Summer Gems Part II: An End of Summer Compilation

To commiserate/celebrate the end of summer, here’s your friend Summer Gems Part II.

Tracklisting:

1. You Turn Clear In The Sun – Telekinesis
2. Hypnotic Winter – JEFF the Brotherhood
3. Before The Dive – St. Lucia 
4. Henrietta – Yeasayer
5. Falling Out – Body Language
6. The Look – Metronomy
7. Waiting On A Friend – The Rolling Stones
8. Just My Imagination – The Temptations
9. I Want To Hold Your Hand – Al Green
10. Where I’m Going – Cut Copy
11. I’m Goin’ Down – Bruce Springsteen
12. Time To Run -Lord Huron
13. Little Garcon – Born Ruffians
14. Private Affair – The Virgins
15. The Village – Boy & Bear
16. Don’t Deny Your Heart – Hot Chip
17. Everything All The Time – The Outfit
18. New Coat – White Denim
19. More Of This – Vetiver

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(Photo via We Are Handsome) 

In recent years, Archer has become one of the best shows on television, and one of it’s better gags is the constant reference to Kenny Loggins’ “Danger Zone”, the song from Top Gun which is stuffed with gratuitous testosterone bluster. 20 years prior, Wilson Pickett recorded a far better song with the same exact title. There’s no posturing here though, Pickett’s a man’s man, and this is a great song.

Danger Zone – Wilson Pickett 

Ever since I saw them open at a Givers concert last year, I’ve been incredibly transfixed by Lord Huron’s sound.  It’s immense, yet intimate, spiritual yet worldly.  It’s the type of music you’d expect to hear score a summer drive across the country, an epic vision that makes everything seem larger than life. Lord Huron may be hidden from the masses for now, but come October 9th, when their debut LP Lonesome Dreams is released, fans of the Fleet Foxes, Local Natives, and Bon Iver sound may have found themselves a new band to love.  Check out the first single from Lonesome Dreams, "Time To Run".

Time To Run – Lord Huron 

If you’ve ever wondered what Mick Jagger and Jimi Hendrix might have sounded like together, this southern soul gem is for you.  "Mercy, Mercy", off of See-Saw, Don Covay’s 1966 LP reportedly has the young Mr. Hendrix playing session man (though Covay was reportedly no slouch himself). What sticks out even more though is Covay’s tenacious shout-speak bluesy wail, which played a large influence on Mick Jagger’s vocal style.  The song itself is a funky-blues gumbo, something you’d expect to hear come out of roadside bars in the Louisiana night. Both Wilson Pickett and The Rolling Stones would later cover it, but the original is a definitive lost classic.

Mercy, Mercy – Don Covay