What Were You Listening To This Summer?

So it's starting to feel less and less like summer everyday now. Believe it or not there's a few weeks left. All we've been talking about here are summer records; I listed my favorite record releases of the (spring and) summer and LLV basically gave a run down of what she's been into this summer with a wide range of selections from Eminem to Fleetwood Mac.

I had this idea to ask a few people what their favorite records were to listen to in the summer. For me it's Weezer's Blue Album, hands down. It's as if I forget that record exists until it gets warm outside. The opening chords of the acoustic on "My Name Is Jonas", the lyrics in "Surf Wax America" (and the title!) and the visual I get from "In The Garage" seem to just scream "It's summer, get out, enjoy the weather, have fun!!!". Hell, I don't even own a car this is the feeling I get from popping some ear buds in my ear so I can only imagine what fun I'd be inspired to have if I hopped into a car and cranked the volume up to 'obnoxious'. This summer however I've gotten a bit dark. Along with my beloved Weezer summer pick-me-up I've been putting Kittie's discography on repeat. Ironically, one of my favorite songs by the band is called "Summer Dies"

SO, I asked Raimy Rosenduft, Sarah Bastin, Jamie Holm (Sick of Sarah), Brad Hale (Now, Now Every Children) and Lindsey Byrnes to fill us in on what they've been blasting this summer. I'm nosy, I ask a lot of people a lot of things and you're no different. I'd love to see what you guys have been listening to this summer in the comments!

And yeah The Byrnes' answer is kind of short. But if you're a fan of The Byrnes then you know how busy she is, seriously, I don't think the woman sleeps! Glad I could get a hold of her to get this! Enjoy

__________________________________

Nada Surf's 'Let Go' it just happened that way, I got back to Los Angeles after being gone for almost a year and it's just what has been on my ipod. That and Next Stop Soweto and Miriam Makeba's Greatest Hits and a bunch of other afrobeat... and the new LCD and Washed Out all on shuffle. It reminds me of walking around Park Slope and Ft. Greene... home.

-Raimy
http://raimyrosenduft.com
http://twitter.com/muthafunka

__________________________________

my record of the summer 2010 is ra ra riot - boy
because before them i hated the cello and the violin. because their new record makes me sad, happy, joyful, melancolic and summer is all about that. it's the moment of the year to reach a new level in work and life, you start a new year in the summer. ra ra riot is a great band for roadtrips !

-Sarah
http://sarahbastin.net
http://twitter.com/sarahbastin
__________________________________

The album I've been listening to the most is my boyfriends band, Vaudeville, I'm a nerd. Haha. Other than that I would have to say Mermaid Avenue, Wilco & Billy Bragg. I'm addicted.

-Jamie
http://sickofsarah.com
http://twitter.com/jamiestrange

__________________________________

I'm not big on summer, so whenever summer happens to come around I need to listen to music that distracts me from the heat. Every summer for the past handful of years I have found myself retreating to the Sufjan Stevens "Songs for Christmas" albums. Maybe it's a bad habit, but it totally gives me this nostalgic feeling that I can never find anywhere during summer.

-Brad
http://nownowband.tumblr.com
http://twitter.com/poopybrad

__________________________________

Steel Train/Steel Train
Pixies/ Doolittle
Tegan and Sara/Sainthood

These are the CDs that are currently on rotation in my car.

-Lindsey
http://lindseybyrnes.com
http://twitter.com/lindseybyrnes

Illustrations by Jodi Sandler

http://jodisandler.com

http://twitter.com/jodisandler

Awesome Spring/Summer Releases 2010

Yeah I totally stole this, shhh, it's beautiful.

So I've been listening to a lot of new material this spring/summer. So I thought I'd share some with you. Some that it'd be a shame for you to miss out on. I'm no record reviewer. I just like to recommend things I love. So that's what this is. Enjoy.

Brandon Boyd - The Wild Trapeze

I'll start with Incubus' frontman Brandon Boyd's solo effort, The Wild Trapeze! This was a gem. It won't sound like it if I pull it apart. I do truly feel like it came too late in his career, and sounds too similar to Incubus' material to be a powerful solo record. However, it sounds great. It doesn't sound too original, but it sounds like great music...that has been made before. Regardless of these things, it's a great listen. Standouts: "Courage & Control", "Revenge of the Spectra Tiger", "Mirror of Venus" and "All Ears Alow". That last one is just chaotic and I thought it was great for Brandon to let go like that. One thing worth noting, that I can always appreciate is that Brandon played all the instruments on this record.

