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Saturday, July 18, 2009

What does this summer sound like? A Short Saturday question.

Summer is officially here in the US. And every summer it seems like one or two songs gets stuck on my playlist. Back in the day, G Love and Special Sauce held that spot for a few summers in a row. When I was in the fourth grade, Def Leppard did. And in some ways, that spot will always belong to the Fresh Prince and DJ Jazzy Jeff for their "Summertime" classic.

But what does this summer sound like?

Right now, I can’t stop listening to Jason Upton. I thought that twittering about him would be enough, that I’d stop listening to his music like so many other times I’ve listened non-stop to songs only to cool quickly after a few weeks. But this guy is ridiculous.

And it's not a great summer song. It's not poppy and melodic like "Everything Shines" by the Pushstars or stay in your head forever if you hear it once like "Boom Boom Pow" by the Black Eyed Peas. It's more of a "Saturday night session of a retreat, everyone is crying and slowly swaying" kind of song which never make my summer list but it's really hard to deny the worship this guy is pouring out. The video below is a performance of the song, “In your presence.”

So this summer is going to sound like Jason Upton to me. And probably Eric Hutchinson too.

What song or album or artist is playing nonstop in your iPod, car or head?

What does this summer sound like to you?



58 comments:

  1. First ever first commenr!!!

    This summer's sounds are killing me. I've been listening to the kids' itunes catalog to see if we need to talk about lyrics or themes. Some of it is catchy, but some of it is just agony for ears!

    Glad to say, though, so far they have made good choices.

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  2. Down here in NZ, it is sadly the sound of winter. And it sounds like cold, wet and windy. Having said that, my ears love the sound of any song that mentions being warm, or sunshine. It's like torture, but dreams are free, yeah?

    I love it how summer definitely has a sound.

    WV: misions. woah...coincidence? I think not. Bad spelling is everywhere.

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  3. I can't get 'Don't Know Why' by Norah Jones out of my head. Also all the High School Musical songs. I'm so cool ;-)

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  4. Based on the summer so far, it sounds like these songs:

    1. "Tear Down the Walls" by Hillsong United
    2. "A Beautiful Collision" by DC*B
    3. "The Way We Roll" by Newsboys
    4. "Caught Inside (Instrumental)" by The O.C. Supertones

    Call me one of those super-spiritual people if you want, but seriously most of my music library is either non-lyric-containing music or Christian-lyric music...

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  5. For me, the summer is going to sound like Noah and the Whale - Five Years Time. Always makes me smile

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12PQYX1r7Bc

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  6. so far...

    1) lightning strike - snow patrol
    2) when she's near - family fiction
    3) ghost of york - as tall as lions
    4) salt in the snow - the classis crime
    5) section 12 (hold me now) - the polyphonic sound

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  7. my mp3 player repeat for the summer has been:

    1. Michael Jackson (back in the day)
    2. Heart
    3. Pat Benetar
    4. Justin McRoberts
    5. OneRepublic
    6. Anberlin
    7. Paramore
    8. A Fine Frenzy
    9. The Fray

    that's been my playlist (roughly) since May!

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  8. The "Elizabethtown" soundtrack is my sentimental summer music. David Crowder is my any time music. Those are my only two absolute favorites right now.

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  9. This summer I can't get enough of Kings of Leon- Use Somebody

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  10. I'm Yours by Jason Mraz. It's pretty old now but still awesome.

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  11. sunny days-jars of clay

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  12. Summer sounds for me are super loud crickets/frogs at night. My insane roosters in the morning (yes, that is plural...we have four, each with own unique cockadoodledoo)

    Music.....I am on a Third Day shpeel right now (I actually have it piped into our barn for the animals too....is that weird?)

    anyway, I have an assortment of bands loaded up on my playlist.....psyching myself up for The Soulfest in New Hampshire that we are going to next week! WOOT!

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  13. Say Anything ...is a Real Boy/...was a Real Boy, is the first CD I listen to every year when we get the first sweltering day of summer. The newest mewithoutYou is pretty summery.

    I can't listen to my winter music in the summer. Pete Yorn won't go in a CD player until at least October.

