wow july 4th already? man summer’s a third over! here’s what we’re listening to:

Coldplay Viva la Vida

the title cut has the familiar repeating horn and string arrangement i love about coldplay’s songs. can’t imagine why anyone wouldn’t get into this. “lost?” is another banger, def r&b influences there. crank them both.

John Mayer Where the Light Is: Live In Los Angeles

mayer puts out a second official live cd in his short but incredible career and his cover of “free falling” is sublime. i’m also loving the new song “in your atmosphere”. be sure to check out the live dvd as well.


Camp Rock Soundtrack

my daughters may have introduced me to this pop perfection, but i’ve run with it. there’ll be no traveling in the car without this cd cued. our faves are “here i am”, “too cool”, “we rock”, “this is me”, and “gotta find you”. for the kids and the adults who love the kids ya’ll.

Anita Baker Rapture

so after the kids have gone to bed…time for the grown and sexy. anita baker’s 1987 masterpiece contains all you need to wind down from a hot, exhausting day. i’ve been running anita all summer long and still can’t imagine quiet storm gets any better than this. exquisite.

Keyshia Cole Heaven Sent

there’s lots of love over here for keyshia cole. after watching her BET awards performance, “heaven sent” saw renewed action in my current playlists. she’s on her fourth single from the platinum album, and it’s already her 3rd #1 r&b single this year. keyshia’s not playing. i dare you to try not to feel this one.

so what’s your 4th of july 2008 soundtrack??