Perfect Summer Soundtrack – Week 12

Well what do you know? It seems like only yesterday that I birthed this silly summer feature called the “Perfect Summer Soundtrack.” But alas the fruit of my loins must emerge from it’s nest and soar the autumn skies as a distant, though fond memory.

The Ultimate Road Trip Playlist

One might argue that I’ve spent too much time on the road trip this summer. While true in some regards (every album featured has been a particularly great road trip album), I’d like to offer a counter-point in that most memorable summer activities – be they vacations, trips to the beach, the lake, or a water park – involve hopping in the car and taking a drive. Certainly there aren’t many who read this blog that would engage in such an activity only to pop in Meshuggah or Mastodon to accompany their trip. Therefore, I’ve continually tried to offer up what I consider to be great drive-time records, filled with songs that somehow seem better when you’re behind the wheel.

This week’s playlist is not only the last of this series, but perhaps the last I’ll do for Audio Overflow, what with my imminent departure less than a week away. So I wanted to give you all something a bit special, in this case a multiple hour playlist (assuming imeem plays nice with all the 30-second samples) that is meant to be listened to behind the wheel. Is it worth going to your wireless provider, purchasing a laptop connect card, and hooking that laptop up to your car stereo for? Maybe. At the very least, it’s worth listening to at your work desk, or at home when you’ve got nothing better to do. Maybe you’ll find something that you’ve never heard, forgot about, or always liked but never bought. Maybe hearing it on this playlist will make you want to rush out and buy that to add to your own custom road trip playlist. I don’t know how you roll. What I do know is, for me, it doesn’t get any better than this.

Click HERE to view Weeks 1-11 of this 12-week series.

Perfect Summer Soundtrack – Week 11

This week, then next week, then no more weeks of the Perfect Summer Soundtrack.  Not really that sad at all, actually.

The High School Friends Playlist

So for a lot of you, summer is a time to leave your college campus and return home for the summer.  And what’s the bast (or worst) part of returning home?  Getting to see all your high school friends again, and being able to reminisce on the “good times.”  Of course, there’s nothing better to help reminisce than all of that shitey music you used to jam to back in your parent’s old Ford Taurus.  

Face it, the music you listened to in high school sucked.  But being the nice guy that I am, I’ve decided to compile a good portion of it here.  The first 8 songs on the playlist are the songs you probably loved in high school.  The rest are what you should’ve been listening to.  More than anything, this just makes me feel old.  When I was in high school, Bill Clinton was still president of the United States and Coldplay was some British band that only my sister’s ex-boyfriend had heard of.  How times change!

Week 1 – Rooney’s Self-Titled Debut (Beach Trip, Road Trip, Skateboarding)
Week 2 – The Picnic Playlist
Week 3 – Of Montreal: The Sunlandic Twins (Road Trip Sing-a-longs, House Parties, Frisbee Tossing)
Week 4 – The 4th of July Party Playlist
Week 5 – The Pump Me the F*** Up! Playlist (Mountain Climbing, Fight Clubbing, Wakeboarding, Kayaking, Parachuting, Murdering, Running)
Week 6 – The Elected: Sun Sun Sun (Road Trip)
Week 7 – The Bike Ride Through the Country Playlist
Week 8 – Incubus: Morning View (Skateboarding, Surfing, Beach Trip, Road Trip)
Week 9 – The Water Aerobics Playlist

Week 10 – The Boy Least Likely To: The Best Party Ever (Hipster Parties, Road Trip, Biking, Frisbee-Tossing, and Running Through Sprinklers)

Perfect Summer Soundtrack – Week 10

Sad but true; there are only 3 more weeks of this silly series (not to mention, your summer) left to enjoy. So let’s get on with it.

The Boy Least Likely To: The Best Party Ever

Recomended Activities: Hipster Parties, Road Trip, Biking, Frisbee-Tossing, and Running Through Sprinklers

There are parts of me every year that think, “Ugh, here comes summer again!” But I live in Houston where things can tend to get a bit steamy. Most people invite the sunny season like Scott Stapp (with arms wide open 😉 ). Why? Because when people think about summer, they think about fun! Even as we get older, we still associate the summer months with vacations, trips, and – though it hardly matters -no school!

