Cool summer sounds
 

Aww crap.

I've been put in charge of supplying tunes for the neighbourhood picknic.

Me. The guy who thinks the best Beatle song of all time is Octopuss's Garden.

Can I get some swank help here? I have rhapsody which gives me access to a lot of music...

Who should I add to the rotation? Daytime, families, hot dog and burger thing.

O a hot summer day, I'm always in the mood for Tribalistas or the latest David Byrne/Fat Boy Slim collaboration "Here Lies Love". There's something about a bit of a Samba beat that makes summer even better.

The Stool Pigeons do a lot of 60s pop covers. They're pretty fun.

Richard Cheese? Weird Al? Beach Boys, Dick Dale...

Vampire Weekend, Fleet Foxes, Blitzen Trapper, Architecture in Helsinki, Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings, Gecko Turner, Michael Franti

Keane, They Might Be Giants, Beck, Talking Heads, Jamiroquai, MGMT (Oracular Spectacular)

Pet Sounds

Astrude Gilberto, Smoke City to add to the samba suggestion, but some Coletrain jazz might be nice as well. On a more contemporary side I like Air and Belle & Sebastian for a hot Summer Day - and more obscurely a Spanish band by the name of La Mans. Gotan project for some chill tango rhythms.

Oooh, Belle and Sebastian are wonderful for a hot summer day! So are The Go Betweens!

Or you could go another direction... Rosemary Clooney's peppy songs (Mangos, In the Cool Cool Cool of the Evening, Come On a My House, etc.) Bobby Darin. Pink Martini.

Nothing, the sweet sound of people just talking to each other without having to shout over unneeded music.

Pink Martini

Kenny Chesney.

Oh please. As if you like talking to people.

When I do I prefer not to be shouting over all the other people talking who have to shout over music nobody's listening to.

Nothing more awkward than a party without any music.

Just keep the volume down. (And don't ever listen to Alex when it comes to social advice.)

I also like to add in some King Sunny Ade to my summer mix.

Passion Pit, Caetano Veloso, The B-52s, Techno Squirrels, Bear in Heaven

Ooh, forgot Passion Pit! Good call! :D

Caetano Veloso is always good for summer. The Belize Tropical compilation that David Byrne put together is a fantastic collection.

I would take Alex's advice and theme the party as 'Hot August Nights at the Downtown Library".


(Pic related - It's an angry librarian)

Yes, because I'm such a repugnant troll.

It's Katchoo from Strangers in Paradise!

You do know I love you, right? Keeping my jabs smiley-free is how I show it.

Thanks one and all. I took a lot of your suggestions add in some classic Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jeff Beck, Jimmy Buffet and had one hell of a mix.

Is it too late to suggest Yanni?

Always.

You're in luck - NPR just started a series to answer this very question

Here's the first edition:
The Spin: Ibiza's Hit Is David Guetta's 'Gettin' Over'

How did I miss this thread?!?

I have so many... but much of it's been shared.

I'm always partial to just about anything from the 60s for the summer. Then, there's the fading from day to late afternoon to night. Summer music mood shifts for that with me.

*Le sigh*

I'll probably be in the minority on these two songs, but:

On The Dark Side - John Cafferty and the Beaver Brown Band
Bang the Drum - Todd Rungren


The former would be perfect to blast while driving a convertible down PCH

Next edition - Istanbul:
The Spin: Istanbul's Jam Is Yalin's 'Ah Be Kardesim'

(I confess I am a fan of Oojami - a Turkish dance band)

Pretty much anything ABBA worked well this evening (which was good, since this evening featured ABBA!). But yeah, summer evening at the Hollywood Bowl and the tunes fit perfectly.