musical summer.

Music is energizing me this summer more than ever before. I'm discovering great new stuff everyday, blaring it in my car in the sunshine, and drawing inspiration from it to write. Sending recommendations out into the world is a great joy of mine. So here's the first of what I'm sure will be many summer playlists to come...

1) Vampire Weekend, "Diplomat's Son" (from Contra)//off their latest album, which takes some adjustment but is just as fantastic as their debut. This song has some particularly addictive beats and background vocals.

2) Deer Tick's cover of Sean Kingston's "Beautiful Girls"//No joke. John Macauley's voice is incredibly gruff, the band's sound best described as grunge-y folk. This cover is random and odd, but wonderfully so.

3) Passion Pit, "Eyes as Candles" (from Manners)//I'm angry because their shows in Austin this summer are already sold out! This song has a strange tinge of an 80s pop on its edges, love it. Crazy-catchy chorus..."Why do I always need to need you when, when you're fleeting?"

4) Eric Hutchinson, "Rock and Roll" (from Sounds Like This)//Had this recommended to me recently; immediately liked Hutchinson's gentle guitar/thoughtful lyrics.

5) Spoon, "Don't You Evah" (From Ga Ga Ga Ga)//This song IS summer for me. Windows down, sunglasses on, mouth the words in sync with blatantly narcissistic nods of your head. This is also dedicated to little Will Berry, that precious 3-year-old in Athens, Ga., who replies to his mother (my dear friend Franny) with this phrase sometimes: "Don't you evah!"

6) The Decemberists, "Summersong" (from The Crane Wife)//A given. I mean, come on..."I taste the summer on your peppery skin."

7) Yo La Tengo, "Here Comes My Baby" (from Fakebook)//This song will make you want to dance down a street...and if you're me, it'll make you want to dance down the street toward a cute little dude who's singing this to you!

8) Broken Bells, "The Ghost Inside" (from Broken Bells)//Continue to be obsessed with this band. I missed their show in Athens, sadly, last week. But I heard it was amahzin!

9) The Corrs, "Summer Sunshine" (from Borrowed Heaven)//Gotz no shame in loving The Corrs; my friend Brian is the most dedicated Corrs fan EVER (I have no statistical proof, of course, but I'm pretty sure I'm right) and gifted me all of their albums last year. This song is incredibly joyful...and it's well-constructed pop.

10) Band of Horses, "Ode to the LRC" (from Cease to Begin)//BOH oldie but goodie..."The world is such a wonderful place, la de da de da!"

xx