And if this 2005 album by The Boy Least Likely To can be described by just a single word, it would be “fun.” Oh sure, there are bouts with insecurity and fear, but when your fear song is titled “I See Spiders When I Close My Eyes,” you can very well be certain that you won’t need to bust out your razors to get the full experience. It’s a wonderfully joyous album that will absolutely make for the best party ever, assuming that everyone in your party shops exclusively at vintage clothing stores. If they don’t, you might want to go ahead and dust off that Lil’ Wayne album you swore you’d never listen to again. That seems to be pretty hot with the kiddos these days.

Week 1 – Rooney’s Self-Titled Debut (Beach Trip, Road Trip, Skateboarding)
Week 2 – The Picnic Playlist
Week 3 – Of Montreal: The Sunlandic Twins (Road Trip Sing-a-longs, House Parties, Frisbee Tossing)
Week 4 – The 4th of July Party Playlist
Week 5 – The Pump Me the F*** Up! Playlist (Mountain Climbing, Fight Clubbing, Wakeboarding, Kayaking, Parachuting, Murdering, Running)
Week 6 – The Elected: Sun Sun Sun (Road Trip)
Week 7 – The Bike Ride Through the Country Playlist
Week 8 – Incubus: Morning View (Skateboarding, Surfing, Beach Trip, Road Trip)
Week 9 – The Water Aerobics Playlist

Perfect Summer Soundtrack – Week 9

Here’s an odd one, folks.  I’ve worked in a gym over the last few years and I’ve learned a thing or two about what people want to hear when they want to work out.  The oddest mix of the bunch belongs to the Water Aerobics crowd who mainly resort to bad disco music.  Disco Inferno?  No thanks.  Here’s a playlist for the Water Aerobics crowd.  Please try something different for a change!

The Water Aerobics Playlist

So, I know, this isn’t really my target audience.  Where I work, the majority of people who do Water Aerobics are white and over the age of 60.  But I’ve taken that into account when assembling the playlist.  Some of the songs were more popular in their heyday than they are now.  None of the songs are so “over the top” that they will flat out hate it, nor do any of them contain profanity or suggestive themes.  But it is music that any hipster can appreciate.  So even if you’re not planning on turning 60 soon, it’s still a great playlist.

Week 1 – Rooney’s Self-Titled Debut (Beach Trip, Road Trip, Skateboarding)
Week 2 – The Picnic Playlist
Week 3 – Of Montreal: The Sunlandic Twins (Road Trip Sing-a-longs, House Parties, Frisbee Tossing)
Week 4 – The 4th of July Party Playlist
Week 5 – The Pump Me the F*** Up! Playlist (Mountain Climbing, Fight Clubbing, Wakeboarding, Kayaking, Parachuting, Murdering, Running)

Week 6 – The Elected: Sun Sun Sun (Road Trip)

Week 7 – The Bike Ride Through the Country Playlist

Week 8 – Incubus: Morning View (Skateboarding, Surfing, Beach Trip, Road Trip)

Perfect Summer Soundtrack – Week 8

Is it still summer where you are?  I assume that unless you’re in the Pacific Northwest (where it’s currently in the 50s!!) that the answer would be a resounding “yes.”  Here in H-Town, it’s a paltry 100 or so, the perfect weather to hit the beach and do some surfing.  Unfortunately, surfing in Southeast Texas is just about as worthless as rock climbing in Kansas.  But for all of you out there headed out to the beach sometime soon, be sure to have this album in tow.

Incubus: Morning View

Recommended Activities: Skateboarding, Surfing, Beach Trip, Road Trip

I’ve already made my love for this classic modern rock album known, but now it’s time for you to discover it all over again in an environment deserving of its greatness.  Said environment is typically a beach, but there’s something to be said for a skatepark (or wherever your bitchin’ line may lie) or vehicle as well.

If you’re reading Audio Overflow, chances are you keep up with music and have heard Morning View on more than one occasion.  Therefore, I won’t go into long, tedious rants about how awesome it is or why you should own at least 3 copies of it just in case.  No, for that you are more than welcome to read my Retro Review of the album, which states thing in a much more eloquent, formal way.  But just so you don’t feel deprived of a legitimate reason for reading the last three paragraphs, here’s the best song on the album.  

