Mac Miller - Blue Slide Park [2LP Translucent Green]

Mac Miller's Blue Slide Park is a Pittsburgh postcard from a kid who had just realized the whole country was listening, spread here across two clear green records.

Released in 2011 on Rostrum Records, it was his first full-length album after a run of mixtapes that built his following from the ground up. It debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, the first independently distributed debut to reach the top since 1995, a sign of how hard his fans had been rooting for him.

The title points to a corner of Frick Park near where he lived, and the songs rarely stray far from home. Local production crew ID Labs shapes most of the record with bright, bouncy loops, while Clams Casino adds a hazy, late-night glow to closer One Last Thing.

Frick Park Market rolls through the neighborhood corner store with a grin, Party On Fifth Ave. is a block party in miniature, and Smile Back crackles with cocky, restless energy. Under all the fun there is already a hint of the reflective writer he would grow into.

On green double vinyl, it is a bright way to return to where it all started: an artist at his most carefree, a city he loved, and a debut that still sounds like a summer afternoon.