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Summer Reading for adults: Sounds of summer

By Neil, Mark and Alayne

Our selection of fabulous summer sounds to chill out to for our Summer Reading listening challenge - have a browse!

Summer Reading Adventure

It's the time to chill out, kick back, and listen to some relaxing, blissed out music. In this listening challenge we invite you to borrow a CD or vinyl record from our collections, or simply find a piece of music that encapsulates the sounds of summer. To help you along our specialist music librarians have selected just a few of their favourite musical offerings available in our collections.

Don't have a CD player? No problem! You can borrow a CD player for free with your library card.

Some Aotearoa summer tunes

Heavenly pop hits [2 CD] : the best of The Chills / Chills
Sadly, Martin Phillipps is no longer with us, but his legacy of blending jangling paisley 60’s guitars with a darkly tinged Alt-Pop remains, no matter what season.

Bass & bassinets / Tomorrow People
More ‘sunshine reggae’ from the Wellington 7-piece. Tracks vary with old school reggae on some, Hip-Hop, pop & soul influences on others. You couldn’t find a better summer album than this one.

Restless / Tunes of I
The full-length debut from ‘Tunes Of I’. Produced by Barnaby Weir. They colour the Dub/Roots sound with moments of calypso and jazzy breaks.

L.A.B. V / L. A. B
Another awesome album from L.A.B, with songs that are funky, chilled out and make you automatically feel free and summery.

Mermaidens / Mermaidens
Every musical element is cleanly locked in place, the songwriting is more immediate catchy with plenty of pop hooks, along with more harmonies and shimmery, hypnotic, grooves. Perhaps their best album yet.

New urban Polynesia
An album inspired by a trip to Antarctica and the death of a dog, Solar Power doesn’t sound like it should be a summer album, and yet its psychedelic pop elements and chill vibe suit the season well. Not her most loved release, but worth more of a listen than some reviews would have you think.

On the road again [bonus DVD] / Katchafire
Infectious Summer reggae from our own far shores. Many an ace BBQ created whilst listening to these tunes.

Solar power / Lorde (Vinyl)
An album inspired by a trip to Antarctica and the death of a dog, Solar Power doesn’t sound like it should be a Summer album, and yet its psychedelic pop elements and chill vibe suit the season well. Not her most loved release, but worth more of a listen than some reviews would have you think.

Chant darling / Arabia, Lawrence
The track Apple Pie Bed is maybe one of our favourite Aotearoa songs of all time. This album is full of catchy hooks and charming lyrics. A great album to listen to as you amble around the city on a sunny afternoon.

Future me hates me / Beths
It might be a cliche to be a lanyard wearing millennial who loves The Beths, but we have no shame. Each track is banger after banger of catchy melodies and lyrics which are so fun to yell along to. Power pop and 90’s guitar rock vibes.

Buffalo / Phoenix Foundation
One of our librarians was lucky enough to catch Phoenix Foundation at Camp A Low Hum last summer and can confirm they are best enjoyed in the hot sun, ideally in nature where it’s impossible to know what time it is. Is the title song Buffalo slightly ruined by its inclusion on every NZ based call centre hold music playlist? Maybe, but it’s still a bop.

Need more? We also like:

Killervision / Salmonella Dub (Vinyl)

Dust and dirt / Black Seeds

So you wanna be a rock 'n' roll star / Dudes

Some summer rockin tunes

Looking for the magic : American power pop in the seventies
Sweet compilation of the American power pop scene’s evolution throughout the 70s. Featuring the genre’s major bands, cult names, hits & rarities that capture the sound and spirit of summer classic AM radio.

Everything harmony / Lemon Twigs
The Lemon Twigs (brothers Brian & Michael D’Addario) deliver a lovely album full of Beach Boys-Bee-Gees baroque chamber-pop, tender 70s soft rock moments and lovelorn harmonies.

