Sunday Music: New Playlist For June 2020

A new mix to close out June 2020. This is a little mellower than some of the last few (find more here), and it has less purely new stuff than normal. Still, it’s an early summer vibe. The world is a mess. It’s hot out. Might as well put the windows down and sing along to something. Listen on iTunes or Spotify.

“Don’t be Cruel” by Billy Swan. Ok, everything about this cover works. And as previously discussed, the drum break in the middle is magic.

“Drip Drop” by Dion. The drums, handclaps and general swagger of this song for its kind of hokey lyrics make it a classic.

“Black Lung” by Steve Earle. Speaking of swagger, only Steve Earle can romanticize black lung like this.

“Let Me Go” by Sault. Dance music is alive and well. This group is a new discovery for me, they have a wide range of pop oriented grooves. Definitely worth digging deeper.

“Domino” by Nicole Atkins. Another vibe-driven groove. Still has its foot firmly planted in the blues too (yes, that’s a theme so far of these songs).

“I Remember” by Deante Hitchcock. He remembers everything. Rags to riches rap songs will never get old. This one got stuck in my head after one listen.

“Jailbreak the Tesla (feat. Amine)” by Injury Reserve. A little age gap for me on this one, but I remember when the iPod touches were out and how people were jailbreaking them. It only makes sense that the generation of kids who grew up doing that would also want to jailbreak a Tesla. Great unorthodox beat too.

“JU$T (feat. Pharrell Williams and Zack de la Rocha)” by Run The Jewels. How is this song not the single? Provocative. Thoughtful. Aggressive. And with features from Pharrell and Zack. “Look at all these slave masters posing on your dollar.”

“April 29, 1992 (Miami)” by Sublime. It was about Rodney King, for the record, but like all things in history, there was a lot else going on too. Classic Sublime. Also discuss here.

“Lcr” by Melkbelly. File under “songs that make you want to play drums.”

“Promises” by Beach Bunny. This girl writes killer pop songs. I’m thoroughly impressed with her. More on the album this is from here.

“Words I Might Have Ate” by Greenday. They wrote killer pop songs too. I also frequently find myself needing to ask, “please tell me the words I might have ate.” Maybe that’s part of why I never forget about this song. Behold, the journey to self-awareness, “but there’s nothing I can do but take the pain.”

“Something I’ll Have to Remember” by 2nd Grade. Millennial Big Star? What do you think? I hear it.

“A Beast” by MAITA. This one kept growing on me. Great chorus, great lyrics. She works a whole story and range of emotions through this one. Definitely an artist to watch.

“Goddamn Lonely Love” by Drive-By Truckers. Still one of my favorite Jason Isbell songs. It kicks my ass, there’s just so much heartache and struggle in this song. There’s a million quotable lines too. I’m not even going to try to pick one.

“Angel” by Rod Stewart. Ending like we started, with a reimagined cover. Rod brings a different type of soul to this otherwise extremely Hendrix-y song and makes it his own. I always loved the simplified-but-original guitar take here too (because you don’t cover Hendrix straight, you will never be better). Less psychedelic, more pub sing-a-long.