As the country has effectively removed all Covid restrictions, the past month has seen some large crowds return to sporting events some of which have been particularly memorable. The England football team reached the final of a major tournament for the first time in 55 years, they lost on penalties inevitably but for a brief moment the country seemed united in support of the beautiful game which always makes happy inside. Arsenal’s 19 year old Bukayo Saka missed the crucial penalty and we all felt mortified for him. The only positive that emerged after some vile racist trolling in his and two other players directions after the game was the way players, fans and the general public united in support of this wonderful sportsman and infectiously likeable character. Then within a few days cricket launched it’s new Hundred competition with again, some large crowds in attendance. Seeing as the aim of the fresh, shorter format is to attract a new audience then it’s good to see this working. It has to be said though, every other cricket fan I know is actively against The Hundred but I am not ashamed to say I’ve enjoyed it so far. I think I am a London Spirit man, captained as they are by my favourite Eoin Morgan alongside the ever entertaining, always unpredictable Ravi Bopara, but the ladies Oval Invincibles side also caught my eye. I’ll have to work that one out, you can’t support two London sides, it breaks every rule in the sports fans handbook!

The playlist seems to, unintentionally obviously, reflect the other ever present concern from July 2021 which is the climate. News stories of heatwaves, temperature records being broken, flash flooding and wildfires are a daily, depressing reality now. Even the UK weather is noticeably altered. Was there really anything like a conventional spring time this year or just a perpetual period of heavy rain storms finally broken by a mini heatwave? Anyway, if my monthly playlists are any sort of reflection of what’s been occupying my headspace for the previous month, then looking back over the collection of songs I can see a little hint of it in the songs about seasons and fire, more blatantly in that I followed up Villagers song about summer with the Housemartins ‘I Smell Winter’. Like John Peel used to say, “I don’t just throw these things together you know!” I can’t get too pretentious about any concepts though, the monthly playlist is and always will be a bookmark rounding up the Pop, Psych, Blues, Soul, Country, Folk, Rock ‘n’ Roll, Americana, Jazz, Prog and many other styles of musically exciting records floating through the Fruit Tree Records orbit at the present moment. So this is what I have in August 2021…