I would say about half of all the conversations I have are about music. With some of my closest friends, the ratio of music discussion to regular conversation grows even higher. I met James Kaufholz while waiting in line for an Of Montreal concert in Orlando and we became quick friends while discussing our favorite albums. Evan Sherman and I have been developing our musical interests together for the majority of our lives (the first half of which was in New Jersey before I moved to Florida when I was 16).
Since I have moved, Evan and I have continued discussing music on an almost daily basis. It is safe to say that our tastes are fairly similar but the major disparities seem to be aligned with an album’s relation to a specific time of year. When it is cooler out, he tends to reach for ambient, ‘winter’, music while I go for acoustic, ‘fall’, music. This is likely relative to the difference in seasons between Florida and New Jersey. Our winter is (sometimes) equal to their fall and our spring is (often) their summer. These conditions breed a built in subjectivity to experiencing music. Even Jim and I, (who both live in Florida), interpret the sounds of the seasons differently because he has been here for his whole life.
In the lists that follow, each of us has selected our ten favorite ‘warm-weather albums’ which have been released since we were born. These choices are relative to and reflective of our own personal tastes, experiences and even geographical locations. This personal reflection and subjectivity is what Folkways Magazine is all about. Hope you enjoy.
-Chris Rambo Memorial Day 2010
The Morning Benders – Big Echo
I figured I’d start my list with a bit of stealing…from Evan. When I read his review of Big Echo, I immediately got the album. I fell in love. It’s a fantastic collection of really fun songs that don’t compromise good songwriting. Ranging from upbeat (“Excuses” and “All Day Daylight”) to lazy summers (“Wet Cement” and “Sleeping In”) it is the perfect album for the many, often wide-ranging, moods of summer.
Beach House – Teen Dream
I assure you I didn’t pick an album by Beach House because of the word “Beach,” although it is fitting. Teen Dream started 2010 off strong. It is a wonderfully dreamy experience, drawn with intricate guitar parts and harmonies. The album reminds me of the first day of summer vacation, with a sense of sadness, as well as hope for three wonderful months.
Why? – Eskimo Snow
Interestingly enough, one of my favorite warm weather albums of late is called Eskimo Snow. Like most of the music I listen to, the overall feeling of the record trumps the nuances of the lyrics. Eskimo Snow is a great example of this. When Pitchfork asked Why?’s Yoni Wolf about the album’s songs, he said, “They’re more open. The sound is more open, more live.” I think that’s why I like it so much. The songs are bigger than you would expect, allowing the necessary focus on the introspective, sometimes overly direct lyrics.
King Tubby – Declaration of Dub
The tracks for Declaration of Dub are from various sessions throughout the 70s, though, to be fair, it was released in 2002 so its fair game for this list. To me, dub is ideal warm weather music. Its use of reverb and echo over dubbed tracks creates a beautiful mix. It’s an experimental subgenre that caters perfectly to soaking in the sun. Plus, if you’re going to listen to dub, King Tubby is a wonderful place to start.
Surfer Blood – Astro Coast
Astro Coast, Surfer Blood’s debut album is a summer anthem in itself. The West Palm Beach, FL band has claimed land for surf rock, a dwindling genre, early in 2010. Simply put, Astro Coast is a lot of fun. In maintaining with surf rock’s history, guitars are the focal point, and to Surfer Blood’s credit, they are done very well. From start to finish, the record is a great summer listen.
Modest Mouse – Good News For People Who Love Bad News
I have to admit, this pick is almost completely nostalgic. When Amy (now, my fiancé) and I were enjoying our first full summer together, Good News For People Who Love Bad News had just been released and was the big thing. Whenever we were driving around Seminole, whether aimlessly or not, Modest Mouse was playing in my car. It was hot as hell outside, and we were just happy to sit in the A/C driving to a friend’s house and singing along to “The World At Large” or commenting on how badass the openings of “This Devil’s Workday” and “Satin In a Coffin” were. Every year, we subconsciously return to this album.
Yo La Tengo – I Can Hear the Heart Beating As One
I’m a huge Yo La Tengo fan, so it’s fairly easy for me to fit one of their many records into most lists that I compile. In this case, it’s I Can Hear the Heart Beating As One. Yo La Tengo are musical curators as well as musicians so listening to them is always a really special experience. You can tell that with every song, they have put themselves completely into the music. I Can Hear the Heart Beating As One shows the band’s range. “Return to Hot Chicken” is short and atmospheric, “Little Honda” is a driving version of The Beach Boys’ hit, and “Sugarcube” (one of my all-time favorite songs) is just too much fun. You can’t go wrong.
