Summer Canada 2

It doesn't matter if you're answering the call of the wild, or chillin' with a few cold ones on your city patio — every Canadian summer demands a great playlist, so we've taken the sweat out of that task for you by compiling our second selection of sunny season tracks. Barenaked Ladies set the tone with "Summertime" from 2010's All In Good Time, Kate & Anna McGarrigle provide the perfect song for splashing about in water holes, "Swimming Song," Doc Walker offers a free-wheelin' cover of Bruce Springsteen's "Girls In Their Summer Clothes," and — blending her jazzy drollery with a note of bedroom frustration — Holly Cole bemoans the downside of soaring mercury on "Too Darn Hot." Jean Leloup gets mighty fruity, but Jason Collett keeps it sweet, in Next Steps.

If you're the kind of person who likes to stride lustily into summer, with a big splash of Francophone sauce on your shirt, cue up Jean Leloup's "Printemps été," and when it's time to get some sand between your toes, make sure you're packing Chantal Pary's "Amour de sable amour de plage." Oscar Peterson captures that lazy sundown vibe in the gently flowing notes of "Summer Nocturne," Spirit of the West celebrates the transformative effects of "July" on their 2004 hit, young jazz superstar Nikki Yanofsky kicks up her heels and segues "On the Sunny Side of the Street" with "Fool In the Rain," and Jason Collett has the perfect solution for unwanted clouds on "I'll Bring the Sun." If you really want to feel the intense heat of summer, cue up Gob and Elevator, in Deep Cuts.

For some folks, summer is a big hammock and a tranquil piano run from the likes of André Gagnon, but for others, it's a steamin' hot dollop of punk or grunge — and to satisfy the latter tribe we've opened up the season to Gob, who burn through "About My Summer" with solar intensity, Elevator, blasting us with the afterburn of "August," and Eric's Trip, who'll melt your ice cream if you stand too close to "Beach." By contrast, Randy Bachman goes into underdrive on his cool, mellow cover of jazz standard "Summertime," Boule Noire sets us adrift on a raft of reggae ("De la plage au coeur du ghetto"), and Lennie Gallant eases comfortably into the groove of "Plage."

If you always sensed in your bones that Canadian summers are unlike any other summers in the world, but were never exactly sure why, our second collection of seasonal songs should shed some light on the matter. Sure, there are songs here that have a universal feel to them — Oscar Peterson's take on "Summertime," for example, or Kim Mitchell's wide-ranging rock out, "Big Best Summer" — but many of our artists seem inclined to look sideways at the sunniest season: that's why you'll find the Dears, and their "Summer of Protest," Two Hours Traffic and "Stuck for the Summer," and Alexisonfire's "Waterwings (And Other Pool Side Fashion Faux Pas)." Blue skies, beaches and long lazy days can be found anywhere, but these tracks belong to every great, and unique, Canadian summer.