My Year In Lists

Hey folks, I thought I would end the year a little differently and end it with a “playlist” for the year. I went all dorky and divided it up by month, talking a little bit about why I picked that track. It’s been one hell of a year. Hopefully you get that from my selection. See you in the new year!

January
Love Is An Arrow – Aberfeldy

I came across this song while watching an independent film with my then girlfriend. It was called Gamerz, I believe, and was about these kids who played Dungeons and Dragons. It was a fun film and this song was played during the opening credits. Whenever I listen to this song, I think of that film…among other things.

[audio:1_love_is_an_arrow.mp3]

February
All My Little Words – The Magnetic Fields
It was a rough month, and I chose this song to reflect that. I hadn’t heard of this band at the time, but when I think back to then and the month or so following, this song comes up. Thanks, This American Life, for pointing me to this band.

[audio:2_my_little_words.mp3]

March
The Slow Descent Into Alcoholism – The New Pornographers
Song should be pretty straight forward. I drank a lot. Some of it good drinking, and some of it bad.

[audio:3_Descent_Into_Alcoholism.mp3]

April
Cherbourg – Beirut
I felt pretty shitty during this and the following month. It’s funny how music speaks to you more during your highs and your lows.

[audio:4_cherbourg.mp3]

May
I Don’t Believe in the Sun – The Magnetic Fields
This month was an extension of the previous month. I had finally heard about The Magnetic Fields, and listened to this song a lot. I’m telling you, 69 Love Songs is a nice album to listen to when you’re feeling blue. Especially the first volume. I almost replaced this with the track Absolutely Cuckoo.

[audio:5_dont_believe_sun.mp3]

June
We Only Come Out At Night – The Smashing Pumpkins
I didn’t get much sleep at night during the month of June. I did, however, sleep through a lot of the days.

[audio:6_Night.mp3]

July
Adventures in Solitude – The New Pornographers
I gained a new appreciation for the Challengers album around this time, especially with this song. Got to see them live and their performance of this song blew me away. I believe I even posted a Blip.fm thing to my blog about it. This is how I felt.

[audio:7_adventures_in_solitude.mp3]

August
Lost Coastlines – Okkervil River
I don’t remember much during this month other than work and preparations for school to begin. I got fired from my crappy web studio job.

[audio:8_lost_coastlines.mp3]

September
Black and Blue – Tilly and the Wall
Not my favorite from this band, but it definitely describes how I felt during the month of September.

[audio:9_Black_Blue.mp3]

October
7 Stars – The Apples in Stereo
I slept through Pitchfork around August / September and missed my chance to see The Apples in Stereo play. That had to be up there as one of the worst things to happen to me this year. I made up for it by listening to a lot of this band, and pretty much falling in love with this song. There were a lot of Apples in my life during this month.

[audio:10_stars.mp3]

November
Lolita – Throw Me The Statue
I started feeling good about life around this time. Was still rough, but I was able to gain a lot of perspective on things. Also, I saw the music video for this song around this time and I loved it.

[audio:11_lolita.mp3]

December
Shout – De Novo Dahl
Shout has been my outlook on life for the month of December, although not my LITERAL outlook. Not entirely sure screaming would have worked well with my roommate, friends, and colleagues. I can only imagine how it would have hindered my podcast recording. Or maybe it would have helped. I look to my colleagues to confirm or deny this.

[audio:12_shout.mp3]