Dr. Dog – Fate
Fate is one of my favorite albums in recent years. I’ve listened to it way more times than I can guess. It fits nicely into a summer list for similar reasons that I’ve mentioned for above mentioned picks. It is a beautifully written, fun album that masters its use of space. “The Breeze” is an awesome opening song, highlighting the band’s signature sound – piano at the forefront, Beatles-ish harmonies, and some other keyboard/synth-inspired sounds that are always used at the ideal moment. My favorite part of Fate is that it accomplishes what many records don’t: it is consistently impressive. Even other albums that I really love don’t always hold their luster. Fate does. No summer fun should be without Dr. Dog.
Clipse – Lord Willin’
Summertime calls for fun, and Lord Willin’ is about as fun as it gets. It takes hip hop to the country (or maybe the other way around?) Lord Willin’ doesn’t let up – it is impossible not to dance or least bob your head while listening. Every song is completely original, and a favorite aspect of mine is the fact that the tracks aren’t limited to samples and loops. Clipse’s Lord Willin’ is modern soul at its best and an unconventional but effective warm weather favorite.
Camera Obscura – Let’s Get Out of This Country
As I’ve mentioned in other picks, reverb is something that I associate with summer music. When it comes to reverb, Camera Obscura have made it more than simply an effect – they’ve made it a member of the band. Almost every track on Let’s Get Out of This Country has reverb to some degree, making it an ultimate summer listen for me. Not to mention the sense of adventure from the album’s title and the band’s sound. Let’s Get Out of This Country is a great soundtrack for being on the move, something that the warm weather of summer pairs with very nicely.
Spoon: ”Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga”
I picked up a copy of Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga the day it came out not because I was a diehard Spoon fan (though I do generally love their work) but because I knew that an album called Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga had to be great. My first listen was on the drive to school in Tampa. Hearing the perfect pop/rock (which was somehow both angular and deconstructionists) while watching the sun glint off the waters from the top of the Sunshine Skyway Bridge cemented the ‘warm-weather’ association in my mind.
This was one of my main ‘go-to’ albums for the duration of that summer and it came along with me on many exciting adventures. These included blasting it while driving to a huge model train show with my friend Maria. After the show we went to this weird Flea Market which was basically just a barn filled way beyond capacity with weird old junk. You literally had to move lamps and chairs so that you could make pathways to walk. I bought a book from 1955 called Plain Talk! For Men Under 21!” which includes an entire chapter on buying gifts for gals:
“Let’s assume, for the sake of an example, that she has a record player and some records. Possibly you’ll remember having a coke with her after school just a few days ago. The juke box was playing and she heard a new recording by her favorite singer of the moment. She liked it. She said so. If you’re in a gift-giving mood, there’s your cue, brother. It should be a simple matter to find out whether she has that record or not. If she hasn’t you’ve got a gift thought that shouldn’t set you back more than $1.35, at the outside.”
Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga, indeed.
Super Furry Animals: “Guerrilla”
As I have made clear in the past, for me, a lot of middle school revolved around Brit-Pop. This was not limited to Blur. Super Furry Animals were another favorite of mine. When listening to one of their albums you never know what sound is going to come next and Guerrilla illustrates this more strongly than any other record in their catalog.
The songs hop genres effortlessly and still always retain that sense of fun, whimsy and adventure that make the Super Furry Animals one of the best pop bands of the 90s. Punk songs lead into techno workouts which turn to calypso flavored tunes and it never gets old no matter how many times you hear it. In fact, this is definitely one of the most listened to albums in my collection.
Over the last few summers, I have run a summer theatre production with a group of children in a summer camp. My favorite part is always picking out the soundtrack because it allows me to play music that these kids might not normally be open to. From the first time I took Guerrilla out of my bag, they were fascinated by the cover artwork and immediately loved it before they even heard it. In the show I used “Where ever I Lay My Phone (That’s My Home)” but the listening did not stop there. “Chewing Chewing Gum” was a clear favorite and I can no longer hear it without remembering one particular girl who imitated Gruff Rhy’s Welsh accent while superfluously dancing. That chorus is so infectiously memorable, it became an inside joke of the theatre kids:
Don’t go chewing in bed
You might wake up with it stuck in your head
Trust me, you totally will.
