The August installment of Beatique is now live on Mixcloud. You can also listen to it via the embed below. With the sad news last week that both Glen Hansard and Kavinsky died, this month’s set begins with The Swell Season and ends with Kavinsky. In between is some rock, some rave, and lots in between. Some of the artists included in this months mix are Arctic Monkeys, The Divine Comedy, Boys Noize, I-F, horsegiirL, The Strokes, Caifanes and Turnstile. Full tracklist with notes and links is below. Thanks for listening!
The Swell Season “Falling Slowly”
The Swell Season was the duo of Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová, who also starred in the 2007 film Once, and the song appeared on both their debut album and in the movie. It actually won an Oscar for Hansard and Irglová. Hansard died in a motorcycle accident in Dublin on July 29.
Fontaines D.C. “Starburster/In Heaven (The Lady in the Radiator Song)”
Keeping the Ireland and film themes going is Fontaines D.C. with a mashup of their song “Starburster” with “In Heaven (The Lady in the Radiator Song),” from the David Lynch film Eraserhead. It’s on the deluxe edition of Romance, which was my favorite album of 2024.
Arctic Monkeys “Opening Night”
This is a song that gets stuck in my head often. You can find “Opening Night” on the War Child compilation Help (2), which came out earlier this year and also includes songs from Fontaines D.C., Depeche Mode, Pulp, Olivia Rodrigo, Cameron Winter and lots more. I’ve played other songs from the comp on the April and May mixes.
The Divine Comedy “Achilles”
I love The Divine Comedy and wish there were more people in the U.S. who get what a brilliant songwriter Neil Hannon is. “Achilles” is from Rainy Sunday Afternoon, which was one of my favorite albums from last year.
Read: The Divine Comedy Is Back With Rainy Sunday Afternoon
Taylor Bickett “If Only”
Taylor Bickett had a TikTok hit a few years back with a song called “Quarter Life Crisis” and she released her debut full-length, Nothing I Can’t Undo, in July. You can read my interview with her below and, if you’re in L.A., you can catch her at the Moroccan Lounge in November.
Read: Taylor Bickett: From TikTok Hit to Debut Album
Káryyn “The 6th”
In 2019, I interviewed Káryyn for WePresent right around the release of her debut album, The Quanta Series, so I was really excited to here her latest album, Physics Universal Love Language. It’s fantastic. Please check out the whole album. There’s a lot of good stuff on it and the only reason why I haven’t written about it separately because it was released right around a time when I was stuck on deadlines.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith, Joe Goddard “Neptunes”
“Neptunes” is a super cool collaboration that came out in 2024, but didn’t make its way onto my timeline until this past month. Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith is an L.A.-based artist who works with modular synths. Joe Goddard is an English DJ/producer/musician/member of Hot Chip.
Tomora “I Drink the Light (Jengi Remix)”
In case you didn’t notice, I’m way into Tomora’s album, Come Closer. This remix of “I Drink the Light” from Jengi brings out the rave vibes that subtly hinted at in the album.
Boys Noize, Adame DJ, Thalia Abdon, MC Da França “Baile DF”
Speaking of rave vibes, they’re all over this track from Boys Noize and Brazil’s Adame DJ.
Confidence Man “Young London”
And the vibe goes even harder with Confidence Man.
Dynamik Bass System “Arabian Dreams”
A couple weeks ago, Rekordbox crapped out on me before a gig at Club Underground, so I had five minutes to grab records for a set. Idk what I was thinking, but “Arabian Dreams” was in my bag and it ended up going over really well. The version of I play in vinyl sets is from an International Deejay Gigolo 12” that came out in the late ‘90s. This is a digital release from the late ‘00s, but the two versions are virtually identical.
I-F “Space Invaders are Smoking Grass”
I played “Space Invaders are Smoking Grass” in that all vinyl set too. This song was really influential to what became electroclash in the early 2000s.
Boy Harsher “Jeans”
From the forthcoming album, Get Mean, which you can pre-order now.
horsegiirL “Hands Hands Hands”
I just love Nature Is Healing, the debut album from horsegiirL. It’s all so delightfully weird.
Nacho “Da Da Da”
Bringing us back to that fateful night when Rekordbox crapped out on me, one of the records I grabbed was my copy of Nacho’s cover of “Da Da Da.” It’s something I found at a record fair in a crate full of records from Spain. I liked the cover and figured you can’t go wrong with covers of “Da Da Da.” I only play it at all-vinyl gigs and it does well every time. For the record, I had to rip it from somewhere on the internet to get a digital copy for this mix.
The Strokes “Dine ’n Dash”
To be perfectly honest, I’ve never been a huge fan of The Strokes. I have their music and play it more for the crowds at indie clubs than for myself. But, their performance of “Oblivious” at Coachella– or what I saw of their Coachella set on socials because I stopped going to festivals ages ago- converted me.That was based. So is the new album, Reality Awaits. It’s a dark album. Really fucking dark, as in it opens with an anti-war song, fittingly titled “Psycho Shit.” Not to mention that album’s lead single, “Going Shopping,” is about ignoring the the hideous reality that surrounds us. Musically, I appreciate how The Strokes can manage to fit a song as ‘70s rock as “Going Shopping” on the same album with a post-punk-leaning tune like “Dine ’N Dash.” That’s a pretty IDGAF move, which is also what I appreciate the band now that I didn’t really notice in their music before.
Josh Da Costa “Shireen”
“Shireen” is from Josh Da Costa’s debut solo album, New Wave Graveyard, which came out last month off local label Stones Throw. Da Costa is also playing the label’s 30th anniversary music festival in October.
Miguel Bosé “Horizonte de las Estrellas”
From my favorite Miguel Bosé album, Bandido, which I wrote about here a few years ago.
Read: “Digging for Miguel Bosé”
N8NOFACE, Chico Mann “Everything We Thought We Knew”
Last year, N8NOFACE and Chico Mann collaborated on a fantastic EP, As of Right Now. “Everything We Thought We Knew” is on it. I talked to N8 at the time of the release.
Read: N8NOFACE and Chico Mann Update a Classic Alternative Sound on As of Right Now
Caifanes “Perdi Mi Ojo de Venado”
I had this beat stuck in my head the morning I recorded this, which is the reason why this and the following song round out the mix.
Turnstile “I Care”
This is the one Turnstile song that I really love.
Kavinsky “Nightcall”
Probably the definitive Kavinsky song, “Nightcall” is best known as the song in the opening scene of Drive. It’s also the song that Kavinsky performed at the closing ceremonies for the 2024 Olympics in Paris. Sadly, Kavinsky died in late July, just days before his 51st birthday.
Jamie Lidell, Luke Schneider “New Land”
The background music for the airbreaks in this episode is “New Land” by Jamie Lidell and Luke Schneider from A Companion for the Space Between Dreams.