December was one of those months that seemed to be about three months long. I have no idea why. I drove to and from LA two weekends in a row, trying (and failing) to put a holiday mix CD together, spent Christmas happily alone and tried to control myself from reading too many year-end top 10 album lists.

A lot of this month’s interesting tidbits came from listening to albums on other people’s lists, though, so I can’t really knock them that much. It’s a great way to figure out what I missed over the course of the year. That’s where Benea Reach, Shearwater, Okkervil River and Frightened Rabbit all came from.

Happy new year, everyone!

1. Adam Pasion - “Schoolhouse Virginia” (O Hear the Rattling)
2. Johnny Cash - “It Ain’t Me, Babe” (Greatest Hits, Vol. 1)
3. Akon - “Right Now (Na Na Na)” (Freedom)
4. Akon - “I’m So Paid” (Freedom)
5. Horse Feathers - “Curs in the Weeds” (House With No Home)
6. MGMT - “Electric Feel” (Oracular Spectacular)
7. Caroline - “Winter” (Murmurs)
8. Starflyer 59 - “My Name” (Everybody Makes Mistakes)
9. Justice - “Genesis” (A Cross the Universe)
10. Common - “Universal Mind Control” (Universal Mind Control)
11. Horse Feathers - “Father” (House With No Home)
12. Fleet Foxes - “Oliver James” (Fleet Foxes)
13. Okkervil River - “Calling and Not Calling My Ex” (The Stand Ins)
14. Shearwater - “Home Life” (Rook)
15. Benea Reach - “Awakening” (Alleviat)
16. Neko Case - “Look for Me (I’ll Be Around)” (Blacklisted)
17. Benea Reach - “New Waters” (Alleviat)
18. Stars of the Lid - “Even If You’re Never Awake” (And Their Refinement of the Decline)
19. Kanye West - “Say You Will” (808s & Heartbreak)
20. Kanye West - “Paranoid” (808s & Heartbreak)
21. Frightened Rabbit - “Head Rolls Off” (The Midnight Organ Fight)

Yep. Fall is here. Gone are the sunny pop songs of spring and summer. In come the introspective, calm-but-questioning sounds of autumn.

Change is afoot.

1. Jakob - “Pneumonic” (Solace)
2. The Velvet Underground - “Who Loves the Sun” (Loaded)
3. Radiohead - “There There” (Hail to the Thief)
4. M83 - “Lower Your Eyelids to Die With the Sun” (Before the Dawn Heals Us)
5. The New Pornographers - “These Are the Fables” (Twin Cinema)
6. Joshua James - “Today” (The Sun Is Always Brighter)
7. dan le sac vs. Scroobius Pip - “Letter from God to Man” (Angles)
8. Neko Case - “Look For Me (I’ll Be Around)” (Blacklisted)
9. Joshua James - “Winter Storm” (The Sun Is Always Brighter)
10. Neko Case - “I Wish I Was the Moon” (Blacklisted)
11. mewithoutYou - “Carousels” (Catch For Us the Foxes)
12. TV On the Radio - “Crying” (Dear Science)
13. Jay-Z - “Renegade” (The Blueprint)
14. Hammock - “We Will Say Goodbye to Everyone” (Maybe They Will Sing For Us Tomorrow)
15. Ingrid Michaelson - “The Way I Am” (Girls and Boys)
16. Edgar Meyer and Chris Thile - “The Farmer and the Duck” (Edgar Meyer and Chris Thile)

P.S. If you get a chance to, go see Edgar Meyer and Chris Thile live. I saw them last weekend in Irvine and was thoroughly impressed. It’s a beautiful thing to see modern legends collaborate so well with each other. And if you don’t get a chance, at least pick up a copy of the album.

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)

This is just a test to see how Mixaloo actually works in the wild. Of course, if you pay for this playlist, I could tell people I was making money as a music blogger.

(And check out my awesome Photoshop skills! Cropping an image and adding text! I could totally put “Photoshop skills” on my resume.)

Here’s the breakdown of what I listened to last month that made me happy. Songza made linking ridiculously easy.

Also, December is going to be a dead month for new music. Guess what that means? More meaningless end-of-year lists! Hooray! Expect several of these from me, just like last year.

