[The Future] – ‘Old Souls Part VII’ (2019)

¶

¶

¶

Stream the mix while you read; download at the bottom of this post.

¶

‘Old Souls’ Part VI was a deep-dive into the more experimental facets of contemporary hip-hop, electronic music, R&B, avant-pop and unclassifiable modern music.  ‘Old Souls’ Part VII is not exactly its antithesis–experimentation, synthesis, fusion seems somewhat baked into the best music of 2019 of any stripe–the focus here is more on the timeless soulfulness of the music made by today’s young old souls.  While varying broadly in genre (or lack thereof,) this music is rooted in the ambitious, soaring sounds of golden-era soul (a la Labi Siffre, Terry Callier, Nina Simone), psychedelic funk (like early Funkadelic and Curtis Mayfield), and sophisticated singer-songwriter and jazz-indebted pop music (like Nick Drake, Van Morrison, Richie Havens or Serge Gainsbourg).  But little of it could be called “retro” or “revivalist,” as those traditions are reformed here through strongly individual and personal artistic visions, and interpolated into modern sound ideas.  Which is to say, it’s music made as part of living traditions.  All of the music across the ‘Old Souls‘ series appeals to the mind, body and heart–but in this volume perhaps the emphasis is especially on the heart, on the personal experience of love, loss, trust, work, success.  This music spans celebration, lamentation, aspiration, satisfaction: but it’s always warm, enveloping and always stunningly moving.

¶

Download/stream the mix below the tracklist. As with all the volumes in the ‘Old Souls,’ series, this music is made by working artists–all of this music is from 2019, and the decade is ending on an absolute high-note–who all deserve your financial support. So please, please, buy the music and merch, go to shows, and propagate the art to everyone who needs to hear it. I’ve included links to pages where you can buy the music in the tracklist below. Thank you for listening, and please pass it on.

¶

01  [00:00]  Black Pumas – “Oct. 33” (‘Black Pumas’ 2019)
02  [04:45]  Corey King – “3 Years” (‘A Loveless Sunken Sun’ 2019)
03  [08:45]  Sudan Archives – “Confessions” (‘Athena’ 2019)
04  [11:35]  AhMerAhSu – “Space” (‘Incandescent Body’ EP 2019)
05  [15:05]  Pete Sayke + Roy Kinsey – “Look At We” (‘Gold & Rue’ 2019)
06  [18:50]  K.Raydio – “Mediocre” (‘5:55’ EP 2019)
07  [21:30]  Vagabon – “Full Moon In Gemeni” (‘Vagabon’ 2019)
08  [24:15]  Ed Balloon – “M’aider (Mayday)” (‘The Dubs’ 2019)
09  [27:55]  Little Simz – “Flowers” (‘Grey Area’ 2019)
10  [31:40]  Nelson Bandela – “Queen Moor” (‘Fantastic’ EP 2019)
11  [34:25]  Sampa the Great – “Mwana” (‘The Return’ 2019)
12  [38:50]  Michael Sneed – “Lil Nihilist” (‘Days We Lost’ 2019)
13  [41:15]  Quelle Chris – “You, Me & Nobody Else” (‘Guns’ 2019)
14  [45:50]  Tawiah – “How Much Left?” (‘Starts Again’ 2019)
15  [50:15]  Raashan Ahmad – “Breathe” (‘The Sun’ 2019)
16  [53:15]  Michael Kiwanuka – “This Kind of Love” (‘Kiwanuka’ 2019)

[Total Time: 59:25]

¶

Download ‘Old Souls Part VII’ Here (141 MB)

¶

Stream here:

¶

Subscribe to Musicophilia | Follow Musicophilia on Twitter | Stream Musicophilia Mixes on Mixcloud | Join the Musicophiliacs Group on Facebook