Exclusive Shindig! Qobuz playlist #15: Mother Nature

We’re very excited to be media partners with the truly unique online streaming platform and download store Qobuz. The 14th of our monthly bespoke playlists, which take in all manner of genres and sub-genres, scenes and beyond, then and now, is, perhaps, slows things down for the summer with some sultry, mellow and heady jams from progressive minded people

Play here or use the scrollable frame with tracklist the bottom of the page. You can sign up for a free trial today. Plans start from £10.83 per month. For more on Qobuz read our interview with MD Dan Mackta here

When the land slowly bakes to a cracked brown, the sun is hot, air sultry, and the drinks are cold, the music you want to hear has to be chilled. Here, we offer four hours of stoned, mellow, cosmic funky, jazzy rock and soul; slow-mo grooves from dusk ’til dawn.

As happenings gave way to festivals and psychedelic rock opened up the doors to more soulful, spiritual and political themes, bands like NYC’s The Rascals reinvented themselves as saviours for the dawning age. Opening up with ‘Visit To Mother Nature Land’ (from 1971’s Peaceful World) The Rascals set the theme for this good-vibed playlist – the mood, the peaceful outlook, the flute, the rhythm. After falling in love again with later era Rascals, songs like Sopwith Camel’s ‘Fazon’, The Steve Miller Band’s ‘Fly Like An Eagle’ and The Youngblood’s ‘Darkness Darkness’ were etched into my mind. This later era of the hippie movement looked back to the eras of folk and blues, whilst having been enraptured by the progressive nature of soul, funk, and jazz. It’s all in the mix here – a range of music that is perfect for naked “idiot dancing”.

The West Coast did this best, and San Francisco and Los Angeles are well-represented. Of note, are the post-Morrison Doors and their Latin-tinged ‘Ship With  Sails’ (from ’71’s Other Voices – granted there’s little in the vocal department, but the swampy musical layers are fantastic) and the brilliantly relaxed theme tune to the ’74 Western Thomasina & Bushrod by none other than a ’70s incarnation of Love. Spirit’s ‘Fog’ (from their second album, ’68’s The Band That Play Together) is early morning sunrise perfection, as is festival faves Canned Heat’s ‘Time Was’ (from their ’68 Hallelujah album). The Byrds and Gene Clark also show up, as do The Beach Boys and Fleetwood Mac. On the San Fran side are some early ’70s outings from The Grateful Dead and Quicksilver Messenger Service, whilst second tier acts like Sons Of The Champlin, Joy Of Cooking, The Loading Zone, Stoneground offer up blissful soul-inspired tunes. On that note, Curtis Mayfield, Terry Callier, Sweetwater, The Isley Brothers and numerous other Black acts fit in perfectly. This, after all was the time of assimilation. The Rotary Connection’s ‘I Am The Black Gold Of The Sun’ displays this move of Black and White, hippies and soul musicians quite brilliantly. Then there are the turned-on jazzers Gil Scott Heron, Alice Coltrane and Leon Thomas who knew a dose of the cosmic when it came their way.

 Mother Nature is the perfect playlist for August. It rarely breaks a sweat and is as cool as ‘Fazon’.

© Jon ‘Mojo’ Mills /Shindig! magazine in partnership with Qobuz