Hello, and welcome to the second instalment of Playlist for the week! Wait, just one second, that exclamation mark was a bit too much. I’m sweating again. Should have gone easier on the vino last night. And probably the night before. Oh, and probably the night before that as well… Am I suffering a cumulative hangover?! Pfff. Bacchus would have said something, surely… Then again, he never did freshers week. And he was pissed all the time…

If, like us, the start of term has hit you like a train full of dirty pint glasses, then this week’s playlist is for you. As we all know (unless you’re a fresher, in which case, sorry), Cambridge changes from party central to a clinic for Berocca addiction faster than you can say ‘DoS meeting,’ so we thought we’d gather some songs that will wrap you up and massage your poor, pounding brain with warm waves of sonic comfort.
Happy listening!

Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes: Don’t Leave Me This Way

Admittedly a classic song about unrequited love, but just as applicable to that tragic moment when you realise Van of Death has decided to shut and you’re next in the queue. Have fun attempting solids tomorrow morning, my friend. 

Foals: Out of the Woods

Foals have made a much-anticipated return with their new album Holy Fire, and this is classic form from them. Tribal percussion and guitar-riffs à la Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon give this track a half-awake, half-asleep feel. Lead singer Yannis Philippakis sounds as if even he might be nursing a sore head, singing to all his friends “in the clouds”, and this band does know the dangers of late nights – check Solomun’s remix of the evidence here.

Ben Pearce: What I Might Do

Out on Chase and Status’ MTA Records label, this song has just been playlisted by Radio 1 after a year in which it has rapidly attained underground house anthem status. Despite the pedigree dance music background though, the track is gentle enough to be enjoyed in daylight hours – a warm up, and a warm down, as you will.

Zebra Katz (Feat. Michele Lamy): How Do You Feel

New York rapper Zebra Katz, who shot to notoriety with his track ‘Ima Read’, brings another slab of bass-rumbling darkness to the table with ‘How Do You Feel’. The answer to the question is likely to be “not great”, and Lamy’s shaman-like vocal is definitely one of the less comforting enquiries you could wake up to. Much better there though, than from behind you on your dark walk home. Spooky. 

Joe Goddard: Taking Over

Goddard is renowned for producing sparkling musical gems that shine brightly in the otherwise monochrome category of Afro-tribe-folk-house (or whatever this even genre is), but we feel this has been slept on a little. The B-side on the EP (the A-side, ‘She Burns’, has received more critical attention), it still offers something for a hazy head – the synths almost sounds like a Barocca dissolving… 

Wolf Saga (Feat. Lemon): Young Folks

It’s funny that it only takes six and a bit years (and a Homebase advert) to make a track ‘classic’ these days, so this cover of Peter, John & Bjorn’s ‘Young Folks’ is a welcome new take. It still has the elusive and transient vocal qualities of the original, but the light drums have been replaced with a more modern, rolling bass – reflective of the influence that commercial dance is having on all corners of the music spectrum, no doubt. Still, they’ve got rid of that annoying whistling: not being reminded of Black & Decker power tools after a swap can only be a good thing. Plus, it’s a free download. 

Noir + Haze: Around (Solomun Remix)

Re-released and remixed endlessly since its debut (even by chart-topping Rudimental), Solomun’s 2011 version still comes out on top. Heed the message, though: what goes around, comes around. Have you ever felt, like, this ropey before? The answer, presumably, is yes. But no matter how bad the headache, the sweats, and the lectures the next day, songs like this make it worth doing it all over again.