Last month, we enlisted readers to help us pick the Greatest Summer Album of All Time. The top vote-getters included Daft Punk’s Random Access Memories, LCD Soundsystem’s Sound of Silver, Paul Simon’s Graceland, and the eventually winner: Arcade Fire’s The Suburbs. The 16 selections have two things in common: (1) They’re all fantastic records and (2) none of them appear on this, our in-house inventory of seasonal faves. Despite the lack of overlap, the two lists aren’t so dissimilar. Both feature albums with strong hooks and danceable beats, and while many of the chosen LPs pair light, funky grooves with smart, meaningful lyrics, the vast majority can be enjoyed on a purely musical level. Which is good, because the last thing anyone wants to do in the summertime is think. Read on to see which 10 scratchy CDs will never, ever leave the glove box in our jeep.
And then finally move on to autumn as we have.