The New LoFi Mixtape

From new interpretations on Turkish folk music, to 1970s disco crossed with a house beat — September’s Mixtape has a little something for everybody. This month, James comes to you live from Field Day festival in East London as Autumn moves into the northern hemisphere. September’s Mixtape includes some Autumnal indie rock including new tracks from Elroy Finn, Old Smile, Little Archer and Erlend Øye (The Whitest Boy Alive, Kings of Convenience). There is also some electronic music towards the end including mixes from Fred Again.., LUXXURY, and Sofia Kourtesis.

Before we get to the full playlist (below) check out these excellent videos from this month’s mix:

Lockdown Blues

Derya Yıldırım and Grup Şimşek reimagine Turkish folk music in this video drenched in nostalgia.

Flashback to the 80s with this video for Faux Real’s new single, “Spooky Bois.”

And last but not least, The New LoFi has just turned ten years old and we are celebrating with a 10-track compilation featuring 10 of our favorite musicians from the past decade. If you want to get involved, order the limited-edition blue vinyl here.

September 2021 Mixtape Playlist

Happy August everyone. This month we’ve got some jangley summer indie music on the mix as well as some soul, electronic and just a pinch of hip hop. New music from Polo & Pan, Solomun, Rögg Collins, Mano La Tough, Always You, The Orb, Madlib and many more.

The New LoFi mixtape is also available on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher and Acast. And if you want to randomly mix up every song that was ever featured on a Mixtape, check out the Infinite Mixtape on Spotify.

August 2021 Mixtape Playlist

By the way, The New LoFi has just turned ten years old and we are celebrating with a 10-track compilation featuring 10 of our favorite musicians from the past decade. If you want to get involved, pre-order the limited-edition blue vinyl here.

Happy 4th of July everyone! This month’s mixtape features new music from Sirens of Lesbos, Channel Tres, Hot Chip, Jayda G, Tensnake, El Michels Affair, Polo & Pan, Mr Jukes, Com Truise, Barry Can’t Swim and many more!

We’ve also got some fantastic covers in this month’s mix. The first is a new reinterpretation of “Crimson & Clover” by The Shacks. I know this is a track that’s been covered a few times before (Prince, Joan Jett, etc), and honestly, it’s hard to beat the original version by Tommy James & The Shondells, however…. The Shacks bring a modern twist to the track while keeping the soul of the original. Check that cover out around 17 minutes in.

“Crimson And Clover” original version

Joan Jett’s version of “Crimson & Clover”

The other absolutely beautiful cover on the mix is Tensnake’s remix of “Love Will Tear us Apart.” Again… it’s hard to beat Joy Division’s original version, but if you want to hear a dark electronic version of the track, fast forward to about one hour and ten minutes into the mix.

Original version of “Love Will Tear Us Apart”

Video for “Vibrate” by Mr. Jukes + Barney Artist where they are rapping from a rollercoaster

Below is a full playlist along with where to buy each track.

The New LoFi mixtape is also available on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher and Acast. And if you want to randomly mix up every song that was ever featured on a Mixtape, check out the Infinite Mixtape on Spotify.

July 2021 Mixtape Playlist

By the way, The New LoFi has just turned ten years old and we are celebrating with a 10-track compilation featuring 10 of our favorite musicians from the past decade. If you want to get involved, pre-order the limited-edition blue vinyl here.

It’s June! Summer is finally here in the Northern hemisphere and the 5 month lockdown in the UK has finished! To celebrate we’ve got new music from Basement Jaxx, Groove Armada, Nubya Garcia, Channel Tres, Flight Facilities, Mura Masa, Green-House, Caravan Palace, El Michels Affair and a band called Celestial Being — Citizens of the World Choir and the London Contemporary Voices. What a name!

There’s also a Pixies cover by Tkay Maidza (see the video below) and a Billy Idol remix by Poolside that reinterprets “Eyes without a face” into a super chilled-out poolside banger. So so good.

Full playlist below along with some videos from the mix — including the amazing video Vincent Desrousseaux directed for Folamour’s single “Just Want Hapiness” and the animated video for Caravan Palace’s new single “Moonshine.” The animation follows a disenfranchised man as he convinces himself that the earth is flat. It drives him to the end of his world… and beyond.

The New LoFi mixtape is also available on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher and Acast. And if you want to randomly mix up every song that was ever featured on a Mixtape, check out the Infinite Mixtape on Spotify.

June 2021 Mixtape Playlist

By the way, The New LoFi has just turned ten years old and we are celebrating with a 10-track compilation featuring 10 of our favorite musicians from the past decade. If you want to get involved, pre-order the limited-edition blue vinyl here.

May’s mixtape features new music from The Chemical Brothers, Kraak & Smaak, KOKOROKO, Old Smile, Maya Jane Coles, La Femme, and the latest single from Gaspard Augé’s solo project (Gaspard Augé is one half of the electronic duo, Justice). Full playlist, and links to where you can find and support the music are below.

The New LoFi mixtape is also available on Apple Podcasts and Google Podcasts. And if you want to randomly mix up every song that was ever featured on a Mixtape, check out the Infinite Mixtape on Spotify.

