Welcome to the first installment of Countdown, our weekly rundown of randomly pertinent issues, ideas, trends, events, and anything else tangentially associated with music. With summer having officially kicked off a few days ago, what better way to start this feature than with a highly subjective list of ESSENTIAL summer records?

But first, let’s get pedantic for a moment. What is a summer record? Was it originally released between the months of June and August or is it more cerebral than that, a work that stirs an undeniably specific feeling of “summerness” regardless of when it came out? Well, we would say it could be either or both (but certainly not neither). Simply put, a summer record is one that sounds equally at home on the beach or at a backyard barbecue, one that keeps people from fighting for control of the iPod because the act of interrupting it midway would just destroy the entire vibe of the (sunshiney) day. Still with us?

A few more ramblings to the preamble…we are acutely aware of what could be construed as some “glaring omissions” from this list, so let’s address some of them up front: Grateful Dead, Jimmy Buffett, Dave Matthews Band, Phish, The Beach Boys, etc…what can we say? It’s hard to pinpoint a specific Dead album, Jimmy Buffett tries too hard (”let’s pound a margarita cheeseburger on a hammock and suck face on the beaaaaach”), DMB and Phish are just not our thing, and the Beach Boys, well this sounds weird but I always save Pet Sounds for the fall. Yeah, as we said, it’s highly subjective, there’s no science behind it. So here we go, EAR FARM’s ten essential summer records:

10. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, S/T - Living in New York in the summer of 2005, it was absolutely impossible to escape or ignore this album. A perfect example of how the timing of a release shapes the vibe of how a record is perceived: self-released in June, glowingly reviewed by Pitchfork on the second official day of summer, headlining South Street Seaport in August, and capping off the Central Park Summerstage season in September. They OWNED the summer of 2005…a summer masterpiece by default.

       Listen: “Upon This Tidal Wave of Young Blood”

9. Dr. Dre, The Chronic - The opposite of Clap Your Hands happened here. Released in December of 1992, the classic West Coast vibe of this classic was an instant hit, but only seemed to really find its perfect stride for us when played LOUD outdoors in the summertime (at least to sheltered suburbanite tweenagers).

       Watch: “Let Me Ride” (YouTube)

8. M.I.A., Arular - If I had a time machine and a standing invitation to be the house D.J. at MTV’s Beach House back in the day, you damn well better believe I’d come bearing this album with a warning to John Sencio: “I guess you guys aren’t ready for that. But the summer of 2005 is gonna love it.”

       Listen: “Bucky Done Gun”

7. Red Hot Chili Peppers, Blood Sugar Sex Magik - Released in September of ‘91 and thus narrowly missing the chance to dominate that summer, this record steamrolled through the following summer and beyond via the sheer ubiquity of “Under the Bridge” alone. That the rest of the album is a funky melange worthy of any outdoor soundtrack is testament to the fact that Anthony Kiedis was once capable of semi-rapping about California and not have it sound tedious.

       Watch: “Under The Bridge” (YouTube)

6. Beck, Odelay - Beck accomplished the unthinkable by following up surefire one-hit-wonder “Loser” with a near-equally influential anthem in “Where It’s At”. And similar to “Under The Bridge”, this tune simply dominated playlists for an entire summer. Odelay is like drinking from a garden hose after a day in the sun: it’s cool, refreshing, and has just enough force behind it.

       Watch: “Where It’s At” (YouTube)

5. Various Artists, Dazed and Confused Original Motion Picture Soundtrack - Maybe this one is cheating, but it’s also a no-brainer. A soundtrack to a movie about a bunch of high school kids on the cusp of summer, this record effectively culls all the awesome tunes you grew up listening to on classic rock radio into a perfect 70s-inspired summer soundtrack.

       Watch: Dazed and Confused trailer (YouTube)

4. Vampire Weekend, S/T (or Paul Simon, Graceland or Islands Return to the Sea) - Yeah, so we’re exploiting the whole “Vampire Weekend sounds like an uninspired Graceland and although Islands’ first album also cops this vibe they did it less explicitly and also well before VW” pissing match here, and for good reason. All three of these albums deserve to be on any summer playlist rotation….and Peter Gabriel too.

       Listen: “A-Punk”

3. Creedence Clearwater Revival, Green River - Humid and sticky like the bayou in August, it was appropriate that CCR released this - their third album - in August of 1969. With classics like “Lodi”, “Commotion”, and “Bad Moon Rising”, it’s a hot and bothered masterpiece from beginning to end. And though “Down on the Corner” isn’t actually on this one, this album still makes us think of One Crazy Summer. Check the clip below…

       Watch: One Crazy Summer CCR Scene (YouTube, scroll to 2:38 and watch)

2. Bob Marley & the Wailers, Babylon by Bus - This live album pretty much guarantees an insta-party once you hit play. You could be sitting by yourself doing Sudoku in a remote igloo and still spontaneously surrender to inexplicable bouts of hippie-dancing once “Positive Vibration” crackles through the speakers. Oh yoy yoy yoy…

       Watch: “Jamming” (YouTube)

1. Sublime, 40 Oz. To Freedom - Seems no one likes to admit that they used to listen to Sublime. True, the white-boy reggae and ska they tiptoed in has become increasingly passe over the years (let’s not forget that dude from The Bravery getting publicly crucified when his ska-band roots were unearthed), but you know what? I wear my Sublime love on my virtual sleeve. Yes, I used to listen to them. Yes, I STILL listen to them. Proudly. And whenever I need a dose of sunny, sloppy, malt-liquor infused jams, I know where to go. 40 Oz. is THE perfect summer album, the barbecue ball-and-chain, la chica me tipo for the last 14 years of my life, and the new thrash of outdoor anthems.

       Listen: “40 Oz. To Freedom”

*above photo found HERE