Road Trip Wednesday: Summer Songs

This week, YA Highway wants to know: What's on your summer playlist?

Well, as you probably know, we're in the middle of a drought. And by "we" I mean "most of the country," but by "middle" I mean "Arkansas is like the epicenter of this hellacious weather."

Last week I was at a writing retreat in Colorado, which was having unseasonably nice weather, and every time I went outside I would go into raptures about how cool the temperature was. I also did a lot of ecstatic blabbering every time it rained. To their credit, the other girls neither locked me outside nor threw things at me.

Anyway: Then I came home.

Yeah.

(To be fair, that's in a parked car. But still.)

Morale gets low when you're trapped inside with the AC blasting and the shades closed. While I'm grateful for air conditioning, I get claustrophobic and feel like a bug butting against the windows, trying to escape. So it helps to have some good music in the background. Music hath charms to soothe the savage bitch, or something like that, and here's what's soothing my summer savagery: The playlist my husband made me for Christmas*

which made me especially love Wye Oak and Horse Feathers, both of which are figuring heavily in the playlist for my new WIP draft.

If indie rock is not your thing, I also made several playlists for my mom, who is trying to get back to running after a stress fracture. They're good for exercising and/or dancing around your house like a crazy person, and helpfully categorized by Walk, Jog, and Run, with tracks in ascending order by beats per minute. I also made her these two last Christmas. (I mean, they might have a little bit of jangly folk music on them. But there's also, like, Beyonce and The Dead Weather.) (Also my mom is cool. And obviously playlist gifts are a thing in my family.)

So what are you listening to this summer? Head to  YA Highway, leave a link in the comments, and click around to get more music recommendations!

*Links go to Rhapsody, which is a site I love and recommend, in part because it pays artists more for their music. But Spotify lets me embed. So take your pick. (Upbeat playlists are embedded after the jump.)