The January Mixtape & other stuff

For a handful of reasons, I’m feeling rather strongly that January has got to go. First off, it’s been damn cold, and I don’t use that kind of vulgarity lightly. It’s been years since I remember anything close to the constant bombardment of sub-freezing daily temperatures we’ve been ‘blessed’ with here in NY this month, and I‘m tired of it. Second, and much more important, before February is through I’m going to be the father of twin girls, and, of course, I’m pretty damn psyched about that. Vulgarity again, I know, and I apologize. I know everyone is going bat shit over Animal Collective’s “My Girls” these days, myself included, but the song has taken on a whole new life for me in the face of what’s coming. My wife’s 34 weeks in right now and looks as though she could pop at any minute. It’s a beautiful sight, and I admire her more than ever for not only dealing with the physical toll on her body in such a brave way, but the psychological toll of spending the better part of the past 4 months confined to a couch. For me, putting together a pack n’ play last weekend sealed it all. I stood over that thing for a few minutes after I was done imagining the tiny lives that will soon inhabit it. The surrealist nature of the past 8 months very quickly became 100% real.

As far as music goes, the selection of new tunes I’ve come across in January has made me very excited for what lies ahead in 2009. Literally, I could barely keep up with all the songs I wanted to post. All the record labels must know I’ll be severely handicapped when it comes to regular posts in a few weeks and started getting while the getting’s good. I’m sure you are well-versed in Merriweather Post Pavilion by now, but in addition to it really compelling new albums came from Soft Black, A.C. Newman, and Antony & The Johnsons. The upcoming month sees solid new albums from Handsome Furs, The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart, Dan Auerbach, and a few others. I figured there was no sense in trying to narrow down the month’s selection into a 4 or 5 song sampler of the best it had to offer, so instead you get a mixtape of something from almost every album or band I posted about this month. Dig in, and sorry there’s no Zip - I still haven’t mastered that.

MP3 :: I Am An Animal / Soft Black (original post)
MP3 :: People Got A Lotta Nerve / Neko Case (original post)
MP3 :: Two / The Antlers (original post)
MP3 :: Ladybug, Don’t Smile / The Online Romance (original post)
MP3 :: There Are Maybe Ten Or Twelve / A.C. Newman (original post)
MP3 :: So Bored / Wavves (original post)
MP3 :: Everything With You / The Pains Of Being Pure A Heart (original post)
MP3 :: Glasses On / Schwervon! (original post)
MP3 :: She’s Got Stripes / Aaron Young & His Nightjars (original post)
MP3 :: Reasons To Quit / Phosphorescent (original post)
MP3 :: Blood Bank / Bon Iver (original post)
MP3 :: Tunnelvision / Here We Go Magic (original post)
MP3 :: Familiar Light / Asobi Seksu (original post)
MP3 :: Starting Over / The Black Lips (original post)
MP3 :: I’m Confused / Handsome Furs (original post)
MP3 :: The Rake’s Song / The Decemberists
MP3 :: Never Had Nobody Like You / M. Ward (original post)
MP3 :: The Wind / Peasant (original post)
MP3 :: End In Flames / Strand of Oaks (original post)
MP3 :: Beauty Force / David Shane Smith (original post)
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