Let’s face it. June was all about football. The excitement, the expectations and the nerves have been running high since the start of EURO 2016. And a dose of good music may be one of those things that can help you escape the voluntary, or involuntary, stress (and the fans of Polish team exhausting that one Pet Shop Boys song) and heal a broken heart of a disappointed fan.  

So let’s look at the July’s Mixtape as map of Europe and a musical mini -Euro 2016. The hosts of the tournament, the French, are well represented this time: boy-girl electro pop duo, Poom; electronic magicians, Air with aid of the legendary chanteuse, Francoise Hardy; and few debutants such as Clea Vincent, Février; Bleu Toucan, Bengale and Flavien Bergent (remixed by his fellow countrymen, Paradis.)

The UK has put forward some talented players, too; London based The Invisible, the Lawrence brothers aka Disclosure with the leading single from their new EP, bearded soul duo, HONNE; indie dance acts Theme Park and Formation and atmospheric folkster, Benjamin Francis Leftwich. Other euro-countries also add their voices: The Maneken represents Ukraine, Masosolo - Denmark, Two Door Cinema Club –Northern Ireland, Weval – Holland, Motorama & Tesla Boy – Russia, Larry Gus – Greece, Sally Shapiro – Sweden, Chain Wallet – Norway, Sigur Rós and Június Meyvant - Iceland. The Polish, “white and red” team is lead by Warsaw’s electro pop sensation, xxanaxx, a very enigmatic project, Zimowa and balearic dj/producer Das Komplex. What looks like a list of random names paired with names of European countries, actually displays the diversity of places on the Old Continent where good music may come from. 

We’ve also got some international team ups. Monika, the Greek popstar with global ambitions, pairs up with yet another Frenchman in the mix, Yuksek. UK’s Metronomy duet with Swedish pop maverick, Robyn for a slow summer jam fresh off their new album. And finally, the Germans from Dusseldorf’s Stabil Elite are showing European cultural unity by giving us some love in Italian on. And one final thing: Spector, another UK band on the list, takes on the other important European “event” that happened in June, with their track “Born Music,

Music, of course, is not a competition. So there are no sure winners here. 

No sore losers and no underdogs, neither. We are all winners.

[brought to you by No Snobs Allowed]