Another all-over-the-place kind of month. Aside from a couple St. Patty’s Day jams, there aren’t really any trends to speak of here. A few new releases (Prodigy, Neko Case, Tim Hecker) and a return to some personal favorites where less-noticed tracks got a little more attention.

1. The Prodigy – “Invaders Must Die” (Invaders Must Die)
2. Circa Survive – “Kicking Your Crosses Down” (On Letting Go)
3. Romance of Young Tigers – “Long Withdrawing Roar” (I Have Supped Full on Horrors)
4. Neko Case – “People Got a Lotta Nerve” (Middle Cyclone)
5. Fleet Foxes – “Blue Ridge Mountains” (Fleet Foxes)
6. Frightened Rabbit – “The Modern Leper” (The Midnight Organ Fight)
7. Yeah Yeah Yeahs – “Zero” (It’s Blitz!)
8. Tarlton – “8719806823″ (Van EP)
9. Tim Hecker – “The Inner Shore” (An Imaginary Country)
10. My Chemical Romance – “Desolation Row” (Watchmen: Music From the Motion Picture)
11. Wild Light – “California On My Mind” (Adult Nights)
12. Moby – “My Weakness” (Play)
13. Ponytail – “Late for School” (Ice Cream Spiritual!)
14. Dropkick Murphys – “I’m Shipping Up to Boston” (The Warrior’s Code)
15. He Is Legend – “The Walls Have Teeth” (I Am Hollywood)
16. dan le sac vs Scroobius Pip – “Development” (Angles)
17. Frightened Rabbit – “Backwards Walk” (The Midnight Organ Fight)

I’ll let my die-hard fans take care of an imeem playlist for this.

This one is late for good reason. I’ve been sick all week and am just now beginning to see the end. Not only have I been busy resting, watching the entire Freaks & Geeks series, as well as several episodes of Six Feet Under, but the doc I went to looked at my ear, which is highly prone to infection after colds, and said I had a major tear halfway across my ear drum. Closer inspection indicated that wasn’t the case (whew) but neither of the doctors could figure out what was going on. “Cool ear,” one of them told me on his way out. Uhh… thanks?

Anyway, on to the music (which will be slightly garbled to me until I finish this course of double-strength antibiotics). Last month I finally started catching on to This Will Destroy You’s new one, I continued to fall in love with The Snake The Cross The Crown, I saw Ryan Adams live for the first time (yay, bootlegs!) and discovered Modeselektor thanks to Radiohead guest-DJing some BBC radio show I’d never heard of. Enjoy some tunes.

1. This Will Destroy You – “They Move On Tracks of Never-Ending Light” (This Will Destroy You)
2. The Snake The Cross The Crown – “Gypsy Melodies” (Cotton Teeth)
3. M.I.A. – “Hussel” (Kala)
4. The Snake The Cross The Crown – “Maps” (Cotton Teeth)
5. Michael Cera & Ellen Page – “Anyone Else But You” (Juno soundtrack)
6. Sigur Rós – “Hafsól” (Hvarf/Heim)
7. The Magnetic Fields – “California Girls” (Distortion)
8. M.I.A. – “20 Dollar” (Kala)
9. Circa Survive – “In The Morning And Amazing…” (On Letting Go)
10. Ryan Adams – “Shakedown On 9th Street” (Heartbreaker)
11. Collections Of Colonies Of Bees – “Flocks III” (Collections Of Colonies Of Bees)
12. Modeselektor – “The Dark Side Of The Sun (feat. Puppetmastaz)” (Happy Birthday!)
13. Modeselektor – “The White Flash (feat. Thom Yorke)” (Happy Birthday!)
14. Burial – “Prayer” (Burial)
15. Vampire Weekend – “Walcott” (Vampire Weekend)
16. Vampire Weekend – “Oxford Comma” (Vampire Weekend)

I just got way too excited for Coachella this weekend when they posted the set time schedule.

Somehow they managed to keep conflicts to a minimum, as far as my own preferences go, anyway. There are a couple bands I might have to skip out early on to catch something else, but the only major conflict for me is Saturday evening. Kings Of Leon, The Decemberists, !!! and Andrew Bird all playing at the same time. I don’t even know where to start with that one. I’ve seen Andrew Bird, so I may have to sacrifice there, but even then, he puts on an amazing show.

Here’s how I plan to break it down:

Friday

• Nickel Creek
• Of Montreal
• Circa Survive
• Rufus Wainwright
• The Jesus And Mary Chain
• Peeping Tom
• Interpol
• Sonic Youth
• Bjork

Saturday

• Regina Spektor
• The New Pornographers
• Kings Of Leon vs. The Decemberists vs. !!! vs. Andrew Bird
• The Arcade Fire
• Girl Talk
• Red Hot Chili Peppers
• The Black Keys

Sunday

• Mika
• Anathallo
• Grizzly Bear
• Explosions In The Sky
• The Roots
• Willie Nelson
• Amos Lee
• Ratatat
• Damien Rice
• Rage Against The Machine

Meanwhile, I’m packing up my sunscreen and shorts (two things I don’t use that often; yeah, I’m a nerd) and expecting to have a very fun weekend. I’ll be lucky if I don’t come back deaf, malnourished, underslept and looking like Pigpen.