He knows how to Summer

If you’re a Jack Kerouac or Hunter S Thompson reader, you need your indie summer playlist ASAP for your coming life-affirming misadventures over the next few months. Thankfully we’ve got eight tracks to get you on your way.

8. Society – Eddie Vedder

I genuinely feel like this is the most obvious way to kick off any indie summer playlist. If you’ve seen Into The Wild, you’ll know exactly why. If you haven’t, go watch Into The Wild already!

7. If The Hudson Overflows – Goldspot

This may have been released in November and be about flooding but the relaxed vocals and turned down guitar chords make for a perfect BBQ tune.

6. Perfect Games – The Broken West

“And we chase heartbreak” –  The story of every summer romance as beautifully expressed by The Broken West.

5. Rootless – Youngblood Hawke

Youngblood Hawke just have such a summer sound. Carefree vocal harmonies and gentle keyboards will get you smiling in seconds.

4. New Local – Filligar

Filligar take you to a place of quiet reflection after a night gone wrong before building you up to get up and go do it all again.

3. You & I – Crystal Fighters

Crazily cheerful and with a highly peculiar video, this is a perfect pick me up after one too many Sangrias.

2. Don’t Want This To End – Jarrod Gorbel

But it has to! Summer draws to a painful close over Jarrod Gorbel’s longing ballad.

1. College – Rogue Wave

This one is just sooo good. Driving guitars and an unerring beat make for a proper indie summer ballad that will be on repeat each and every time you walk out and bask in (hopefully) a beautiful summer.

And if you’ve enjoyed these eight, we’ve got a whole bunch of other summer playlists for you to get your paws on!

• Henry and I, conversed on the 25 songs to get you pumped for summer
• Jonah and Elliot joined Henry in coming up with 10 of the best summer dance songs
• Henry also has a list of 5 songs for the sun, sea and sand
• And we have our summer songs edition from last year still up in case you missed it first time around

There’s a whole lot of sass here

Deep House has become my new Acoustic folk tunes, so Say Lou Lou come in and stomp all over my mellow playlist with their housetacular Julian.

Say Lou Lou have been making waves on the house scene, with their easy synth and sweet hooks, and here they triumph with Julian. There’s a lot to like from the duo, whom I have limited info on (any comments more than welcome!). What I do know about these two lovely ladies is that they make absolutely banging music.

Julian has a lot to like about it. There are some sweet vocals coming out of this to go along with the easy hooks. This is a pretty mellow tune, as much as it has house vibes to it. You can jam along to this, but I see it being more of a slow burner on lazy summer car journeys. Enjoy

He may look like he works at PC World, but Lone is one of England’s  finest producers, and after the noodly odyssey that was 2012′s ‘Galaxy Garden’, he’s back with a follow up on old favourites R&S.

Lone’s distinctive sound is one that has evolved over time, from the Dilla inspired beats of his first record, ‘Ecstasy And Friends’, to the ambient electronics of ‘Emerald Fantasy Tracks’, and culminating in the rave-synths and xylophone runs on ‘Galaxy Garden’. With ‘Airglow Fires’, Lone seems to have pared back his sound, opting to leave more space rather than layer on extra textures, harking back to his earlier records by letting the Dilla-sampled beat speak for itself and the keys slowly build.

‘Airglow Fires’ definitely isn’t revolutionary, but with it’s squelchy synths, tantalising build-ups and come-downs and jazzified swing beats, it does exactly what electronic music should do – make you dance.

The times, they are a-changing, and deep house has taken the mainstream by storm over the last year. I don’t want no music snobs coming and telling me deep house has been around since the 1980s, these are the twelve best deep house songs for 2013.

12. Jagged Edge – Eats Everything

This is your starter for 10. No big drops, no obnoxious tonal shifts, just an incessant beat.

11. Maliblue – Darius

The French producer welcomes in the sun with some feel-good, summer house.

10. It’s Not Enough (feat. Janai) – Dusky

Dusky takes deep house to a place few are able to, one where it finds emotional resonance within and it’s constant structure. This is deep, deep house (get it?).

9. All The Right Moves – Outboxx

The Bristol duo come up with an easy going house track with some lovely ambient melodies.

8. In My Arms – Karma Kid

But deep house can get far more colourful than Outboxx as boy wonder Karma Kid proves with his unbelievably fun summer anthem.