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Week 1 – Rooney’s Self-Titled Debut (Beach Trip, Road Trip, Skateboarding)
Week 2 – The Picnic Playlist
Week 3 – Of Montreal: The Sunlandic Twins (Road Trip Sing-a-longs, House Parties, Frisbee Tossing)
Week 4 – The 4th of July Party Playlist
Week 5 – The Pump Me the F*** Up! Playlist (Mountain Climbing, Fight Clubbing, Wakeboarding, Kayaking, Parachuting, Murdering, Running)

Week 6 – The Elected: Sun Sun Sun (Road Trip)

Week 7 – The Bike Ride Through the Country Playlist

Perfect Summer Soundtrack – Week 7

Again, I’d like to reiterate that unless you have all of these songs on your iPod or have rigged up some ingenious contraption that allows you to carry your laptop on your bicycle, this playlist may just be a waste of time for you.  At the very least, you can close your eyes and imagine the scene while sitting at your desk.  Totally your call on that one.

The Bike Ride Through the Country Playlist

Allow me to preface this playlist by noting that while I have been through the country, and have in fact ridden a bike, I have yet to combine the two into one awesome, soothing experience.  But having knowledge of both parts of this one activity gives me enough of a reason to post this playlist.  It’s got the predictable highs to keep you going, as well as some accompanying lows that will hopefully allow you to better appreciate your surroundings.  

Week 1 – Rooney’s Self-Titled Debut (Beach Trip, Road Trip, Skateboarding)
Week 2 – The Picnic Playlist
Week 3 – Of Montreal: The Sunlandic Twins (Road Trip Sing-a-longs, House Parties, Frisbee Tossing)
Week 4 – The 4th of July Party Playlist
Week 5 – The Pump Me the F*** Up! Playlist (Mountain Climbing, Fight Clubbing, Wakeboarding, Kayaking, Parachuting, Murdering, Running)

Week 6 – The Elected: Sun Sun Sun (Road Trip)

Perfect Summer Soundtrack – Week 6

Week six of this crazy endeavor is upon us, people. This week, I’ve featured an album that is the perfect accompaniment one of the best summer pastimes, the road trip.

The Elected: Sun, Sun Sun

Recommended Activities: Road Trip

Certainly there are albums out there that are better suited as “road trip albums.” But The Elected seemed to have had that goal in mind when creating this 2006 album (my #3 of that year, I believe).

The album’s first track is titled, “Clouds Parting (8:13am)” and its closer is “At Home (Time Unknown).” The 12 tracks that lie in between are all relatively calming pop/country songs that are perfectly accompanied by the equally calming (or boring, depending on your point of view) landscapes of middle-America. In other words, it is perfect, and perhaps best-suited as a road trip album.

But more than anything, Sun, Sun, Sun, is an album about self-discovery, or even a self-awakening. What begins as a meek, somber album eventually builds into something altogether triumphant and reassuring. In many ways, a road trip can also be about self-discovery, or at the very least a discovery of your country, your history. Personally, there’s nothing I’d rather listen to on such a journey than this album.

Key Tracks:
1. “Would You Come With Me?”
2. “Fireflies in a Steel Mill”
3. “Sun, Sun, Sun”
4. “The bank and Trust”
5. “Biggest Star”

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Week 1 – Rooney’s Self-Titled Debut (Beach Trip, Road Trip, Skateboarding)
Week 2 – The Picnic Playlist
Week 3 – Of Montreal: The Sunlandic Twins (Road Trip Sing-a-longs, House Parties, Frisbee Tossing)
Week 4 – The 4th of July Party Playlist
Week 5 – The Pump Me the F*** Up! Playlist (Mountain Climbing, Fight Clubbing, Wakeboarding, Kayaking, Parachuting, Murdering, Running)

Perfect Summer Soundtrack – Week 5

5 weeks in and I’ve only just come to the conclusion that the traditional idea of summer involves a bunch of outdoor activities.  This makes listening to a playlist almost a completely unreasonable idea, unless you are awesome enough to take me at my word and download all these songs and pop the onto your PMP or iPod-esque device.  And let’s face it, if you were awesome, that’s exactly what you’d be doing.

