July Playlist: Sing My Song to Me

I've spent a lot of July looking backwards, musically speaking, and that's reflected in my playlist for this month. Only three of the ten songs below were released in 2015; the others all come from bygone years, whether it's 2014 (Living Solar Panels) or 1967 (Jackie).

So I invite you to twist your neck around, gaze into the past, and enjoy the songs that I've been stuffing into my ears this month...

1. Ist Das So? - Wir Sind Helden

(from Die Reklamation)
Guten Tag is the Wir Sind Helden song that I blogged about earlier this month, but this fast 'n' furious opening track may be even better.

2. Take Me Somewhere Nice - Mogwai

(from Rock Action)
A standout track from my fifth favourite Mogwai studio album. Vicky tells me that it was once used in an episode of Sex and the City.

3. Random Name Generator - Wilco
(from Star Wars)

Star Wars is so much better than a free giveaway has any right to be, and Random Name Generator is one of several gleefully rawked-up highlights.

4. Colours - Hot Chip
(from The Warning)

I'm off to the Green Man next month, and Hot Chip are one of the headline acts. This combination of facts prompted me to rediscover 2006's The Warning in anticipation of the festival, and I must say, it's a better album than I remember it being. This beautiful little number is my personal favourite.

5. Criss Cross - Shy Child
(from Liquid Love)

Another danceable album that I unearthed this month? Liquid Love by Shy Child. This track is its sprawling centrepiece, and Criss Cross is home to an insistent, pounding beat and one of my favourite false endings of all time.

6. Jackie - Scott Walker
(from No Regrets: The Best of Scott Walker & The Walker Brothers 1965-1976)

I've gained a new appreciation for The Walker Brothers in the last couple of weeks - tracks like Love Her, Make it Easy on Yourself, and We're All Alone have been doing roaring trade in my headphones of late - but Scott's earliest solo work still pips those collaborative efforts for me. If, for whatever reason, I ever find myself galloping into battle on horseback, I want this dramatic (yet sweetly nostalgic) number to be my charging music.

7. English Rose - Reichenbach Falls
(from The Traitor Shore)

The Traitor Shore - Reichenbach Falls album #2 - will be out in September, and it's a thing of beauty, let me tell you. More about that in due course, but in the meantime, enjoy this, The Traitor Shore's lovely lead single.

8. Return to Me - Sparklehorse
(from Dreamt for Light Years in the Belly of a Mountain)

Weather-wise, it's been a pretty autumnal summer so far, so no wonder I've been forgoing the usual summer bangers in favour of digging out music like this. I can't wait for actual autumn to arrive, especially if we're getting its weather anyway.

9. Living Solar Panels - Emperor Yes
(from An Island Called Earth)

An Island Called Earth was yet ANOTHER album that came out of my vault this month. Read a thing I wrote about it here.

10. Silk - Wolf Alice
(from My Love is Cool)
My Love is Cool was one of my favourite albums of the first half of 2015, and this too-short gem feels like the perfect ending to my July playlist.

Want more? My June playlist is here.