Saturday 30 April 2016

LISTEN: April 2016 playlist

April has been a super busy month for me musically with 12 gigs (and the first of those wasn't until the 9th), some great EP/album releases and announcements, and meeting a bunch of great artists/music fans. I've just created the third of my monthly playlists, which, in keeping with the personal nature of the blog, is a collection of eighteen of the artists I've been enjoying listening to this month. Take a listen on Spotify below...


A little explanation as to why I've chosen each artist/track: 
  1. Water Pageant Overlaps - it only seems right to open the playlist with the last band I saw this month, at their hometown album launch last night. I had a great time running the door/selling CDs for them at the beautiful Art Jericho in Oxford (cue terrible photo.)
  2. Matt Woods Impression - Matt played at the Communion New Faces tour, and was my highlight of the night for sure. A beautiful and heartfelt set, and this track was a highlight for me!
  3. neverlnd We Don't Talk Like We Used To - I saw these guys play twice this month, first at a pretty busy Truck Store, and then at their headline relaunch gig. This is the second of their monthly free tracks (and you can download it here.)
  4. The Vaccines Minimal Affection - a musical highlight of the month, I got to see these guys play at the Royal Albert Hall (my first visit to the venue!) as a friend won tickets. It was superb to finally see them live, playing tracks from all three records.
  5. Bear's Den Magdalene - one of artists on the playlist I haven't seen live this month (but I did spot one of the guys on the underground last week..). They announced this month that their new album Red Earth & Pouring Rain is set to be released on July 22nd. This track is one of my favourites off of the first record!
  6. Lewis & Leigh Devil's in the Detail - this duo supported Neverlnd at their launch show, and I saw them back in January too. I've been really impressed both times and (possibly because it has the same name as a track by one of my favourite bands) this track has stuck with me.
  7. Rukhsana Merrise Money - Rukhsana was another of the artists on the Communion tour, this is her latest single, and there's a great Mahogany session of the track here that just got released.
  8. Jack Garratt Surprise Yourself - over this last year at university I seem to have won a lot of things and the latest was tickets to see Jack playing up the road at the O2 in Oxford. After seeing him support Mumford & Sons last year it was great to see him play a sold out solo show. He's recently released a fantastic video for this track, with members of the public facing their fears, which you can watch here
  9. Adam French More To Life - a catchy track from Adam, another of the four acts on the Communion New Faces tour.
  10. James Walker Right Person, Wrong Time - I've seen James playing keys and singing backing vocals for Adam Barnes a few times, and he's decided to release some solo music, setting out on a solo tour a week ago. This track is from his new Modern Medicine EP. 
  11. Jonny Payne Toronto - after running the door for his Oxford headline gig in Feb, I was glad to catch Jonny again this month, this time playing solo at the RSD celebrations at Truck Store. A great set (featuring this track) and he's also a really lovely dude too!
  12. The Beach Thieves - the final act on the Communion tour, and while it wasn't very busy, everyone seemed to be pretty besotted... 
  13. Tom Odell Wrong Crowd - the title track to the follow up to Tom's 2013 record Long Way Down, which is set to be released on June 10th.
  14. Joseph & Maia I Know - I saw this New Zealand duo supporting Adam Barnes in London, and loved their story of escaping a record deal, quitting their jobs and essentially travelling from city to city playing shows every night for around a year, wherever they get the chance. Loving this track which is on their recently released album Sorrento.
  15. Dizraeli It Won't Be Long - one of my favourite gigs of the month, it was great to run the door for Dizraeli and Jakaboski. I saw Dizraeli play a Sofar just over a year ago and loved this track at both shows! Would've included a track from his new EP but it isn't up on Spotify yet... but there's some cracking live sessions of some of the tracks from it on his Youtube here.
  16. Mumford & Sons ft Baaba Maal There Will Be Time - following a number one in South Africa, Mumford released this collaboration on vinyl for RSD, and have just announced it'll be released as part of an EP entitled Johannesburg, out in June.
  17. Everything Everything No Reptiles - having seen these guys live three times last year, I was just as excited to see them again supporting The Vaccines, and they played a superb set.
  18. Adam Barnes Tennyson - Adam played a beautiful sold out show at Bethnal Green's Gallery Cafe a week ago, I love this track which closes his One Day We'll Be Fine EP and seems like a lovely way to finish off the playlist!
If you like what you hear... share the post/playlist!

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