The Apples in Stereo: “Fun Trick Noisemaker”
Elephant 6: is it really possible to create a ‘warm weather album’ list without their releases? In fact I could make a list including only selections from their associated artists. Of the flagship Elephant 6 bands, The Apples in Stereo are the most purely fun and perfectly summery group there is. I mean, seriously, they are called ‘The Apples in Stereo’ and their debut album is called Fun Trick Noisemaker.
Early in my High School career, my Elephant 6 obsession began. I listened to anything and everything I could find associated with their collective of bands. Of these, The Apples in Stereo are probably the most accessible and therefore easiest to get into. Fun Trick Noisemaker is an album I listened to countless times and it is one of the CDs I had with me while looking for houses in Florida with my family. When married to the Florida sunshine the songs positively glowed with relevancy.
Whenever I wanted to introduce a friend to the e6 scene, this was one of the first albums I gave them. Songs like “Glowworm”, “Lucky Charm” and “Winter Must Be Cold” have been playing in my head since the first time I heard them.
Pavement: ”Slanted and Enchanted”
If you haven’t heard this album, stop what you are doing, go to your nearest independent music retailer and buy it right now. I am serious. This is one of the top five most important of 90s indie rock and it is impossible to understand the present without studying the past.
I believe that the members of Pavement knew this was a summer album and self-consciously dismissed it by naming the first song “Summer Babe (Winter Version)”. To this day, this remains one of the only songs to which I have every single word memorized and perfectly timed so that I can effortlessly sing along.
Ice baby, I saw your girlfriend
And she’s
Eating her fingers like they’re just another meal
The lo-fi guitars coupled with Malkmus’ deadpan vocal delivery sound like a hot summer day in the suburbs: Evan, his younger brother, my younger sister and I playing run the bases for hours until we hear the ice cream truck coming in the distance and we break to search for money. It is sweaty, messy, blithe and so much fun.
Saturday Looks Good To Me: ”All Your Summer Songs”
I was surprised to find this album on my list because I do not often think about it. It is a really solid album that I bought on a whim based on the name of the band and the cover art. It is a record that I often throw on when I am in the pool and it perfectly complements that activity. The best part is that each time I hear it, I find something new to really like about it.
All Your Summer Songs is not an album which I have great nostalgic memories built around but I am sure I could someday and it inescapably reminds me of the summer. If you have not heard it you should definitely give it a listen and I am confident it will become part of your summer routine as well.
The Flaming Lips: ”Transmissions From the Satellite Heart”
This is another album that actually sounds like summer time. What is it about melodic distorted guitars? I expect to see some appear on Evan Sherman’s list as well though I can’t say for sure because we have retained the secrecy of our selections from each other.
Transmissions From the Satellite Heart is warm and sticky and bubbly and weird. It reminds me of laying on my back in the grass while watching the clouds go by and thinking my own private thoughts while my friends are content to stay with theirs. I am not sure if this is a real memory or not but it very well could be.
In elementary school, when this album came out, Evan and I were partial to taping songs we liked off the radio. This was a waiting game because you never knew when the song would come on and you needed to be ready at a moment’s notice.
One summer afternoon, we were drawing some bizarre comic books on my front porch when the radio suddenly started playing “She Don’t Use Jelly”. While I began scrambling for a tape, Evan somehow managed to have been prepared and had already pushed record. Later, we listened back and the recording started at the exact beginning of the song and ended right after the final note: without any dj chatter or anything. This was a rare accomplishment and it was appropriately celebrated.
The High Water Marks: ”Songs About the Ocean”
In 2004, I kinda thought that the Apples in Stereo had broken up. Their 2002 release Velocity of Sound was not supported by some of the long time fans and there were rumors surrounding the relationship between Robert Schneider and Hilary Sidney. In addition to this, Sidney released an album under the name “The High Water Marks” while Schneider released an album under the name “Ulysses”. I purchased both and one quickly became a summer favorite.
Every Apples in Stereo album has at least one song by Hilary Sidney and they are often personal favorites of mine. Songs About the Ocean is an entire album of these and it could not be better.
I am so fond of Songs About the Ocean that I have never ever listened to their second album in fear that it could never match the brilliance of the first release. As it stands, it is pretty much perfect.
