Jay Pistolet (or Justin from The Vaccines to you and I) as well as some old school dreaminess from The Strokes and new Tame Impala too. Anyway- it’s a real melting pot of everything I like, and hopefully it can accompany a few sunny commutes during this short week (especially Carmensita)! HAPPY FOUR DAY WEEK UK PEOPLE!

P.S I’m hoping to start sharing some of my archived playlists for different ~moods~ and ~vibes~ so let me know if you’d like to do that too!

1. Quincy Jones – Ai No Corrida

2. Billie Eilish – my boy

3. Gus Dapperton – Fill Me Up Anthem

4. James Righton – Across The Sea

5. Solange – Beltway

6. David Bowie – Let’s Dance

7. Jay Jay Pistolet – Happy Birthday You

8. The Strokes – Call It Fate, Call It Karma

9. Tame Impala – Patience

10. The Coral – Liezah

11. Hot Chip – Hungry Child

12. Bruce Springsteen – Blinded By The Light

13. The Who – Baba O’Riley

14. Thin Lizzy – The Boys Are Back In Town

15. Billy Joel – Tell Her About It

16. Toto – Hold The Line

17. Devendra Banhart – Carmensita

18. Manfred Mann’s Earth Band – Blinded By The Light

19. Carole King – I Feel The Earth Move

20. The Rolling Stones – Get Off Of My Cloud

21. Lizzo – Juice

22. The Fratellis – Stand Up Tragedy

23. Clean Bandit ft. Marina & Luis Fonsi – Baby

24. Billie Eilish – bad guy

The Monthly Playlist: February

Ah February, the month where I finally got out of any festive song ruts and back into other oldie (but goodie) tunes! Reintroducing my one true love Johnny Flynn (A Larum is one of my favourite albums of all time), as well as old Spector, Metronomy and Friendly Fires- 2009 got a serious look in for this months listens. On top of that I also went to a gig! A GIG- for the first time in ages to see Gus Dapperton, which introduced me to so many of his other bops (for want of a better word) and was definitely one where you leave and subsequently only listen to that artist for the next month afterwards. With new Flozza, old Tina and some classic Darlene on there to fill some suitably toe-tapping gaps, it’s been a month of good listens, enjoy!

1. Florence + The Machine – Moderation

2. Ike & Tina Turner – Nutbush City Limits

3. John Lennon – Beautiful Boy

4. Elton John – Bennie And The Jets

5. Spector – Celestine

6. Metronomy – Radio Ladio

7. Friendly Fires – Love Sick

8. Johnny Flynn – The Box

9. Rex Orange County – New House

10. Gus Dapperton – My Favourite Fish

11. Raffaella Carrà – A Far L’amore Comincia Tu

12. New Order – Age Of Consent

13. Gus Dapperton – Gum, Toe and Sole

14. Darlene Love – (Today I Met) The Boy I’m Gonna Marry

15. Bob Lind – Go Ask Your Man

The Monthly Playlist: January

Since spending the majority of December listening to my annual festive playlist combined with the Bohemian Rhapsody soundtrack and endless Queen (can you blame a girl?) I am finally back with a little January playlist- fused of some of my favourite listens from everything from The Marvellous Mrs Maisel soundtrack, a couple of exceptionally beautiful new tracks from James Blake and Foals (my heart) and a couple of complete classics from Talking Heads and The Kinks. As always, it’s a real mix of everything I’ve been rotating- so although it might not totally ~fLoW~ I can guarantee there’s some real toe tappers in there (yes I am 80 years old) and I hope you enjoy- I can assure you it makes for the perfect cleaning playlist (it is January after all)

1. Talking Heads – Pulled Up
2. The Clash – Spanish Bombs
3. The Kinks – Come Dancing
4. Dave Edmunds – Girls Talk
5. Chumbawamba – Tubthumping (trust me it’ll pick you up if you need it)

6. Mark Ronson & The Business Intl – Bang Bang Bang
7. The Modern Lovers – Pablo Picasso
8. The Coasters – Down In Mexico
9. James Blake – Can’t Believe The Way We Flow
10. Foals – Exits
11. Peggy Lee – Pass Me By

12. Smile – Doing All Right

The Monthly Playlist: November

The last couple of months have completely flown by, and it is only now I have had a moment to sit down and put together some of my favourite listens from November ready to share with you (just in time for Magic Christmas to come on the radio too). With October spent largely on planes, trains and automobiles (and, of course, watching A Star is Born), the playlist is definitely more substantial than November’s (I put it down to still replaying the previous)- but it’s packed full of songs I still haven’t stopped playing from Jessie Ware’s Midnight, a Bitta Blondie and First Aid Kit- after catching them at Brixton last month too (which, as you can imagine, was amazing)- as well as some of my favourite tracks I played in Chicago, from Suf-Jan Stevens and Smith Westerns. On top of that, I thought I had group it with my mini-November playlist- seeing as December is solely reserved for my Christmas playlist (which I’ll pop here)- so I thought I’d wrap it all into one neat parcel, and hope that it tides you over until the New year- happy listening!

