Recent and Decent #82
Feat. AKIL THE MC, Queens of the Stone Age, King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard...
If anyone read my Norwich-specific Recent and Decent Special yesterday, you may recall that I said that today’s Recent and Decent will be a little bit different.
And the difference is that my mate, Chris, is supplying it all today!
He kept sending me great songs, because he’s good like that, so I just said “Do you want to do a whole playlist?” to which he responded with predictable positivity, attention to detail and banging songs.
The only upsetting thing is that his insights and song choices are almost too good. If I’m not careful, he’ll replace me as the favoured overlord of Recent and Decent. But you know what, I’m going to put my feet up, relax and take the risk. I’m sort of hoping that over zealous use of rounding will save me.
Take it away, Chris!
Recent and Decent Playlist
Right then, so Mr Recent and Decent asked me if I’d like to take a punt at this week’s offering, and so obviously I jumped at the chance - I mean, how difficult can it be to choose seven songs, right?
Hmmm, much dithering and a load of faffing later, I realise that there’s perhaps more to this malarkey than there appears at first glance.
Riiiiiiigggghhhhttttt. Here we go:
Nightmares on Wax, Jordan Stephens - 30 Groove St. (22 May 2025)
Parental Advisory? Definitely
Nightmares on Wax have the ability to create stuff that is just so flippin’ cool and they seem to have been doing it for absolutely decades. Jordan Stephens, if you read his cv - Rizzle Kicks, Bear Grylls island contestant and Star Wars actor - you’d cry bs for sure. Hats off to you, Mr Stephens. What a tune! One of those bass lines that, from the instant you hear it, you just know that you won’t want this tune to finish. Love the syncopation/rhythm of the lyrics. If you’ve got it, then you’ve got it. I would imagine.
AKIL THE MC, Madlib, Jurassic 5 - Tax Exempt (13 June 2025)
Parental Advisory? Yes
I’ve only just discovered AKIL THE MC (I think the caps lock might be important to someone), but when this stuff is so good I half-expected their tunes to have 100 bazillijillion plays each. There’s nowhere near that amount, so go and listen to their other stuff now and we can forevermore say we were there at the beginning, man. This track is barely over one minute long, but boy does it pack a punch. Imagine being able to make a track this good. Hard hitting, funky and fresh.
Gogo Penguin, Daudi Matsiko - Forgive the Damages (30th May 2025)
Parental Advisory? Only that you might need a moment after hearing this.
This is one of those tunes that takes you away from the madness of it all, lifts you up, and lets you connect with one of those fleeting, life-affirming ‘this is what it’s REALLY all about’ moments. Float above it all, do some mindful breathing, and be careful to land gently when you come back down.
Unknown Mortal Orchestra - ONE HUNDRED BATS (18th June 2025)
Parental Advisory? No, don’t think so
These lot also seem to be fans of the old caps lock, and why not, when you’ve created a guitar riff as good as this. It even goes a bit Ozzy towards the end, which is rather timely, and perhaps even justifies the bats reference.
Baxter Dury, JGrey - Return of the Sharp Heads (17th June 2025)
Parental Advisory? THIS IS A FULL CAPS LOCK YES
Some bands sound all wrong when they swear - like they did it for a dare, forgot to delete it, and are then worried about what their mums will think when they hear it. But not our Baxter - this is glorious profanity at its finest. In fact, make yourself a cup of tea, just so you can spit it out when you first hear this. Not that you haven’t heard any of this before - it’s just done so well. This song is way more than well-chosen expletives though - a great bass line and effortless cool (again) and, it makes me think of Pink Floyd’s Brick in the Wall, maybe, a bit. Does he say ‘S.S. Trousers’ in there, too? I really hope he does.
Queens of the Stone Age - Kalopsia (Alive in the Catacombs) (13th June 2025)
Parental Advisory? I’ll say no
Spotify threw this one my way whilst washing up in the kitchen, and I thought it was a David Bowie ‘lost track’. It’s perhaps not what you might expect from QOTSA but I find myself keep coming back to it as it is so interesting and twisty-turny and, surely, a Bowie tribute/homage? A Josh Hommage?… (apologies, my brain made me do it).
Little Simz, Yukimi - Enough (6th June 2025)
Parental Advisory? A few minor swears… so, you’ll have to decide for yourself… let’s call this a PG.
Yet another fabulous bass line, excellent wordsmithery and just a joy to listen to. Upbeat, pacey and full of interesting bits and pieces - you need to hear this.
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard - Aerodynamic (13th June 2025)
Alright, so if you’re going to be all pedantic about this then, technically, I’ve had my seven tracks. BUT. This has got to go in to this week’s playlist for two reasons - 1. AKIL THE MC’s offering was only one minute long (rounded to one significant figure) so it’s more of a starter than a main course, and, 2. This is just so good, and different to the other stuff played so far. It sounds retro but not in a cheeseball way - imagine being so good at what you do that you can just create this and go with it, and then end up with something that is so familiar, yet unique and intriguing? Cor, music is great init?!
supermodel* - i used to live in england (20th June 2025)
Parental Advisory? Little bit - well, actually, yes, quite a bit, now you mention it..
Well Mr Recent n Decent, if you chose to let the last one through on a rounding argument, then you’ve gone and broken your own rules, haven’t you? And this track is too good not to play, so you’ll have to let it through now. And, anyway, this is my choice of seven tracks this week, so let’s just agree that this is how seven chooses to identify for this particular episode. You have to hear these lyrics - they completely nail something that, perhaps, few, if any, of us have direct experience of, but they’re so honest and recognisable that they seem to connect nonetheless. Also, you might notice that the title and artist are all written in lowercase - so this now balances any excessive caps lock preferences of the previous artists, right? In essence, this track was positively made to complete this edition.
Recent and Decent Vote
Last week, Wet Leg won it. Well done, ladies. Who are you going for this week?
Sign off
It’s been a busy week Substack-wise, so I’m really friggin’ grateful that Chris helped me out! If you missed it, I shared an interview with local artist, Molly Willis and created a Norwich-special yesterday. This coming week, there will be two more artist spotlights AND my own bloody gig with local legends Red Mar.
If anyone else fancies doing a Recent and Decent playlist, drop me a message because I would love to do more collaborations!