by Ed Biggs
Wow. July went past really quickly, didn’t it?
Perhaps it’s been because of news and culture in general seeming to move very, very fast post-Brexit, or maybe it’s been our schedule of two major festivals in the space of three weeks, but there’s barely been time to take stock of July.
Having survived the endless mud of Glastonbury, The Student Playlist was rewarded with a weekend of uninterrupted glorious weather at Latitude Festival this month. The Maccabees got their big chance and duly delivered; The National and New Order were as dependably brilliant as ever; Grimes, Soulwax and Christine & The Queens provided the highlights of the weekend.
But in among the general chaos of there’s also been plenty of great news regarding upcoming albums and returning artists.
Jamie T released a new song, ‘Tinfoil Boy’, suggesting that he’s not lost the keys to the studio like he seemed to between 2009 and 2014 and won’t waste any time giving us a new album. French dance act Justice, on the other hand, have returned after a significant five year absence with ‘Safe And Sound’ from a prospective third album later this year. Australian indie-dance revivalists Jagwar Ma also returned this month with a new track, ‘O B 1’, from their upcoming second LP.
Most excitingly of all, however, is the news of another Pixies record. 2014’s Indie Cindy was a serious disappointment, but technically it was a series of three EPs later released as a 12-track album. Head Carrier, out on September 30th, is an actual album in its own right, and they trailed it with ‘Um Chagga Lagga’, a song that sounds rather more full-blooded and Pixies-esque than what they came up with three years ago. Let’s hope it’s a good one.
Whether you liked it or not, one track has completely dominated pop culture discussion in July – Kanye West’s ‘Famous’, whose recent infamous video re-triggered debates about misogyny and, in particular, the lyric about Taylor Swift. She said she never approved the words; Kim said she did; and the whole distasteful feud has run on and on. Regardless of where you stand on all of this, ‘Famous’ is, musically speaking, still one of the highlights from an intriguing album, just as it was back in February.
Wild Beasts made their return to the live arena at the Brudenell Social Club in Leeds, while their imminent fifth album Boy King continued to yield more excellent teasers in the shape of ‘Big Cat’ and ‘Celestial Creatures’ – the latter of which is included in our list, which you can listen to by clicking here or scrolling below!
Happy listening!
Tags: Ed Biggs, July 2016, playlist
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