I don’t want to bum anybody out, but summer’s almost over. With an emphasis on almost, meaning anything can still happen (aside from reclaiming that unbridled feeling of summer’s start and infinite possibilities; we’re definitely in the zone of finitude, with all its attendant reminders of our own corporeal mortality, now)! LIVE IT UP! Really. We are sitting right in the heart of the tail-end of the season, it is incumbent upon you to really live it up. As it happens, many of Stereogum’s favorite artists took the month of July to release jams perfectly calibrated to cure this existential dilemma. Or, put briefly: This month, the jams were summery! (As a programming note, we did not have a June Monthly Mix because of its proximity to our annual Cruel Summer, which is a three-hour beast you can still stream infinitely.) A breakdown of this month’s harvest:

The HAIM girls upped their own ante with one of the year’s finest slick-pop confections, Rick Ross returned with a banger, Annie is back in form with Richard X at the control board, Icona Pop released an anthemic counterpart to last year’s song of summer, Mister Heavenly-mates Honus Honus and Nick Thorburn released Man Man and Islands gems that feel informed by each other, Black Dice man Eric Copeland released some weird dance music, Earl Sweatshirt released some ominous rap music, Mazzy Star returned, J Mascis covered Mazzy Star, Chelsea Wolfe tapped her inner Liz Phair, Disclosure singer Sam Smith released a solo jam, SBTRKT singer Sampha released a solo jam, King Krule delivered a solo jam, No Age traded punk for a string section, and the A$AP dudes brought Shabba Ranks back into our lives.

And that is not even the full extent of the 30-song, two-hour July Monthly Mix that awaits your streaming. Summer may be ending, but this mix is forever. Stream, perpetual:

A clickable tracklist so you can learn more about anything herein:

01 HAIM – “The Wire”
02 Annie – “Invisible”
03 A$AP Ferg – “Shabba” (Feat. A$AP Rocky)
04 E-40 – “All My Niggas” (Feat. Danny Brown & Schoolboy Q)
05 AlunaGeorge – “Bad Idea”
06 Hot Sugar – “56k (Remix)” Feat. Big Baby Gandhi, Nasty Nigel, Lansky, Antwon, Chippy Non-Stop, Lakutis, DVS, Kitty, & Ne$$ Of Weekend Money
07 Icona Pop – “All Night”
08 Man Man – “Head On”
09 Islands – “Wave Forms”
10 Sam Smith – “Safe With Me”
11 Sampha – “Without”
12 Eric Copeland – “Cheap Treat”
13 Earl Sweatshirt – “Hive” (Feat. Vince Staples & Casey Veggies
14 Rick Ross – “I Wonder Why”
15 Purity Ring – “Amenamy” (Jon Hopkins Remix)
16 Autre Ne Veut – “On & On”
17 Ariel Pink And Jorge Elbrecht – “Hang On To Life”
18 Yuck – “Rebirth”
19 Luke Temple – “Katie”
20 Superchunk – “Me & You & Jackie Mittoo”
21 Regal Degal – “Unseen”
22 Friends – “The Way”
23 Chelsea Wolfe – “We Hit A Wall”
24 Forest Swords – “The Weight Of Gold”
25 Lawrence Rothman – “#1 All Time Low”
26 King Krule – “Easy Easy”
27 Smith Westerns – “Case & Point”
28 No Age – “An Impression”
29 Mazzy Star – “California”
30 J Mascis – “Fade Into You”

For those who prefer Spotify, here’s a playlist of what’s available on that platform. It’s a meager collection, but still a nice way to pass the time:

Summer is not over. I hope this soundtrack helps memorialize, or even make, its moments.

[Mix cover by Scott Lapatine, as always.]