In Which We Discuss Music you should listen to

For the past two or so years, really since I left college, I've made playlists of new music that I listen to repetitively in any given period. There's been an upswing in this lately because in college, I used to have helpful/similarly obsessed friends who did this for me, and now it's rubbed off on me. It was a good way to find new music, this trading of playlists with people, and also, in retrospect, to figure out what sort of mood I was in over any given season of my life. (This was how I discovered that CPE-summer was much angrier than I had originally known. No one listens to that much hard rock for that long for no reason.) So in that spirit, here is my current playlist, in no particular order, composed of whatever I've been playing a lot this summer and this fall.
Ahem. And I can pretend that I'm as cool as those people with the celebrity iTunes lists.
1. Feel to Believe-Beth Orton
(It doesn't sound like anything else on that album, somehow very cool.)
2. the Times, They are a changing- Brandi Carlile
(yes. She didn't write it. I know. But her cover of it is very good, and as I've told a number of you, I like Dylan songs better when Dylan himself doesn't try to sing them.)
3. Burning Down the House-John Legend
(I'm on a covers kick, and how awesome is it that John Legend covers a Talking Heads song?!)
4. Four Winds- Bright Eyes
(Yeats reference! Whee!)
5. Antichrist Television Blues-Arcade Fire
(Apparently it's about Joe Simpson and Jessica's deranged career. That, however, manages not to diminish the radical awesomeness of the song for me. A statement of how much I like this whole album, actually. Listen to the whole thing, in order.)
6. Through to Sunrise-Girlyman
(They're so cool. I'm going to miss NYC....)
7. Still Beating- Josh Ritter
(If I were interviewed by James Lipton, and he asked me what other career I would most want to attempt, I would want to be a singer/songwriter, but then I think of Josh Ritter, and I know I would FAIL MISERABLY, because of the sheer contrast. This and 'Girl in the War.' Gah.)
8. Picture of Success-Rilo Kiley
(Don't know what this song is about, but I like being unreasonably pissed at Mexico, and having really good shoes. And ruminating about death. And feeling oddly emotional about weird things. Like Mexico and shoes. Dude! It's like seminary!!!!!! :)
9. No Bad News-Patty Griffin
(I saw her in concert last spring, and it was awesome. And on my way, I saw Taye Diggs on the subway. Best. Night. EVER.)
10. Angels Hung Around-Rilo Kiley
(I, for one, like the new Rilo Kiley CD. Possibly because I was never a big RK fan prior to that, and don't know any better. Anyway...)
11. Cinnamon Road-Shawn Colvin
(Oh! Since there are enough scary conspiracies out there to freak me out and depress me-i.e. Christian Zionists and red cows in Texas, Heritage Foundation funneling money into my church, etc, I consider musical conspiracies to be the antidote. Consider please, Patti Griffin and Shawn Colvin and Mark Knopfler, I think?, singing a Patti song to be a pretty strong dose.)
12. John Saw that Number-Neko Case
(There should be more joyous songs about the eschaton. And Neko Case would be just the person to provide them, assuming that Regina Spektor is otherwise occupied. She just sounds so damn intrigued by the whole visions thing.)

So go! Run to iTunes, or BitTorrent, and play! And also, send me your recent listenings. That's the only way this works.
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Now playing: Brandi Carlile - Again Today
via FoxyTunes