Summer Sounds: June

Autumn has—I think—finally settled upon the Northwest, bringing this long, swelteringly beautiful summer to a cool, crisp close. The summer of 2009 saw the release of some majorly impactful music all across the board. Each month of summer brought a new album which saw heavy rotation over my speakers, making the memory of that month indelibly twinned with its particular soundtrack.

“No Intention” by Dirty Projectors

Bitte Orca, 2009

Sometimes I’m a curmudgeonly stick in the mud when it comes to breaking out of my audio comfort zone: I pull my afghan over my head and grumble that I don’t like that newfangled whatever-it-is and leave me alone, dammit.

Happily, a friend of mine played her pre-release copy of Bitte Orca when I couldn’t help but listen, and I came out of my troglodytic lair, blinking in the light of such incredible sounds. One of the most audacious albums I have ever had the pleasure of hearing, the month of June reverberated with spiky harmonies and thrillingly weird arrangements.