Changing weather has always meant changing feelings, which in turn always mean new music. There have already been incredible new records this spring. Some of my early favorites are Dr. Dog’s new record Critical Equation, Lomo’s Vices, Post Malone’s Beer Bongs and Bentleys, and Triathlon’s Online.
But what I find most refreshing about new weather, whether it is the Apoptosis of Autumn or Pollen Petrichor of Spring, is revisiting old records that are tied to memories from a particular season. Here are my top records worth revisiting as we head into May and Summer.
***You can listen to the Spotify Playlist with these albums here.***
1.) Sylvan Esso by Sylvan Esso
“Blazing summer, cold coffee
Baby’s gone, do you love me?”
Fittingly, I was introduced to the single Coffee off this album by a friend and fellow barista (shoutout to Lia) in the spring of 2014. This entire record, from Amelia Meath and Nick Sanborn, is meant for the month it was released (May 2014).
Best for afternoons. Favorite tracks: Hey Mami, Coffee, Could I Be, Dress, Uncatena
Also check out their latest record What Now and their NPR tiny desk.
2.) Kaputt by Destroyer
“I write poetry for myself.”
Maybe one of my favorite records of all time. It was actually released in January of 2011, but my older brother Tim must’ve showed me this album a little after because I first heard it that spring and on into the summer. Dan Bejar created a strange and open dream with fragments of jazz, poetry, and pop.
I listened to it at 4 AM while reading for AP US History, or driving home from Tessa’s house through the sleeping streets of Chimney Springs, or driving home from a busy Saturday night shift at the coffee shop, sitting around the sun room drinking beer, or feeling like shit when Tim left home for the Air Force.
It features incredible writing that reminds me of driving around, being in love, getting drunk in the suburbs, and late night Waffle House. Here are some of my favorite lines:
“Mary Jane from down the lane went insane, now she’s still better off than I am, downtown.”
“Look I don’t do this every day
You got style!… All you’ve got is style!”
“You’re a permanent figure of jacked-up sorrow. I want you to love me. You send me a coffin of roses. I guess that’s the way that things go these days.
“Winter, spring, summer, fall
Punks kick a ball in a park on a Sunday, just wasted in the rain!”
“Fool child, you’re never gonna make it. New York City just wants to see you naked
(And they will).”
Best for early nighttime and late late night. Favorite tracks: Kaputt, Poor in Love, Downtown, Chinatown, Blue Eyes, Savage Night at the Opera, Suicide Demo for Kara Walker.
Check out this wonderful live recording too.
3.) Shame, Shame by Dr. Dog
“And we’re sitting in the rain
And we’re feeling like the weather”
This is likely my favorite album ever. It came out in April of 2010, my freshman spring of high school. Because of that that this album will always mean falling in love with Tessa. In fact our first real time hanging out was at a free Dr. Dog show that May in Atlanta. I went to hug her hello and she quickly stopped me with “wait!” She had been hiding a baby kitten rescued from craigslist under her shirt.
Dr. Dog was touring this record and it was a green and rainy afternoon downtown. One of the rainy afternoons of early summer where the sun keeps coming out after a brief shower and almost drying everything up before more rain comes down for a bit. And Dr. Dog almost had to cut the free show short but kept going despite the organizer’s request that they stop. Cats and dogs. Best lines:
“And slowly I’ve become undone
A stranger with a stranger heart”
“Rise in the morning oh sleepy, dream on
The clouds in sky, alone and untied”
“And you know I get so forgetful
When I look in your eyes”
“There’s nothing to keep you
From falling in love”
“Just another cup of coffee
I’ll sit around and wait for you”
“What a strange day
Maybe I was dreaming
Nothing seemed entirely awake
What uncertain light”
Best for early morning and afternoon. Favorite tracks: Shadow People, Unbearable Why, Where’d All the Time Go?, Jackie Wants a Black Eye, I Only Wear Blue, Mirror Mirror, What a Strange Day, Nobody Knows Who You Are
4.) Contra by Vampire Weekend
“Here comes a feeling you thought you’d forgotten…”
This record was released the same month as Kaputt a year before. But like that record, I must’ve started listening a little after. I remember my oldest cousin had an early Vampire Weekend merch shirt, which made me curious to check them out, and that was in July at the beach. If you examined every playlist I have ever made, songs from Vampire Weekend probably take the highest percentage. They are especially good for warmer weather. This album always reminds me of a T.S Elliot poem. Here are some lines that could easily have been written by Ezra or Rostam:
“My morning coat, my collar mounting firmly to the chin, my necktie rich and modest, but asserted by a simple pin.”
“With a shower of rain; we stopped in the colonnade”
“Would it have been worth while, after the sunsets and the dooryards and the sprinkled streets…”
Here are my favorite lines off of Contra:
“Here comes a feeling you thought you’d forgotten
Chairs to sit and sidewalks to walk on”
“Those lips and teeth that asked how my day went are shouting up from cracks in the pavement”
“Look up at the buildings imagine who might live there”
“I could blame it on your mother’s hair
Or the colors that your father wears”
“And I don’t think your eyes
Have ever looked surprised”
“On a night when the moon glows yellow in the riptide
With the light from the TVs buzzing in the house”
“Dressed in white with my car keys hidden in the kitchen
I could sleep wherever I lay my head”
“You wanted good schools and friends with pools. You’re not a contra.
You wanted rock and roll, complete control. Well, I don’t know”
Best for waking late, afternoon driving, early evening dates. Best tracks: Diplomat’s Son, I Think Ur a Contra, White Sky, Taxi Cab.
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