Beulah: ”When Your Heartstrings Break”
When Your Heartstrings Break is one of the best warm-weather driving albums of all time. Every song is great to sing along with and they are all infused with a propulsive energy which just sounds better when you are moving. They sound even better when you are moving with the windows down and a torrent of air is created across your vehicle. What says warm weather like driving with the windows down?
It should go without saying that Beulah is a summer band. They take all the best parts of the Beach Boys and inject them with new life by adding their own twists and turns. These songs contain pure joy even when they are about heart break. It is nearly impossible to resists and unquestionably one of my favorite albums.
Beastie Boys: ”Paul’s Boutique”
Talk about fun music! This album is sampling as high art and the Beastie Boys fill their verses with countless pop culture references and in jokes. I often find myself laughing while listening to it. It has an effortless charm which has not been matched by many others.
Nearly any song on Paul’s Boutique could be dissected and examined academically; nearly any song on Paul’s Boutique could serve to score a care-free day spent with close friends. Most importantly: it has a great beat and you can dance to it. Almost every listener can find something to love about this album.
Last summer when my sister had just graduated college, we were driving around with “Hey Ladies” playing. She turned to me and said “I feel like we are the coolest kids in the neighborhood” and I know she meant it. I never want to spend a summer without Paul’s Boutique. Each and every year as the weather grows warmer, I look forward to pulling it off the shelf for a listen.
Animal Collective: ”Strawberry Jam”
The year after I finished High School I heard Sung Tongs by Animal Collective when it was a fairly new album. I was immediately hooked and they remained one of my absolute favorite bands throughout college. Each album release brought new adventures in sound. They have not released anything that I did not like.
On the fourth of July in 2007, I was reading through the threads on the Collected Animals forums as usual when suddenly a bunch of album-leak rumors began. I am all for supporting the physical form and I am generally against album leaks but the chance to hear the new Animal Collective release was too much to pass up. It turns out that under a mediafire file called “Good Stuff To Spread on Toast” was a legitimate copy of Strawberry Jam two months before its’ physical release.
I loved it from first listen, the energy on the album is positively infectious. It manages to be extremely catchy and melodic while still experimenting with texture and sound. This is Animal Collective’s greatest skill. From that day on I listened to Strawberry Jam every single day of the summer. When September rolled around and the album came out I bought it digitally and on CD. Eventually I even picked it up on vinyl. While it is not my favorite Animal Collective album, it is probably my favorite animal collective memory and in the end, the most important part of summer is the memories.
Animal Collective: Merriweather Post Pavilion
I will start off right where Chris ended. Animal Collective has been a favored band of mine since Chris introduced Sung Tongs to me. I will admit that I had slowly fallen out of favor with them over the years due to pre-occupied musical interests. But, Merriweather Post Pavilion resurrected my love for the band while also retroactively helping me enjoy their previous releases more. I played this album all throughout last summer and it is still going strong in my rotation this year. Every song is a beloved summer gem that incorporates sounds unheard of before while it also continues to baffle and amaze me.
Circulatory System: Circulatory System
Possibly the greatest summer album ever. It’s true, it is almost impossible to have a best of summer list and not include an Elephant 6 band. I believe the culminated efforts of the entire Elephant 6 camp prove their worth on this album. Almost everyone associated with the label shows up here. Not to mention the revolutionary sound created. I could argue that this album does more for basic recording equipment and the sound achieved by it than The Beatles, Pink Floyd, The Rolling Stones, or The Moody Blues ever did. It is the most underrated album to be released since the inception of the rock and roll format. All of these accolades fail to mention the fact that the album is nothing but sunny weather drenched in the saturated aural sensations that seem to breathe the warm air on it’s own. I’ve spent every summer listening to this album since I purchased it in 2004. Plus, every time I listen to it I find another aspect that had previously gone unnoticed. Truly one of the greatest albums ever, and certainly my favorite summer album of all time.
The Mars Volta: De-Loused In The Comatorium
Omar Rodriguez Lopez captured my attention immediately with this release. De-Loused is an incredible achievement in instrumentation. This is the tightest I have ever heard a band be . Every chord change and every note hit is perfect and the samba inflected drum beats smooth the transitions even more so. Driving around aimlessly with my friends in the heat of the Jersey sun was made more pleasantly bearable because of this album. It is the definition of fun and energy. Even now when I listen to this album it makes me feel like I am doing something criminal, not to say that I had ever done anything of the kind. Of course.
