MARQelectronica is an artist who has recently announced the release of one of his most notable and distinctive records to date: "Savage Times".

Ahead of me leaving my beloved laptop behind at home for an entire week, I thought I’d squeeze in another 9 track playlist before I go galavanting around Europe traversing cities and countries via the rail network which I am led to believe is 10 times more efficient, cleaner and cheaper than what we have to endure here in the UK.

I am secretly hoping that the food on offer will at least be on par with that of Great Western Railway, I fondly look back to my childhood when I tucked into a sausage roll via the buffet car after a football game in Wembley (under 18’s final - 1982) and as the journey progressed, I slowly lost my voice….so whatever was in the sausage roll did a great job of rendering me quite literally speechless for the next 48 hours, thanks British Rail, you da best!

Anyway, I am taking away the spotlight from the 9 killer tracks that make up the new playlist, there are two featured acts this time, if you get chance, scroll down and have a read, if you like what you see (and hear), hit them up on the socials, spread some love, give them a like or a share if you fancy, they’ll thank you for it.

Well folks, with Glasto 22’ wrapped up and soon to be a distant memory, what were your highlights over the weekend? I think mine included the sets by IDLES, SQUID (always amazing) and Fontaines DC and despite some of her vocals being a little off key, I thought Diana Ross did a sterling job of keeping the Sunday afternoon crowds entertained with a run through of her career highlights. Looking at the aerial shots whilst she was performing, I would say that she possibly pulled in the largest audience over the entire weekend though that’s slightly unfair as you couldn’t see how many people rocked up to see the evening headliners as it was dark!

For this playlist, I have dug deep and searched all over the world to bring you a montage of the finest bands and acts on offer, I hope that there’ll be something for you whatever your tastes, if not, I’ll try harder next time to keep you happy.

The apparent separation between Algerian roots, American modernism and French chanson finds a common ground in Ourida’s avant-garde songwriting – urban songs mixing folk rock, art pop melodies, world beat and jazz groove.

Ourida is a French-Algerian songwriter, singer, pianist, ukulele player, and a Brooklyn resident with multiple uprootings and a unique sound, presence and sultry voice.

On June 24th, she released her new album ‘Wings’, we wanted to find out more about what went into the making of the record and more about this fine musician who deserves to be heard by all…..

Geez Louise are a Nashville based indie quartet made up of Sierra Torres on lead vocals, Nick Jude on lead guitar, Tyelen Gibbs on drums and Eli Slaughter on bass.

They draw influence from the likes of DIIV, Alvvays, Lucy Dacus, Claud, Momma, Slow Pulp, Wilco and Stella Donnelly but in my eyes (and ears) they carry their own unique style that nods gently to the aforementioned acts.

Within their debut EP ‘Candy Bruise’ (out 1st July 2022), you will hear a common theme of cheery or upbeat sounds intertwining with angry and/or sad messages. Life is full of mixed emotions, and this group aims to remind you that few things are as black and white as we may expect.

We caught up with lead vocalist Sierra Torres to chat about the recording process, studio time, places to go (and avoid) in Nashville and drinks containing a healthy amount of rum, read on for all of this and more!

PET NEEDS RAISE THEIR GAME WITH BRAND NEW SINGLE: “GET ON THE ROOF”
LISTEN HERE || WATCH THE VIDEO HERE OUT NOW

+ ANNOUNCE NEW ALBUM: ‘PRIMETIME ENTERTAINMENT’
OUT 9 SEPTEMBER 2022, VIA XTRA MILE RECORDINGS

Following up on the release of his acclaimed debut single ‘Borderline’, comes ‘King Godzilla’, the latest single from songwriter Jamie Beale, set for release on July 29th.

It was a warm and muggy evening in the heart of Exeter, there weren’t many people about but as I neared The Phoenix, I was met by an excited huddle of people hading in, it appeared I was following them as I too was off to see the mighty Courtney Marie Andrews on her UK tour and tonight, she was playing an intimate show to a couple of hundred people in the heart of the city. A good friend had seen her the weekend before at the Black Deer Festival and told me how good she and her band were so I was really looking forward to the show.

