It's Time To Party: Summer Songs Whether you're cavorting with friends or partying alone with a blank stare and a warm six-pack, you need a soundtrack. Hear just the right five-song playlist for every celebratory occasion, from weddings to keggers and beyond.

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It's Time To Party: Summer Songs

Whether you're cavorting with friends or partying alone with a warm six-pack, you need a soundtrack.

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The Party's Over: Songs For Summer's End

September 3, 2009 • It's time for one last bittersweet blast of summertime music: five songs to mark the death of a season — and the birth of a time in which comfort revolves around sweaters, slippers, cocoa and enough food to pad the midsection through those cold winter months. Here's a mildly reflective playlist to honor the occasion, arranged in order of wistfulness.

courtesy of the artist

Heavy Metal Kegger

August 26, 2009 • If you bring cheap libations, secured in steel and bathed in a tub of ice, the masses will come. For the metalhead, a kegger means it's time to get brew-tal.

mitjamavsar / Flickr

Summer Can't Last Forever: Songs For Farewell

August 19, 2009 • Summer is, unfortunately, more about what we want it to be than what it actually is. Idealism may make a potent brew, but we know the season inevitably ends. That's why some of the best summer songs are tinged with fragility and marked by melancholy. This is music that admits the painful truth about summer: that even the best times won't last, as long days fade with autumn's encroaching dusk.

courtesy of the artist

Cajun Party: Songs Of Summer Sweat

August 12, 2009 • It's no secret that Cajun and zydeco music is all about sweat. So you can go to Louisiana for a summertime steambath, or you can bring a bit of the heat to you. Here are five songs guaranteed to get your feet moving, at which point the sweating part will take care of itself.

Classical Party: A Summer Night To Remember

WGUC Classical

August 6, 2009 • Summer may seem like the shortest of seasons, but at least the evenings are long and warm. As we wend our way into August, when the sticky air makes it easy to forget how little time remains until fall, here are five pieces by classical composers who embraced summer nights. Here's hoping the music signifies both summertime and celebration the next time you spend a hot night entertaining guests.

Poolside Party: '70s Jazz With A Splash Of Funk

WBGO

July 29, 2009 • No matter how you're going to spend your time by the pool, you're going to need musical accompaniment -- preferably something that steers clear of the typical Jimmy Buffett and Beach Boys mix. How about some jazz? Not the heady stuff, unless you're aiming to clear the decks. Instead, get yourself some deep '70s jazz; the kind that leaves a funk aroma and washes off easily when you take the plunge.

African Dance Party: Celebrating A Continent

July 23, 2009 • These five songs will work within any summer party mix. All come from the now-vintage repertoire of Afropop legends, and all have stood the test of time and animated countless festive occasions around the world. They're presented here in sequence to match the phases of a good party, from greeting and eating to drinking and dancing.

Jazz BBQ: Songs For A Summer Grill

WESA

July 15, 2009 • After you slap some barbecue sauce on your menu items of choice — be they meat-based or sculpted out of tofu — it's time to toss everything on the grill, let the fire do its work, and get down with these grill-friendly jazz tunes.

Party Of One: Misery Alienates Company

July 7, 2009 • Tonight and every night, hordes of keg-tapping sex-havers are congregating. Tonight and every night, you were not invited. What you and your poor, pockmarked soul need is a soundtrack — five songs to ensure that you and your stuffed animals will have a night to remember.

Four For The Fourth: Songs For America

July 2, 2009 • The Fourth of July is a birthday party and the whole country is invited. And every party needs music. Whether meditating on America's landscape, its freedoms or the things about it that frustrate us, America is ripe for inspiration, as evidenced by the songs here.

Kids' Party Mix: Songs For A New Generation

June 24, 2009 • Children will always dance at parties, but the music they choose is bound to evolve with the tastes of each new generation. Or is it? Pose a question to Mrs. Kushnir's third-grade class at Lafayette Elementary School in Washington, D.C. — "Which music makes you dance around?" — and you'll hear a laundry list of trends from the '50s onward.

Hammock Jams: Party In Your Backyard

June 17, 2009 • The next time you gather up close friends (or, better yet, load yourself into a hammock with a loved one while keeping a pitcher of iced tea within arm's reach), let these five songs set the tone. Each exudes some form of contentment, whether in the form of a well-placed string section or words that set a happy scene.

The Least Appropriate Wedding Songs Ever

June 11, 2009 • Apparently, there's no shortage of people who make misguided choices for wedding processions, father-daughter dances, cake-cuttings and everything in between. Hear five of the worst choices for wedding music, as chosen by you.

The Least Appropriate Wedding Songs Ever

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