Ten Tracks That Sound Like Summer

Schools are out, beaches are open, and vacation time is here! It’s time to share our annual list of Ten Tracks That Sound Like Summer, presented in our suggested listening order, from slow to fast. These are the pieces on our playlists, which (depending on age) range from mixtapes to burned CDs to digital sets. While timbres may vary, they all share a solid summer vibe. Teachers and kids have the best of it: long, languid days with nothing to do, save for a few household chores. Most of us are living for the weekend, the holiday trip or the week off. These ten tracks are designed to set the mood for summer adventures ~ even a book and a drink by an inflatable pool. A happy summer to all of our readers! Pye Corner Audio ~ Rays of Sunshine (Sonic Cathedral) The fact that the album is titled More Songs About the Sun should be a tipoff; Pye Corner Audio offers pure summer vibes, redolent of Ibiza and of halcyon days at a white sand beach. While much of the album is vocal, this is an instrumental gem. The Soft Pink Truth ~ Mere Survival Is Not Enough (Thrill Jockey) An orchestral loop is the key to this track’s summer vibe, connecting it to such classics as Michael Lagrand’s “Summer of ’42.” With the dance beat, the track is lifted to an even higher level: both nostalgic and current, the music connects the ages. Taken from the album Can Such Delightful Times Last Forever?, the track leaves the question suspended in the air. Ai Yamamoto ~ Summer (Room40) What better way to honor the summer than with the sounds of a lawnmower, buzzing bees and birds? Each of the tracks on Ai Yamamoto’s Seasons corresponds to a quarter, and this one has finally come around. The music seeps in with a sense of gentle celebration. In the center of the piece there are fireworks; at the end a drink over ice. Trabants ~ Hollywood Surf Surf rock is the classic sound of an endless summer, and Trabants has the vibe down to a t. The album Mirage is packed with retro nuggets, from psychedelic rock to go go to Morricone groove. Pop a top, grab the board, catch a wave, and you’ll be sitting on top of the world. Smileswithteeth ~ Radio Feel Better This is Smileswithteeth’s Daft Punk moment. Is it a hit yet? Let’s make it so! “Radio Feel Better” is a throwback to hot summers on asphalt, waiting for the fire hydrants to open, bopping around with a boom box, listening to the latest radio tunes while scanning the streets for a Chilly Ice. Rone ~ La Baleine et Le Musicien (InFiné Éditions) Could the whale really be responding to the artist? One is open to believe or not to believe, but from the sounds of this encounter (and the corresponding film), the evidence is convincing. The full story is found on the album Megaptera, an ebullient LP offered on deep sea green vinyl. KINACT ~ Gaingai (Nyege Nyege Tapes) It’s always hot in Kampala, especially when one is wearing an overstuffed outfit of discarded and repurposed metal that one uses as instruments while walking in a street fair. Few of us have had this experience, but we can live vicariously through the sounds of KINACT. The track comes from Kinshasa in Action, released earlier this year. Shelf Nunny ~ Analgesia Shelf Nunny is no stranger to this list and for good reason; all of his music sounds like summer. Dancing With Latency is the artist’s latest album, another comeback from an emotional trough. It’s time to roll the windows down and get out on the wide open road for a trip to the beach, lake, river or pool ~ wherever cool water can be found. Nathan Fake ~ Hypercube (Hard Version) (InFiné Éditions) There are five versions of “Hypercube” on the EP of the same name, the single from the parent LP Evaporator. While the original buzz was around the Basile3 Remix, our attention is drawn to the Hard Version that leads off the set. The piece bleeds a retro vibe, harkening back to the days of breakbeats and hard trance, a pure summer banger. Hannah Peel & Beibei Wang ~ Awaken the Insects (Real World) If “APT.” can be a hit, this can be too. Based on a children’s rhyme, the track is a duet between voice and bamboo clappers. For those who insist that there are already way too many rap and clapper songs on the market, we’re calling you out; there’s only one. Richard Allen