As the last few days of the surf season are being crossed off the calendar, I’m finding myself holding tightly to what I might possibly classify as one of my top 5 most adventurous and pure summers ever. I’ve hung out with a lot of great people, I’ve visited a lot of incredible places, and I’ve spent a lot of time relaxing on the beach or on a longboard and discovering great music to keep me company through it all.

So I know I’ve already released a summer mixtape at the beginning of the season, but I realized that it was based mainly on music from last summer, and didn’t adequately represent any of the new memories I made this year. I also realized that all the music I found this year didn’t fit into just one category of summer music, there was music for hot days on the road to the beach, and music for chill nights by the pool. So I’ve compiled two companion playlists; one for Summer Days where you’re driving down the ocean road looking for a place to park your car so that you can jump out and hit the surf, and one for Summer Nights where you’re winding down by the pool with only your closest friends after a long adventurous day, talking about music, girls, life, and love. Once I divided the mixtape into two specific categories, the inspiration flowed and they both ended up developing into two really solid jam lists.
I’m about to head to Raleigh this weekend to see Bon Iver, and then Folly Beach for what is possibly my last big beach trip of the year, and I’m looking forward to setting the mood with these two sets of memory-inducing songs. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do, and I hope they provide the soundtrack to what’s left of your summer. Get out there and make the most of it.

Summer Days [Download]
Floating Vibes — Surfer Blood
Today is the Day — Yo La Tengo
Dannyboy — Youngblood Hawke
Young Blood — The Naked and Famous
Pumped Up Kicks — Foster the People
Either Way — The Generationals
Go Outside — Cults
Out of the Blue — Julian Casablancas
Big Wave — Jenny and Johnny
Cold War — The Morning Benders
Cheekbone Hollows — The Child Ballads
Everyday — Vetiver

Summer Nights [Download]
In the Summertime — The Rural Alberta Advantage
Wash Away [Reprise] — Joe Purdy
The Drying of the Lawns — The Tallest Man on Earth
And If My Heart Should Somehow Stop — James Vincent McMorrow
Santa Monica Dream — Angus & Julia Stone
Song for You — Alexi Murdoch
In the Stream — S. Carey
The Great Escape — Patrick Watson
Pacifists Anthem — Sunparlour Players
Accidental Babies — Damien Rice
Cliffs Along the Sea — Bryan John Appleby
Holocene — Bon Iver