If this summary of last month’s listening habits isn’t an indication of my Jekyll-and-Hyde-esque music preferences, I don’t know what is. The obsession with Flying Lotus has returned, I discovered the crass d&b of Venetian Snares, I learned how to look past Neil Young’s nasal vocals — both on his new record and Harvest, an old classic — and enjoyed a new non-rock Lil Wayne record.

1. Dabrye – “Special (feat. Guilty Simpson and Paradime)” (Two / Three)
2. Deadmau5 – “Reward Is More Cheese” (Reward Is More Cheese)
3. Bobby Bare Jr. – “A Storm – a Tree – My Mother’s Head” (A Storm – a Tree – My Mother’s Head)
4. The Two Man Gentlemen Band – “There’s Something in My Trousers” (¡Dos Amigos, Una Fiesta!)
5. The Two Man Gentlemen Band – “Me, I Get High on Reefer” (¡Dos Amigos, Una Fiesta!)
6. Venetian Snares – “Posers and Camera Phones” (My So-Called Life)
7. Venetian Snares – “Ultraviolent Junglist” (My So-Called Life)
8. Broken Social Scene – “World Sick” (Forgiveness Rock Record)
9. Flying Lotus – “Camel” (Los Angeles)
10. bellflur – “Gasoline Heaven” (Asleep.Asleep.)
11. Neil Young – “Heart of Gold” (Harvest)
12. Neil Young – “Old Man” (Harvest)
13. Manchester Orchestra – “Shake It Out” (Mean Everything To Nothing)
14. Lil Wayne – “What’s Wrong With Them (feat. Nicki Minaj)” (I Am Not a Human Being)
15. Lil Wayne – “Gonerrhea (feat. Drake)” (I Am Not a Human Being)
16. Neil Young – “Hitchhiker” (Le Noise)

Listen up for a few of these songs here (or if you have Rhapsody, the whole thing is here):

January was an interesting music month. Animal Collective’s new album slapped me in the face, and a lot of freak folk and experimental stuff I hadn’t cared much for before finally hit me (Bowerbirds, Gang Gang Dance, Fredrik).

I also met a few cool girls — Gayle Skidmore, Valeri Lopez and Soyu Sae — who played some very inspiring music at a coffee shop a few weeks ago. Two of their songs got stuck in my head like whoa and thus appear here. Hopefully I’ll be seeing a lot more of them in the future.

1. Eluvium – “New Animals From the Air” (Talk Amongst the Trees)
2. T.I. – “Whatever You Like” (Paper Trail)
3. Bowerbirds – “In Our Talons” (Hymns For a Dark Horse)
4. Hammock – “City in the Dust on My Window” (Maybe They Will Sing For Us Tomorrow)
5. Gang Gang Dance – “House Jam” (Saint Dymphna)
6. Fredrik – “Black Fur” (Na Na Ni)
7. 3oh!3 – “Punkbitch” (Want)
8. Jay-Z – “Threat” (The Black Album)
9. Jay-Z – “Moment of Clarity” (The Black Album)
10. Animal Collective – “My Girls” (Merriweather Post Pavilion)
11. Gayle Skidmore – “Crazy” (Cowley Road)
12. Valeri Lopez – “Just PB&J Thank You” (Eugene Lovely)
13. Bon Iver – “Woods” (Blood Bank)
14. Modeselektor – “The White Flash feat. Thom Yorke (Trentemøller remix)” (Happy Birthday! Remixed Pt. 1)
15. Animal Collective – “College” (Sung Tongs)
16. The Dead Texan – “A Chronicle of Early Failures, part 2″ (The Dead Texan)
17. Black Moth Super Rainbow – “Forever Heavy” (Dandelion Gum)
18. Lil’ Wayne – “Lollipop” (Tha Carter III)
19. Lil’ Wayne – “La La” (Tha Carter III)
20. Sigur Rós – “Gódan daginn” (með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust)

Of course, as I’m starting delve deep into this “artists doing what they’re created for” idea lately, someone has to go and prove my point by doing the opposite.

Lil’ Wayne, whose latest album I gladly play on repeat, is known for being prolific, always in the studio working on something. That, to me, is the sign of an artist that’s found their niche, and his is clever, fresh hip hop. Except now he’s decided to make a rock album. One listen will tell you this probably isn’t going to turn out well. It sounds like a natural-born rapper trying to not be a rapper and overlooking some genre “rules” in the process.

It’s an artist exploring. That has to be respected. If artists didn’t explore, nothing would ever change. But to release those explorations to the public could tarnish his image, and thus his art.

Maybe some artists are prolific in their niche because they are one-trick ponies that are particularly good at that one trick. If they didn’t explore, they wouldn’t ever know where the boundary was. But once they hit it, why venture across it to a place where judgment will be swift and painful?

Lots of great releases in October (Ray LaMontagne, Ingrid Michaelson, Ryan Adams & the Cardinals, etc.) and plenty of reason to be listening to calm music, even when life isn’t always so calm (and maybe especially so in that case). Seeing Sigur Rós was a great way to start things off, and seeing Death Cab for Cutie last week was a great way to end it.

And, just for the record, “Swagga Like Us” may be the best hip hop song ever recorded. M.I.A., Kanye West, Jay-Z, Lil Wayne and T.I. all on one track. My mind is blown.

