Tunes to start the summer

Summer is made for music.

Once the weather gets warm and the sun starts shining more, it's impossible to resist the urge to lay out on the lawn and bliss out to great new tunes.

And bands know this- so they release their albums just in time for you to create the subconscious playlist for the summer.

And here's what mine is starting to look like:

Broken Social Scene- Forgiveness Rock Record

Canada's finest musical collective (sorry, Godspeed. Where y'all been?) has a pretty tremendous track record of great releases, which made this particular one a very anticipated record. And it certainly doesn't disappoint. From epic opener 'World Sick' to super-cool tunes like 'Arthouse Director' and 'Sentimental X', it's pretty solid all around. Plus it features my top 2 most hilarious song titles of the year, the fuckin sweet 'Texaco Bitches' and the instrumental insanity of 'Meet Me in the Basement'.

Ariel Pink's Haunted Grafitti- Before Today

So this is the guy who made those records that your hip friends played in their cars two years ago. The same guy who you were told made records where he performed all of the percussion sounds with his mouth and his mouth alone. He's a good songwriter and an even weirder person, and hes finally decided it's a good idea to have real people backing you up if you want to be taken seriously.

Most of this record is pretty solid lo-fi indie rock, but the third cut, 'L'estat (acc. to the widow's maid)' is easily the coolest fucking single track I've heard this year. Starting with an Animal-Collective-ish intro, it moves into a jazzy verse and a 1969 psycadellic-era chorus, and then ends with a jam that would make Pink Floyd proud. Worth the price of admission alone, it shows that in today's day and age, it's not hard to blend 5 different genres into a 4-minute song.

Eli 'Paperboy' Reed- Come and Get it

So get this. Eli Reed is a Boston-born musician who moved to the south when he was in his teens, just so he could play in a gospel church and learn all he could about the blues. I swear to god, this sounds just like pre-pedophile Michael Jackson at his best. Anyone who doesn't get a smile listening to the old-school funk of 'Name Calling' or the smooth R&B/soul that permeates the entire set, I seriously hope you can find counseling soon. Go get this now, because neo-soul is here and getting bigger everyday.

Woods- At Echo Lake

I don't care what anybody says, this band is pretty freakin cool. I really enjoyed their 2009 release 'Songs of Shame', and this new set only improves upon a very interesting formula of post-rock, new-wave bands like Television and hippie rock acts like the Grateful Dead, mixed randomly with lo-fi folk. Sounding like you don't care is hard to do, but Woods pull it off pretty damn well.

Avi Buffalo- Self Titled

I just got this record a few days ago, but it's already shaping up to be one of my favorites of the summer. These guys are no older then 20, and yet have figured out exactly how to craft excellent tunes that are perfect for the long, late-night drive home on a warm evening.

Stay tuned in the coming days for a weigh-in from Matt Rothstein, our senior 'awesome shit you have to listen to right now' correspondent, as well JFN''s first live concert/festival reviews. Fuck yeah.

'Anyone's Ghost' by The National

The National's "High Violet"- Best Album of the Year

You heard it here first. This is my early pick for best album of the year, and while it's certainly too early to call, might just end up being one of the best of the decade.

Yeah, it's that good. This is as close to a perfect album as I've heard in a long, long time. It's not just about one standout song (though there are a few of those) and it's not about trying things that may or may not work. The entire record is a statement, a world that the National has built for us to live in. And I don't ever want to leave.

This band showed alot of promise with their last effort, 2007's incredibly solid 'The Boxer' and even 'Alligator' and the tragically under-rated 'Sad Songs for Dirty Lovers' before that. Both records set out what The National were all about- Matt Berninger's deep barritone singing sad and disorienting lyrics that meshed perfectly with twin (literally, they're twins) guitarists with a nack for sonic gravy and a rhythm section that can rival any other in rock today. And yeah, the rhythm section are twins, as well. Something about brotherly love that just can't be fucked with.

But this new thing just makes those look silly. They've taken that sound and make it bigger and more beautiful, filling out most tracks with horn and string arrangments that compliment the swelling tunes in a way that most bands only dreaming of having on their records. While there are comparisons that can be easily made to other things, they're truly created a sound that is distinctly their own. And it's amazing.

This is an album that seems to sum up our generation- disconnected, confused, lonely, and ill-equipped to deal with the real world. Songs like 'Afraid of Everyone' lay out some of the most chilling summations of the norm of dealing with things, the chorus going 'I don't have the drugs to sort, I don't have the drugs to sort it out'. Or 'Sorrow', with an opening of hi-hat and acoustic guitar that leads to opening line 'sorrow found me when I was young/sorrow waited sorrow won/sorrow they put me on the pill...'. It's the probably the most true thing I've heard a rock singer admit in a long time, and the lyrics just keep it coming from start to finish.

'Bloodbuzz Ohio' is perhaps the most majestic rock song in recent memory and it if it doesn't give you chills then you probably don't have a pulse. The chorus is another ridiculous example of how good this band is 'I still owe money, to the money, to the money I owe. I never thought about love when I thought about home.....' Damn I mean, just damn.

Opening track 'Terrible Love' has a mix of everything that makes good music, and the quality never drops after that start. It's chilling from start to finish, and every single tune is a well-crafted gem. These guys obviously work their asses off, because it doesn't sound easy.

And that might just be the appeal. It shouldn't be easy. This is music about struggle and you can hear the anguish in every line. But unlike so many bands, it doesn't dwell on it. It's music about being sad and lost, but the music is really anything but. There's a beautiful optimism that permeates the entire set, and it's that feeling behind the sadness that makes it hit so hard. It's not often that you find this in any music, but the National have managed to capture the times we live in. It's astounding, but the more I listen to this the more it all seems to make sense. True music gets better with time, and I know that in the coming years this is only going to get better.

PS. I'll be seeing The National at Royal Albert Hall in London, and if I manage not to combust in my seat, I'll be back with a report on what will no doubt will be an amazing show.