7. You’re Gonna Miss Me (Ejeca Remix) – Turntable Orchestra

Driving disco beats and a looping cry of “I have you” makes this a fitting club jam wherever you are.

6. I Can Tell (By The Way You Move) – George Fitzgerald

This better come out soon but a Boiler Room rip of George Fitzgerald’s best song yet will have to do. You need this at your gym!

5. More Than Me – Eliphino

It’s pointless me trying to explain this when the description does it better. More Than Me “reconstitutes elements of tranced-out ’90s House, Garage and electronica in one ‘floor-owning piece of slow 2-step melancholy.”

4. You (feat. Ejeca) – Bicep

Tension between Bicep’s kicks and the fluttering vocals boils over as the song draws to its conclusion, creating a real cinematic drama befitting of Hanz Zimmer score.

3. Through Motion – Midland

Midland should be on everyone’s deep house map. Through Motion is a clear illustration why, it’s dark tone contrasts beautifully with it’s expressive beat.

2. Nightmares (Hackman Remix) – Eli & Fur

Hackman is a straight up god of a producer. He turns Eli & Fur’s one-dimensional electro into a multi-layered centrepiece for his talents. If only Cyril Hahn would copy Hackman.. it’s called nuance Cyril!

1. Close – Hackman

And here is the ultimate proof. What Hackman does with Alicia Keys’ No One is incomprehensibly unique. Deep House at its most transportive(a word?), it is a massive factor in what drove me to the genre in the first place.

BONUS: Jasmine (Demo) – Jai Paul

Can we really call Jai Paul any genre? Trust me if we could, I would. But we can’t, Jai Paul’s genre is Jai Paul. But it has elements of Deep House so I thought I would chuck the magnificent Jasmine in here, before he releases what will most definitely be a mind-boggling début LP later this year.

As if Ed Sheeran deserves a hug from our Ben

June 13th is a day specially marked in my calendar. With one of my best buds from uni, I get to head down to see Ben Howard at the  Hammersmith Apollo and see him perform live once again. What makes me think he will be even better than before? Take a look.

1. Burgh Island was a top EP

That says it all really. I absolutely adored this EP, and it has definitely grown on me more since writing that. It’s nice to see Ben tap into darker channels for his music now, and that was a perfect Winter release from him. It wonderfully emulated the weather around us, and regardless, tunes like To Be Alone will always showcase his talent.

2. The progression in Ben’s work

That leads me happily onto my second point. The Ben Howard who I get to see killing it in a couple of weeks is definitely a different one to Ben Howard of circa 2 years ago, releasing his first EP in the Old Pine release. Burgh Island alone shows a progression in his work, a new style found from his initial release on Every Kingdom.

The brooding here matches his EP perfectly

3. Every Kingdom is still one of my favourite albums

This album will always hold a special place in my heart. Sentimentalist as that sounds, there are so many incredible elements to Every Kingdom. (Enough to justify me having accidentally bought both the deluxe and deluxe video editions on iTunes for a total of 19 quid? Doubtful…) But still, the arc through this album from foot stompers such as Keep Your Head Up to reflective pieces such as Only Love through to my favourite song of recent years, Old Pine. Just enjoy it.

4. His phenomenal performance at the Brits

I mean just watch it. The boy just rocks a stage. Hopefully I’m lucky enough to see some of you guys at his gig. If not, just enjoy this as a snippet into the wonderful live work of our favourite Devon boy.

Summer x 8

The best thing about summer is the music. And the weather. And the photos. And the food. And the holidays. And, well pretty much everything. But most importantly: the social acceptability of day drinking spikes. Pimms! G&Ts! Corona! I’m going to a garden party this weekend so we should probably take a long look at the best songs you can dance to, drink in hand, this summer. There’s nothing quite like that being drunk before 9 o’clock.

Henry:

Get Lucky – Daft Punk ft. Pharrell Williams

I hate to be that guy but I’m being that guy. This is going to be played so often this summer  you’d think it was Call Me Maybe. But it sure is superlative summer music. The slutty sentiment, the sophisticated beat, the classy pop-electro-hipster-bro-college crossover? It works on so many levels.