1. Sigur Rós - “Í Gær” (Hvarf/Heim)
2. Ray Charles - “What’d I Say” (20 Golden Classics)
3. Bright Eyes - “If The Brakeman Turns My Way” (Cassadaga)
4. Neko Case - “Hold On, Hold On” (Fox Confessor Brings The Flood)
5. Alison Krauss & Union Station - “New Favorite” (New Favorite)
6. Jóhann Jóhannsson - “Part 1 - IBM 1401 Processing Unit” (IBM 1401, a User’s Manual)
7. Damien Rice - “Eskimo” (O)
8. Stars - “Your Ex-Lover Is Dead” (Set Yourself On Fire)
9. Stars - “Set Yourself On Fire” (Set Yourself On Fire)
10. The Dillinger Escape Plan - “Nong Eye Gong” (Ire Works)
11. Opeth - “Ghost Of Perdition” (Ghost Reveries)
12. Jakob - “Pneumonic” (Solace)
13. Daft Punk - “Around The World / Harder Better Faster Stronger” (Alive 2007)
14. Feist - “My Moon My Man” (The Reminder)
15. Burial - “Archangel” (Untrue)
16. Bright Eyes - “Lua” (I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning)
17. Regina Spektor - “Music Box” (Begin To Hope)
18. Ryan Adams - “Pearls On A String” (Easy Tiger)

October brought a new Radiohead album, reminiscence of past autumns (hence the A Perfect Circle and Further Seems Forever songs), which then led to searching for more autumn-esque music (Neutral Milk Hotel, Neko Case, Amos Lee), a Briertone concert, me trying really hard to learn to love Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (I’d always found it boring), a few other new releases (Rogue Wave, Band Of Horses, Fiery Furnaces) and Rhapsody finally putting Sunn 0))) albums in their catalog/me making a Halloween playlist.

1. Neko Case - “Things That Scare Me” (Blacklisted)
2. Rosetta - “Red in Tooth and Claw” (Wake/Lift)
3. Emmylou Harris - “Red Dirt Girl” (Red Dirt Girl)
4. Neutral Milk Hotel - “In The Aeroplane Over The Sea” (In The Aeroplane Over The Sea)
5. Von Südenfed - “Fledermaus Can’t Get It” (Von Südenfed)
6. Amos Lee - “Night Train” (Supply And Demand)
7. Band Of Horses - “Is There A Ghost” (Cease To Begin)
8. The Fiery Furnaces - “Duplexes Of The Dead” (Widow City)
9. Briertone - “Cheers” (Sojourners)
10. Radiohead - “15 Step” (In Rainbows)
11. Radiohead - “Bodysnatchers” (In Rainbows)
12. Rogue Wave - “Lake Michigan” (Asleep At Heaven’s Gate)
13. A Fine Frenzy - “Come On, Come Out” (One Cell In The Sea)
14. Ray LaMontagne - “Jolene” (Trouble)
15. Jakob - “Malachite” (Solace)
16. Radiohead - “House Of Cards” (In Rainbows)
17. Briertone - “Strawfoot” (Sojourners)
18. Further Seems Forever - “Light Up Ahead” (Hide Nothing)
19. A Perfect Circle - “Passive” (eMOTIVe)
20. Further Seems Forever - “Make It A Part” (Hide Nothing)
21. Further Seems Forever - “All Rise” (Hide Nothing)
22. A Perfect Circle - “The Package” (Thirteenth Step)
23. Wilco - “I Am Trying To Break Your Heart” (Yankee Hotel Foxtrot)
24. Sunn 0))) - “Bathory Erzebet” (Black One)

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)

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)

The final part of my four-part series. The list to end all lists. I present to you the best new albums in 2006.

1. mewithoutYou - Brother, Sister
2. This Will Destroy You - Young Mountain
3. Mew - And The Glass Handed Kites
4. Jeremy Enigk - World Waits
5. Joshua Radin - We Were Here
6. Malajube - Trompe-L’Oeil (US Release)
7. Band Of Horses - Everything All The Time
8. John Mayer - Continuum
9. P.O.S. - Audition
10. Norma Jean - Redeemer
11. Thom Yorke - The Eraser
12. Neko Case - Fox Confessor Brings The Flood
13. Sufjan Stevens - The Avalanche
14. The Decemberists - The Crane Wife
15. The Appleseed Cast - Peregrine
16. Damien Rice - 9
17. The Knife - Silent Shout
18. Underoath - Define The Great Line
19. Angels & Airwaves - We Don’t Need To Whisper
20. Muse - Black Holes And Revelations

Well, that’s all folks. I had fun making these lists and you probably hated reading them. Or maybe you found something new to love. If that’s the case, my goal has been met.

Have a merry Christmas and a happy new year. Keep on discovering.