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)

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)