Kelis - Flesh Tone

A lot of people don't "get it". Me on the other hand, oh I got it! This record was fun! It was of course a great departure from what Kelis has contributed to the hip-hop game. A lot of people simply couldn't separate what they knew of her previously to go here. I think the best thing to do is think of this as a debut record from a new Electro-Pop artist, if you do this, I promise you will be impressed. The songs are fun but deep. There are a few clearly about her child and her divorce but it's all hidden meaning behind tight beats and that amazing signature voice. Standouts: "Intro", "Scream" , "Brave" and "Acapella". To be honest, you can just dance your ass off to the whole thing without skipping anything.

Hesta Prynn - Can We Go Wrong [EP]

Hesta Prynn FINALLY released her much anticipated EP Can We Go Wrong earlier this month. It was worth the wait. The sometimes agonizing thing about Twitter is that you're forced to read updates constantly about an artist's progress in the studio every single day while seeing/hearing no results. You wait and wait and wait. Then you see a tweet about a song being completed. Then you wait and you wait and just when you think you're going to die, THEY RELEASE SOMETHING! This was the case with Hesta Prynn. What we finally got was a consistent full sounding EP that's leaving everyone, yet again, waiting for more! I've given so many thoughts on this EP already on different sites, it's almost obnoxious-I cannot shut up about it. But I will tell you to go grab it immediately! Standouts: "Motive", "Recall", "Le Coq Aux Folles" and the title track.

Steel Train - Steel Train

So. Good. Every song is passionate and guitar driven! Amazing vocals from the incredible Jack Antonoff! Every sound on this record is significant; every note, every bass line, every key pressed, hell at times every hand clap. There is no shortage of imagination and experimentation. This record is lustrous it starts off on fire and doesn't burn out until the very very end on "Fall Asleep" but by then you're so physically and emotionally drained (from crying at the sad words and moving around to the cool music, naturally) you don't mind at all. Standouts: ALL OF IT.

Japanese Cartoon - In The Jaws of the Lords of Death

Because there seems to be something encoded in Lupe Fiasco that prevents him from failing, he won again. Japanese Cartoon is the rapper's side project. The post-punk outfit has finally released the record that has had tracks floating around youtube for quite a while now. Lupe sings lead vocals with an English accent, one so convincing that when the tracks first surfaced many questioned whether or not it was him, which I'm guessing, is why he did it. The lyrics range from romantic to heartbreaking to political. Please don't write this off because Lupe is a famous rapper. Every artist needs to express themselves by stepping out of their comfort zone every once in a while. What's rare is when an artist releases side material and it's so compelling you feel they could easily do it full time. That's what happened here. Standouts: "Heirplanes", "Crowd Participation", "Firing Squad", "You Are Here" and "Gasp".

Various Artists - Terrible Thrills

It's weird I didn't put this after Steel Train's record. I debated putting it on here at all because it's technically the same record. Terrible Thrills is an all-female compilation cover record of Steel Train's self titled third record, which I mentioned earlier in the post. What makes it worth mentioning is it doesn't sound like the same record. Every artist took a Steel Train song and made it their own. I mean it's quite amazing. Tegan & Sara, Holly Miranda, Amanda Palmer and Rachael Cantu, the more notable acts featured on the record, for example covered the tracks in such a way you could easily imagine hearing it on one of their original releases. But if you read my interview with Jack you know that's exactly what he was hoping for. This project was an amazing, unique idea and it turned out beautifully. All the covers were great, all these women are brilliant, but this time there are standouts: "Turnpike Ghost" (Tegan & Sara), "You and I Undercover (Holly Miranda), "Behavior" (Amanda Palmer), "Bloody Lips" (Charlotte Caffey & Astrid McDonald), "Fall Asleep" (Rachel Antonoff), "You Are Dangerous" (Angel Deradoorian), "The Speedway Motor Racers Club" (Anna Waronker)...ok ALL OF THEM.

Kaki King - Junior

I know, I know! And I wasn't going to add it but then I realized that April 13th is actually spring and therefore this qualifies. I'm sick of talking about how awesome it is. I mean gosh what else can I say? The woman is phenomenal. If you think you're hearing her name too much and there's too much hype being built up around her to believe-trust me, believe the hype. In fact, I was just like you Mr. Skeptic. I only became a hardcore Kaki fan about five months ago. Before that I was just a casual listener, I thought "There's no way she's that good!". I was wrong and so are you. Junior is a lot different from her previous records, however it follows her Mexican Teenagers EP appropriately. It's full of heavy drums and busy guitar riffs, I've given a review of it so I won't say much. Standouts: Ha, please.

Honorable Mentions: B.o.B's The Adventures of Bobby Ray, Eminem's Recovery and The Roots' How I Got Over. All great records that have received lots of coverage in mainstream media so I'm guessing you've read all you care to read about those.