August In Song

A music festival, the Fringe, some very long hours of work and some great tunes… all bookended by feeling crap at the beginning and end of the month.

• Can’t Help Falling In Love (Elvis Presley cover) - Lawrence

  It’s testament to a band’s talent that they could put a grainy snippet of a song on Instagram and it would still be one of the best things that I’ve heard this month.

• Whatcha Want (acoustic-ish) - Lawrence

  Wow! The camera work synched with the audio mixing is so good. I’d listen to a whole album of these acoustic-ish one-take performances on repeat.

• Whatcha Want (live) - Lawrence

  Yup - everything they drop is amazing. Compare this first performance with their latest…

• RITUAL (album) - Jon Hopkins

  It’s upsetting that this album has only had a few hundred listens in the first 24 hours - it is a gorgeous soundscape and one of the artist’s best things to yet.

• can u see me in the dark? - Halestorm & I Prevail

  Combining two bands with massive sounds… to make a massive sound!

• WILDFLOWER - Billie Eilish

  The vocal breakdown at the end is sumptuous!

• Sigur Rós: Fljótavík - 12 Ensemble

  I may have shared this before but it’s worthy of a reshare any day of the year - the sound of Sigur Rós is always enhanced by a barrage of strings.

• Rats - Sloan Peterson

  Found this lurking in my Shazam library - murky guitars and a retro vibe.

• Show You Mine - Alana Wilkinson

  So YouTube threw up With A Boob Out but watching through a bunch of the videos they are so nice, so well filmed, the music so sentimental and funny. Show You Mine is a spot on, capture the moment recording. The cover of Rusted Root is the best I’ve heard. And it would have been cool to be in Redwood Forest.

• Nautilus - Anna Meredith

  Tiny Desk is stunning and Nautilus is a work of art.

• Perfume - Zoë Fox and the Rocket Clocks

  What a cool retro space vibe! (And the alien on Flirting With Aliens is a wonderful thing too!)

• Slow Mover - Angie McMahon

  The chord pattern and tone through the chorus are very catchy, and the vocals have a late night feel to them even without watching the video. Just Like North has a similar vibe.

• Cruel Summer (Taylor Swift cover) - G Flip

  Kicking ass on the drums AND the lead vocals!

• Ode To Clio - Man/Woman/Chainsaw

  Not fully understanding the lyrics but really liking the sound.

• The Only One - Ariela Jacobs

  Some more Aussie indie-folk - always a fan of busking videos like this.

• Can’t Stop - The Red Hot Chili Peppers

  Always loving hearing this song, but how LA is this version?!

• Baby’s On The Border - Night Caller

  Love this from local Leithers. Number One Wee Guy has such a retro vibe and Begging for a Heart to Break has a great chorus - every song on this EP is a hit.

• Great Divide - Fanny Lumsden

  Loved this live. Hey Dawn is a brilliant album.

• Out of My Head - First Aid Kit

  The driving beat of this song is so reminiscent of Fleetwood Mac and it’s still great.

• Song & Dance Man - Mickey 9’s

  Spoken word bit near the end is very amusing - I do love a bit of beat poetry.

• So It Is - Rosie H Sullivan

  The cover of Build Me Up Buttercup popped up in a playlist and took me down a path listening to the modern Hebridean sound.

• Hot Knife (Fiona Apple cover) - Mountain Man

  A band defined by their close harmonies. I love Rang Tang Ring Toon a lot too. I’ve sung in choirs and never achieved even 1% of this level of harmony and precision.

• Pett Level - Keston Cobblers Club

  The euphonium! :)

• Unbelievable - Citizen Papes

  Very jolly sound from this artist. What Happens Next? especially.

• Cloud Inversions - Look Mum No Computer

  Genuine mad scientist shit. Sam is a genius.

• Fall At Your Feet (Crowded House cover) - Peking Duk and Julia Stone

  This version is so fresh and yet also so honest to the original - what a wonderful thing.

• The District Sleeps Alone Tonight (Remix) - Postal Service/Sylvan Esso

  Fascinating remix from a band I’d not normally associate with the world of remixing.