Scenes and sounds from the south

because the joy of seduction is that it's about all of the senses

Port Vendres, FR

A MED SUMMER

a playlist of sounds from southern seaside towns in july 2023

How Can We Mend a Broken Heart – Kahil El’Zabar

Come On Eileen – Dexys Midnight Runners

Never Tear Us Apart – The Teskey Brothers

Holy Man – Kahil El’Zabar, Ethic Heritage Ensemble, Dwight Trible, David Ornette Cherry

In the Spirit – Kahil El’Zabar, David Murray

(Faillin’ Like) Dominoes – Donald Byrd

Any Major Dude Will Tell You – Steely Dan

Stand by Me – Otis Redding

(Sittin’ On) the Dock of the Bay – Otis Redding

Loyalty – Gabriels

Homesickness, Pt. 2 – Emahoy Tsege Mariam Gebru

Ela Navega – Allah-Las

I Fell in Love, Again – Sinj Clarke

Seabird – Alessi Brothers

I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to be Free – Nina Simone

Embrasse Moi – filous, Clementine

Very Few Friends – Saint Levant

We fell in love in october – girl in red

Sex To Me – Charlotte Cardin

Ultraviolence – Lana Del Rey

La Notte E’ Fatta Per…Rubare – Catherine Spaak

Tangled up in Blue – Bob Dylan

Baby Let Me Kiss You – Fern Kinney

Limerence – Yves Tumor

Money Maker – Ludacris, Pharrell Williams

Love And Affection – Joan Armatrading

I Do – Edie Brickell & New Bohemians

Battez-vous – Brigitte

Ma Benz – Brigitte

jazz is for ordinary people – Berlioz

tonight – Guru Griff

La première fille – Georges Brassens

Your Smile – Rufus, Chaka Khan

Old Downtown – Camp Claude

If Love is Red Dress (Hang Me in Rags) – Maria McKee

Don’t Touch My Tomatoes – Joséphine Baker

Come and go from the sea, take from a bowl here and a bowl there, pluck from a jar of basil, drench with olive oil.

a balcony in Sète

the walk in the hills between Port Vendres and Banyuls

living the life, Plage de l’Huile

sunrise over the Med, the last morning

Le Poisson Rouge

“… I am held in the mysterious grip of olive, lentisk, fig, and vine" - Patience Gray

L’imprevue, Collioure, a restaurant down the hill, on the sea

and, the aforementioned snap

of my wrinkly hands clutching the season’s

first plump fig

I hope you felt some of summer’s sweetness, some of summer’s warmth, through these scenes and these tunes, especially if you’re down in the southern hemisphere; nothing like a bit of sensory summer seduction to get you through the last bout of winter. Maybe while you’re at it, you could watch A Bigger Splash, or The Talented Mr. Ripley, or Et Dieu créa la femme (And God Created Woman).

From me and my darkened freckles, thank you. X