SUMMER Groovin’
INsite’s Guide to the Season’s Best albums
By Natalie B. David
Summer and music go together like cold beer at a barbeque or kids at a pool: it’s just not summertime without the good times and good tunes to match. It’s the time to let loose, roll down the windows and crank up the radio as you head out on vacation (or maybe just to work) ‘cause a hot summer track can help beat the heat almost as well as the AC on full blast.
Songs of the summer stick with us because they don’t just soundtrack the season, they become soundtracks to our lives, markers of great times, greater friends and an aural attempt to carry the summer vibe with us through till the next year.
With upcoming releases from pop chart toppers (Katy Perry), dance music mavens (Kylie Minogue), countrified rockers (Kid Rock) and indie rock’s finest (Arcade Fire), this summer is sure to be no different. Read on for our list of the albums your ears will be loving in the hot months ahead.
JULY 6
KELIS
Flesh Tone
(will.i.am. Music Group/Interscope)
Get your ice cream scoops, ‘cause the “Milkshake” lady has returned. Recently signed to Black Eyed Peas main man will.i.am’s label, the new set, entitled Flesh Tone, finds Kelis taking a step towards more electro/dance jams than the hip hop base she’s known for. Featuring production turns by David Guetta, Free School, Boyz Noize, Burnz, DJ Ammo, Benny Benassi and, of course, will.i.am, it’s sure to be a hard record to beat for a summertime booty shake.
BRET MICHAELS
Custom Built
(Poor Boy)
2010 has been a year of up and downs for Bret Michaels. In and out of the hospital for several well-publicized medical problems, the Poison frontman still managed to clinch a win as the latest Celebrity Apprentice. Still on an upswing, the rocker and reality TV star will release his 4th solo album this month. Entitled Custom Built, the set finds the rocker singing a different tune, and one with a tinge of twang. First single “Nothing to Lose” even features Hanna Montanna herself, miss Miley Cyrus, and the album also boasts a cover of Sublime’s 1997 hit, “What I Got”.
KYLIE MINOGUE
Aphrodite
(Astralwerks/EMI)
With an international career spanning back to the mid-80s, Kylie Minogue takes aim at U.S. success with her 11th studio album, Aphrodite. A hot commodity around the globe for her pop and dance hits, Aphrodite marks the breast cancer survivor’s return to her dance music roots. Produced by Stuart Price (Madonna, The Killers), the album also includes songs written by Minogue, Price, Calvin Harris, Jake Shears (of Scissor Sisters), Nerina Pallor and Keane’s Tim Rice-Oxley.
JULY 13
DANGER MOUSE & SPARKLEHORSE
Danger Mouse & Sparklehorse Present: Dark Night of the Soul
(Capitol)
Following the death earlier this year of Sparklehorse’s Mark Linkous, his collaborative audio/visual project with Danger Mouse will see light of day after a year in dry dock. Helmed by Danger Mouse and containing companion visuals by filmmaker David Lynch, the album also features guest spots by Iggy Pop, The Flaming Lips, Super Furry Animals frontman Gruff Rhys, Grandaddy singer Jason Lytle, The Strokes’ Julian Casablancas, The Pixies’ Black Francis, The Cardigans’ frontwoman Nina Persson, Suzanne Vega, Vic Chesnutt and Danger Mouse’s Broken Bells collaborator James Mercer.
M.I.A.
/\/\/\Y/\
(N.E.E.T./Interscope)
After naming her first two albums after her father (Arular) and mother (Kala), respectively, it’s only fitting that her third would be named for herself. Released via her own N.E.E.T. label, /\/\/\Y/\ (pronounced Maya, the name M.I.A. goes by off-stage) features production by Blaqstarr, Switch and Diplo and finds M.I.A. post-breakthrough and post-new motherhood. One of hip hop’s most explosive and smartly confrontational women, Maya may not be exactly the M.I.A. we’re used to, but there’s plenty we’ll recognize from the politically minded tour de force.
SCHOOL OF SEVEN BELLS
Disconnect from Desire
(Vagrant/Ghostly International)
In 2008, School of Seven Bells’ debut album Alpinisms garnered praise for the group’s brand of experimental dream pop, one that is only accentuated by the ethereal vocals provided by identical twins Alejandra and Claudia Deheza. Rounding out the trio is Benjamin Curtis (formerly of Secret Machines) who also produces the band’s sophomore effort, Disconnect from Desire. Recorded at the band’s home studio, the album was mixed by Jack Joseph Puig, and should give indie rock fans a reason to smile this summer, too.
