Songs from Northern Britain – Teenage Fanclub

As recommended by: Diggers71, Sedge72, Alehead

This upbeat, alt-rock album, the sixth album from Teenage Fanclub was released in 1997, and features Start Again and Ain’t That Enough. Diggers71 writes, “Superb sunny tunes, lush harmonies and song writing that will knock you over.”

Swim – Caribou

As recommended by: Bashmore

Dan Snaith’s third album as Caribou, Swim, should have made the cut, according to Bashmore: “It became my summer soundtrack almost the second it came out.”

Forever Changes - Love

As recommended by: Rotwatcher & Drust

Forever Changes was the third album by American band Love, and was recorded during 1967’s Summer of Love. Drust suggests it’s “Not only for summer but forever – the best pop/rock album of all time.”

Parklife - Blur

As recommended by: Bryce Paul Mills

Bryce Paul Mills “can’t believe” Blur’s Parklife is not on the list. It reminds him “of the fun times I had in the Britpop summer of 1994.”

Off the Wall – Michael Jackson

As recommended by: BenSCR

BenSCR’s favourite summer album is Michael Jackson’s Off the Wall. “Songs like Don’t Stop 'Til You Get Enough, Rock With You and Get on the Floor are upbeat and optimistic, and perfect for a summer evening,” he says.

Skylarking - XTC

As recommended by: Vibedoctor

A title gleaned from Percy Bysshe Shelley’s To a Skylark, and music heavily influenced by the Beatles, the Beach Boys and the Kinks, XTC’s 1986 Skylarking was produced by Todd Rundgren. The band's Colin Moulding maintained Rundgren’s influence was central to creating, “my favourite [album] so far”

Sketches of Spain – Miles Davis

As recommended by: artifartcast & Beaky86

Sketches of Spain was released on 18 July 1960, and is a hybrid of jazz and Spanish folk – conceptual to the last note. Beaky86 says it is “perfect summer music”.

Future Days – Can

As recommended by: Simon Gurney

Krautrockers Can released their fifth album Future Days in August 1973. The album “burbles and bubbles along like a little stream, while also having a sort of strung-out languor of being in the sun too long,” according to Simon Gurney.

Saint Dominic’s Preview – Van Morrison

As recommended by: rdb1

Van Morrison was artistically “a long way from Belfast” when he started weaving native Celtic influences into jazz, blues and R&B for Saint Dominic’s Preview, his sixth album. The result: “Van Morrison at the top of his game,” according to rdb1.

Cosmic Thing – The B-52's

As recommended by: Tony Buckley & kdowl75

For Tony Buckley, “the memory of the smell of the French meths we used in camping stoves in an alpine trip”, comes back to him as he listens to the B-52's Cosmic Thing. Released in the summer of 1989, the hot and funky Love Shack and Roam offer the perfect tribute for former lead guitarist Ricky Wilson, who had died from an Aids-related illness four years earlier.