Summer of Rock 2012

In 2006, I started a tradition with myself of making a summer of music compilation for my friends, called Summer of Rock. Every year for four years I collected my favorite, most sunny, most rocking new songs, and mixed them with a good dose of love into these compilations. The last few years, life was crazy, and the task of finding new music too daunting, to continue the tradition. I’m happy to say that this period of drought has ended, and I’m excited to offer for your listening pleasure Summer of Rock 2012.

It wasn’t easy to create this year’s compilation. Pressure to find really awesome music has built up over the last few years, and I felt I had to make sure each song deserved a spot in your summer mix. Moreover, my desire to not repeat artists from previous editions of the compilation kept some obviously awesome tracks out of the running. So much of my new music is from artists I already know and love, it was difficult to leave all of this out of the record. Then there are the other emotional and philsophical problems any music compiler must face. What is the theme of this compilation? (Well, “Summer”, obviously…). If it’s called Summer of “Rock”, can I include “pop” music? I was a bit distressed to find that, in fact, this album might more accurately be called “Summer of Indie Pop”. I’m not wild about such a title, however, and in keeping with the hipster spirit of Indie Pop, we could pretend to use the word “Rock” with a healthy dose of irony. That being said, I think there are enough moments of rock here to get your head banging a little bit. Anyway, let’s keep in mind the main point: awesome music to go along with your summer memories and to make road trips more exciting.

All of the foregoing duly noted, waste no time in getting the album:

Download Summer of Rock 2012 (or, if you prefer Spotify, check out the playlist).

To listen, just drag the unzipped folder into iTunes, and it will add it as a compilation to your library.

The track listing for this summer’s mix, which I had great pleasure in arranging, is as follows:

1. “Diversity”, by Family Of The Year (from Loma Vista)
2. “Little Talks”, by Of Monsters and Men (from My Head Is an Animal)
3. “We Are The Tide”, by Blind Pilot (from We Are The Tide)
4. “Deer In The Headlights”, by Owl City (from All Things Bright And Beautiful)
5. “L.I.F.E.G.O.E.S.O.N.”, by Noah and the Whale (from Last Night on Earth)
6. “Here We Are”, by Patrick Park (from Everyone’s in Everyone)
7. “All Arise!”, by The Decemberists (from The King Is Dead)
8. “Face It”, by Old Canes (from Early Morning Hymns)
9. “Don’t Try and Hide It”, by The Dodos (from No Color)
10. “Santa Fe”, by Beirut (from The Rip Tide)
11. “Down In The Valley”, by The Head And The Heart (from The Head And The Heart)
12. “Evelyn”, by Gregory Alan Isakov (from This Empty Northern Hemisphere)
13. “Ho Hey”, by The Lumineers (from The Lumineers)
14. “Some Nights”, by Fun. (from Some Nights)
15. “On Top Of The World”, by Imagine Dragons (from Continued Silence EP)
16. “We Went Wild”, by Lord Huron (from Into The Sun EP)
17. “Bury Us Alive”, by Starfucker (from Reptilians)
18. “Naked Kids”, by Grouplove (from Never Trust A Happy Song)
19. “Stuck (Inside My Head)”, by The Graduate (from Only Every Time)
20. “A Pound of Flesh”, by Radical Face (from The Family Tree: The Roots)
21. “Anna Sun”, by Walk the Moon (from Walk The Moon)
22. “Voyager Reprise”, by Surfer Blood (from Tarot Classics)

Is this your first exposure to Summer of Rock? Feel free to download the last installment as well: Summer of Rock 2009.

Legal notice: these songs are provided for you to listen to as a trial only—if you find yourself liking the music, please go out and buy these albums, either directly from the artist or through your favorite music store. Happy listening, and happy Summer!