I predict I will want to hear that song again.

It's time for the Mayday Spring Mix! Is it springy? Well, it's spring right now, isn't it? So YES. I was inventing some fake statistics (no math!) to justify the following songs together (and to disguise the real reason, which is "I need to hear them all one million times right now"), but it got too long and fussy. Highlights: several songs are done by artists I find easy to imagine dressed as dandies/ mods/ flappers/ emigres from Pepperland ( 6, 8, 13, 14, 17); I got 6 of the songs from fluxblog (1, 10, 12, 13, 14, 15); some of them I've written about already, so I tried to keep it short this time (1, 4, 6), (8), (3, 5); ETC. This isn't a perfect compilation by any means, but I've tested it on the iPod, on the computer, in the car, in a bubble bath, and in my head. I still like it!

1. My Moon, My Man -- Feist: The whole internet is talking about Feist and this song this since her album came out this week, so I'll just say I still love it A LOT. It's first so if I'm listening in the car and don't have far to go, I still get to hear it. (shut up! that extra button pushing is exhausting!)

2. Keep the Car Running -- Arcade Fire: !!! I don't even know where to start. The title? It sounds like a phrase falling from the lips of bank robbers or late-night convenience store shoppers in a bad part of town. Of course, in the context of this song it's more of a necessary precaution to outrun some nightmare from the Book of Revelation. But it's not scary -- it's THRILLING! Every time I hear the lyric "if some night I don't come home, please don't think I've left you alone" it presses at a tender spot in my heart, even while the music makes me want to drive 200 mph straight to Bruce Springsteen's house in an almost certainly futile attempt to escape the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.

3. I'm No Lover -- Antarctica Takes It!: From the blast of instruments at the beginning it is clear that this is a Revenge War Cry -- negotiations are over and reconciliation is not an option. The singer says what he has to say only once, and if you're the object of the song maybe it's better you don't hear the details...

4. You Know I'm No Good -- Amy Winehouse: Ex-boy? Eggs boiled? Does it matter? (I am still in love with the horns.)

5. LDN -- Lily Allen: When was the last time you heard "a fellow looking dapper, and he's sitting with a snapper/ then I see it's a pimp and his crack whore" sung so sweetly? NEVER, is when. "Sun is in the sky, oh why oh why / would I want to be anywhere else?" indeed. Look twice, seems to be her advice. I eagerly await the day this is used in advertisements for a funship cruise that sails up the Thames and vomits visitors on the shore. She could be a tour guide! It would be a good match!

6. Chrissie Kiss the Corpse -- Of Montreal: This song really calls for go-go boots, false eyelashes and way too much eyeliner. ( I still looooove it.)

7. Hotel Song -- Regina Spektor: I suspect she gets a bratty charge from singing a little bag of coCAine over and over again, but I get a bratty charge listening to her do it, so it all works out. "Come in to my world/ I've got to show, show, show you..."

8. All Together Now -- Beatles: I almost 86'd this in favor of a different song, but I got 30 seconds into it and couldn't do it! Lists? Check. Counting? Affirmative. Alphabet and color refresher course? Yes, of course. Handclaps? And how! Out of tune horn from ancient motorcar? It hurts me that you even have to ask. All together now!

9. Sit Tight -- Field Music: Like a slinky traveling stairs that stop at the edge of a chasm -- it's all coiled up then expands to fall to the next step over and over until it drops away on a parachute to a destination so far away you can't hear it land. I love the piano, the horns, the vocal, the oblique lyrics and pretty much everything. "I'm sick of your talk, but I want you to talk"

10. Think That Thought -- Planningtorock: I love this whole album (she taps a potent streak of dark femininity that deserves more attention than a parenthetical aside), but I particularly like this song, especially in the "stringed up" EP version. It's all very mind bendy in that late-night philosophy through the looking glass way. "some thoughts should be drunk up and swallowed complete."

11. Wet And Rusting -- Menomena: Oh, song! It's so lovely and melancholy, hopeful but kinda fatalistic. "it's hard to take risks/ with a pessimist" -- but of course that's why they're called risks and not sure things. It seems (to me) to be about bravery and generosity even when you're dubious about the outcome. Maybe especially if you're dubious about the outcome. "I made you a present/ you never expected"

12. Before I Knew -- Basia Bulat: This is another super-short song -- she says it once, and that's enough. But it seems more like she keeps it brief because she's still working out the roller-coaster highs and lows of new love rather than because she's busy sharpening her machete, unlike some short song singers on this list. (I'm looking at you, #3!)

13. Get Lucky -- Dragonette: So jaunty! I want to sing it through a megaphone. Well, not really since I can't sing at all, but I like the idea of someone driving around in an ice cream truck singing this through a megaphone. "Hey handsome, we've got it covered/ hey mister, we've gone and done it, just because we could.... we both know the weather's getting better/ so let's get lucky, let's go all the way". It's so charming and it freaking ends with JAZZ HANDS! (they are implied, of course, but I know that they're there.)

14. Billy Brown -- Mika: I almost didn't add this because I was afraid it had a tragic ending that I miss every time because I get so involved with the crazy horns and the singalong "brown, oh bILLy brown/ don't let the stars get you down/ don't let the waves let you drown" demented psychedelic falsetto barbershop chorus that I forget to pay attention. (this happens to me a lot.) The setup is ripe for Brokeback TRAGEDY (married man falls in love with another man) but as far as I can tell there is no fatal tragedy, only the Love is Hard under the best of circumstances so imagine how hard it is for Billy Brown kind of tragedy.

15. Big Wheel -- Tori Amos: I'm so easy it's not even funny. There is COUNTING and SPELLING, therefore I am IN! She sounds like she's having a lot of fun, which in turn brings me joy -- it doesn't hurt that she's got a wicked sense of humor and nobody's going to mistake her for a shrinking violet. (which reminds me I have a funny shrinking violet story! but later.) "baby I don't need your cash/ mama's got it all in hand"

16. The Body's Only Rental -- Katie Dill: This is song is very simply presented (just ukulele and her voice), but it's so lovely -- I really like how she uses repetition and gentle reassurance , but along with a firm but friendly shove to get you started. "a smile ain't a smile if you fake it, if you fake it/ so pick your risk and take it, pick your risk and take it"

17. Shake It Out -- Tilly & The Wall: there is a hokey pokey shout out and tap dancing percussion -- how could I not like it??? Again, another song about pushing through, taking risks, and living your freaking life. "Every doubt in turn explodes/ we all could pass right through/ we all have nothing left to lose"