I have never gone to a music festival of any kind. I often see bands play live but the prospect of watching performance after performance while surrounded by sweaty, intoxicated people never seemed appealing. This being said, I have spent the last few years watching the live broadcast of the Pitchfork Music Festival from my home and somehow wishing I was there.

A few months ago, when the line-up was announced for the 2010 Pitchfork festival, I was impressed. It seemed really solid with stand-outs like Beach House and Panda Bear; then I got to the bottom of the list and noticed the word ‘Pavement’ and was immediately floored. Pavement has been one of my favorite bands for many years and I never thought I would get to see them live. I had gone to the Pixies reunion tour in 2003 and I knew that missing Pavement would be a huge disappointment so I immediately bought two tickets. On Wednesday of last week, I found myself hitting the road to make my way from South West Florida to Chicago.

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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

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