Happy Ending – The Strokes

Comedown Machine is an unusual album for The Strokes. Everything sounds good, but someone’s always going to say it’s not as great as their debut. It’s seriously worth checking out if you see it for £3 or something in HMV. Anyway, Happy Ending is the indie-rock alternative to Get Lucky with its can-do attitude and kicky beat.

To consider: Only Wanna Dance With You (The Strokes) – Ke$ha 

This is actually kinda good. Listen, wonder at its Stroksiness and move on. Drink in hand.

Jonah:

Beast – Vicetone vs Nico Vega

If you’re looking to rage, then this is a rager. This huge new song from Vicetone and Nico Vega screams festival with hard-rocking guitars and an unforgiving beat. Not for the feint of heart.

Hold On (Fred Falke Remix) - Nervo

I love this song because it has a great disco feel to it. I think life would just generally be more interesting if everyday things had a disco feel to them, like classrooms, cars, burritos, the possibilities are endless. I will most definitely be throwing this one on over the summer and whipping out some unheard of moves.

Elliot :

No Scrubs (TLC Macklemore Remix) – YUM YUM

Let’s be honest, by the 50th time you hear Thrift Shop it starts to get a little bit samey, regardless of how many Jägers you’ve already bombed that night (probably about 8 for me, lad!) So here, YUM YUM totally freshens it up, throwing in some 90s classic via TLC. Guaranteed to get you throwing shapes and / or drinks in excitement.

Au Seve – Julio Bashmore

Yes we’ve all heard it before, doesn’t make it any less sick! I’m also going to Hideout this summer, so can guarantee that I will absolutely drunkenly dancing to it this summer, and can embarrass my friends abroad this time, as opposed to just in Roxy like I normally do on a Wednesday.

It is a bit weird seeing these boys not with illumination…

Disclosure are without a doubt leading the line for British House right now, and here they once again showcase their killer talent and the reason behind their meteoric rise to the limelight.

The Lawrence brothers drop their upcoming album, Settle, on June 3rd, and there is no doubt that it will cause shockwaves in the charts. The boys have been killing it all year, and here they move away from a top cameo artist like Sam smith and go back to the roots of  house .

When A Fire Starts To Burn has, as you can expect now from Disclosure, a great beat. This is a pretty retro track, with a loop from some oldschool American motivational speaker, and his voice is perfectly matched up to the beat here. There are a whole mess of layers to this track, and they all come together perfectly for the mid section especially. Let this fire burn you up, and enjoy.

I had a dark moment of trawling through YouTube and stumbled upon Mika and Ariana Grande’s Popular Song which is … a song that exists. Anyway it’s a tender story of kids who are rejected once or twice by their peers and so naturally plan to murder them. Okay, I get that it’s supposed to be a bit absurd. But it’s the video that makes it absurd. If this had radioplay which, maybe, I don’t know, it would be an uplifting, Firework of a song. Except it’s kinda also kinda gross. About half way through, the two sing: ‘dunked me in the toilets, now it’s you who cleans them.’ Okay, there’s plenty wrong with this sentiment but it’s okay to be a snob if you’ve been humiliated once or twice. It’s Glee logic. No, literally. This also happened on Glee. To their bullies, the Glee kids sing in unison: ‘I’ll see you when you wash my car.’ It’s so, utterly bewildering to me that part of these kids’ success is the apparent failure of others. If you can even deem these jobs as failures. Look, not everyone can be pop stars (seriously, ask Mika) and some people just want to make a living. And just. No. Please stop it, drama kids. You’re supposed to be the liberal ones.

Jonah has clearly left Can You Hear This based on his lack of content. Awks..

I said on my last HYPE post that The National were really the only ones capable of rivaling the magnificent Modern Vampires of the City.  Their album, Trouble will Find Me, is pretty damn magnificent that’s for sure. To me, it’s not QUITE as good as Vampire Weekend’s, but it’s still pretty sick.

That said, Trouble’s best song is as phenomenal as Vampires’. Don’t Swallow the Cap is just amazing. Listen and you’ll know why you really need to be on it right now. “I have only 2 emotions; careful fear and dead devotion.”

Michael: Although my skin seems totally intolerant of what the sun does to it in the next few months, I still love the summer. Nothing makes me happier than sitting in the sun and doing absolutely fuck all for the day. Well not absolutely, the summer is only the summer if you have your summer songs to go with it.

