The End of the Month Playlist For August 2026
August 31, 2026
Our Monthly Playlist selection of choice music from the last month. Curated by Dominic Valvona & Matt Oliver.
Choice music and sonics from the last month (or so) picked from our reviews, but also featuring the tunes we missed out on or didn’t get the room to feature at the time. Curated by Dominic Valvona with choice hip-hop cuts selected by Matt Oliver and some tunes lifted from reviews by Brian ‘Bordello’ Shea. Includes everything from galloping jazz and underground rap cuts to a lamentable anniversary tie-in with the disastrous withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan and all that’s rough and new in the gnarled guitar department.
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If you’ve enjoyed this selection, the writing, or been led down a rabbit hole into new musical terrains of aural pleasure, and if you able, then you can now show your appreciation by keeping the Monolith Cocktail afloat through the Ko-Fi donation site.
August’s track list:
Gentles ‘My Fugue, My Greek, My Brahms’
Neon Crabs ‘Invisible’
Origami Horses ‘Vultures’
SPAER ‘The Express’
Nonturn ‘Indicate’
Kaja Draksler, Petter Eldh & Christian Lillinger ‘Granular Navigation’
Homeboy Sandman & Jack Splash ‘Gas’
Serengeti ‘Dennehy’
Lee Scott, Black Josh, B-Movie Millionaires & Sly Moon ‘HEX’
Apollo Brown ‘Stovepipe Stuffing’
Hadja & Nils Kacirek ‘Hasrat (Shnsucht)’
bu.re_ ‘ii – Heat shimmer’
Motohiro Nakashima Ft. Marucoporoporo ‘Sea of Thought’
King Kashmere, Confucius MC & Jazz T ‘Classic Style’
Doc Da Mindbenda & IAMGAWD ‘Double Nickle In The Garden’
Open Mike Eagle & Kenny Segal ‘Trying to Remember What I Aimed At’
Von Pea ‘The Goof’
Declaime & SaltChunkJerry ‘Breakend Legs Man’
Occult Character ‘Unrequited Vibrations’
Enofa ‘Retire on That’
The Breedling ‘Stalker’
Raymond Roussel ‘the other side of the other side’
Bity Booker ‘The Ballad of Lost Town’
Becca Bartlett ‘Cicadas’
John Howard ‘Abbey Road, April 1974’
Leah Neale ‘Slip Away’
Pozi ‘Hale-Bopp’
Stuart Turner & Rob Grigg ‘For God’s Sake Burn It Down’
Beans ‘Remember’
Resavoir & Gregory Uhlmann ‘4th Cloud’
Enofa ‘Life Flower Town’
BRIAN ‘BORDELLO’ SHEA’S REVIEWS ROUNDUP – INSTANT REACTIONS. ALL ENTRIES IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER
Beans ‘Remember’
Single (Fuzz Club Records) Out Now
Ah, I admit I am not really a huge fan of Fuzz Club Records on the whole as I think that they have a certain sound, and I find that sound a bit dull on the whole nowadays: lots of bands with nice looking vintage guitars and sunglasses. I like Jesus and Mary Chain and Brian Jonestown Massacre as much as the next man, but do I want to listen to lots of bands that are not quite as good…even Jesus And Mary Chain sound like a not quite as good JAMC now.
But this single, ‘Remember’ by the Beans, is indeed very good and has an arch quality normally not associated with Fuzz Club. If Fuzz Club was The James Bond Franchise this would be its Roger Moore which we all can agree is a very good thing indeed.
Bity Booker ‘There’s No Song About Stones’
Released 5th June 2026
There’s No Songs About Stones is an album of sublime solo psych folk whimsy, just Bity and her classical acoustic guitar singing songs about sadness, birds, love and life but none about Stones Rolling or otherwise, just nine beautifully written and performed songs full of melancholy, melody and a magical sprinkling of fairy dust which draws one into Bity Bookers strange and wonderful world.
Eye With An Eye ‘Flow’
Single – Out Now
‘Flow’ is the debut single by Eye with An Eye, and quite a fetching affair it is to, all post punk moodiness with an aura of jazzy reflection, dark and reflective and deep like diving into the waters of somebody’s thoughts and dreams, and floats in a heaven like state awaiting the whirlpool of contemptable love to drag you in and smother you with contentment.
