I can’t be the only one who’s ‘seriously’ been ‘vibing’ with some music lately. In fact, I definitely am not; I checked with several FBi presenters, all of whom confirmed that the music has been especially good as of late. Let this all star lineup guide you through some of their favourite tracks from May in FBi’s Monthly Mixtape. Like what you hear? Tune in to each week for more.

Maleeka Gazula, host of Up for It! on Friday

Paris Texas – Bullet Man

Paris Texas never miss for me. This new track from the always unpredictable duo is literally guns blazing. A song all about shooting anything and everything, spat on a rocky, relentless beat – it’s undoubtedly going to get me fired up to do whatever layperson tasks I’m getting up to in the day.

Snowy – Sorry I Missed You

This single built all the necessary anticipation for Lipreader, the full-length album by Liam Snowy Halliwell. Soft and warm vocals with a melody that is bright yet so gloomy in the most beautiful way possible. It feels like a hug when you’ve had a bad day.

Eyedress – Escape from the Killer 1994

Eyedress is the indie punk of my dreams, he’s perfected a nostalgic emo groove moment with Escape from the Killer 1994. He released two versions of the same song that imagine it in different eras. I personally vibe the 1994 version more – it pulls me into a world of cheesy films, action-packed romance and grunge.

Isaac Ortlipp, host of Lunch on Thursday

Moor Mother – CONFUSED

CONFUSED is the final track of the new Deluxe Edition of Jazz Codes by Moor Mother. Like the 23 tracks that precede it, you well and truly feel “punched into a cosmic time slip” as an array of shifting synth blips emerge, disappear, and re-emerge over the top of an undulating guitar melody. Moor Mothers’ production and poetry weave you through an intertemporal journey, exploring the musical innovations of the African diaspora; from jazz to the blues, to soul, to funk and hip-hop. Her Black Quantum Futurist theoretical underpinnings allow her to channel the legacy of these art forms, heard through references to George Clinton (“get back to the mothership”) and Biggie Smalls (“it was all a dream”), and connect them to a decolonial and liberatory ethos. So good.

Nourished by Time – Quantum Suicide

Sticking with the quantum theme for this second recommendation: Quantum Suicide by Nourished By Time, opening track of his debut album Erotic Probiotic 2. I found out about him through his feature on Yaeji’s With A Hammer, and would recommend it to anyone who loved that album. To me this is peak late-night drive music. Alternative R&B that evokes a life-affirming melancholy.

Sandro, host of Switch

Kass Kass Rizer – Roukasskass

This cross-continental collab between two artists from the Ivory Coast and France uses a genre of club music that bubbled up between those countries twenty years ago called coupé-décalé. I’m only just learning about the history of this music, but its signature bouncy rhythm has got me locked in. Hearing the way Kass Kass Rizer have twisted the template with ravey synths and an incredibly hard MC makes me hungry for more.

FS Green – Poppin’

There’s a long list of Dutch producers constantly dropping colourful club edits of hip hop and RnB anthems at the moment, but FS Green is the undisputed king. His new pack on Bandcamp is filled with faves, but I’ve been listening to a bunch of noughties rap lately so this silly jersey club flip of Three 6 Mafia’s ‘Poppin’ My Collar’ has definitely been my most overplayed.

Cherry Chola – Princess Puta

I’m so obsessed with Cherry Chola’s rise. Latinos are shaking the world right now, from underground clubs to mainstream awards, so she’s arriving at the perfect time to be properly heard and appreciated. Her tracks always surprise me, switching up the tempo and the beat when I’m not expecting it, and her style and personality radiate such a unique energy for our local scene. Princess Puta feels like just the beginning.

Nazty Gurl, host of Juice

ZK king 劉, Bayang (tha Bushranger), Teether, Ryan Fennis, Sevy & Realname prod. Kuya Neil – ONE

What do you get when you have seven of Australia’s most enigmatic artists on one track?  The result is ‘ONE’, a brooding alt-rap cut that allows each artist to come through in their own way. ZK King’s delicate vocals on the hook provide a moment to breathe, whilst Bayang, Teether, Ryan Fennis, Sevy and Realname bounce off each other, flexing their versatility across Kuya Neil’s thumping production. I think I listened to this song 15 times in one day once. It creeps up on you.

Vv Pete – Jordan 1s

Vv Pete; easily one of the hardest rappers in Australia. To me, she has no competition, but that doesn’t hold her back from levelling up each time. ‘Jordan 1s’ is the Western Sydney artist’s first track of 2023 and it’s got everything we love about a Vv release; signature Utility genre-bending production, a fiery hook that makes you want to throw your ass in a circle, as Vv flexes on everyone around her. The one.

Lydia Kivela – Di$ney

Multi-dimensional artist Lydia Kivela has just dropped their sophomore single ‘Di$ney’, a track that I’ve been waiting for them to release since they came into JUICE and performed it live. A stark contrast from their debut, ‘Di$ney’ is Lydia at their most confident, their most content, as they sing their affirmations set to beautiful, airy production that will literally make you feel like you’re in a Disney movie, singing birds and all.

Hannah Galvin, host of Solstice

Move 78 – Space for the Kidd

Berlin-based quartet Move 78 are one of those striking groups who make releasing very tasteful music appear so effortless. Having recorded their improvised guest mix for BBC 6 Music at the tail end of 2022, the band deconstructed its material and rebuilt it into a 7” vinyl release, housing two contrasting singles – one of those being ‘Space For The Kidd’ featuring Douniah on soothing vocals.

Synergetic seasonal shift of mood drapes over the dreary demeanour, as our protagonist harps heavy lacklustre energy into the imminent three cool months ahead. Despondent yet not quite dramatic, the disdain propelled towards the greyer quarter carries a sombre yet sexy edge.

Billowing the wobbling belly of the burden bleeds a gaseous fog so thick, it niggles and weaves its way into every crevice. Dancing with the weight of our contending baseline, this permeation eventually overwhelms all other parties; blanketing ‘Space For The Kidd’s ecosystem into a forced hibernation.

Speakers Corner Quartet – Geronimo Blues (feat. Kae Tempest)

South Londoner’s Speakers Corner Quartet come full circle with the release of their debut LP Further Out Than The Edge. Blossoming as the house band to a Brixton spoken-word poetry night, the group came into their own and flourished with an insatiable hunger for collaboration. It’s no wonder why the album’s featured friend list is so extensive. Amongst Sampha, Tirzah, Joe Armon-Jones and Shabaka Hutchins, multi-talented wordsmith Kae Tempest wrangles the emotively charged display that is ‘Geronimo Blues’.

Like lungs to a whisper, solemnly delicate strings contort into the nest cradling Kae Tempest’s bitingly powerful poetry. Cushioning the release of each vulnerability, the strength in addressing this uncomfortable reality is counterplayed by the steep climb of steps that sharply push you off and see you back at the bottom, only to tirelessly try again. Steps that symbolise the culture of the words present, brushing the stroke to a painting of corruption from both then and now; emphatically referencing American parachutists plummeting out of blimps during the second World War.

A plummet akin to the noise and systemic toxicity we as a planet find ourselves falling deeper into – granted a lack of change.

With dangled carrots like “Come into the future, it’s lovely over here” tricked temptation is met with space, as a cry unleashes midway through the song, and yet with no sound at all.

Reinviting texture as a forceful series of rules disarm a terrible taste in your mouth, the ground grows nearer through the squeal of terror; just like those parachutists faced shouting the name “Geronimo” into the air they were breaking.