Twenty one summers

[glenatron]

A few months back I posted about the must I have listened to in springtime for the last twenty one years, but summer has passed and I missed out on a corresponding summer post. Better catch up!

1993
( A camping holiday with friends and then the band spending a week rehearsing at my house makes for awesome times! )

• The Looks Or The Lifestyle - Pop Will Eat Itself
• Fuzzy - Grant Lee Buffalo
• Zooropa - U2
• Red House Painters - Red House Painters

1994
( The fear of my A-Level results being poor or terrible, which they were, meant that I was living in the shadow of August and the effect it would have on my future. )

• Giant Steps - The Boo Radleys
• Treehouse - Buffalo Tom
• Mirth And Matter - Eden Burning
• August And Everything After - Counting Crows. There was a long period of that summer where I could not go a day without listening to this album at least three times, it remained my favourite record for the next ten years. I don't listen to it much these days because every moment of it is inscribed on my bones.

1995
( Back from University, caught in the reverberations of some bad decisions and my first "proper" summer job )

• San Francisco - American Music Club
• Throwing Copper - Live
• Olympian - Gene

1996

• Born On A Pirate Ship - Barenaked Ladies
• Brink - Eden Burning (one of the most underrated bands ever and this is one of the great bass albums. )
• Love And Other Demons - Strangelove

1997
(Some disastrous decisions left me in a terrible state over this summer.)

• OK Computer - Radiohead
• Way To Blue - Nick Drake ( compilation )
• You? Me? Us? - Richard Thompson
• Dreams Fly Away - Linda Thompson ( compilation )

1998
( I think this was a weirdly sparse year for music, I don't recall listening to much that was new in '98 - I may have decided that music was past it's best... )

• From The Choirgirl Hotel - Tori Amos
• Loser Friendly - Steadman
• Down A Wire - Counting Crows
• Almost Here - The Unbelievable Truth
• The Good Will Out - Embrace

1999
( I was horribly broke this summer, so I couldn't afford much by way of music )

• Mock Tudor - Richard Thompson

2000
( The summer I moved home and had some money to buy music with. )

• The End Of The Summer - Dar Williams; if you haven't heard this, I heartily recommend it, possibly the best lyricist of all.
• Parachutes - Coldplay
• XO - Elliot Smith
• Little Black Numbers - Kathryn Williams

2001
( I had just moved to Reading, lived with my friends, who fought like and cat and dog that year. )

• Asleep In The Back - Elbow

2002

• Hard Candy - Counting Crows

2003

• Kick Up The Fire And Let The Flames Break Loose- The Cooper Temple Clause
• Passionoia - Black Box Recorder
• The Old Kit Bag - Richard Thompson

2004

• New York, New York - Ryan Adams

2005

• A Certain Trigger - Maximo Park
• Dog's Got More Sense - The Decca Years - Michael Chapman
• Ebb & Flow - Sequoia

2006
(I apparently didn't listen to much music this summer)

2007

• Pretty World - Sam Baker

2008

• Our Endless Numbered Days - Iron & Wine
• Boys And Girls In America - The Hold Steady

2009

• First Love - Emmy The Great

2010
( The main thing I listened to this summer was a short playlist I had been sent by herecirm which introduced me to a lot of the kind of music I have heard a lot more of since. The music was new and awesome and it marked a change in my relationship with the person who sent it. )

• Angles - Dan Le Sac vs Scroobius Pip

2011
(The finest girl I had ever met agreed to be my belle at the start of this summer, I was walking on air. )

• The End Of Days - Abney Park
• Slania - Eluveitie
• Virtue - Emmy The Great
• April Rain - Delain
• Smother - Wild Beasts

2012

• The Hare's Corner - Colm Mac Con Iomaire
• The Whirling Dervish - Mad Dog Mcrea

2013

• The Fontana Trilogy - The Lilac Time

2014

• New Eyes - Clean Bandit
• Mynd - Hannah Martin and Philip Henry
• Into The West - Pilot Speed

2015

• Did I sleep And Miss The Border? - Tom McRae
• Almost Home - MAd Dog Mcrea ( no relation )
• Somewhere Under Wonderland - Counting Crows

Summer is a weird time of year for me- although I look forward to it, I end up so busy it often passes in a blur and lacks the clarity and definition of the memories I have for other seasons. Perhaps my mind still works on an academic year and Summer feels like the stretched out ending that for so many years it was. Also I probably haven't listened to enough new and interest music in the last few years, I've learned this also. That said, Mynd, from last year's list is a fantastic album and you should definitely listen to it.