You guys, summer 2010 is going to be all of the best times of our young lives.
When I woke up in Manhattan the other day, my olfactory system booted into overdrive. What was that incredibly pleasantly unpleasant odor bombarding my senses? It was too tart to be old derelict, too sweet to be subway exhaust, and too offensive to be natural. Then it struck me: this smell was summer, or, as it’s more often referred to around these parts, “garbage cooking on the curbside.” A step onto the street confirmed my hypothesis, as a black trashbag had attained temperatures high enough to singe my leg hairs as I stepped out into traffic to hail a cab to take me back south where I belong (fare for the 15 hour trip was a surprisingly affordable 1454.70, and I think it was only that high because the cabbie tried to cheat me by taking 95 — every jackass who’s ever driven knows that 78’s the only way to get to Tennessee, Idris).
Rubbing my leg in pain on the ride, I had a revelation: this summer is going to be it. You know what I mean? We’re going to do it, guys. We’re going to do it! Like all of it. I’m actually going to go to the Purple Rain singalong (look out; “I would sooner die than watch a movie with Prince” isn’t going to be compelling enough to prevent me from dragging you this year), and I’m going to teach DFJacobs how to eat oysters. That’s all there is to a compelling summer, y’all.
Actually, that’s not entirely true. Because eating oysters often involves slurping noises, and those can get uncomfortable if you don’t have some background noise. And that’s where I come in. Summers need mixtapes. Fact. Mixtapes need songs. Double fact. I have all those songs. Your honor, the jury rests.
I was reading some Nick Hornby earlier today (and by that, I mean I saw High Fidelity last week, and was thinking about that while tooling around Virginia in a hijacked cab), and I realized that songs are powerful. I’d tell you more, but it’s so hot in Nashville that typing this much has already made me work up a really repulsive sweat. And besides, the songs speak for themselves, like a fine Montepulciano D’Abruzzo or a kick-ass USA Today infographic.
REDACT: it occurs to me that even a graph of “What We’re Recycling” inevitably has a key, so let me give you a brief guide to understanding these massively complicated songs. First comes the eardrum-blasting noisy perfection of Sleigh Bells, whose debut still kicks ass. Then we slow it down with a retried version of Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros’ “Home”, one of 2009’s favorite songs made fresh again with a new backing track that reinvents the song while leaving its catchy-as-hell soul intact. Finally, a great track from perennial summer favorites The National, which you may have missed when it came out on last summer’s Dressner brothers-produced Dark as the Night compilation.
Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros – Home (Alternate Version) (YSI)
The National – So Far Around the Bend (YSI)
