Well, the Garage Rock Summer 2026 may be over, but the spirit of psychedelia remains. This playlist and the following that arrives next week stem from a longtime appreciation of the musician Sun Araw, specifically his output from around 2008 to 2012. It’s a short window, but he was prolific in that time span, putting out classic (to me) records like On Patrol, Beach Head, Ancient Romans, Heavy Deeds and Off Duty + Boat Trip.

The sound on these records was like something I hadn’t ever heard before: a deep, dubby psychedelia with ultra-blown out guitars and bass, space-echo vocals, and a overwhelming hazy atmosphere. Tracks didn’t just lazily coast along, many songs included deep, jammy instrumental freakouts or groove breakdowns that enhanced the vibe of the tracks overall.

His work then pivoted into work much more experimental, or at least more stripped back compared to his lavish, psychedelic freakouts from his earlier period. More akin to the oddball psych pop as seen on labels like Orange Milk or Hausu Mountain later down the line. Either way, I had trouble finding music that sounded like this early period, and I wanted to try and highlight it the best I could, since it’s been soundtracking my life for nearly a decade and a half at this point.

This first playlist in the series starts off with a cut off Sun Araw’s 2011 album Ancient Romans, “Lute and Lyre,” a rumbling but benevolent track with blown out bass, wiggling keyboard lines and beachy guitar. This dub-ish cut sets the stage for the rest of the playlist, with a few dub reggae thrown in, and other bucolic psychedelia from the era like Julia Holter, Forest Swords, Gang Gang Dance, Animal Collective and more. These are not all sound-alikes, but more trying to find a balance to let the Sun Araw tracks grow and prosper.

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1. Sun Araw – “Lute and Lyre”
2. Animal Collective – “Buffalo Tomato”
3. Alice Cohen – “Sheepshead Bay”
4. Prince Rama – “Rest In Peace”
5. James Holden & The Animal Spirits – “Spinning Dance”
6. Lee “Scratch” Perry & Mouse on Mars – “Yayaya”
7. Julia Holter – “Goddess Eyes”
8. Harald Grosskopf – “Emphasis”
9. Gang Gang Dance – “Glass Jar”
10. Kieran Hebden & Steve Reid – “Morning Prayer”
11. Maral – “wondering dub”
12. Forest Swords – “Irby Tremor”
13. African Head Charge – “Dinosaur’s Lament”
14. Gorillaz – “Slow Country”
15. Phillip Fullwood – “Reorganize The Race (Marcus Say)”
16. Horace Andy – “Money Money”
17. Glen Brown & King Tubby – “World Dub Away with the Bad”
18. Hailu Mergia – “Sewnetuwa”
19. Dumbo Gets Mad – “Future Sun”
20. Peaking Lights – “My Heart Dubs 4 U”
21. Broadcast & The Focus Group – “the be colony”
22. Panda Bear – “Comfy In Nautica”
23. Blues Control – “Rest on Water”
24. Mike Cooper – “Te Lapa (Phosphorus)”
25. Sun Araw, M. Geddes Gengras & The Congos – “Sunshine”