1. Earth – “Omens and Portents 1: The Driver” (The Bees Made Honey in the Lion’s Skull)
2. TV on the Radio – “Halfway Home” (Dear Science)
3. T.I. – “Swagga Like Us” (Paper Trail)
4. Dan le Sac vs. Scroobius Pip – “Thou Shalt Always Kill” (Angles)
5. Ray LaMontagne – “Meg White” (Gossip in the Grain)
6. Ryan Adams & the Cardinals – “My Love for You is Real” (Follow the Lights)
7. Ray LaMontagne – “You Are the Best Thing” (Gossip in the Grain)
8. Ingrid Michaelson – “Can’t Help Falling In Love” (Be OK)
9. Todd Snider – “Is This Thing Working?” (Peace Queer)
10. Brett Dennen – “Make You Crazy” (Hope for the Hopeless)
11. Ryan Adams & the Cardinals – “Magick” (Cardinology)
12. TV on the Radio – “DLZ” (Dear Science)
13. Bloc Party – “Ares” (Intimacy)
14. mewithoutYou – “Son of a Window” (Catch for Us the Foxes)
15. Death Cab for Cutie – “Transatlanticism” (Transatlanticism)
16. Marnie Stern – “Clone Cycle” (This Is It and I Am It and You Are It and So Is That and He Is It and She Is It and It Is It and That Is That)

You know autumn is on its way when reverb and ambient textures start to float back into the soundscape, especially in the form of Neko Case, Fleet Foxes and This Will Destroy You. This year they’re accentuated with some of those warm, 80s-esque synths that M83 and MGMT bring to the table.

Autumn has finally become a season that I can appreciate. Now that I’m beyond school and life is fairly constant aside from the natural seasons, I’m able to enjoy what each season brings, in both the emotional and natural senses. I look forward to the sense of calm darkness and satisfied sadness that reminds me to take comfort as I sit back and watch a year come to a close.

1. Stars of the Lid – “Apreludes (in C sharp major)” (and Their Refinement of the Decline)
2. Spain – “Our Love is Going to Live Forever” (She Haunts My Dreams)
3. Norma Jean – “Death of the Anti Mother” (The Anti Mother)
4. Ponytail – “Celebrate the Body Electric (It Came From an Angel)” (Ice Cream Spiritual)
5. Santogold – “Creator” (Santogold)
6. The Faint – “The Geeks Were Right” (Fasciinatiion)
7. edIT – “Laundry” (Crying Over Pros For No Reason)
8. The Cool Kids – “A Little Bit Cooler” (The Bake Sale)
9. M83 – “Midnight Souls Still Remain” (Saturdays = Youth)
10. Anathallo – “Dokkoise House (With Face Covered)” (Floating World)
11. MGMT – “Time to Pretend” (Oracular Spectacular)
12. This Will Destroy You – “A Three-Legged Workhorse” (This Will Destroy You)
13. Fleet Foxes – “White Winter Hymnal” (Fleet Foxes)
14. Neko Case – “Maybe Sparrow” (Fox Confessor Brings the Flood)
15. Delta Spirit – “People, Turn Around” (Ode to Sunshine)
16. Lil Wayne – “Got Money” (Tha Carter III)

A while back my best friend started keeping a monthly playlist. Any particular song that she felt was a favorite or most-played item was added to this list. The idea is that, at some undefined point in the future, she’ll appreciate being able to go back and see what she was listening to at a particular era of time.

I took the idea and changed the rules to fit me a little better. I create a monthly playlist but it not only contains favorites of the time, but any song that caught my attention (in a good way) during the month, whether or not I really listened to it a huge amount.

So now I’m going to post these on my blog at the end of each month. For this introductory post I’ll post January’s because it’s the first playlist and I need to catch up. February is soon to follow. Oh, a little disclaimer: the songs aren’t sorted in any order other than whatever order they went on the list.

Monthly Playlist – January 2007

1. Band Of Horses – “The Funeral” (Everything All The Time)
2. The Black Keys – “Thickfreakness” (Thickfreakness)
3. Brand New – “Sowing Season (Yeah)” (The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me)
4. Calexico and Iron & Wine – “He Lays In The Reins” (In The Reins)
5. Calexico and Iron & Wine – “Sixteen, Maybe Less” (In The Reins)
6. DragonForce – “Through The Fire And Flames” (Inhuman Rampage)
7. Eluvium – “The Well-Meaning Professor” (An Accidental Memory In The Case Of Death)
8. Fujiya & Miyagi – “Ankle Injuries” (Transparent Things)
9. Fujiya & Miyagi – “Collarbone” (Transparent Things)
10. Gomez – “See The World” (How We Operate)
11. Jeremy Enigk – “Been Here Before” (World Waits)
12. John Mayer – “Slow Dancing In A Burning Room” (Continuum)
13. John Mayer – “Bold As Love” (Continuum)
14. Birdman & Lil Wayne – “Stuntin’ Like My Daddy (Street)” (Like Father Like Son)
15. Neko Case – “Star Witness” (Fox Confessor Brings The Flood)
16. Ratatat – “Wildcat” (Classics)
17. Ray LaMontagne – “Be Here Now” (Till The Sun Turns Black)
18. Regina Spektor – “Fidelity” (Begin To Hope)
19. Ryan Adams – “The Shadowlands” (Love Is Hell)
20. The Crystal Method – “High Roller” (Vegas)
21. The Decemberists – “The Perfect Crime #2″ (The Crane Wife)
22. The Shins – “Phantom Limb” (Wincing The Night Away)
23. Damien Rice – “9 Crimes” (9)
24. Caspian – “Quovis” (You Are The Conductor)
25. Caspian – “Further Up” (You Are The Conductor)
26. Portishead – “Glory Box” (Roseland NYC Live)
27. mewithoutYou – “Carousels” (Catch For Us The Foxes)
28. Explosions In The Sky – “The Only Moment We Were Alone” (The Earth Is Not A Cold Dead Place)