Henry: Amen to that fair prayer. We’ve spun through 25 of the songs that get us pumped, and will be jamming to over the coming months. Come for the summery goodness, stay for the golden banter.

1) Spun – Grouplove

H: I cannot, and will not, underplay the merits of Grouplove. And Spun might be up there with my favourites and the video is spectacular. It reminds me of all the summers spent swimming, getting drunk and contemplatively looking out of a window on the return drive from a beach. IF you’re not moved in some way after this video, you’re … stupid.

M: Their unbelievably smart videos and knack for catchy pop which somehow still manages to feel incredibly original makes Grouplove easily one of the best bands around today. And Henry’s right, Spun has an aaahmazing video and should have got you feeling suitably summery for the rest of the 25!

2) We Come Together – Goldfish (Flasybeat Mix)

H: Michael, you picked up on this in your post about South Africa and it’s been on Spotify-repeat since.

M: Any song from South Africa really ought to feel summery and Goldfish are certainly not going to let you down when it comes to giving you that summertime feeling.

 3) Hoop of Love – Dominant Legs

H: This is half Those Dancing Days (whom I saw yonks ago at a London festival and were brill), half Haim and completely sesaon-appropriate. The video is an advert for slouchy jumpers and a crisp white shirt, which are both important things.

4) Simple Song – The Shins

M: The Shins have always produced music that just begs to be played while you have a barbecue on the beach in those late summer evenings. Simple Song isn’t quite so simple (obviously) and touches on some interesting lyrical themes but still has enough summer vibes that you’ll find yourself not really caring about any of them when the sun is beating down on you.

H: Agreed, it’s very late night-beach-chic. Ugh, lame. Have you only just featured it because  it was  on HIMYM?

5) Parosol – Jonquil

M: How dare you? HIMYM, as great as it is, did not make me a Shins fan. That said, that video of London from the 1920s is definitely responsible for why I’m featuring Parosol. It’s in the name (and in the picture), these tunes belong in the sun.

6) Bigfoot – Cayucas

M: It’s very Vampire Weekend but I mean that in absolutely the best way. Pitchfork hated this album but they’re spot on when they say that Cayucas are going to “play a role in some really chill BBQs in the coming months.”

H: I told someone in a club that I ran a music website called Pitchfork. A low moment.

7) Don’t – Phoenix

H: Have you checked out Bankrupt yet, Michael? It’s gotten mixed reviews but I am loving it. Anyway, Don’t is one of the poppiest things Phoenix has ever produced and I’m sure we’ll see it in an advert for a smartphone soon. It’s outrageously sunny.

M: I bloody adored this album. I like it when bands are like, FUCK IT, let’s just make the music we like.

8) Sunny Daze – Viceroy

H: I mean, anything that Viceroy really sticks his name to could be on this list right? But this is literally called Sunny Daze so we’ll go with it. Also: until about last week, I pronounced Viceroy as ‘visseroy’ not as ‘vice-roy’ which was painfully embarrassing.

M: Been making the same mistake… unitl now.

9) Too Young – Ghost Beach

H: Am I missing a trick here? Why does this only have a couple of thousand views on YouTube? I genuinely don’t know if this is only a demo, or if it was later re-mastered, but I do know that I love Ghost Beach. I remember playing them a lot last year when we were inter-railing (miss you, Berlin) and them perfectly fitting into the summer landscape.

10) California – Delta Spirit

H: This is one of my favourite songs of the last few years (so much so that I really limit the play count so I never tired of it). The video is seriously slick, too.

11) Both of Us – B.o.B ft. Taylor Swift

H: The song is good but this is 100% being featured because the video fills me with indescribable summer joy. That angle behind the horse’s head? Brilliant. The shots of cowboy boots? Perfect (can you tell I’m going to Texas this summer?). Jumping into Motel swimming pools, full-clothed? Please! Everything is just so perfectly summery about this video, from the sunny days spent in slouchy jumpers to the warm evenings in denim shirts. I didn’t think a B.o.B video would ever make me feel this but it just does. And it’s perfect. And I have been left emotionally traumatised by my coursework, apparently. Michael, you like a good video. What’s your take on it?

