July’s Boat Floaters selection – a 34-song beach buffet, sliced and diced for Meet Bernard’s beautiful people to gorge on – playfully splashes around in the shallows before diving into the deeper holiday vibes.
This 155-minute playlist, which you can listen to here, begins with one of my all-time summer faves: Canadian diva Patsy Gallant’s 1978 magical stomper, It’ll All Come Around. It’s a tune that oozes confident guidance from a cougar. If you close your eyes, you might imagine Patsy offering slightly slurred words of winky, woozy wisdom at a shack, as empty glasses, where piña coladas once lived, line the bar and the sun eases into the sea. Stunning.
Next up is Melbourne-percussion maestro Liam de Bruin’s Friday Evening, released in March, which is a more sober affair. I love the way this one builds, though, moving through the gears with claps and a funky, fast baseline.
Then comes a twist on a tune everyone will know: Gypsy Woman. Animanz and Junaita Euka capture the essence of the original, and bring it up to date masterfully. There are a few more ace covers, including Soul Supreme’s down-tempo version of Troupeau Bleu’s Huit Octobre 1971, which MF Doom fans will salute.
And there’s also High Pulp’s take on Brazilian legend Arthur Verocai’s Presente Grego – if you like this one, check out his eponymous album from 1972, which remains firmly in my top 10 list. With the sun shining, I had to select a few more tunes from Brazil. Me Libertei and Encontro No Bar are exotic, hard to pin down, and effortlessly cool, like the guy doing keepy-ups without looking at the ball and conversing with a bevvy of beauties.
We’ve some serious head-nodding tracks, with former stablemates from superb Peckham label Rhythm Section International, Chaos In The CBD following Duke Hugh. And I adore Tina B’s Jazzy Sensation. The distinctive voice of Dwight Trible also features, on Astral Love. “Let’s all fly away, and sail away together,” goes the refrain. Let’s indeed.
Hope you enjoy this month’s selection, and make the most of your July, wherever (in South East London) you find yourselves.
If you enjoy this unmixed selection I would urge you to seek out my Boat Floaters Mixcloud profile, where there are both upbeat (“downstream”) and more chilled (“upstream”) mixes.
Thanks for your support. Yours in music,
Ollie (Boat Floaters)