November:

1. Big Thief – Shark Smile
2. Jessie Ware – Overtime
3. The Mysterines – Hormone
4. Sufjan Stevens – Chicago
5. Smith Westerns – End Of The Night
6. The Lemon Twigs – Go To School
7. Willy Mason – Oxygen
8. Sufjan Stevens – To Be Alone With You
9. Jessie Ware – Midnight
10. Gala – Freed From Desire
11. Lady Gaga, Bradley Cooper – Shallow
12. Blondie – Maria
13. Talking Heads – This Must Be The Place
14. David Bowie – Up The Hill Backwards
15. David Bowie – Boys Keep Swinging
16. Lykke Li – Hard Rain
17. First Aid Kit – King Of The World
18. America – A Horse With No Name
19. The Zombies – Can’t Nobody Love You
20. The Guess Who – Laughing
21. Bat For Lashes – Prescilla
22. Electric Light Orchestra – Mr. Blue Sky
23. Gus Dapperton- World Class Cinema

Extra 

1. Blur – Parklife

2. Elton John – I Guess That’s Why They Call It The Blues

3. Molly Burch – Wild

4. Christine And The Queens – Nuit 17 à 52

5. Bob Dylan – Stuck Inside of Mobile With The Memphis Blues Again

6. Mark Ronson ft. Miley Cyrus – Nothing Breaks Like A Heart

7. The 1975 – It’s Not Living (If It’s Not With You)

The Monthly Playlist: October

The Monthly Playlist: October

Honestly, when it comes to music content on this blog I feel like I’ve been a little slack of late. Despite the fact that every day I’m scrolling through Itunes , be it on a stuffy 8:25 train to London Victoria or through a speaker whilst doing the washing up- I often forget to properly share it on here because it’s as regular and normal to me as brushing my teeth or putting on the washing load (all glam round here folks)! Anyway! Because I’m a couple of playlists behind, I thought I’d add in some tunes to my October playlist– and have linked my July/August playlist below too for ~further listening~. Let me know if you’d like to see any more music style content on here too- being the founding topic for this blog, it’s something I’m still ridiculously interested in, so if you’re game- count me in too!

October  

1. Gerry & The Pacemakers – I Like It 2. First Aid Kit – Tender Offerings

3. First Aid Kit – Emmylou

4. Molly Burch – To The Boys

5. Laurel – Adored

6. Penny & The Quarters – You & Me

7. Wolf Alice – Beautifully Unconventional

8. Cass McCombs – Brighter!

9. Frankie Cosmos – Leonie

10. Christine and the Queens – Five Dollars

11. The Magic Gang – Oh, Saki

12. Kyle Dion – Baby Esther

13. Paul McCartney – Tiny Bubble

14. Sharon Van Etten – One Day

15. Fickle Friends – Swim

16. Billy Joel – It’s Still Rock and Roll to Me

October Bonuses 

1. Bruce Springsteen – Thunder Road

2. Queen – Somebody To Love

3. Bruce Springsteen – Hungry Heart

4. Smino – Netflix & Dusse

5. Lykke Li – U Got It Bad

6. White Lies – Take It Out On Me

7. White Lies – Unfinished Business

8. Mystery Jets – Flash A Hungry Smile

9. Jack Penate – Torn On The Platform

10. Crystal Fighters – Plage

11. SG Lewis, AlunaGeorge – Hurting

12. The 1975 – TOOTIMETOOTIMETOOTIME

13. Leon Bridges – Beyond

14. Jungle – Heavy, California

15. Miles Kane – Cry On My Guitar

16. Blood Orange – Charcoal Baby

17. Jack Penate – Tonight’s Today

18. The Aces – Last One

19. Slade – Cum On Feel The Noize

20. The Dø – Despair, Hangover & Ecstasy

21. The Pipettes – Pull Shapes