I don’t know about you, but I've managed to attend a few live DJ sets now and boy has it been fun – and an education. In the last couple of weeks I’ve been “Soulgliding” on a boat on the Thames, and enjoyed a Sunday afternoon at Dingwalls for the first time in two years. What a legendary event. Both have expanded my musical knowledge and enriched my soul. Ah, music!
This month’s exclusive selection of Boat Floaters for Meet Bernard – which can be listened to right here – offers 145 minutes of goodness as the nights begin to draw in, the clocks spin forward, and the ghosts come out to play.
Talking of ghosts, I had to start off this month’s 34-track playlist with Lee “Scratch” Perry’s Disco Devil. RIP to the unique reggae and dub genius. I saw him a couple of times at Jazz Cafe, and he was something else.
Continuing the Caribbean vibes I totally love Budgie, and Facet Lady is a naughty tune. Melanie Charles’ layered, lyrical, and lush reimagining of Marlena Shaw’s Women of Ghetto also had to feature high up, too.
I’m very excited to hear Saint Etienne’s new work after so long out of the game. Pond House is grower, and quite beautiful. There is plenty of other newness, with Mel G’s excellent stomper, Dawn Is Filled, Sampology’s Running Around, which is concurrently urgent and smooth, and Uffe’s Not Around, a dirty dub track to end the selection.
For me, Dutch-based beat-maker Feiertag (German for “holiday”) can do no wrong, and his new three-track mini, which features the track I’ve chosen here, Palau, is well worth checking out. Similarly, Cleo Sol, the singer of Sault, has launched an incredible album, Mother, which needs to be listened to with the lights off.
And for some reason I have been thinking about King Krule a fair bit this last month. I first marvelled at his talent when he released Out Getting Ribs, as Zoo Kid aged 16. It’s a wonderfully irreverent, mystical song.
Hope you enjoy this month’s selection, and make the most of your October.
If you enjoy this unmixed selection I would urge you to seek out my Boat Floaters Mixcloud profile here, where there are both upbeat (“downstream”) and more chilled (“upstream”) mixes.
Thanks for your support.
Yours in music,
Ollie (Boat Floaters)