Neutral Milk Hotel: In The Aeroplane Over The Sea
I remember the summer I purchased this album clearly; from the instant I heard the opening acoustic chords I was controlled by this strange force surrounding the purposeful voice speaking the beauties of summer and warm weather to me through my speakers. Another Elephant 6 masterpiece, In The Aeroplane Over The Sea will always remain one of the labels most crowning achievements and infectious stories of abandoned talent. The title track alone, in my opinion, would make it to my top five summer songs of all time. This album is simple, beautiful, and perfect without sounding like it tries to hard. Long drives alone down a country road while blasting this album was all I looked forward to during the troubled summers of youthful indiscretion.
Wilco: Being There
You can’t have a summer party without having Wilco on the playlist somewhere. This is my favorite Wilco album, and in my opinion their most fun album. With songs like “Monday,” “Outtasite (Outta Mind),” “I Got You (At The End Of The Century),” “Someday Soon,” “Kingpin,” and “Dreamer In My Dreams,” you’d have your playlist right there, all found on the same album. This album has never worn out it’s welcome. It has always helped cure me of depression and consistently brought a bounce to my step, a certain mainstay amongst my summer albums.
Sparklehorse: Good Morning Spider
When I was introduced to Sparklehorse, I was introduced through It’s A Wonderful Life. While that is in itself an incredible album, it felt more of a cold weather album. Upon purchasing Good Morning Spider it immediately responded to the warm weather that surrounded me at the time. “Painbirds” starts off by stating, “Goddamn it’s so very hot, suppose to come a rain but its not.” With songs like “Sick Of Goodbyes,” “Sunshine,” “Maria’s Little Elbows,” “Cruel Sun,” “Hundreds Of Sparrows,” and “Junebug,” my summer is complete. This summery southern gothic music is painfully beautiful and full of nostalgia ingrained in the music naturally as well as being incorporated into my personal past history. Rest in peace Mark Linkous. Thank You.
Pavement: Brighten The Corners
This album has gradually become my favorite amongst Pavement’s collection. I fought over whether to pick this or Wowee Zowee. Two great records, but for me Brighten The Corners just does it better. When visiting Chris in Florida one year I distinctly remember immersing myself within the music of Pavement, it was a great summer soundtracked by the coolest, loosest, and most bad-ass band their is. “Stereo” is summer anthem number one, followed by the rest of the album because every song is as golden as the sun itself. Not to mention when Mr. Malkmus screams, “We Are Underused!” it is one of the greatest moments in rock history. This is an album built for warm weather!
Olivia Tremor Control: Black Foliage: Animation Music Vol. 1
Some of the scariest and most pleasing moments of summer are found on this album. Elephant 6 has done it again. Between Will Cullen Hart and Bill Doss, the psychedelic scene has never seen such prolifically interesting and mind blowing music produced by a couple of 16-tracks. A marvel of engineering similar to that of Circulatory System, but in many ways it garners a more distant warming than that of the other aforementioned album. It is as if you have moved away from the summertime campfire and have decided to lay back and watch the stars. Playing this album for my friends during car rides in the summer was a daunting task. There are so many weird noises and awkward song structures that it, in the beginning, turned them away. Eventually the songs seeped into their heads as it did mine and we were all hooked. An intense level of devotion is seen in traveling from New Jersey to Georgia for a ten dollar show; my two friends and I made the trip in order to see the newly reformed Olivia Tremor Control at the 40 Watt club in Athens. Still, to this day, one of the greatest times I have ever had in my life.
Sublime: 40 Oz. To Freedom
One of the very first albums I ever purchased. Many years I spent listening to this album. Throughout all of high-school and the years afterwards this has accompanied me during my summers. At parties, driving around with my friends, and doing other things…. come on it’s Sublime. This album offered a new type of California summer music to me and I haven’t stopped loving it and them as a band since I first started listening.
Blur: Parklife
Also like Chris Rambo, a lot of my younger music listening years were spent across the pond. A love of brit-pop was in the air, and all we needed was a good brit-pop album to help capture the moment perfectly. For many of my summers, Parklife was the album of choice for me. Not only did it offer a different country’s musical version of summertime antics but it also brought me closer to my own country’s love of summertime music. Blur has been a big part of my life, and they have never let me down when it came to indulging in great, crazy, and unorthodox songs, that are themselves a beacon of summer light. The title track is still one of the most hilarious songs to me, hand claps, backing vocals and all! Perfect summer bliss!
