Monthly Mix: May 2011

May was an interesting month for me. It began similar to April, i.e. with me listening to pretty much just Sharon Van Etten. Whereas in April I was all about her latest album Epic for its more expansive scope in instrumentation and dynamics, I found myself listening to her debut album, Because I Was In Love, much more this month, for the very reasons I had initially put it off (sparse instrumentation, mostly just acoustic guitar and her vocals). I have to say this about Sharon Van Etten: I could listen to her sing all day. I'm conflicted because I am grateful that her music exists, but I can hardly fathom that someone would break her heart or cause her any of the emotional pain that is present in her songs. I listen to her and think to myself, "I would never do anything to hurt this woman." I realize she's just a normal human being, a very kind and humble one at that, who experiences normal human emotions, same as everyone else, but as a listener you marvel that anyone would treat her like some normal human being and not a musical goddess. So, person who treated her like a normal human being, thanks for inspiring her to create sublime music, but how could you hurt her?! How do you live with yourself? I wonder what life is like knowing that your break-up with someone lead them to create amazing music. Do you feel deserving of a little credit? I'll probably never know. I use three of her songs in this mix: one to kick things off, one in the middle, and one to close the mix.

Back to May. Things changed pretty drastically during the last week and a half of the month. I acquired some new albums and made a conscious effort to listen to them. (Too often I don't spend enough time with new music and it falls between the cracks and gets ignored). Two of these albums dominate my May mix, making up 9 of the 15 tracks. Smother, the third album from UK art-rock band Wild Beasts, could be considered my album of the month. Their track, "Bed of Nails", is easily my song of the month. I must have listened to it at least 40 times last week alone. Wild Beasts was one of those bands where I liked everything I had heard from them but never felt a desire to really dig in to their albums. Everything fell into place when I listened to Smother. I recognize that their style may put off some listeners, but I hope people will enjoy the songs I selected. Give them a few extra listens if you're not immediately a fan. It's impossible to escape Wild Beasts in this mix.

The other album that dominated the end of the month is Hooray for Earth's True Loves. I read some strong praise online for the album and decided I needed to give it a spin. I'm glad I did. I suppose I'd classify them as synth-pop, as they mostly use layers of synthesizers, drums, bass, and a few guitar parts here and there in each song, but I think that classification doesn't convey how good they are. Their music is dense and massive. It's not cold and sterile like a lot of music with strong electronic elements. Maybe that's because of the hooks, but I would urge you to not dismiss it offhand because of my description. "Sails" is my favorite track, but the whole album has grown on me a lot.

Enough rambling, right? Here's my May 2011 mix.

• Sharon Van Etten - "For You."
• Wild Beasts - "All the King's Men."
• Hooray for Earth - "Last Minute."
• Cults - "Abducted."
• Wild Beasts - "Bed of Nails."
• Hooray for Earth - "Realize It's Not the Sun."
• Wild Beasts - "Loop the Loop."
• Sharon Van Etten - "Have You Seen."
• Wild Beasts - "Hooting & Howling."
• Antlers - "Parentheses."
• Wild Beasts - "Lion's Share."
• Metric - "Hustle Rose."
• Wild Beasts - "We Still Got The Taste Dancing On Our Tongues."
• Hooray for Earth - "Sails."
• Sharon Van Etten - "Keep."