Gird your loins! For the month’s punk-disco, jazz flutes and soul.
1 JOAN SHELLEY THE SPUR
Strong Richard & Linda Thompson vibes permeate this, the title track from Shelley’s eighth – and possibly best – solo LP. “Come on, ride faster now/’Til the old world’s a blur…” Find it: streaming services
2 THE CLASH AND RANKING ROGER ROCK THE CASBAH
The Beat’s MC toasts with élan over The Clash’s raga-dropper, in pristine audio. From a 40th-birthday expansion of Combat Rock.
Find it: streaming services
3 ANGEL OLSEN ALL THE GOOD TIMES
Giving it the full Patsy Cline, Ms O bids so long, farewell to the good times, her tremulous country-soul voice dripping with sad brass. Find it: streaming services
4 HOT CHIP DOWN
Vintage soul loop gives way to punky disco grooving with the observation: “all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.” From August’s LP Freakout/Release.
Find it: streaming services
5 CHARLES STEPNEY STEP ON STEP
The orchestrator of myriad soul fantasia (Rotary Connection, EW&F et al) caught alone in his basement, late-’60s, multi-tracking piano, vibes and drumbox. Gorgeous!
Find it: Bandcamp
6 MYKKI BLANCO FT. MICHAEL STIPE FAMILY TIES
Punk-rapper brings pained song of empathy with the former R.E.M. eminence. Check the video filmed outside a kipper-smoking establishment in Craster, Northumberland.
Find it: YouTube
7 XPROPAGANDA BEAUTY IS TRUTH
The voices of pop diabolists Propaganda return to their ’80s electro-expressionist sound on new album The Heart Is Strange. Find it: Streaming services
8 THE WAVE PICTURES BLINK THE SUN
With hints of Felt and Subway Sect, romantic indie pop about being in love on holiday. From new LP When The Purple Emperor Spreads His Wings. Find it: Streaming services
9 JIMI TENOR BABY FREE SPIRIT
With primordial Roland beats, and jazz flute, the Finnish auteur envisages total liberation of the mind. From new LP Multiversum.
Find it: streaming services
10 THE LINDA LINDAS FINE
Angular, Sleater-Kinneyish guitars fuel the viral-hit teens’ punk ire (“It’s. Not. Fine.”) Ignore them at your peril, patriarchy. Find it: streaming services