On Summer Sun, Yo La Tengo explore quiet the way they once indulged in loudness — as a means to a mood. Wandering farther down the path cleared by their last two albums, the Hoboken, New Jersey, trio disguises its guitars, minimizes its drums and makes plink-plunk sounds with its keyboards to conjure mystery, uncertainty and precious private moments. Few bands submerge their ego more effectively than Yo La Tengo: Husband and wife Ira Kaplan and Georgia Hubley both sing slightly louder than a whisper, with very similar conversational voices. Jazzy instrumentation and dub-inspired studio manipulation share the foreground on shuffling, hushed workouts such as "Let's Be Still." The songs create a warm yet uneasy vibe that's not just meant for your head. Like Stereolab and Beck, Yo La Tengo liberate their listeners by downplaying language and logic in favor of our bodies' hazy dreams.

“I'm Yours”

Jason Mraz re-emerged after his disappointing second album with this lead single, a Jack Johnson-esque ditty about giving yourself fully to someone else. The success of the reggae-tinged song (it earned two Grammy nods and a spot on the Billboard singles chart for well over a year) was something the folk-pop singer never predicted when he wrote it in 15 minutes at home. "I played a happy-hippie chord progression that would probably work without 50 different Bob Marley songs," he told Rolling Stone. "I thought, 'It's too novelty. This is a nursery rhyme,'" concluding that "you can never guess what's gonna be a hit."