UKNY for August 2
Pearl & The Oysters (photo by Max Flick, PR)
It's August, summer is speeding by, and it's been a strange one. Salad-free, kind of sad, so much soccer (cough, football), and hellish heat domes.
On tonight's "UKNY" at 7 p.m., songs that reflect that complicated summer vibe — including new tracks from the Parisian, Los-Angeles-based duo Pearl & The Oysters — Juliette Pearl Davis and Joachim Polack — who were affected by last year's wildfires in their adopted city. Their wonderfully wistful, retro-kissed new album, Monkey Mind, captures that perfect "melancholy, sweet summer" vibe.
London-based American Jalen Ngonda's second album, Doctrine of Love, radiates with a hazy August drift — and that retro-soul vibe is also captured by Melbourne's Ella Thompson, who releases her debut album, Triumph and Sadness, later this year.
Exeter's Soot Sprite and Winnipeg's SundayClub sit on the sad side of the seasonal seesaw, plus summer-brushed songs from Kate Bush, Saint Etienne, Afternoon Bike Ride, and Pye Corner Audio.
That's "UKNY," Sundays from 7-8pm on 90.7FM, streaming online, and in the Archives after broadcast.
Songs played:
1. (Melbourne, AU) Ella Thompson, “Promise to Keep,” Triumph and Sadness
2. (US-London, UK) Jalen Ngonda, “Mr. Train Conductor,” Doctrine of Love
3. Alewya, “Cairo FM,” Zero
4. (Winnipeg, CA) sundayclub, “Sad Summer,” sundayclub
5. Soot Sprite, “It’s Summer and I Don’t Feel Like Smiling,” Poltergeists EP
6. (NZ-US) Unknown Mortal Orchestra, “The Beach,” V
7. (Paris, FR-Los Angeles, CA) Pearl & The Oysters, “Doom Mood,” Monkey Mind
8. (BR-US) Astrud Gilberto and Walter Wanderley, “So Nice (Summer Samba),” A Certain Smile, A Certain Sadness
9. Saint Etienne, “Dive,” Dive EP and Home Counties
10. Westside Cowboy, “Pin Up Boys,” It Goes On
11. (Montréal, CA) Afternoon Bike Ride, “Summertime,” glossover
12. Kate Bush, “Nocturn,” Ariel (“A Sky of Honey” suite)
13. Pictish Trail, “Melody Something (Summer Redux),” Follow Footsteps EP
14. Pye Corner Audio, “Rays of Sunshine,” More Songs About the Sun
15. (New York, US) Fcukers, “Beatback,” Ö