May 2021 Mixtape Playlist

By the way, The New LoFi has just turned ten years old and we are celebrating with a 10-track compilation featuring 10 of our favorite musicians from the past decade. If you want to get involved, pre-order the limited-edition blue vinyl here.

This month’s mixtape features new music from The Avalanches, JUNGLE,  Mac DeMarco, BICEP, Connan Mockasin,  TOLEDO, Kraak & Smaak, Royksopp, Robyn, Solomun, Tommy Guerrero, Janko Nilovic & The Soul Surfers and much more.

It’s the “End of lockdown” mix, part deux; get involved!

The New LoFi mixtape is also available on Apple Podcasts and Google Podcasts. And if you want to randomly mix up every song that was ever featured on a Mixtape, check out the Infinite Mixtape on Spotify.

April 2021 Mixtape Playlist

It’s March! It’s been a year since most of the western world has been under some sort of lockdown restrictions, but it seems like the end of the pandemic is in sight. This mixtape is dedicated to the end of lockdown. It’s the isolation rave mixtape.

New releases from Tame Impala, Rhye, Grimes, Romy, Ross From Friends, Blood Orange, JJ & The Mood, Logic 1000, Sanchez of Bel-Air, Saint Jude.

Get involved!

March 2021 Mixtape Playlist

This month’s mixtape features new music from Soulwax, Toro y Moi, Mindchatter, Babe Rainbow, Karl Zine, North Downs, GODTET, Matthew Halsall and so many more.  

• Check out the third album in GODTET’s audio triptych here: III
• Compare Toro y Moi’s instrumental version of “Blessa” with the vocal version.
• Mindchatter’s new album, Imaginary Audience.
• Karl Zine’s new album Hyper.
• A few bonkers videos from Kazaizen.
• Matthew Halsall’s new album, Salute To The Sun.
• See Dave Brubeck and his band playing live in Belgium in 1964 remixed to The Stranglers in this video of “The Take Vibe.”

The New LoFi mixtape is also available on Apple Podcasts and Google Podcasts. And if you want to randomly mix up every song that was ever featured on a Mixtape, check out the Infinite Mixtape on Spotify.

February 2021 Mixtape Playlist

Happy New Year. This month we’ve got new music from 

Kaytranada, Flight Facilities, Will Clarke,  The Koreatown Oddity, Kelpe, DJ Tennis, The Gaslamp Killer, Al Pagoda and another song off of the new Mulatu Astatke & Black Jesus Experience album. It’s the perfect way to kick your year off with a dance party.

Hope you hear something you can get excited about in this month’s mix. 2021…. it can only get better, right?

The New LoFi mixtape is also available on Apple Podcasts and Google Podcasts

January 2021 Mixtape Playlist

With 2020 coming to an end, we thought it was fitting to put a Christmas Mixtape together that collected all the best new Christmas songs from the last 20 years. It’s the Christmas Mixtape 2000!

There’s just over 2 hours of the best Christmas music from the last 20 years. Scroll right down to the bottom for a full tracklist. But before you do, here are some fun facts and links:

Three Hollywood actors lend their christmassy vocals to the mix — can you identify the three tracks that a Hollywood actor appears on?

There are 16 Christmas covers including one cover of a Maria Carey song and two songs that were originally written by on of the Beatles.  

There are two covers of Silent Night. There’s a White Christmas, a Blue Christmas, a Christmas in California and a Christmas in a Chinese restaurant. 

Love this totally tripped out rendition of “Little Drummer Boy” by The Flaming Lips:

There are few voices better than Gregory Porter’s for conjuring up the spirit of Christmas. Such a buttery smooth delivery. If you like your Christmas jazzy, this version of “The Christmas Song” is the spot.

Sufjan Stevens is perhaps the most prolific Christmas song composer of the modern era. Did you know that he’s written something like 100 Christmas songs? He started out by just releasing songs for friends and family around the Christmas season, but he’s amassed quite a catalogue over the years.

We’ve only included 2 songs on this mix, but it is well worth exploring some of his compilations. I would recommend Silver & Gold.

Also, the Christmas videos are fantastic, like this one for “Get Behind Me Santa”:

“Last Christmas” is possibly my favorite Christmas song of all time. And while many people have done covers of it over the years, nothing beats the original in my mind. In 2012, The xx did one of the more interesting re-interpretations of the song on BBC Live Lounge that takes the track to somewhere slightly darker.

The Killers have released a few Christmas songs over the years, but “Don’t Shoot Me Santa” is the best one they’ve done in my mind. I like how off-piste it is for a Christmas song as well.

And last, but certainly not least, we kick the mixtape off with a brand new album from French pianist and composer, Christophe Chassol. His new album, The Message of Xmas is the best thing since A Charlie Brown Christmas by the Vince Guaraldi Trio. We’ve only included one track from the album here, but I highly recommend going out and buying the full 6-track album. It’s fantastic from top to tail. My only wish is that it is released on vinyl soon. It would be a fantastic record to put on by a roaring Christmas fire.