Keeping the beats fresh, all season long.

A14

Ken Kelley

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No summer would be complete without music. Whether you're looking to fall back on old standard summer records or discover new ones, here is a guide to the best tunes to treat your ears to this summer:

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In the "classic" category, we have a few obvious options, the first of which is The Beach Boys. No, they weren't boys by any stretch of the imagination but you can't deny the power of the music they created and how very few other bands were synonymous with the summer season. In stores now is the appropriately titled Summer Love Songs. Though the bulk of these 20 tracks reside on the softer side of the group, pop gems such as Wouldn't It Be Nice, Barbara Ann and California Girls find renewed life here. Even later era material like Our Sweet Love is worth checking out.

If you are looking to get a nice mix of the "oldies", I would suggest tracking down a copy of 25 All-Time Greatest Songs, released on the Varese Sarabande label. Included on the compilation are essential summer tracks like The Lovin' Spoonful's Summer In The City, The Surfari's Wipe Out as well as The Kinks' Sunny Afternoon.

There are a whole slew of mixes on the market for your summer listening pleasure. If you're looking for something a little more "current" (and I use the term loosely, since there isn't a song newer than 1990 on it), you might want to check out the Dock Rock discs. They have overplayed songs like Sweet Home Alabama and Trooper's We're Here For A Long Time (Not A Long Time) as well as other songs like Stealer's Wheel Stuck In The Middle With You, Ballroom Blitz by Sweet and ZZ Top's La Grange. Familiarity isn't a bad idea, especially if you're hosting a get-together and don't want to leave people staring at the stereo or mumbling to one another about what they are listening to.

What about making your own soundtrack to the ever-popular road trip? Mixes are fun to make and great to listen to as well. Because if there's a song you're listening to that you can't stand, the good news is that chances are an entirely different band is up next"¦

But instead of relying upon solely upon "hits", let's pick some tracks you might not be familiar with like Death Cab For Cutie's Little Bribes from their Open Door EP.

Despite what you might have heard about the band being a bunch of downers, this is a nice sunny-sounding track.

I also highly recommend adding The Hold Steady's Constructive Summer and The Gaslight Anthem's Great Expectations for a healthy dose of Springsteen without going directly to the Boss. (Not that I've got anything against Springsteen by any means"¦)

For more poppy goodness, why not opt for Butch Walker's The Weight Of Her?

These tracks are sure to keep your vehicle's occupants alert and awake for the duration of your trip.

For those nights by the campfire, I'd highly recommend mixing things up with classic tracks like Neil Young's Cinnamon Girl, The Band's Up On Cripple Creek, Rocket Man by Elton John and CCR's Have You Ever Seen The Rain?

The fact of the matter is, I could recommend a million different tracks that are well suited to the summer season. I wish you the best of luck in finding or creating your perfect summer mix.