M: On principle, I hate B.o.B. Why? Because I’m incredibly superficial and I hate that name sooooo much. But I have to confess, a good video can make a good song and this is a good video. Plus Taylor Swift, and this is a jam!

H: The name is such a Cougar Town, or The Vampire Diaries in the sense that it’s never going to be cool no matter how good the content is. But yeah, this is my Top 40 jam because I totally missed it last summer.

12) The Sea – Swim Deep

M: The optimistic chorus and the supremely feel good video makes The Sea just such a joyful song that just gets me stoked for a long holiday full of possibilities. I own a Swim Deep t-shirt so I’d be interested to know whether I have Henry’s approval on my commitment to Swim Deep to go big?

H: Well now they have your personal investment, I think they’ll probably sweep the Grammys next year. No, this is great. Swim Deep always feel like they just avoid unbearable mannerisms (I’ve never seen more middle partings than this video) and that’s something to applaud. Weird February release date, though. Do their record company not like them or something? I think the song is good but they just need to carve their own niche a little more.

13) All I Wanna Do – Splashh

M: It’s the surfer rock that has become so stereotypical of summer playlists but that’s for a good reason – Splashh really rock my ass off.

14) So Good To Me – Chris Malinchak

M: I wrote about this one already (sadly predicting a number one it was just pipped to by some French DJs… don’t know if you’ve heard of them?) so I’ll let Henry take this one.

H: Love, love, love.

15) Skirts – The Other Tribe

M: Where was this in every single one of my summers to date?! And why have I never been invited to one of these hipster-forest parties?

H: … I thought you did Duke of Edinburgh?

16) The City – The 1975

M: Depressingly Henry, we’ve been here before. Like last summer we were here. But The 1975 decided to take down their Facedown EP from 2012 so they can re-release literally their only not-super-depressing song in time for this summer. Also, I’m sick of this Black and White bullshit.

H: The 1975 are really, really your jam and I think they’re good. Per a YouTube comment though: ‘He sounds like the lead singer of bloc party.’ And now I can’t unhear it.

17) In My Arms – Karma Kid

M: I’m going to do a Nines on House music before all the stuff I’m listening to at the moment is all over the radio. Why? Because I want some credit before Karma Kid (who is younger than me!) gets all of it. This just has summer etched all over it.

H: I’m looking forward to that Nines a lot. Anything to remind me of Chicago, after Happy Endings got cancelled.

18) Back Down South – Kings of Leon

H: Just watch the video on this one.

19) You + Me + The Radio – Abandon Kansas

H: This is a little tropical pop-rock (see Ghost Beach), and has a hook-inducing chorus which plays up to all my tastes. It’s got a roadtrippy sound that wouldn’t sound out of place on a Grouplove record and is full of summer nuance (‘let’s watch the East Coast disappear’ is great). Rest assured, I’m going to be playing the fuck out of this come June. Also, the video is adorable.

21) I Didn’t Believe – Flight Facilities

M: With some awesome eighties dance moves and a classic beat, I Didn’t Believe is a complete departure from Flight Facilities’ previous single (the stunning Clair de Lune) but manages to capture the same magic, if in a completely different way. How can this not make you happy!?

22) I Love It – Icona Pop ft. Charli XCX

H: This song is so old but it’s been featured in a few shows recently and I’ve always been a fan and I’ll give it a few months before I am tired of ‘but I’m a 90s bitch.’

M: I love Charli XCX more than anything on this planet. So yeah.. this song may be old but it is so rad.

23) A Little Party Never Killed Nobody – Fergie … and a ton of other people

H: I haven’t seen Gatsby yet but I have listened to the soundtrack a couple of hundred times. This song is kinda awkward (that bit where Fergie ays: ‘what do you think, Goon Rock. Are you ready?’) but its beat is pulsing in all the right ways. It’s a good way to start a party is what I’m saying.

24) Woozy Anthem – DVBBS

M: Forget my Woozy Anthem, DVBBS have released my summer anthem. I’m honestly so proud of how they’ve blown up in the last six months and Woozy Anthem is their crowning achievement – the biggest dance tune of the summer.

25) We Do It Big – Reuben Keeney & Rafii

H: Can you even begin to imagine how good this is going to sound when you’re drunk? But seriously, this is pretty darn great. It may not go further than a refrain of ‘We do it big’ but I don’t think it really needs to.