The Plug’n Play: August (‘20)
August 31, 2020
You can listen to the full playlist on Apple Music, Spotify, or Tidal
In a regular year, August would represent the symbolic end of summer and festival season. The anthem for the summer will have been in [annoyingly] heavy rotation, and we’d be gearing up for fall. But, as we all know, this year has been anything but “normal” or “regular,” so the end of August kind of just feels like any other month.
With that said, I was a little worried about August, my beloved birth month. It started a little slow, but there were some great releases toward the end! Some highlights: Tiana Major 9, one of the most gifted vocalists to come on the scene in recent years, released her new EP, At Sixes and Sevens. After spending the past few years crafting pop hits for Arianna Grande, Chole x Halle and others, Victoria Monét released her fourth studio album, Jaguar. Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah released a live album, Axiom, recorded earlier this year right before concerts stopped due to COVID-19, and was also an impressive debut album from London-based singer-songwriter and guitarist, Oscar Jerome. There were also a bevy of singles from Robert Glasper (Black Radio 3!), India Shawn, NAO and Lianne La Havas, which I’m hoping means we’re getting new albums from all of them!
Below are some of our favorite songs from the month, and a bit about why we love them. The first 15 songs were selected by me, Stanley and the last 11 songs were selected by Kevin. We hope you find a song you like, and check out the entire album!
Stanley: Jaga Jazzist — Spiral Era
Admittedly, I’m a bit late to the Jaga Jazzist party. Like 24 years late. But thanks to a tweet from Flying Lotus, I was able to receive an introduction to the band. Earlier this month, the Norwegian Experimental Jazz band released their seventh studio album, Pyramid, under Flying Lotus’s label, Brainfeeder. Spiral Era is undeniably my favorite song from their new album - the lush synthesizers, syncopated drum pattern, and the interplay between the bass and the synth bass immediately grabbed me while listening. The most appealing part of the song is its composition - challenging the “rules” of music theory, putting chords where they shouldn’t be, but that’s what makes it most exciting.
Stanley: Robert Glasper (featuring H.E.R. and Meshell Ndegeocello) — Better Than I Imagined
This blog is essentially is a Robert Glasper fan account. With that said, when Robert Glasper tweeted out the link to his new song featuring H.E.R. and Meshell Ndegeocello, he mentioned that he was working on Black Radio 3, and I immediately went into a mental frenzy. His new song beautifully highlights the warm tone of H.E.R.’s voice and taps into the world that Glasper has created for himself.
Stanley: NAO (Featuring Lianne La Havas) — Woman
If God is a woman, on Sunday I'ma worship us/Take my mirror out the bag and fill it with confidence
I never considered NAO and Lianne La Havas making a song together. I mean, I love both of them individually, but it just never crossed my mind that they would make a song together. Well, I don’t have to think, or hope, anymore because it’s here, and it’s great. Woman highlights both of the singers’s strengths and there’s great interplay between the two of them as well, all set to the backdrop of mesmerizing production.
