I’ve finally got a base tan, which is how I know summer is almost here. To celebrate, I’ve put together a kick ass summer playlist of old and new jams that act as the perfect accompaniment to frosty Coronas, gossip mags, and a day at the beach. And check out the playlists our girls at Lemondrop put together for gals planning on hitting the asphalt for a summer roadtrip—“99 Luft Balloons” AND “Forever Your Girl”? Hell yes.

Ah, prom. The only thing worse than the fashion faux pas epidemic is the music—and by worse we mean so, so bad, it’s goooooood. Now that we’re spotting teens making the same hideous mistakes we did sporting puffy pink dresses, we couldn’t help but feel a tinge of nostalgia for our own high school dance. So, we put together a playlist of the classic songs we used to dance and make romance to because even chaparones would agree that prom is definitely better heard than seen.

Womyn and grrls rejoice! Lilith Fair, the music festival featuring female artists, is coming back in 2010! The touring festival, founded by Canadian crooner Sarah McLachlan and named after Adam’s first wife in medieval Jewish legend, originally ran from 1997 to 1999, with some of the proceeds going to women’s charities. It featured a who’s-who of established and up-and-coming female artists: Fiona Apple, Sheryl Crow, Erykah Badu, and Luscious Jackson among them. I never went to Lilith Fair, mainly because there weren’t enough artists on the lineup that I liked to justify the cost, but if McLachlan and her partners invite even a quarter of the female musicians featured in the playlist after the jump, I will totes be in for 2010. Jump to get your lady rocks off.

Atlanta-based quartet Gringo Star released their debut album All Y’all last month, and it’s a good thing they did because our iPod needed an injection of “Big Beat/Psychedelic/Southern Rock” music, as they classify their sound on MySpace. We’re not really sure what that means, but we’re fans of it. Not only will their jangly music charm your ears, but the guys were nice enough to provide you with a playlist so large we had to break it into two installments. After the jump, Gringo Star’s favorite tunes vol. 1…

Sometimes the desire to please our partners leads us to places unforeseen. Things like trying their hobbies, tasting new foods, listening to new music are all normal fodder when venturing into compromise land. However, sometimes trying new things ventures into the bedroom, inspiring you to, um, perform in ways you wouldn’t for just anyone. To this, I say “Embrace it!” and test out these eight songs to strip to.

1. “Ooh la la”—Goldfrapp
2. “Lick”—Joi
3. “Stranglehold”—Ted Nugent
4. “Stripper” – The Soho Dolls
5. “Oops (Oh My)”—Tweet
6. “You’ve Got the Love”—The Source
7. “Glory Box”—Portishead
8. “Got to Give It Up”—Marvin Gaye

Other necessities in performing a good striptease, in addition to your iPod speakers, after the jump…