The Fox ‘For Fox Sake (2026 Remaster)’
Album (Think Like A Key Music) 14th August 2026
For Fox Sake was recorded overnight in 1970; the band thinking this would be the demo, but the record label thought differently and released it as the album. The album sadly sank without trace and The Fox survived not much longer.
But 56 years later Think Like A Key has thankfully re-released the album, and what an album it is. Wonderfully magical in all its psych rock glory, it captures the wonderful mood and excitement of the time: an aural time machine if you like. An album that captures a band having the time of its life and it being recorded mostly live captures the excitement of a young and talented band having the time of its life…the word groovy was invented just for albums like this believe me.
Gentles ‘Nation’
(Metal Postcard Records) Released 18th July 2026
Nation is the latest and final album by the Gentles in their current incarnation as their vocalist Brendan Parkes sadly died earlier this year. There is a punk psych art pop vibe to this album that reminds me of Blur in their Modern Life is Rubbish era, which can only be a good thing I think you might agree; maybe they have the same influences as there is definitely a Syd Barrett and Swell Maps, Buzzcocks and even Jilted John about them. An album that I would advise fans of the aforementioned could do worse than to check the Gentles out.
John Howard ‘Overnight Bags’
Album – Released 7th August 2026
With Overnight Bags I feel John Howard has just made his own The Boys From Dungeon Lane, an album of memories wrapped in melody and pop genius. Neil Hannon would sell his collection of Scott Walker albums to have written any one of these eleven gems, for John Howard has a wonderful talent of painting aural pictures, telling musical tales of love and sadness: I bet john is a hell of a people watcher.
Overnight Bags finds John, as I have said, looking back at his eventful life; from the plague of aids that took away too many of his friends in “What God Is This?” to the first time in Abbey Road recording his debut album in 1975, to him wondering what happened to his old teenage friends (“Josie, Do You Remember?”).
Overnight Bags is quiet the masterpiece, filled with melancholy, love and remembrance. This album is so good in fact I should have started with Paul McCartney has made his own Overnight Bags with his The Boys From Dungeon Lane.
Kevin ‘It Is What It Is’
Album (Riot Season) Released 24th July 2026
Chaotic Krautrock experimental psychedelic noise rock: “It Is what It Is”. I suppose that sums up the album, and lovers of the aforementioned will no doubt love this: and there is plenty to enjoy.
At times it reminds me of the excellent Poundland, especially vocal wise, and Potters Wheel has a rather wonderful hypnotic riff as does the Fall like “Murphy Is Buried” and “Wood Kill” could easily be off Julian Copes Masterpiece Jehovah Kill. Kevin takes all their influences and makes a fine engrossing soundtrack to delve into the mis-workings of the human psych.
Man & Machine ‘Earthman’
EP (Fruits Der Mer) Released 1st August 2026
This is a six track EP or mini album as we of a certain age like to call them (if it has more than four tracks, I would prefer to call it a mini LP). Well, this Mini LP is a lovely sounding affair; it has a beautiful airy sheen about it reminding me of the lovely slightly folkish pop rock from the seventies with just that dash of psych. Yes, it has a bewitching summerlike warmth, even one that one would find emitting from the BBC radio in those glory days of radio. This is quite a wonderful record, available as a lovely 10inch vinyl EP/mini-LP released on the Fruits De Mer Record label or as a download from Man & Machine’s Bandcamp page.
Neon Crabs ‘Big Dumb Racket’
EP (Metal Postcard Records) Released 28th July 2026
There is nothing big or dumb about this 4 track EP, unless being big and dumb is the sound of a galaxy of guitars storming up a post punk frenzy whilst the singer cajoles the inner demons into more demon like activity by out stooging the Stooges; if popping the Iggy was a Olympic event the Neon Kittens would be gold winners knocking Iggy Pop into second place: they just have the same grace like anger and fractured humour. Yes indeed, The Neon Crabs are very cool.
Occult Character ‘Unrequited Vibrations’
(Metal Postcard Records) Released 3rd August 2026
We have another fine single from Occult Character, Unrequited Vibrations is actually quite commercial and with the wind blowing in the right direction I could imagine this getting some radio play: and it would be well deserved. It certainly has lots of the odd ball charm that the Occult Character specialises in but the oddball ness is soundtracked by a rather wonderful catchy keyboard riff: let’s call it an ‘Einstein A Go Go’ for the now children.
