Music Nostalgia Recommends... 5 Albums For Summer
We've all been there: rows of LPs and CDs, spines seemingly stretching on for miles, but no idea what to actually listen to. Well, allow us at Music Nostalgia to help. This is the first in a new series of posts in which we aim to reacquaint you with old favourites or, better still, introduce you to your next new favourite album.
Let's keep it simple to start with: five albums that get us in the summer mood, or that we feel complement the warm weather perfectly:
1. Alvvays – Alvvays (2014)
Alvvays have yet to put a foot wrong in my ears and in my eyes, but this debut remains my very favourite of theirs, from the initial euphoric rush of 'Adult Diversion' to the melancholic pangs of 'Party Police' and 'The Agency Group'. Irresistible melodies abound, on a bed of fuzzy keyboards and crisply picked guitar lines. I seem to remember once reading this album being described as 'the soundtrack to a thousand summer romances' or words to that effect, and it totally fits - though not for me, mind you, as I first heard it in the depths of a chilly northern winter away at university. That said, it still weaved its spell on me - as an almost staunch classic rock kid, here's the album that re-established my faith that (believe it or not) there was good new music out there after all.
2. Sam Prekop – Sam Prekop (1999)
See also pretty much any album by The Sea And Cake, the band Sam is perhaps best-known for. But his solo debut was my personal starting point, via the song 'Showrooms', the perfect summation of the sound he/the band perfected in the mid-90s on albums like 'The Biz' (1995) and 'The Fawn' (1997): a gently intricate drum groove, light jazzy guitar chords, hushed vocals that sound like they drifted in on a distant breeze. An occasional shift in time signature keeps things interesting, as do occasional embellishments from strings and various keyboards and electronics. Jim O'Rourke is another name more people should be familiar with (check out his album 'Eureka') and his effortless production never gets in the way but adds just the right touches when needed. Best listened to in a reclining position with an ice-cold drink in hand.
Buy here (on pink vinyl, no less)
3. The Beach Boys – Sunflower (1970)
I'm sure when many of us think of music suited to the summer, the Beach Boys quickly spring to mind. However, 'Fun Fun Fun' and 'Surfin' USA' this ain't. I first heard the majestic 'All I Wanna Do' at the end of a mixtape that had no track listing on it and which had otherwise included modern psych and dream pop by the likes of Beach House and Ariel Pink, and it blew my mind to find out that it wasn't one of their contemporaries but a 50-year-old track by the Beach Boys - the recording quality alone was light-years ahead of its time. The sound is rich, warm and enveloping, right from the opening of Dennis Wilson's brilliant 'Slip On Through', which never fails to leave me uplifted. Other highlights include the short and sweet 'This Whole World', Carl Wilson's rip-roaring lead vocal on 'It's About Time', and perhaps Dennis' finest composition ever, 'Forever' with brother Brian's stunning falsetto weaving throughout, especially on the fade-out.
Buy here
(Available as part of 'Feel Flows' with the equally excellent 'Surf's Up' album)
4. The Durutti Column – The Return Of... (1980)
Issued as the second album on Factory Records ('Unknown Pleasures' was the first), the Durutti Column's impishly titled debut opens with 'Sketch For Summer', a song that you really can judge by its title. Twittering electronic bird noises give way to a melody that can't help but conjure up the cloudless skies of a scene a thousand miles away from the Manchester studio it was created in. The other side of the album may contain the contrasting 'Sketch For Winter', but the light airy mood wins out overall, thanks to Martin Hannett's sparse production, consisting of little more than Vini Reilly's guitar and processed drum machine rhythms for the most part. While only clocking in at just over 30 minutes, what this album lacks in length, it more than makes up for in replay value.
5. Miles Davis – Get Up With It (1974)
I'll admit, this one's the wild card. Recorded and released towards the end of Davis' stellar run of electric albums from the first half of the 70s, this album is a heady brew, running the gamut from the beautiful, proto-ambient 'He Loved Him Madly' (a tribute to Duke Ellington which takes up the entire first side here, that Brian Eno included among his picks on Desert Island Discs) to the dissonant harshness of 'Rated X'. Both of these tracks feature Miles giving the trumpet less of the limelight in favour of playing organ, which becomes one of the album's dominant textures, along with the heavy rhythmic propulsion of drummer Al Foster and percussionist Mtume, who gets a track named after him on here. A double LP that lasts beyond two hours, this is one for those summer evenings where the heat is almost visible in the air in front of you and the atmosphere is just as thick. Not for the faint of heart, but the adventurous listener will be greatly rewarded.
– Adam Nicholls, 6 June 2023