The651.com

Admit it: whether it’s Rihanna or Zeppelin (or both – good for you!), there are songs that put you in a summer state-of-mind. This is also the time of year your iPod looks at you longingly for some love, so we’ve recruited some of the Twin Cities’ foremost music gurus to share their Saint Paul summer playlists with us. (You should probably comment with your summer songs too….) We linked their picks directly to iTunes, so you’re just a couple clicks away from jammin’ it up on the beach.

Summertime Soundtrack by Jill Riley and Steve Seel, hosts, 89.3 The Current  

1)Belle and Sebastian: “Legal Man”

Where else to start besides a song that orders you to “get out of the office / and into the sunshine”? Plus, you get bongos and “ba-ba-ba’s.”

2)Camera Obscura, “French Navy”

Sweetness and strings, it sounds like the wind rushing through your hair as you drive a convertible too fast down a country road. Actually, most Camera Obscura songs conjure this same effect.

3)XTC, “Summer’s Caldron/Grass”

Steve’s personal favorite. “Drowning here in summer’s cauldron / under mats of flower lava / please don’t pull me out, this is how I would want to go.”

4)The Sundays, “Summertime”

Steve says, “I still haven’t decided if this song has aged well or not. Still, it’s about summer, it’s sung by Harriet Wheeler (one of the sunniest voices in rock), and it’s got a big brassy horn part.”

5)Calexico w/ Iron & Wine, “He Lays In The Reins”

You gotta have one tune for summer *nights*, and this one – combining Sam Beam’s breathy voice and Calexico’s Tex-Mex instrumental textures – will have you envisioning starry skies and colored paper lanterns on a terra cotta patio as you waltz with your sweetie.

6)Big Brother and the Holding Company, “Summertime”

Jill says “You know that feeling when you wake up in a tent on the last day of weekend music festival? You’re tired, hot, dirty and dehydrated. This is what I hear in my head when I’m in that situation, but in a good way.”

7)The Small Faces, “Itchycoo Park”

Gather your friends for a campfire and/or BBQ and put this tune on.

8)The Flaming Lips, “Buggin”

Warm, breezy summer nights. You’ll even welcome a few mosquitoes to dine on you.

9)The Hold Steady, “How a Resurrection Really Feels”

The line “The Saint Paul Saints they waved me through” will inspire you to head to an afternoon Saints game and let the sun shine on your face.

10)The Little Ones “Lovers Who Uncover”

This song sounds like summer all year round.

Jill Riley and Steve Seel can be heard every weekday morning from 6:00 – 10:00 on The Current (89.3 FM in the Twin Cities, online anywhere at www.thecurrent.org) The Current - Every Day Deserves A Soundtrack.