Origami Horses ‘Vultures’
(Metal Postcard Records) Released 19th July 2026
A blast of alt pop/rock is good for you, so the Doctor tells me. And ‘Vultures’ is indeed a blast: a blast of screwed up alt pop perfection like Radiohead used to give us before they went all prog like and snarled at the beauty of the three-minute pop single. No worries on that score from The Origami Horses, they remember the magic of melody and the angry guitar wrapped in a velvet blazer.
Present Electric ‘My Heart Is Filled With A Hundred Knots Of Sorrow And A Thousand Knots Of Resentment’
Album – (Paisley Shirt Records) Released 31st July 2026
My Heart Is Filled With A Hundred Knots Of Sorrow And A Thousand Knots Of Resentment is probably the longest album title of the year and one I won’t be typing out again. Yes, it is an album of lo-fi experimental pop misadventure and a rather fine one at that; at times reminding me of Skip Spence’s OAR album, and at other times like the Velvet Underground – when in funny bugger mode – and also quite fascinatingly like Lennon’s Plastic Ono Band LP, especially on the beautiful “The Ring Is On The Phoenix’s Head”.
There is a hauntingly beautiful feel to the album, one that skips from melancholy to sunny delight with a natural graceful ease that one can only stand back and admire. Another winner as always from the Paisley Shirt Records label.
Stuart Turner and Rob Grigg ‘Gargoyles at the Memoir Club’
(Gare du Nord) Released 15th August 2026
Gargoyles At The Memoir Club is what Captain Beefheart might have sounded like if he recorded for Postcard records. Yes, it’s a strange old brew of guitar jangle, garage punk and Bad Seeds like blues madness. It is a musical exorcism, a bobsleigh ride through hell whilst swigging on a bottle of Thunderbird and recanting tales of previous misdemeanours.
Yes, this is a strange old album; an open mic night where Lloyd Cole and Tom Waites duet whilst Nick Cave juggles peanuts trying to attract the attention of the barmaid who really should know better but cannot help but smile at the velvet suited bare chested Australian.
Winter At Sea ‘Hearts’
EP – (A Cheery Wave Records) 28th August 2026
Post Rock atmospheric instrumental beauty. If that is your thing then this could well be just what you want to soundtrack your evening with…well, 20 minutes of it anyway; I suppose you could always put it on repeat and let the waves of emotion keep on covering you with the warmness and emotional stillness that this fine EP provides.
Yes, if you want a relaxing evening and not quite in the mood for Dark Side Of The Moon put this on instead. I have two good reasons for that, one, Dark Side Of The Moon is shit and, two, this isn’t.
Here’s the message bit we hate, but crucially need:
If you’ve enjoyed this selection, the writing, or been led down a rabbit hole into new musical terrains of aural pleasure, and if you able, then you can now show your appreciation by keeping the Monolith Cocktail afloat through the Ko-Fi donation site.
Our Daily Bread 635: Gentles, Cindy, Expose, Uri Rubin…
January 16, 2025
BRIAN ‘BORDELLO’ SHEA’S REVIEWS ROUNDUP – INSTANT REACTIONS.
Cult favourite, anointed as the “king of no-fi”, Brian ‘Bordello’ Shea continues to contribute to the Monolith Cocktail in 2025 with his idiosyncratic irascible and aphorisms, his unique take on the music we send him each month to review. An artist in his own right, part of the family band The Bordellos for an age but releasing music sporadically under his own name and various guises, his latest release, a split contribution with Dee “Persian” Claw and The Neon Kittens, is due out on the 21st February, released by Cruel Nature Records.
Cindy ‘Saw It All Demos’
Album (Paisley Shirt Records)
The title of this album does not lie. It is indeed Demo’s and released on a cassette, and is a pretty nifty little album. Seven songs mostly recorded in a bedroom, and which we all know is one of the three best things one can do in a bedroom. There is a beautiful warmth and tenderness about these seven tracks; softly strummed guitar, hushed vocals, simple keyboard and percussion – apart from track 7 “The Violins”, which features the full band in a simply charming little indie pop number but doesn’t actually feature a violin at all, It’s still my favourite track on this album as I’m always a sucker for some velvety like guitar. Once again, another fine release from the wonderful Paisley Shirt Records label.
Divorce ‘Pill’
Single
I like this. It’s experimental. It’s catchy. It’s quirky and funky, all the things one wants from pop singles. It has a quite beautiful slow melancholy piano solo part which I can picture Yoko Ono opening curtains to in a large white room. And can I offer higher praise than that…I don’t think I can.