JULY 20
SHERYL CROW
100 Miles From Memphis
(A&M/Interscope)
For her 7th studio album, Sheryl Crow worked closely with producers Doyle Bramhall II and Justin Stanley, writing lyrics written only after the trio had completed the music. Other assists on Memphis include Keith Richards, who plays guitar on “Eye to Eye” and Justin Timberlake, who contributes vocals to a cover of Terence Trent D’Arby’s “Sign Your Name.” A nod to Michael Jackson, the man who started Crow’s career with a backup singing stint in 1988, the album closes with Crow’s rendition of the Jackson 5 tune “I Want You Back”.
JULY 27
SKY SAILING
An Airplane Carried Me to Bed
(Universal Republic)
Before Owl City, Adam Young was Sky Sailing. As things began taking off with his second persona, his earlier songs receded to the backburner as the one-man band wandered into pop stardom. Finding himself with some time between Owl City records, Young took the time to revisit these tunes, originally recorded in the summer of 2007, which take a mellower approach to the style of his established hits, favoring an acoustic guitar over dreamy bloops and blips.
AUGUST 3
ARCADE FIRE
The Suburbs
(Merge)
Following the triumphant baroque pop of their debut album Funeral, and its Bruce Springsteen indebted follow-up, Neon Bible, if two early released tracks (“The Suburbs” and “Month of May”) are any indication, The Suburbs will be Arcade Fire’s most diverse album yet. Recorded in both New York and the band’s home of Montreal, and produced by the band and Markus Dravs, the album moves between light folk and straightforward rock and roll, and promises some electronic touches. Expect awesomeness from one of indie rocks best bets.
AUGUST 17
AMERICAN HI-FI
Fight the Frequency
(Hi-Fi Killers/The Ascot Club/Megaforce/RED/Sony)
Most well known for their 2001 hit “Flavor of the Weak”, American Hi-Fi have worked the Cheap Trick-esque flavor of that single through to their new, fourth album, Fight the Frequency. Visually a throwback to the album cover of the band’s debut (both feature a similar image of a cassette tape), it marks the band’s first release for their own label, Hi-Fi Killers. Singer/guitarist Stacy Jones, who served as drummer in the 90s for both Letters to Cleo and Veruca Salt, also produces.
Ray LaMontagne & The Pariah Dogs
God Willin' & The Creek Don't Rise
(RCA)
For the follow-up to his acclaimed third album, Gossip in the Grain, Lamontagne retreated to his recently restored historic home in the western Massachusetts woods where he teamed up with his new band, The Pariah Dogs--Jay Bellarose (drums), Jennifer Condos (bass), Patrick Warren (keyboard), Eric Heywood (guitar) and Greg Leisz (pedal steel guitar)-- a group of musicians who individually have played live with Beck, Tom Waits, Lucinda Williams and Ryan Adams amongst others. With Lamontagne taking on self-production duties for the first time, the set was recorded over a two-week span and was meant to capture the feel of a live studio recording.
AUGUST 24
MICHAEL FRANTI & SPEARHEAD
The Sound of Sunshine
(Capitol/Boo Boo Wax)
While hospitalized last summer with a ruptured appendix, Michael Franti was sowing the seeds for what would become The Sound of Sunshine, the latest release from one of music’s most positive forces. The album again reunited Franti with producers Sly and Robbie in Jamaica, before the recording process progressed to Franti’s home in Bali, then his hometown of San Francisco, and, still unfinished, was completed using a mobile studio while on tour with John Mayer. If you can’t spend your summer at the beach, you can at least fake it with Franti.
KATY PERRY
Teenage Dream
(Capitol)
Barely into the summer season, Katy Perry’s “California Gurls” (featuring Snoop Dogg) has already been tagged as the summer song to beat. Her sophomore effort seeks to repeat the summertime success of her debut, One of the Boys, and features a collection of songs produced and co-written with Perry by a bevy of collaborators including Dr. Luke, Max Martin, Greg Wells, Weezer’s Rivers Cuomo and Rihanna collaborator Tricky Stewart. Expect more flippant, fun pop from a real-life Smurfette.
SEPTEMBER 7
KID ROCK
Born Free
(Atlantic/Top Dog)
Much like on 2008’s Rock and Roll Jesus, with Born Free, Kid Rock again strives to bridge the gap between his rap roots and country leanings. Nowhere is this more evident than on “Care” a song that features both country pop singer Martina McBride, and Atlanta rapper T.I. Produced by Rick Rubin, the new disc also includes collabs with Sheryl Crow, Bob Seger, and Zac Brown.
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