Another busy month spent not blogging, but at least I’m consistent with the monthly playlists, right? I’m about to leave for a week of vacation. I figured I’d post my August list before I check out mentally.

1. Ray LaMontagne - “Empty” (Till The Sun Turns Black)
2. Mono - “halcyon (beautiful days)” (Walking cloud and deep red sky, Flag fluttered and the sun shined)
3. Dr. Dre - “Forgot About Dre” (2001)
4. Sigur Ros - “Milano” (Takk…)
5. M83 - “Teen Angst” (Before the Dawn Heals Us)
6. Ryan Adams - “Damn, Sam (I Love A Woman That Rains)” (Heartbreaker)
7. Ryan Adams - “Come Pick Me Up” (Heartbreaker)
8. Josh Ritter - “The Temptation of Adam” (The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter)
9. M.I.A. - “Bird Flu” (Kala)
10. Ray Lamontagne - “All The Wild Horses” (Trouble)
11. Liars - “Drum And The Uncomfortable Can” (Drum’s Not Dead)

As you can see, I’m still slightly obsessed with Ryan Adams. I don’t think that will be ending soon.

Ryan Adams wins this month. Between my realization that Heartbreaker is an amazing album and the release of his new one, Easy Tiger, he pretty much dominated my listening for the month. I’m actually listening to Love Is Hell while I write this, completely by coincidence. It’s no surprise, then, that he’s broken into the top ten of my all-time most played artists.

Oh, and a new “feature” for you: Often times the tracks I put in my monthly playlist are available for stream and/or download by the artist in some capacity, in which case I’ll provide a link.

1. Clipse - “Mr. Me Too” (Hell Hath No Fury)
2. Ryan Adams - “Halloweenhead” (Easy Tiger)
3. T.I. - “What You Know” (King)
4. Amy Winehouse - “Rehab” (Back To Black)
5. Mew - “Chinaberry Tree” (And The Glass Handed Kites)
6. Ryan Adams - “Two” (Easy Tiger)
7. Interpol - “Pioneer To The Falls” (Our Love To Admire)
8. Ryan Adams - “To Be Young (is to be sad, is to be high)” (Heartbreaker)
9. The American Dollar - “DEA” (The Technicolour Sleep)
10. Justice - “Genesis” (†)
11. Los Campesinos! - “You! Me! Dancing!” (Sticking Fingers Into Sockets)
12. Maps - “To The Sky” (We Can Create)
13. Mono - “halcyon (beautiful days)” (Walking cloud and deep red sky, Flag fluttered and the sun shined)
14. Iron & Wine - “Boy With A Coin” (The Shepherd’s Dog)

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)

Funny how it takes a comment from a local acquaintance to get me posting here again…

Anyway, I’ve decided to just have this be my blog for music musings. Kind of how I originally intended, except without any expectation for it to gain any popularity, and I don’t think I’ll do any formal album reviews or anything.

That said, here are my favorite discoveries in recent months/days as well as some older favorites that are now full-on addictions:

• This Will Destroy You - (instrumental/post rock)
• Joshua Radin - (Simon & Garfunkel-esque acoustic folk)
• Caspian - (instrumental/post rock)
• Pelican - (instrumental/heavy post rock)
• The Appleseed Cast - (indie/post rock)
• Band Of Horses - (indie rock)
• This Is Your Captain Speaking - (instrumental/post rock)
• Baaba Maal - (world/African)
• Explosions In The Sky - (instrumental/post rock)
• Mono - (Japanese post rock)

As you can see, a lot of post rock. Duh. I can’t get enough of it. It’s got this great soundtrack-ish feel to it. In fact, Explosions In The Sky can be credited for the soundtrack to the movie Friday Night Lights. So there.

In other news:

Norma Jean has two new tracks posted on their PureVolume page from their upcoming release, Redeemer, which releases September 12. Absolutely brutal. I can’t wait.

mewithoutYou has a new track from their upcoming September 26 release, Brother, Sister, posted on their Myspace. And, in case you missed it, they performed another of their new songs at Cornerstone, and the video has made its way to YouTube.

It was just officially announced yesterday via their website that Death From Above 1979 has broken up. Far too soon, if you ask me, but apparently it’s been speculated for the last year or so. Rest in peace.

Random thought: maybe I should start a podcast. But would anyone listen?