The sounds of July courtesy of Sharemyplaylists.com

The Soundtrack to June 2011

How was June for you? Yeah, ours wasn’t too bad at all, thanks for asking. Partly because it’s been another ace month for new music. What better way to summarise all of the brilliant tunes June brought us than with a rummage through playlist institution, The Soundtrack to… The latest edition features bangers from Toddla T, Tom Vek, Foster The People, Booka Shade, Art Brut and more.

Americana

The Spotify revolution is currently sweeping the US, which is why we created this mixtape featuring all of our favourite American artists – and a few guilty pleasures thrown in for good measure: John Lee Hooker, Leadbelly, Howlin’ Wolf, Gil Scott-Heron, James Brown, Miles Davis, Ryan Adams, Jeff Buckley and far to many more to mention.

Funky USA - Welcome!

Our friends over at Acid Jazz Hispano make the best playlists, packed full of the coolest funk, soul, house, hip-hop and pretty much everything else in between. They’re also welcoming the US to Spotify with this little beauty; featuring Curtis Mayfield, The Salsoul Orchestra, Naughty By Nature, The Roots, Zhané and more. An amazing mixtape.

July 2011 - indie & electroncia

"End of June and early July turned out to be mostly sun and fun at music festivals - and not so many long nights at the office," says the creator of July 2011 - indie & electroncia, Erlend Fanuelsen. We can forgive him a little tardiness when his mixtape is this good. This month’s edition features an amazing new tune from Bombay Bicycle Club, the hotly-tipped Foster The People, the best track form Arctic Monkeys’ new album and a beautiful new tune from Fink.

Hooked on Peter

"Some people make money," the late great Tony Wilson once said. "Others make history." Peter Hook, you’d have to say, falls into the latter category. Having played in two of the greatest bands of all time in Joy Division and New Order, but also an integral part of the gloriously shambolic Haçiendac club. This cracker of a playlist is dedicated to the enigmatic bass player’s career in music – Joy Division, New Order, Monaco and Freebass, as well as tracks he featured on with Gwen Stefani, Hybrid, autoKratz and more.

Easy Like Sunday Mornings

SMP’s head honcho Kieron dropped the very latest edition of his Easy Like Sunday Mornings series this month. Volume three is a consummate collection of "classic mellow soul as well as a couple of recent releases." That’s artists like George Benson, Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson, Earth, Wind & Fire, Mario Biondi, Evelyn "Champagne" King, The Manhattans and stacks more besides.

Thom Yorke’s Secret DJ Set

Radiohead’s ‘secret’ Glastonbury performance on The Park stage was, in truth, anything but a surprise; Thom Yorke’s DJ set, on the another hand, really was. Rarer than a complementary word about Beyoncé from Zane Lowe, Yorke’s mixses are nothing if not eclectic. Check out his full set list here – tunes by everyone from DJ Shadow, Public Enemy and Mos Def, to Felix Da Housecat, Nathan Fake and Sl2. Yes. Thom Yorke. Sl2. Incredible scenes.

Afront’s Electropop 2011

SMP stalwart Afront uploaded another edition of his brilliant Electropop playlist this month. Featured here: such electro luminaries as The Human League, Depeche Mode and Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark, alongside the cream of today’s synthpop talent, Hurts, Ladytron and Robyn. Another must-hear playlist from one of our premier users.

Hospital Records Playlist

We’re pleased to welcome Hospital Records to the already illustrious list of record labels creating mixtapes here at SMP. Home to a roster of the finest UK drum’n'bass talent, this playlists features Netsky, Danny Byrd, Camo & Krooked, High Contrast and more. To all the drum’n'bass head out there: this one’s for you.

Disney’s Greatest Hits

We round things off in an altogether gentler mood. Our friends over at Disney Music Group have put together this superb collection of songs from their classic and modern day movies. Including tracks from The Lion King, Sleeping Beauty, The Jungle Book, Mary Poppins, 101 Dalmations, Aladdin and many more. See, now who needs drum’n'bass when you can have a spot of Elton John’s Can You Feel The Love Tonight instead.