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July 14, 2006
Summer is, by far, my favorite season. In grade school, I'd start counting down to the end of school right after April vacation. And after July 4th, I'd begin to sadly count the days until summer's end. Even though summer no longer means a reprieve from responsibility, I still can't wait for it to start.
In summer, instead of grimly stuffing ourselves with cold-weather foods like meatloaf and borscht, we sit on the back porch eating fruit salad and ripe tomatoes with goat cheese and fresh basil. All the girls wear tank tops and cute shoes instead of raincoats and galoshes. We can hug and hold hands with our friends without worrying that they're going to give us their flu germs.
I enjoy music more in the summer, too. My favorite songs sound even better when they're blasting through the speakers at a block party or carefully arranged on a road trip CD.
If Emma Goldman were alive today, I'm sure she'd agree that the Coup's Pick a Bigger Weapon is the essential album for summer 2006. This is radical politics you can, and must, dance to. No doubt she'd choose "Laugh/Love/Fuck" as the standout. It's a bumpin' party track that sums up why I love the Coup so much.
The Coup
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Other songs off this album are just as fun. "I Love Boosters" is a hilarious, Parliament-saturated love song to the urban Robin Hoods who steal expensive sweatshop clothing from department stores and resell it to poor folks who would never be able to pay full price.
And "Babyletshaveababybeforebushdosomethincrazy," which features Oakland rapper Silk-E's warm, gritty voice, highlights the panicky feeling so many of us get late at night when we wonder if we'll be able to survive the rest of the Bush administration.
The Coup deserves so much more recognition than they've received over the past fifteen years. They've been largely ignored by everyone but the critics while musical train wrecks like Nelly and 50 Cent are virtually inescapable. They put out some of the only real funk you can get nowadays, and they're smart and funny as hell. And how can you not love a band that Michelle Malkin hates with such psychotic venom?
Boards of Canada's Trans Canada Highway is a perfect headphones album for when it's too hot to do anything but sit around and listen to music. The five tracks on this EP are airy and intensely visual. Overall, this is the mellowest collection of songs Boards of Canada have released to date, with an emphasis on complex analog synth arrangements and fewer of the glitchy, jarring beats they sometimes favor.
Anyone who loves Tropicalia will be interested in the re-release of Som Imaginario's self-titled album. Although they originally formed as a back-up band for Milton Nascimento, they're outstanding on their own as well. Their 1960s Brazilian psych is like a blast of early-morning sunshine.
And finally, there's Voxtrot. Sometimes the only thing to do is sit under the big tree in the backyard drinking margaritas with the neighbors and watching the sun set. Mothers, Sisters, Daughters and Wives isn't an earth-shatteringly original EP, but it's the perfect thing to listen to on a warm summer night. "Soft and Warm" is especially wonderful, with catchy organs and judiciously-applied strings and horns.
Summer's just begun. Make sure you take some time to slow down and enjoy it.
Posted July 2006
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