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  14. This summer I'm hooked on Decyfer Down's Fading and Crash.

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  15. Christy Nockels' "Life Light Up," Matthew West's "Motions," and pretty much all of Stellar Kart's "We Can't Stand Sitting Down" album. Good stuff.

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  16. At the moment, "Show Me What I'm Looking For" by Carolina Liar.

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  17. I'm pretty hooked on some oldies right now...Third Day 33 Miles and Switchfoot...all good roadtrippin tunes! Dig It!!

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  18. Hot Air Balloon by Owl City. The song of the summer for sures.

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  19. Offspring - You're gonna go far kid

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  20. I downloaded my first song from Amazon after hearing Black Eyed Peas sing It's gonna Be a Good Night on SNL a few months ago. The kids and I dance and sing wholeheartedly to it a few times a day. (am I going to hell because it they shout Oh My God in it?) But it's been a good reminder for me to stop and relax and let go with the kids. We switch it up...It's gonna be a Good DAY!

    The other song is our VBS theme song...We're going camping now we're on our way...we're gonna climb up a mountain and shout a hip hooray, and while we hike a long we're gonna sing...alleluia to our KINGGGGGGGGGGG! Oh yeah. i do so love VBS. It was good for Moms too.

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  21. Derek Webb, Kings of Leon, and looking forward to the new Crowder album

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  22. I have to say it is the "It's going to be a good night" Black Eyed Peas Song. I am a day camp counselor and let's just be honest. All of us counselors sing it at the top of our lungs because every night is good--we aren't surrounded by children!

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  23. Summer...

    A.A.Bondy
    Vampire Weekend
    and
    Jeremy Enigks new album.

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  24. John Mark McMillan-The Medicine(I am disappointed that I did not buy this album sooner!!)
    Jonathan David Helser-The Reward and Walk Through the Walls
    And a mix of stuff I've found including, but not limited to: Eric Hutchinson, Greg Laswell, Charlie Mars, Ray LaMontagne and some others.

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  25. Kate from NashVegasJuly 18, 2009 at 1:06 PM

    my summer sounds like skillet's new single 'hero'- INCREDIBLE!!!

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  26. I've been listening to Karl Wolf's Africa and the Godspell soundtrack a lot lately. Also, John Waller's While I'm Waiting CD has been a favorite.

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  27. Here in Jacksonville that had an article about songs that were popular in past summers. Right now I've been listening to a lot of Sondre Lerche. He wrote almost all of the soundtrack for the movie Dan in Real Life with Steve Carell.

    andhearts;

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  28. 29 - by Justin Rosolino. definitely worth the 99 cents!

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  29. If you think Jason Upton is good on your playlist, go see him in person. The guy will blow you away. He is uniquely gifted by the Spirit.

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  30. Jon, thanks for the introduction to Jason Upton! If you meet him, ask for royalties, because I'll be buying at least one of his albums now.

    As for music that is in my head now - Summer Music is usually VBS Music - and the excellent songs from Boomerang Express are taking the standard place in my head.

    However, Shane and Shane and their album Pages are competing for the space.

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  31. Sounds like mostly Veggie Tales and Elmo in my house, but that's not a summer thing, really. :)

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  32. I saw Hillsong back in May, so they are definitely playing constantly in the car.

    And Jason Mraz... with the windows rolled down.

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  33. My summer sounds like Colbie Caillat and Jimmy Needham.

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  34. I Gotta Feeling - Black Eyed Peas

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  35. My summer taste in music leans towards lighter fare - Beach Boys, Kapono, 70's pop, generally secular music. But when I think of the sound of summer, I think of cicadas, crickets, birds, and the rhythm of falling rain. All the sounds I miss in the winter.

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  36. Though the CD came out last fall, I can't seem to get enough of House of Heroes' album, The End Is Not The End. One of the songs, In the Vally of the Dying Sun, is a carry over from last summer, but I feel like it still counts.

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  37. summah-summah-summertime...

    what began as a complete joke turned into a commercial for our picnic. Inspired by Michael Scott.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FTJSecPdEW0

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  38. Kristene Meuller, DC Talk, 90s alternative music, Bebo Norman, Phillip LaRue- Chasing the daylight- is amazing.