The “Pump Me the F*** Up!” Playlist

Recommended Activities: Mountain Climbing, Fight Clubbing, Wakeboarding, Kayaking, Parachuting, Murdering, Running

This week, I’ve decided to feature another great playlist.  Its name is taken from my Zune, on which I name my playlists all sorts of clever things.  The “Pump Me the F*** Up!” playlist is the one I listen to when I’m working out, running, or doing anything that requires me to be energetic and focused.  It’s basically a lot of rock music.

And while my playlist also includes some more energetic Mates of State songs and 4 to 5 iterations of “Music is my Hot Hot Sex,” I understand that that may not energize some of the more testosterone-filled readers out there.  So with one exception, the playlist is made up of some pretty rockin’ songs.  They rarely have lulls, and will therefore most certainly rock your balls clean off.

Whether or not you were actually looking for music to do that – well, that’s irrelevant.

Perfect Summer Soundtrack – Week 4

Well, I’m back from vacation and things are getting back to normal around here. That means that it’s time for another post for our Perfect Summer Soundtrack series. This week’s post is monsterous!

The 4th of July Party Playlist

America celebrates its independence this Friday, and there will be plenty of festivities to celebrate this occasion. Personally, I’ll probably be laying low. But for those of you out there who are throwing – or attending – a bitchin’ house party, I’ve assembled my largest playlist to date!

88 songs. That’s how long this one is. How that translates into minutes, I have no idea. Though considering how imeem is prone to shorten some songs down to 30-second clips, I’d have to imagine that it would be a bit shorter than some would like. Like any good party mix, it’s filled with upbeat songs (though nothing too overwhelming), conversation-starters (oh, who is this?), and even a few quiet songs that stay out of the way to let you actually have that conversation.

If you happen to be throwing a party this Friday with a bunch of hipsters, plug this one into the stereo system and let me know how it goes. I’m interested in finding out just how amazing this playlist is. Oh, and set it to “shuffle.”

Week 1 – Rooney’s Self-Titled Debut (Beach Trip, Road Trip, Skateboarding)
Week 2 – The Picnic Playlist

Week 3 – Of Montreal: The Sunlandic Twins (Road Trip Sing-a-longs, House Parties, Frisbee Tossing)

Perfect Summer Soundtrack – Week 3

Week 3 of our summer-long feature finds us revisiting an old friend.  Just another album that was meant to be listened to in the summer.

Of Montreal: The Sunlandic Twins

Recommended Activities:  Road Trip Sing-a-longs, House Parties, Frisbee Tossing

So Of Montreal is probably my favorite band.  I say probably only because I really don’t keep track of those sorts of things (odd considering my unwavering affinity for lists), but when browsing through my collection of “Best of” playlists on my Zune, I notice that my Of Montreal list dwarfs the rest of them.  

The Sunlandic Twins is undoubtedly the band’s breakout record, launching them from relative no ones to a roundabout household name (who hasn’t heard the Outback Steakhouse jingle?).  It’s filled with happy, bouncy, and  – as the name would suggest – sunny pop tunes that get stuck in your head and never let go.  “Wraith Pinned to the Mist and Other Games” is the undeniable favorite of every quasi-fan out there, but there’s so much more to hear on this great album!

If summer is all about having fun, then The Sunlandic Twins is a match made in heaven!  Pop it in and prepare for 41 minutes of greatness.  Have that repeat button ready.  You’ll want to listen to this one over and over again.

Key Tracks:

1. “Requiem for O.M.M.2”

2. “Wraith Pinned to the Mist and Other Games”

3. “So Begins Our Alabee”

4. “The Party’s Crashing Us”

5. “Death of a Shade of Hue”

Buy from Amazon  |  Buy from Insound  |  Download from iTunes

Week 1 – Rooney’s Self-Titled Debut (Beach Trip, Road Trip, Skateboarding)

Week 2 – The Picnic Playlist