Lazy Summer

Maybe it's the heat, maybe the pheromones, but summertime's the season for your inner sloth to emerge from hibernation and express itself. Gershwin's "Summertime" is the great granddaddy of lazy summer tunes, and Sarah Vaughan does it proud. Otis Redding's "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay" will put you in a hammock mood.

Jimmy Buffett has made a career out of the laid-back summer vibe: his "Grapefruit - Juicy Fruit" captures the quintessential beach bum attitude. Newfoundland and Labrador folk-rockers Great Big Sea meditate on their six-week warm snap in "Summer".

On "Summer," pianist George Winston uses his keyboard mastery to describe a relaxed summer's day; Bebel Gilberto, in "August Day Song," demonstrates the Brazilian command of all things languorous; Emm Gryner gives "Summerlong" a blissfully fuzzy power-pop halo; and (Leslie) Feist lets her voice crack like a heart on "One Evening."

Gordon Lightfoot nailed a common sentiment when he described the "Summer Side of Life" as a place of "no illusions . . . only tenderness." We all love the summer, and the freedom (from rain, work, concrete, etc.) that it brings, so we've tried to capture that feeling in this batch of sun-dappled essentials. So dust down the barbecue and the hammock, get out of your pinstripes and into your swimsuit: the likes of Jackie Mittoo, the Cowboy Junkies, Hayden, Matt Mays, and the Dears are here to help you make hay while the sun shines . . . by just kicking back.