Enter Through The Exit, And Exit Through The Entrance

This month, we listen to a year in retrospect - every song on this mix was released in 2011. Don't mistake this for a "best of" list or any kind of countdown. Do I look like VH1? I don't go for that crap. But this collection of songs does represent a large bulk (not all) of what I listened to and loved in the past 12 months.

Like any other mix on these pages, it runs the gamut. The smooth, slow-burn "Suicide Demo" bleeds into "Swerve...", a rare-for-this-blog rap track that'll give you vertigo (in a good way), which runs straight into the cavernous kick-drums and gravel-angst of British band WU LYF. The reverb continues in the Be My Baby beat of Lykke Li's serenade to sadness, while the garage squall of Ty Segall's guitar makes the sun fry. After Smith Westerns invite us to end things early, when love is lovely, Cults announce with a bent bass note about 30 seconds in that they've got what it takes to stick around awhile. Kurt Vile and The War On Drugs confirm they used to play together by still sounding a lot like each other, "Locomotive" makes me wanna move, and "Plath Heart" makes me wanna do drugs. Eventually musical ethnographer Julian Lynch gets some unidentified instruments in there (oboe? tambla?) to good effect, Little Scream whispers some wintry wonderings, we get a little folk-y with Gillian and Steve, a little 70's-singer-songwriter-y with Alela and Fleet Foxes, and finally Cass McCombs and his electric piano take us out with the beautiful, soulful "County Line".

Whew. What a year. Enjoy, and I'll see y'all in 2012.

Destroyer - Suicide Demo for Kara Walker
Shabazz Palaces - Swerve... the Reeping of All that is Worthwhile (Noir Not Withstanding) 
WU LYF - Dirt
Lykke Li - Sadness is a Blessing
Ty Segall - You Make the Sun Fry
Smith Westerns - All Die Young
Cults - Abducted
Kurt Vile - Jesus Fever
The War on Drugs - Best Night
Alex Winston - Locomotive
Braids - Plath Heart
Julian Lynch - Terra
Little Scream - The Heron and The Fox
Gillian Welch - Hard Times
Steve Earle - This City
Alela Diane - To Begin
Fleet Foxes - Bedouin Dress
Cass McCombs - County Line

December Mix.zip