Bewitched / Laufey
Laufey has been making big waves with her nostalgic jazz/ bossa nova sound. She organically updates what you might think of ‘old fashioned’ and makes it so refreshing and timeless.

Sunshine hit me / Bees (Musical group)
This is a lovely, melodic bunch of pop songs. They made several further albums, but none as good as this. Great summer record.

The Stone Roses [Legacy ed.] / Stone Roses
The Stone Roses are one of the defining bands of the Manchester sound and along with The Happy Mondays brought a funky fun vibe to British indie rock scene their first album is still their finest musical outing and an ideal summer listen.

Back in black / AC/DC
Back in Black is frequently listed as AC/DC’s finest moment. Hard rock with killer earworm hooks and lyrics. Ace for rocking out to on a summer's day.

Rocket to Russia [deluxe] / Ramones
The Ramones songs were always sixty seconds of pure unadulterated youthful energy . What better way to revel in a sonic bath of American 50s styled teebop punk.

Disco summer madness

The Chic organization 1977-1979 / Chic
After the heat of the summer sun has faded what better way to party than to listen to some classic Disco from the 1970’s from the acknowledged masters of the genre Chic. 

Prestige / Girl Ray
For ‘Prestige’, their third album, London indie trio Girl Ray abandon their C-86-style indie pop and bring the disco ball back for a homage to queer dance-pop, full of infectious grooves and cheesy synth lines.

The hush / Texas (Musical group)
Texas originated in the 80s, and basically dabbled in multiple genres over their career. One of their best efforts was the soul stylings of 1999’s Hush, with its sweet sultry summer pop.

Pacific breeze. [1], Japanese city pop, AOR and boogie 1976-1986
Pacific breeze is Japan’s take on AOR, with also a heavy component of disco boogie in there too. These tracks spawned their very own musical genre called ‘City Pop’, & are hugely enjoyable in a super cool, smooth, funky and slightly cheesy way.

Give me the night / Benson, George

The peak of Benson's 'Disco-pop', helmed by the late Quincey Jones. A classic album sees Benson's vocals float over the sumptuous arrangements.

Cosmic thing / B-52's
The B-52’s album Cosmic thing is a truly fun mix of funk, dance rock and American new wave. Boasting slick 80s production curtesy of Chic’s Nile Rodgers and Don Was, the album is a wonderful bouncy celebration of life.

Need more? We also like:

The essential Earth, Wind & Fire / Earth, Wind & Fire

No. 1 disco hits : the greatest disco collection from the 70's and 80's

Old skool Summer classics

The lexicon of love II / ABC
This joyful love filled album is often linked into the new romantic movement but its actually more Smokey Robinson in feel than Duran Duran. Lush songs about new love with an 80s vibe. 

Summer days (and summer nights!!) (mono & stereo) / Beach Boys
The height of their 'beach culture' albums peaked with the sophistication of 'California Girls' & 'Girl Don't Tell Me'. Summer still Meant New Love but the dark clouds of adulthood were hovering.

All summer long (mono & stereo) / Beach Boys
The Beach Boys were summer. Harmonizing, and riding around on Honda's with the girls on the beach. No other band defined the pop of teenage fun, cars & girls in this era of America like the Beach Boys early albums.

Pet sounds [mono & stereo] [bonus track] / Beach Boys
Often regarded as one of the greatest albums of all time. The Beach Boys masterpiece is a bittersweet lyrical sun-soaked anthem to young love.

Smiley smile ; Wild honey / Beach Boys
After the train wreck that was the Smile session the Beach Boys regrouped to release one of there most mellow and chilled albums aptly named wild honey the music is infused with sunlight.

The best of Sade / Sade (Vinyl)
The first Sade compilation showed how their brand of sophisti-pop had over the course of a decade created a kind of pop music that would weather all changes and never go out of style.

