Let’s talk about music.
Lately I’ve been pretty gosh darn nostalgic. I’ve been thinking about great summers and the music that I couldn’t take out of my car stereo. I’ve been thinking about certain records and how maybe they’re reminiscent of a time in your life that you will never see again. You can’t pop your album cherry twice, the first time you hear something may always stay with you. Be it the girl you were with, the car you were driving or even how you got loaded and screamed the lyrics at the top of your lungs.
Anyways, without further delay, I give you my top summer records from the last ten years.
1998
Tragically Hip - Phantom Power / Beastie Boys - Hello Nasty
Both of these records came out on the same day in July and I purchased them together. At the time, there were no bigger bands than these for me. I had just discovered the Beasties and had bought everything they put out that spring. The Hip had been my mainstay for a few years at this point.
Lyrically, Phantom Power still stands up as one of the most cleaver records ever to come from the Kingston, Ontario quintet. It is also (to date) their most successful record. I remember that summer, “Poets” was number one on the Muchmusic countdown for something like 11 weeks. I remember sitting in the pool and twirling in the inner tube and having my last summer before high school.
Hello Nasty was a record that opened my eyes to a lot, but I haven’t been able to listen to it (or anything the MCA & Co have put out) in years. I don’t think that it has the classic appeal that perhaps Paul’s Boutique has (and it alarms me that THAT record is a legal adult already), nor was it as ground breaking. But as a pure theme record about space and robots and movin’ your body, it works. And the fact that they appeared on their own individual Spin Magazine covers that summer with the whole “spoken word history” deal was pretty neat too.
1999
Wilco - Summerteeth
This is a record that I didn’t get into until later, but it is still the best summer record I’ve heard in years and not just because “summer” is in the title. The songs are laid back, weird, acoustic and heartbreaking. Where most people pick Yankee Hotel Foxtrot as their masterpiece, I believe it is this release that fell through the cracks between Billy Bragg collaborations. Besides, Via Chicago is one of the best songs. Ever. Watch out for Sky Blue Sky on May 15th. It’s going to be the record of THIS summer.
2000
Dynamite Hack - Superfast
I’m such a nerd for even recommending this record, but it’s kind of nice because this band is completely forgotten outside of the very few people who remember the website/label/TV show Farmclub. This was the band that was signed to that label (I don’t think anyone else EVER was). It was spearheaded by the single/video “Boyz-n-the Hood” (an acoustic cover of the Eazy E classic) but that was not a representation of what this band had to offer. Yes, the record was simple, but its quirky hidden track (a female/piano cover of track two “Anyway”) was kind of what did it for me. The band actually re-united this year and will be released How to Break up a Band this summer.
2001
Weezer - Green Album
Don’t call it a comeback! Okay, maybe we should. I’ve read almost everything there is to know about Weezer and I still can’t get into Rivers’ head (and this one won’t help you). It’s the most impersonal thing he had written at this point, but it was a rock record. It was a pop record. It had videos by Marcos Siega featuring sumo wrestlers and Mexican weddings (and then a Spike Jonze video with cute & cuddly animals). It was all everyone was talking about, as the cult of =w= had only been growing. I remember getting into them again around January of 2001 and when I heard they were working on new material I was ecstatic. This came out a few weeks before I graduated high school and that summer it received many a play in all of our car stereos. People say that the mighty Weezer are broken up again, but they said that in 1998. Never say die!
2002
Greg MacPherson Band - Good Times Coming Back Again
This record came out in ’01 but I didn’t latch onto it till the next summer. I think it was the whole “going to University” thing that got me into this man, maybe it was the fact that he played for free at our school and he totally blew my mind. It was just GMac and a guitar. This is a perfect record for lying next to someone you like more than a friend in bed or on a blanket under the stars, but it’s also a great driving in downtown Winnipeg record. Stand-outs are “The Day the Water Dried up from the Tap”, “Slow Stroke” and “$6 All Day”.
2003
Eels - Shootenanny! / The Weakerthans - Reconstruction Site
Honestly, these were the only two records I listened to that summer. I had just gotten heavily into both bands and I don’t have a single memory from that summer that didn’t include John K Samson’s “The Reasons” or E’s “Dirty Girl”.
As poppy as it was depressing, this was the record that may have shown me how wonderful and diverse not only one artist, but one RECORD could be. I would eventually see the Eels on their “Eels with Strings” tour in the summer of ’05 and they would blow my mind. Standouts on this record include “Rock Hard Times” and the closer “Somebody Loves You”. A beautiful piece. Go out and by everything by this band.
I’ll admit that I had a copy of this downloaded months before it came out, but bought it the day it came out in August. That way, I had this record for the whole summer. I was in love with Ian Blurton’s production on Site and the whole idea of a concept record worked so well here, yet the songs as stand-alones were perfect as well. I think this was the summer I was first playing in a band. I think I wanted to be The Weakerthans but we wound up being more like April Wine (kind of a miss-fire). To this day, this is still a perfect record.
2004
Matthew Good - White Light Rock & Roll Review
With all of his records, he seemed to be building towards some kind of symphonic acoustic majesty. This was the record that brought him back to the rock. Recorded live off the floor, it was as much a protest record as it was a simply great pop album. Radio never latched onto it like it should have (and the Colombine-ish video for “Alert Status Red” was never on TV) but this record sounded brilliant live. These were songs to be played to an outdoor audience, and the kids still liked it. For me though, the stand-out was the acoustic heart-breaker “Empty Road”, I think I had just been run over by a girl or something at the time. Either way, this is his least-successful yet most endearing record.
2005
Rilo Kiley - More Adventurous
This record came out in ’04 but no one seemed to latch onto it until the summer of ’05. I think the first time I really heard about them was on an episode of “The New Music” on Muchmusic. There was an interview with Jenny Lewis and Blake Sennett and they were flirting up a storm. I fell hard for Lewis and recognized Sennett from Boy Meets World and I went out and bought everything they put out. More Adventurous was the stand out for me. It’s just a little country, a little bit rock & roll, and I cannot resist Jenny’s sweet vocals and the insane sadness of “Does he Love You?”
2006
The Flaming Lips - At War With The Mystics
This is a record that came out almost exactly a year ago and would honestly shape my entire summer. As beautiful as it was pop, as weird as it was heart breaking, the Lips gave me everything I needed for my most unsure summer. What this record really means to me though is driving down to St. Paul, Minnesota in a rain storm to see the Lips and Sonic Youth play the State Fair. It was (and still is to this day) my favourite show I’ve ever seen. I cried during “My Cosmic Autumn Rebellion”. I jumped during “Race For The Prize”. Seeing Steven, Wayne, Michael and Kliph in the flesh was all I wanted. This record can be all you’ve ever wanted.
2007
The Shins - Wincing the Night Away
Sub Pop records has kind of had a little come back, hey? This record came out in January, but it definitely works as a summer record. It’s kind of the perfect “spend time with someone you love” piece, definitely a record to enjoy while you’re in someone’s arms. Maybe it’s because I’m finally in love. Maybe it’s because it’s a simple sappy record. Maybe it’s because … just maybe. The closer “A Comet Appears” is my personal favorite.
So there you have it. Go out and buy these records and have a wonderful summer. Or maybe grab that old copy of Bleach and have your own nostalgia party.
See you in the next reel…
Nicholas Friesen is a filmmaker, radio personality and cookie enthusiast.
