I've had this consistent habit of having at least two songs/musicians be completely representative and nostalgic to each year of my life since I was a small child. That said, i'd like to introduce you to the year of 2006.

Art Brut - "Nag Nag Nag Nag"

Coincidentally the term "Art Brut" literally means "Raw Art" or "Rough Art". However, that is not where the band got its name. Art Brut was the creation of five total strangers who met one another at an annual Arthur Brut convention. The five, being so intrigued by Arthur's work, decided to collaborate and form a band in pure tribute to the scientist. I'd say that the song "Nag Nag Nag Nag"'s greatest glory (aside from frontman Eddie Argos's blatant british accent, and catchy repetitive guitar melodies) is the climax at 2:02. Also, John Moore (of Black Box Recorder) played the musical saw on one of Art Brut's albums, and im pretty sure that just makes me love them even more.

A Hawk and A Hacksaw - "The Sparrow"

The best memory I have with A Hawk and A Hacksaw is sitting with a good friend in her vehicle in the middle of a college campus on the bible belt of New Mexico. Her and I made it a huge point to play this, what we could call klezmer music, as loud as possible from the car's stereo system. After a few amusing moments of noticing the passing students awkward responses to our overweening expression of sound, we settled down and found ourselves softly listening to the continuing songs with the windows down, watching cars drive by and slowly drifting off into an ambient mind state.

A Hawk and A Hacksaw will be playing at The College of Santa Fe on Febuary 8th, at 8:00 PM. I saw them play last Tuesday with Of Montreal, trust me, seeing them live is more then worth it.

This morning I woke up, stuffy and lightheaded, because unfortunately a horrible cold has momentarily taken over my physical being. As expected, when feeling like my head is floating 8 inches above the rest of my body, I began to make a "Boy am I sick" mix to play for myself as I spend the day in bed with a box of tissues and my parakeet. Immediately after I made the mix and burned the disc, I couldnt help but listen to only two tracks from it. I feel like these two songs go hand in hand, and one cant help but listen to them back to back. I also find them quite representative of my current mental state.

Sam Skarstad - "Ice Cave"

Sam Skarstad's "Ice Cave" begins with a slow, almost sea shanty-esque tune. Soon after it becomes a staggering and haunting song rendering what seems to be his fantasy transformation into ocean life. The lyrics read "I went out fishing, I wound up wet, covered with scales, swishing my fish tail, breathing in salt, giving up all my limbs". It then resolves into a descent of sounds, which remind me of the tide itself, leading us to a song of underwater traffic and melodies.

Shearwater - "White Water"

You might recognize Shearwater as the side project of Will Sheff and Jonathan Meiburg from Okkervil River. However, Shearwater's surging dynamics and elements of sound outstreach a feeling that I could only describe as pleasently heart-wrenching. Im going to let "White Water" speak for itself. Just try to let it surround you.

(This being my first post, feel free to leave comments and let me know whether links worked or not, i'll be happy to fix anything that has tragically gone wrong.)