It’s hard to believe that summer has come to an end. While it’s still hot during the day, the nights are noticeably chillier and the days are noticeably shorter. I always have a hard time saying goodbye to summer but the sweetness of fall always softens the blow.

I kicked off the summer in Barcelona with Folamour at Sonar, and a week later, he released the track I had been waiting on for months, Pressure Makes Diamonds. I had been anticipating this release for quite some time, repeatedly playing that portion of his Sugar Mountain Boiler Room set. The crescendo may be one of the greatest moments I’ve experienced live. Whenever I introduce Folamour to someone who does not know him, I describe him as joy in musical form. The crescendo in this song is the perfect representation of that emotion.

I stumbled upon Friday Lake by Catching Flies just in time to go to my lake house for the 4th of July. It was the perfect song to soundtrack some of my little yoga sesh with the trees surrounded by trees with the lake breeze in the background.

I spent the majority of my summer in Chicago. Having left when I was 18, I had never really been home for longer than a month at a time since then. The city proved far more vibrant than I had anticipated, and I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed my lil Chicago life.

Searching for God by Taches absolutely captivated me (I recommend the extended mix because, trust me, you’ll want that extra 90 seconds of musical goodness). I found myself in a hardcore binge for nearly 72 hours… and I still didn’t manage to burn the song. The bongocitos are absolutely delicious if you focus your attention on them.

I had to throw a few Barry Can’t Swim tracks into my verano 2024 playlist to honor the incredibly magical and intimate experience I shared with him and a dance floor in Chicago. My brother and I caught his explosive set at Arc and then followed him to Podlasie in Avondale and I discovered my new favorite venue in the city. The lounge area in the front coupled with the sweat box towards the back makes for a truly perfect experience. They capped the show at 100 people so it wasn’t too crowded and people came to daaaaaance. His sets were diverse and included lots of the piano Barry Can’t Swim is known for but my favorite was an unexpected little latino gem, Ella Fue (She Was The One) by Fania All Stars.

It’s hard to choose just one favorite to highlight in this playlist but Rah That’s a Mad Question is a great example of his exquisite use of piano in house tracks. And while I’m on the subject of pianos, it’s worth highlighting Blackpool Boulevard by Anish Kumar and Barry Can’t Swim that makes me feel everything with its emotive piano riff.

The final favorite artist to wrap up my delectable Chicago summer is Headache. The lyrics in That Thing with the Rabbit are hard to follow but there are a few nuggets of wisdom that manage to land within the chaos.