When I was studying for finals, the only thing that kept me from setting the library on fire and chuckling while it burned was the looming heat and relative liberation of summer '06. And why not? Summer's a time when we can all throw down with people we missed, get tan and not think about being evaluated for a few months.
Still, though selective memory tends to edit this part out; summer can be really lame and boring. Getting coffee as an intern, earning minimum wage in the service or retail industries, or just sitting on your ass can and does suck sometimes, and this is a reality of most students' summers.
A summer mixtape, if people still listened to tapes and made mixes on them, should have music appropriate for both scenarios: fresh, new bangers to celebrate months and months of sunshine-y festivities, and recent offerings from the world of pop to help mitigate your sweaty malaise. Here are some of The Daily's suggestions.
Gnarls Barkley, "Crazy"
A banger in every way, "Crazy" is a sure-fire summer hit and the May frontrunner for the season's premier anthem. Fresh from his collaboration with underground hip-hop heavyweight MF Doom, producer Danger Mouse teams with flamboyant, Hot'lanta neo-soul crooner Cee-Lo for this LP, whose biggest shortcoming is that each subsequent track is significantly worse than "Crazy." The verses get by on Cee-Lo's magnificent voice and faux spitting about mental decay, but this song is made in the chorus where Danger Mouse spices up the mechanical drums and sharp bass line with a lush, sprawling string sample and spooky, chanting vocals. Cee-Lo perfects the crescendo as he belts, "I think you're crazy / Just like me!"
The Streets, "Can't Con an Honest John"
The tense, stylish garage-grime songs of Mike Skinner (a.k.a. The Streets) are great for several reasons, including the following: When you can manage to understand his Cockney flow, he can be an insightful and street-smart storyteller, but even when you can't, you're still left with the hilarious irony of listening to a scrawny, white British rapper. This gem about an intricate scam involving a stolen dog, a greedy barman and a friend ("Let's call him Farquhar") is from his recently released third LP, "The Hardest Way to Make an Easy Living," and it showcases Skinner at both his intelligible and unintelligible finest. The scam is brilliant, but you don't need to know what's going on to think it's funny.
Wilco, "Walkin'"
On their spring tour, the Great American Band played several new songs set to appear on their as-yet-untitled sixth studio album, and while they're all good, "Walkin'" is outstanding. Bandleader/guitarist Jeff Tweedy has said that the new material is fun to write because the 2004
addition of guitar virtuoso Nels Cline has shoved the band in a direction that allows Tweedy to showcase his own chops. The rollicking, bluesy riffs of "Walkin'" are the fruits of Tweedy's newfound freedom, and coupled with Cline's brazen fretwork and Mikael Jorgensen's subtle keyboards, they evoke the indulgence and smiles of summer like nothing else in the band's catalog.
Tim Goldsworthy & James Murphy, "Mars, Arizona" (The DFA Remix)
The 2005 release of LCD Soundsystem's two-disc, self-titled debut proved what a handful of self-congratulating hipsters had known for a few years already: Bandleader James Murphy knows bangers. Top to bottom, this collection of sardonic, name-dropping, explosive electronica is one the best arrangements of individual songs in recent memory and a testament to Murphy's penchant for catchy compositions. On this month's "The DFA Remixes: Chapter One," Murphy may have shed his band to reunite with remixing partner Tim Goldsworthy, but he kept the flair for flashy, catchy dance music. On this, the standout track, the duo starts out with little more than chugging bass and eerie keyboards, eventually spiraling what was originally a Blues Explosion song into a towering mesh of ratty guitars, echoing vocals and bending synth effects. At over 10 minutes, it won't be on any kind of airwaves, but I dare you to find something more fun to listen to.
Neko Case, "Star Witness"
Having been released on March's "Fox Confessor Brings the Flood," "Star Witness" may seem like a questionable choice for a summer mixtape, but no one in '06 has so accurately captured the nagging summer doldrums as this red-headed chanteuse. Her enigmatic tale about a car crash, a shooting, neglect and who knows what else isn't cripplingly miserable, it's just a bummer. Her alt-country backing doesn't course with the intensely depressing passion of, for example, Nick Drake, but it evokes the lonesome roads and broken hearts that Patsy Kline used to sing about. "Star Witness" is sad - like being bored and hot or someone's bitch at a law office - but it's not hopeless.
Liars, "Let's Not Wrestle Mt. Heart Attack"
Again, a song from an album released in February is an admittedly sketchy choice for a summer mixtape, particularly when the song is as darkly sinister as this one. However, when feeling mildly gloomy, this is a compelling song to bum, because instead of being overwhelmed by your feelings of malaise, your entire mental faculties are devoted to figuring out what the hell you're listening to. Just as the whirling layers of guitar, tribal drumming and ominously ethereal vocals start making sense, Angus Andrew's maniacal falsetto scream explodes the song, and the listener is again left to ponder not the frustrations of an unfulfilling summer, but what kind of alien forces could possibly have made this cerebral song.
