If we still lived in the age of the cassette I’d lovingly put this together for you on a TDK and pop it through your letter box (if, that is, letter boxes are still a thing). Anyway, instead, mixtapes from my ears to yours are available on mixcloud, where there is no need to craft hand-written labels that demonstrate my love and affection. Mostly, these mixtapes are what I’ve been listening to during the week; new releases, tunes I’ve encountered for the first time, old favourites and stuff I’ve dredged up – you know the score, you’ve got your own music collection. Hope you enjoy. x
A mixed bag of tunes that have entered my ears recently, including St. Vincent, BMX Bandits, A Certain Ratio, Tara Jane O’Neil, Owen, Hovvdy, The High Llamas, Fontaines D.C. and Overmono’s remix of the Streets’ Turn the Page.
A load of musicians and artists doing their thing under the April skies, including Four Tet, Bicep, DJ Tennis, Sorcha Richardson, Kim Gordon, Patti Smith, Nick Mulvey, Adrianne Lenker, the 8-Bit Misfits tackling Prince, Cymande, Jlin and more.
According to the grinning Cheshire Cat in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, “we’re all mad here. I’m mad. You’re mad.” “How do you know I’m mad?” said Alice. “You must be or you wouldn’t have come here.” Male hares go particularly loopy at this time of year, boxing their male counterparts. Here’s a selection of tunes to see the madness in. I also got to play around with Jacob Collier’s Audience Choir Kontakt 7 instrument, which Native Instruments are giving away free, on the RIshi Sunak-packed intro. With tracks by Yard Act, Idles, Faye Webster, Audiobooks, Crass, Nils Frahm, Mannequin Pussy, Ken Aoki and more.
An assorted sack of tracks for February, including Martin HERRS, Paranoid London, Justice, Post Industrial Boys, The Smile, Nightbus, Chloe Slater, Cymande, Weber & Weber, Brittany Howard, Nick Andre and more.
A mixed bag of tunes for November, including FIZZ, Blockhead, Danny Brown, Knopp, Pink Pantheress, LOL Kitten, The Salsoul Orchestra, Olivia Dean, Mike Square and more.
“…one of those last wonderful days in October, when the air is balmy and the faded sun tries to pretend it’s spring.” – Jacqueline Susann, Valley of the Dolls.
A mixed bag of tunes including Loraine James, Doja Cat, Animal Collective, Ty Segall, Jorja Smith, Addison Grace, Mykki Blanco and more.
A couple of runners told me they listen to these mixes as they pound the streets but their pace is sometimes thrown by me lobbing in some downtempo business. So, mindful of that, here’s a batch of tunes to accompany your run around the block. Hopefully the pace ain’t too much. Featuring tracks by Romy, James Blake, Jalen Ngonda, Sparklehorse, Yussef Dayes, The Chemical Brothers, The Pharcyde, Deep Zone and more.
Some tracks that have been in my ears over the last couple of days, including myst milano., Dave, LIVINGROOMHIFI, Barker, Hannah Georgas, Betty Davis, Tuung, Public Service Broadcasting and more.
August? “The odd uneven time,” according to Sylvia Plath. Here’s an odd, uneven selection of tunes, including Lettuce, John Batiste, James Bright, The Giannacci Factory, The Lennings, Berend Intelmann, Genesis Owusu, clear eyes, Tensnake, Shamir, Pozi and more.
A rag bag of electronica, hip-hop, guitars and whiny mofos. Includes J Dilla, Positive K, Girl Ray, The La’s, Aphex Twin, De-Tu, Blur, Art School Girlfriend, Bush Tetras and more.