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  39. Jimmy Needham's record "Not Without Love" is my summer soundtrack.

    Well, that and "That Thing You Do."

    Odd combo, but it works.

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  40. I got excited to see that you're listening to Eric Hutchinson - he's definitely on my summer list! I just saw his show a few nights ago... it was stellar!

    I've also been listening Wild At Heart by Gloriana nonstop! Such a perfect summer song.

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  41. "Sex On Fire" by Kings of Leon

    ...I'm just waiting for the Valtrex commercial that uses this as a soundtrack. it's.gonna.be.awesome!

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  42. Jonny Diaz.. "More Beautiful You". Any woman.. or anyone with a daughter.. needs to be playin' that nonstop around the house.

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  43. Decyfer Down, Ride With Me and Fading

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  44. I absolutely love Jason Upton! I was just listening to an old song by him, "Freedom Reigns." I also love Matthew West's "Motion" and Adam Lambert's version of "Mad World" has been stuck in my brain. My grandson (he's 3) loves Black Eyed Peas song, "Boom Boom Pow" and Mercy Me's song, "Finally Home"

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  45. Summer is sounding like The Spill Canvas to me. I keep ending up listening to them on Pandora, imeem, iTunes, etc. Addictive.

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  46. Summer sounds like a new peach milkshake at ChickFilA. Stop by and try one sometime.

    (not like milkshakes really make any noise or anything, but they do want to make you burst out into random song)

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  47. I saw Jason Upton at a local church a couple weeks ago, and I had to walk out it was so bad. Not bad as in evil, but bad as in a complete waste of life. He was singing songs about eating oatmeal and being in love with his dog. Weird stuff - nothing like what's on his cds.

    Ah, well, for me, this summer sounds like Jesus Culture. Nothing about oatmeal or dogs, it's all about Jesus, as it should be: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBMV7XcWpCk

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  48. Eleventyseven....anything on their Adventures in Eville release. Not the most spiritually edifying disc in my collection, but it makes me smile. Maybe I'm just a sucker for songs about cyborg robot squirrels.

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  49. I just made my myself(and a friend) a cd the other that had a bunch of songs that just feel like summer to me. A few of them were:

    Summertime by Mae
    As Simple As It Should Be by Tristan Prettyman
    Hot Cookin' by G.Love
    More Than Fine by Switchfoot
    Blessed by Brett Dennen
    You Got The Style by Athlete
    Headlock by Imogen Heap
    Ressurect Me by Jon Foreman

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  50. i can't seem to stop listening to Paramore and can't wait for their new CD, will probably be listening to that non-stop...

    but alas, in South Africa it is winter, not summer...so enjoy the heat for me.

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  51. Mat Kearney's City of Black and White. Most of the songs on the CD I can't get out of my head. Great CD.

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  52. Jason Upton's incredible.

    I'm listening to Kristene Mueller (she spent the last two years out at the International House of Justice in San Francisco, and now does worship for Jesus Culture in Redding, Ca- all of her songs were birthed during her time in San Francisc.

    Rick Pino's new album is also incredible.

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  53. I recycle my music every year! Postal Service, Frou Frou, Imogen Heap. And summer nights by rascal flatts

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  54. I am listening to Bill Mallonee as well as his group Vigilantes of Love. I thought they had dissolved, but there are several new (to me) CD's out, and not a dog in the bunch. Literate, Christian world view, lyrical and musically excellent.

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  55. I've recently discovered mewithoutYou and I've been listening to their questionable album, "It's All Crazy, It's All False, It's All a Dream, It's Alright." That's good listening.

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  56. Tenth Avenue North and Owl City are doing it for me, probably b/c I just discovered them this summer and can't get enough of them.

    I recommed Times, Beloved and Hold My Heart by Tenth Avenue North and Hello Seattle, Designer Skyline or Saltwater Room by Owl City.

    Hold My Heart is best listened to on a breezy summer night, played through your car's stereo turned up all the way, while you lie on top of the car staring up into the stars.

    :)

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  57. Testify by Rage Against the Machine!

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  58. Stand in the Rain

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