A yacht rock odyssey
Based on a BBC documentary, this compilation digs deep into the hits and obscurities that defined this period of music. If you ever wanted to Sail Away to an island of smooth, sunny, relaxing, vibes with Michael MacDonald as your Captain, then this is the compilation for you...

Yacht soul : the cover versions
Turns the tables on white musicians appropriating black music, by gathering together a bunch of Soul artists who interpret white MOR 70s FM and 80’s ‘Yacht Rock’ tracks, adding a layer of funky grooves to these white bread staples.

Out of the blue / Electric Light Orchestra
This classic ELO album contains some of the most uplifting and cheesy songs around. Every time I hear "Mr. Blue Sky" a smile comes to my face appears. This meticulously created album displays the influence of the Beach Boys, the Bee Gees and the Beatles.

Innervisions / Wonder, Stevie
In the 1970s Stevie Wonder was at his creative peak. This album shows a deep spiritual and political side but it's also got soul and funk and solid grooves. Ideal summer listening.

Band on the run [deluxe ed.] / McCartney, Paul
Much of Paul McCartney's post-Beatles work is sometimes written off as lightweight and not as serious as the fab four’s late works. We think though in albums such as Band on the Run he wanted to create a more fun-loving sound, and he does this whilst also creating moments of pure sonic escape. His best solo album and a brilliant summer listen.

There's a riot goin' on / Sly and the Family Stone
If you have to pick one band that defines the sixties funk sound, then it must be Sly and the Family Stone. There’s a riot going on in this psychedelic, soul-infused, funk rock, ray of sunshine - a masterpiece by any measure of the word. The album is also expansive enough to contain a strong political message.

Purple rain : music from the motion picture / Prince
Perhaps the album that cemented Prince's reputation as a musical genius was his 1984 landmark album Purple rain. It was soon to be regarded as one of the defining albums of the eighties. A dense grandiose mix of pop, funk, rock and retro psychedelic sounds.

Paul's boutique / Beastie Boys
The Beastie Boys were initially regarded as a one-trick novelty band until they released the hip hop masterpiece of Paul’s Boutique. The album uses samples heavily, from a wide variety of sources such as jazz, soul, rock and funk. An east coast, hardcore rap, sampledelic summer mash up of party sounds.

Burnin' / Marley, Bob
Burnin' was the last album to feature the original Wailers - Bob Marley, Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer. It was a huge critical and commercial success on its release, and is a reggae masterwork with futurist funk moments. Regarded as one of the greatest albums of all time, it’s a work that manages to both capture the feeling of sunlight and summer whilst also containing a strong political message.

Buena Vista Social Club / Buena Vista Social Club
The Buena Vista Social Club were an ensemble of veteran Cuban musicians who played the distinctive traditional Cuba sound: a potent combination of filin, trova, mellow bolero and Cuban son. Their album and the accompanying film by Wim Wenders came to represent one of the greatest representations of the deep summer sound of Cuba.

It takes a nation of millions to hold us back [3 CD] / Public Enemy
An angry summer heat of an album this is a work full of fury and anger politics at boiling point, a furnace white hip hop masterpiece.

Searching for the spark / Hillage, Steve
We largely added this huge Steve Hillage retrospective overview for its inclusion in the box of his 1979 album Rainbow Dome Musick. A divine, mega-chilled out album, this is a hypnotic, mesmerizing, slowly evolving work full of work of glissando guitars and looping synthesizers.

Future days / Can
One of the kosmische Musik pioneers, Can were a band constantly in search of the perfect groove. Future Days is a restrained album full of life and infectious rhythmic elements -- you might not start a summer party with this album, but you might well play it at the chilled wind down at the end.

Need more? We also like:

Blood, Sweat and Tears / Blood, Sweat and Tears

Boston / Boston

Voodoo / D'Angelo

Best of the Doobies ; Best of the Doobies volume II / Doobie Brothers

Special Beat Service [deluxe] / Beat

Breezin' / Benson, George

Chilled out jazz

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