Summer music meltdown

Many bands like to record in the winter and release in the summer, because, well, people supposedly have more money and time to buy and listen to CDs while they're out of school and working the fields.

But really, there's nothing better than kicking back on the couch mid-day with a sweaty glass of sun tea, right under the swamp cooler vents, with the CD player turned up loud so you can hear it over the air buzz. Luckily, many, many cool albums have been wrapped in plastic and directed to your local music store and local music critic this season. Join me as I explore these albums, in no particular order, dissecting them and analyzing them to the point of a few sentences of glorification.

Tricky: Angels with Dirty Faces (Island)

Tricky's always up to something innovative, and no matter what, it's going to be interesting. Angels With Dirty Faces is no exception. The album has a fiery feel to it - that kind of so-hot-it's-cool thing. The thing about Tricky, though, is that it takes a while for me to really get into one of his albums - they're not that easily accessible - and it's the adjustment process that lets you know how inferior you are to Tricky's trickery.

Evan and Jaron:We've Never Heard of You Either (Island)

Just the title drew me in - you know these guys have a sense of humor, and it shines so well through their slick acoustic pop. "Andy Warhol" and "Could've Been James Dean" are song titles that say it all.

Versus: Two Cents Plus Tax (Caroline)

Versus is one of my favorite bands, but Two Cents is not one of its best efforts. However, I often find that when a band puts out an album that's not so good on the whole, there are usually one or two songs that absolutely kick ass. Here we have "Dumb Fun" and "Underground." Versus wrote the book on writing songs that are musically intense and lyrically fun. Get it just for those two songs - it's worth it.

DJ Andy Smith: The Document (Go Beat)

t's Andy Smith, of Portishead fame, and Tom Jones and Grandmaster Flash and Barry White and every music anomaly or master whose songs you would never even consider what they would sound like after being dragged through an electronica DJ's repertoire. This album is weird - but in a good way.

Mitchell Froom: Dopamine (Atlantic)

Mitchell Froom is a producer who decided to collaborate with his favorite artists and make his own album. It must be the hip thing to do (see Andy Smith, above). Dopamine is all over the place, with cool jazz numbers, a multi-trip track featuring Suzanne Vega and a very Mark Eitzel-esque song with, well, Mark Eitzel.

Bela Fleck and the Flecktones: Left of Cool (Warner Brothers)

Left of cool is exactly where I want to be right now. The Flecktones' musical instrument lineup consists of a banjo, cello, basses, various forms of synthesized and acoustic drums, guitars, saxophones, vocals...need I go on?

Emm Gryner: Public (Mercury)

Emm Gryner is 22, Canadian, and if she's not on the cover of "SPIN" by the end of the year, I will know that my keen music intuition has gone to sludge. Gryner has a very 1980's-esque sound to her voice; it sounds sort of produced, but still remains raw. Public is a very active, musically advanced album - the kind of music that is just plain 'ol good music.