Monthly Mixtape: Patio Grooves 🌸 Spring Edition

A playlist roundup of sunny Spring jams and the best music of the year so far.

Photo by Arno Smit on Unsplash

Welcome back to The Wax Museum! Spring’s officially here, and we’re shaking off the winter blues with a fresh spin on our Patio Grooves playlist.

This 2.5-hour mix—streaming on Spotify, Apple Music, and YouTube—is built for outdoor hangs, backyard lounging, or just kicking back solo dolo.

With 33 tracks spinning like your favorite vinyl at 33 RPM, this playlist stretches across five decades. We kick things off in the '70s with Roy Ayers’ “Everybody Loves the Sunshine” (a salute to the late legend, who passed earlier this month), and groove our way into 2025 with ten brand-new faves. Tying it all together are ten trippy instrumentals that’ll make you feel wonderfully woozy.

These will be my go-to patio jams for the season—may they become yours too.

If you're still rocking with the Fall 2024 Edition of Patio Grooves, that’s been relocated here: Spotify | Apple Music | YouTube.

---

Album of the Year Leaderboard (33 Songs)

Stream: Spotify | Apple Music | YouTube

While we’re talking playlists, let’s take a quick look at the ever-changing Album of the Year Leaderboard!

Topping the chart are Panda Bear and Saya Gray—both featured on the Patio Grooves Playlist—with Benjamin Booker holding it down in the top three.

This week, we welcome three new faces to the mix: Courting slides in at #7, Terraplana makes its debut at #9 (check out my review here), and Fust lands at #11 (review here). And if the buzz is right, expect Japanese Breakfast’s new album to join the party tomorrow.

Got thoughts on what's missing? Reply to this email or drop a comment on Substack—I'm all ears! Let's keep the music conversation going.

---

The Best Songs of 2025 So Far (102 Songs)

Stream: Spotify | Apple Music | YouTube

Plenty of grooves were added to The Best Songs of 2025 playlist in the last few weeks. Filter by Date Added on Spotify or Descending Order on Apple Music to hear the latest from HAIM, Sleigh Bells, The National’s Matt Berninger, Tennis, feeble little horse, Ty Segall, Florist, and much more!

---

Thanks for visiting The Wax Museum. If you enjoyed your stay, consider supporting for just $1.25 a week. In exchange, you will unlock access to our full archive, which is paywalled to the public. Additionally, receive $10 off anything in the Gift Shop— perhaps treat yourself to a vinyl carrying tote!

---

The Wax Museum is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by linking to Amazon.com. As an Amazon Associate, Wax Museum may earn money from qualifying purchases made by users that were directed to Amazon.com via one of our affiliate links at no cost to you.