Summer Soundtrack

The kids are all back in school. While summer might technically be in effect, as far as I'm concerned, it ended when the school bells started ringing.

Last year, about this time, I posted the soundtrack to my summer. I'm doing the same thing again. While last year's mix had a predominantly indie rock/Americana feel to it, this year's selection is far more influenced by electronic music. Agree or disagree, but these are the songs I had pumping through my speakers and headphones all summer long.


1. Timeflies - I Choose You - Synth heavy with a little bit of vocal manipulation. Heard this for the first time while driving back from Spokane after a late dinner with friends. With the beat and that "Everybody needs somebody to love" hook, this was an instant cranked up with the windows down song for me.

2. OneRepublic - Counting Stars - OneRepublic is one of those bands that seems to be genetically engineered for radio airplay. Honestly, I don't care. I love this band and I'm not ashamed to admit it. Ryan Tedder is easily one of the most talented songwriters in pop music and if they keep churning out songs like this, I'll remain a fan.

3. Family Force 5 - Chainsaw - If OneRepulic is the band I'm not ashamed to admit I love, FF5 is more of the guilty pleasure. Their music is unquestionably cheesy and ridiculously fun. Their videos are over the top and they're a blast to see live. I can't wait for the next time I can catch one of their shows just so I can see them do this song.

4. Avicii - Wake Me Up - "I can't tell where the journey will end, But I know where to start" This song is easily the anthem for all of my #StartExp peeps. "All this time I was finding myself, And I didn't know I was lost"

5. Capital Cities - Safe and Sound - This song just makes me happy. And that guy's beard? It's fabulous.

6. Citizens - Made Alive - When I look at Christian subculture, I'm encouraged that some of the most creative musice is being written and recorded by worship leaders. Like this one. Funky bass lines and drum rythms. Melodies that are uncommon among Sunday morning services. And again with a fantastic beard that could make all hipsters jealous.

7. We As Human - We Fall Apart - So there once was this little band from Sandpoint Idaho that got themselves a record deal, moved to Nashville, and started releasing some beautiful tunes. I find myself singing along with this every time it's on the radio.

8. Robert DeLong - Happy - Another track that makes me feel exactly the title of this song. It also makes me happy to see music like this coming out of the Seattle area. With artists like this, I long to be home again.

9. John Fogerty - Mystic Highway - Fogerty is a rock legend. His newest album (Wrote A Song For Everyone) pairs him up with musicians from both rock and country to reinvent a few Creedence classics and breathe life into some new songs. The album is one of my favorite albums of the year and this track makes me think of summertime road trips, sunsets, beaches, and campfires.

10. Fellowship Creative - Future Back - Music like this defines what I think summertime music should be. Upbeat. Hopeful. Sing-a-long hooks. Catchy melodies. This. So much this.

11. Fall Out Boy - My Songs Know What You Did In the Dark (Light Em Up) - Fall Out Boy is a ridiculous band. And the video for this song is truly bizarre. That being said, this is what I've been listening to while exercizing this summer.

12. Daft Punk - Get Lucky - I'm pretty sure most people were playing this song all summer. Inescapable. I'm a big fan of Daft Punk and this song was not a disappointment. Now I just wish every radio station on planet earth would stop playing it so that the entirety of popular culture doesn't grow sick of it.

The next few songs are honorable mentions as they were released in 2012. But I've listened to them more these past few months than I did when they first came out.

13. Youngblood Hawke - We Come Running - I've been playing this song for much the same reason as Future Back: upbeat, hopeful, and insanely catchy.

14. Macklemore & Ryan Lewis with Ray Dalton - Can't Hold Us - I once joked about wanting to slow my car down when I see someone running along the road just to drive behind them with this song volume up at full blast and my windows down. Give them some motivation music. I'll never do it, but it is another song that I've been listening to while working out.

15. Zedd and Foxes - Clarity - Not only one of the songs I listened to the most this summer, Clarity is also one of the most recent additions to the soundtrack of my life. The chorus is also one of the most poignant lyrics in modern EDM. "If our love is tragedy, why are you my remedy? If our love's insanity, why are you my clarity?"



ps: I'm waiting for one of those A+B DJs to mash up Clarity and My Songs Know What You Did In the Dark. Those two songs sound like they were meant to blend together.