This month’s soundtrack is pretty damn great, thanks in no small part to guest music contributor Summer Olsson’s influence. Click any of the song names highlighted in red to listen on Spotify, too!

Summer’s pick: The Boy and Sister Alma- Brightly  This Montana duo makes music that sounds simultaneously retro and futuristic. It’s like an 80s movie about the future. It’s dreamy and feels perfect for gliding along the highway, looking out a rainy car window:

 

Mike’s pick: James Blake- Retrograde  Creepy, soulful, and more than a little “off”. The synth just destroys me, and there isn’t a speaker invented that can reach as loud as I need to listen to this song:

 

Summer’s pick: Τα Τρωκτικά- Η Παναγία των Αρουραίων   For those who can’t read Greek—which I can’t—this band is called Ta Troktika, or Rodents, and the song is Notre Rats (As far as Google Translate is concerned). At first it’s just weird and then it gets under your skin. The video is a good antidote to seasonal affective disorder, and I actually do like this track:

 

 

Mike’s pick: Marina And The Diamonds- Primadonna   It was last Summer’s anthem, but now this earworm has popped back up on my playlist. Here in the PNW, you can either take Vitamin D to get over the seasonal blues, or listen to this song:

 

 

Summer’s pick: Molly Drake- Happiness   A newly rereleased album of songs by Nick Drake’s mom? We should all know about this! It gives poignant insight into the late singer-songwriter’s style and is a good album in its own right. Lovely and haunting: perfect for fall. Not an antidote to seasonal affective disorder. At all:

 

 

Mike’s pick: Logan Lynn- We Can’t Stop   My buddy Logan has done it again: made a familiar pop anthem look itself in the mirror and shy away, disturbed at what it saw. The arrangement is sparse and perfect, the vocals plaintive:

 

 

Summer’s pick: Child Actor- Ordinary World   Did you think I forgot to include a Duran Duran cover? Well, I didn’t. Here it is, in updated synth glory, with chick vocals. This track, and the other three on the Promise EP, makes me happy like a twelve-year-old:

 

 

Mike’s pick: Benjamin Francis Leftwich- Pictures   “If you find your faith in your parents’ god/ Don’t be so quick to point out the flaws in it/ You’ve been around and you’ve seen the way that things work/ But you need a compass to get around your house”:

 

Summer’s pick: Icona Pop- Girlfriend   Oh, so catchy. The “nah nah nah” refrain is reminiscent of schoolyard chants, and the time when you and your friends were inseparable and unstoppable. Get through the gloomy fall by train hopping with your bestie. Or, you know, driving around in a convertible, singing at the top of your lungs:

 

 

Mike’s pick: Yeasayer- Longevity   Full of piss and vinegar. Keyboards with an attitude:

If you dig these, check out the soundtracks for February, April, May, and August. Follow me (Michael James Schneider) on Spotify…all of the songs on the previous soundtracks are now on the BLCKSMTH playlist!