Duckie Mr Poetry ‘Miami Vice’
Single
Now, there are two reasons I like this track, and I will be honest, I’m in no way an expert on hip hop or rap and very rarely write about it, but this is rather good. It’s short, it is funky, there is plenty of hop in the hip and plenty of hip in the hop. Plus it also mentions Guinness in the lyrics and I have never come across another Hip Hop track that mentions that fine Irish brew in its lyrics: you don’t get NWA mentioning it, they are too busy fucking the police.
Expose ‘ETC’
Album (Quindi) 24th January 2024
Discordant Jabberwocky noise explosion erupts from the mouths of Sonic Youth’s long lost ill-mannered cousins, who sprout melodious pop misadventure whilst listening to the greatest guitar hits from the last 50 years on a vintage Ronco cassette and amp, surfing to pass the time of day and attract yearning looks from passing strangers who long to be the band. Do I like this? Of course! It is frivolous, it is fun, it is what rock n roll should sound like. It is both experimental and pure pop for now people. It is sexy. It is noisy. It has the appeal of cutting off a sticking out tongue from an annoying clown and cello taping it to a rocket ship so it can lick the stars.
Gentles ‘Gentles’
Album (Metal Postcard Records)
There is nothing gentle about Gentles. They are in fact a slam bam refuge of post punk disgust, an angular riff of ferocious quantity and quality part Fall part Swell Maps part Syd Barrett Pink Floyd after downing a gallon of turps. Yes, there is a subtle 60s guitar vibe that the band themselves probably have not noticed lurking underneath their arrogant angst.
Gentles are everything it means to be young angry and free to do whatever they want: if they can be bothered getting around to it.
Ike Goldman ‘Newt And Lovers/ Bowling Green’
Single
This double-sided A-side single is rather ace. Imagine if you will re-found unreleased tracks from The Beach Boys circa Smile…need I say more. If the answer is yes, you have no right reading the Monolith Cocktail as we all know late 60s Beach Boys is as perfect as it gets, and music obviously influenced by the late 60s Beach Boys done with such love and warmth is also as pretty much darned perfect as you get. Why is Ike Goldman not a household musical name? He should be.
The Neon Sea ‘As I Wonder’
Single
I like this. It has a nice early Stone Roses type jangle, and melody wise reminiscent of Blur in one of their melancholy moments: sweet, sad and mournful wrapped in a warm wash of guitar serendipity. A lovely single.
Penrose Web ‘It’s…The Penrose Web EP’
EP(Gare du Nord)
This EP is the debut release from The Penrose Web and it is rather spiffing in a good old early 80s Garage Rock way; an EP that takes me back to the days of visiting London to take in the great garage rock scene, days of the Bigfoot and the club on Camden Lock – whatever it was called – and myself and my girlfriend at the time having to share a taxi with a dodgy French man back to the Hotel because we missed the last train. The magic of music and the magic of the Penrose Web and the memories they inspire. This EP is really rather good indeed…I hope they do an album.
Lucy Philips Arts Foundation ‘I’m Not A Fucking Metronome’
Compilation Album
I’m Not A Fucking Metronome is a rather excellent compilation album to raise money for the Lucy Philips Arts Foundation, which is a foundation started in memory of Lucy Philips who was drummer and a regular face around the Leicester arts scene who sadly, suddenly, passed away in May of 2024. All money raised will help support Leicester creatives.
This Comp is actually a bit of a rarity as all 12 tracks are rather very good indeed. And I can imagine all the tracks appearing on the much missed and never replaced John Peel show: from the punk/post-punk opener by Boilers “Looking Good” – a song written by Lucy herself – through to the beautiful psych folk-tinged ballad “Heroes/Villains “by Chris Cottis Allan and the short sharp all wrapped up in one and half minuets pure punk of the excellently named Potato Legends.
As I have said, an album where all 12 bands need congratulating in adding 12 really wonderful slices of alternative pop/punk/rock to a great album and a fine cause.
Uri Rubin ‘The Way You Are’
Album
The Way You Are is what you call a grower, an album that sneaks up on you and gently wraps its arms around you and gently rocks you into submission with its lyrical tales of life and love. Uri Rubin has a lovely relaxing laidback vocal styling, part Smog, part Leonard Cohen and part Lambchop. He really does have a quite lovely voice, which he uses to good effect on these well written songs; songs that don’t stand out individually – they are not made to be radio smashes – but flow into each other to offer you 45 minutes or so of pure escape.
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