SO, onto this playlist, who is on it and what can you expect? well, it’s embedded below, simply hit the play button and check out some amazingly talented acts that deserve 30 minutes of your time. If you have time, please scroll further and learn a little more about our featured acts and who knows, one day, they too might be gracing the Pyramid stage at Glasto!

Tottenham-based musician, common goldfish, has dropped his sophomore single with Shout Louder. Goodness gracious, it’s a bit bloody good. It offers a similar vibe as his first single Feel The Fuzz, with its funky riffs and soft vocals flowing through the track, but goes even further and gives us even more layers to get lost in.

The Horn is a new indie outfit set up by Nick True, former bassist in 80s rock band Friends of Gavin, who toured with REM back in the day. He recently decided to start a fresh project and recruited a new roster of musicians to play with. Vocalist and guitarist Jonny Taylor has joined the veteran bassist, along with Ed Cox on keyboards, Alex Moorse on drums, and the multi-instrumentalist Danny Monk. It’s safe to say that this is a strong lineup of talented musicians who all know exactly what they’re doing.

With Glastonbury 2022 kicking off today, I thought I’d play you some tracks by acts that may not be performing on the stages this weekend but who knows, in a couple of years time, they might be up there with the other big hitters doing what they do!

Read on to see what they said when asked about songwriting, recording studios, what was left on the cutting room floor after they selected their band name, dream festival lineups, dinner menus, why the album is titled ‘Pilot’, drinks orders at the local dive bar, musical influences, favourite candy bars, festival survival tips and pretty much anything else that was worth talking about (grab a drink, it’s a great read!)

I was invited along to taste the delicacies that the BLACK DEER FESTIVAL had in store for us over the weekend. With over 100 acts performing across 7 stages, we really were spoilt for choice and being a one man band, I could only be in one place at one time so despite agreeing a list of acts that I would shoot over the weekend, I will admit now that I didn’t get to do all of them. I think people forget that at festivals, you rarely consider the time taken to move between stages and lugging a large camera bag with you whilst traversing hilly landscapes doesn’t bode well for anyone, still, I did my best! Read on to see how the weekend panned out for me…

Asked about the new release, Grace said, “The track is a cry of support for anyone stuck in a relationship with someone who tries to drag them down; and an anthem of freedom for anyone who’s broken out of that. We want listeners to feel empowered and deserving when they hear this feisty punk banger”.

International Busking Day is returning this year on Saturday, 16 July, at Wembley Park, London. International Busking Day is a great opportunity to support some of the hottest musical talent from the UK and further afield. There are going to be over 120 performers in total performing across 10 outdoor stages. Performances are located in close proximity to Wembley Stadium and the OVO Arena Wembley. If you haven't yet discovered this part of London, now is the time!

After recently celebrating his 62nd birthday while on this tour, the long hair is gone, as are the wild outfits, this show focused purely on the music. With a band assembled from top class muscians, this four piece trotted through tracks from over 30 years of Steve Vai’s career.

Another day, another dollar…..or should that be another day, another playlist? They really are like buses at the moment, I go for a couple of weeks without much new content and then…..BOOM! along come 9 tracks that are too good not to showcase!

It’s been a while since I put out the last playlist, this was not due to lack of quality content, more so me taking a well earned break from the keyboard for up to 3 hours every night, listening, curating and writing about some of the acts that were kind enough to submit their music to a tremendous platform called musosoup which equate to around 75% of the music that I consume these days!

Having been living under a rock for the last 10 years, I wasn’t really down with Beardyman’s work, but was asked to go along to Exeter Phoenix to check him out and since I’m local to the venue, I figured why not. I had admittedly heard of his beatboxing endeavours, which saw him win the UK Beatbox Championships twice in a row back in 2006-2007. Since then, Beardyman has released a number of singles and two albums, whilst simultaneously carving out a niche for himself on the live circuit with his genre-defying performances. Beardyman is listed on his Wikipedia page as a beatboxer, musician and comedian which goes some way to explaining what you can come to expect from one of his shows.