Much to the dismay of many an anti-hipster, I am thoroughly enjoying Animal Collective’s new album Merriweather Post Pavilion. The song “My Girls” especially is ridiculously catchy and ingenious.

This morning I watched the music video for “My Girls” and a sense of inspiration hit. All of a sudden there was an itch to be creating music. Something about the song touched the creative nerve in my brain (however dormant the action of creation may be). It reminded me of something Bob Boilen of NPR’s All Songs Considered said about a Radiohead show (that I was at!):

These guys write great songs, and sometimes you can even sing along to them, but what they do better than any band is create a sonic adventure — a soundscape which, at its best, stretches time and allows the mind to wander and rejuvenate. I think of it as resetting the synapses. Creativity breeds creativity. When the music was over, I felt unboxed and changed and pretty darn happy. Drugs are overrated; music is underrated.

Resetting the synapses. I like that. Everyone should make a list of songs (or any kind of art, for that matter) that resets their synapses, where its creativity inspires your creativity. Here are eight songs that inspire me to create:

1. Radiohead – “15 Step” (In Rainbows)
2. Black Moth Super Rainbow – “Forever Heavy” (Dandelion Gum)
3. Animal Collective – “My Girls” (Merriweather Post Pavilion)
4. Eightball – “Drama In My Life (feat. Psycho Drama)” (Lost – Chopped and Screwed)
5. Burial – “Archangel” (Untrue)
6. Radiohead – “House of Cards” (In Rainbows)
7. Ryan Adams – “The Shadowlands” (Love Is Hell)
8. M83 – “Lower Your Eyelids to Die With the Sun” (Before the Dawn Heals Us)

And an iLike playlist if you want to listen to the songs:

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I know it seems like an empty promise, but I’m still working on stuff to write here. It’s just… really big. So it’s taking a while to process and organize my thoughts, especially when so much other stuff is going on in my life at the same time. In the meantime, here’s my monthly playlist for June:

1. Björk – “Hyperballad” (Post)
2. Solarstone – “Seven Cities (Atlantis Mix)” (Ibiza Euphoria 2)
3. Björk – “It’s Oh So Quiet” (Post)
4. The Dillinger Escape Plan – “Sugar Coated Sour” (Calculating Infinity)
5. Scorpions – “No One Like You” (Blackout)
6. Rhymefest – “Fever (Dirty)” (Blue Collar)
7. Cary Brothers – “All The Rage” (Who You Are)
8. Panda Bear – “Comfy In Nautica” (Person Pitch)
9. Interpol – “Not Even Jail” (Antics)
10. Fridge – “Harmonics” (Happiness)
11. Ion Dissonance – “The Surge” (Minus The Herd)
12. Bright Eyes – “First Day Of My Life” (I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning)
13. Ryan Adams – “Come Pick Me Up” (Heartbreaker)
14. Eightball – “Drama In My Life” (Lost – Chopped And Screwed)
15. Incubus – “Dig” (Light Grenades)

I’ve been neglecting you. I swear I have stuff to say. I’m just trying to organize my thoughts right now. Maybe I’ll make an attempt at expressing it soon. For now, here’s my monthly playlist for May.

1. Black Rebel Motorcycle Club – “All You Do Is Talk” (Baby 81)
2. Of Montreal – “Labyrinthian Pomp” (Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer?)
3. Interpol – “NYC” (Turn On The Bright Lights)
4. mewithoutYou – “Paper Hanger” (Catch For Us The Foxes)
5. Anathallo – “Hanasakajijii (Four: A Great Wind, More Ash)” (Floating World)
6. The White Stripes – “Icky Thump” (Icky Thump)
7. Kings Of Leon – “On Call” (Because Of The Times)
8. !!! – “All My Heroes Are Weirdos” (Myth Takes)
9. Grizzly Bear – “Knife” (Yellow House)
10. He Is Legend – “(((louds” (Suck Out The Poison)
11. Devendra Banhart – “Now That I Know” (Cripple Crow)
12. Zozobra – “The Blessing” (Harmonic Tremors)
13. Ray LaMontagne – “Be Here Now” (Till The Sun Turns Black)
14. Grizzly Bear – “Lullabye” (Yellow House)
15. Mono – “a thousand paper cranes” (Walking cloud and deep red sky, Flag fluttered and the sun shined)
16. Neko Case – “Star Witness” (Fox Confessor Brings The Flood)
17. Eightball – “Drama In My Life (feat. Psycho Drama)” (Lost – Chopped and Screwed)
18. Ryan Adams – “The Shadowlands” (Love Is Hell)
19. Neko Case – “That Teenage Feeling” (Fox Confessor Brings The Flood)
20. Ryan Adams – “Hotel Chelsea Nights” (Love Is Hell)