Houstonist iMix: February

Since we took January off from publishing our monthly iMix, it gave us time to accumulate many favorite new and old tunes. This month's Houstonist iMix, a collection of songs that we're currently listening to, contains a whopping 20 tunes. Don't worry, it'll still all fit on one CD if you still prefer the physical format.

We have a lot of fresh music to introduce to you this month. Indie fave Andrew Bird keeps picking up more fans with each album he delivers. We included the lead track from his new album Noble Beast (which is the #1 Independent album in Billboard this week). Touring with Bird this winter is Swedish singer-songwriter Emil Svanängen, otherwise known as Loney, Dear (check out "Airport Surroundings"). After making our top ten list of favorite albums last year, Bon Iver returns with an EP; we bring you the title track to Blood Bank. Fleet Foxes drummer J. Tillman just released a new solo album, which we pulled "Laborless Land" from. Also included are new songs from Franz Ferdinand, the southern-rock/blues flavored Derek Trucks Band, and Houston's own Americana band Runaway Sun.

And yes, we remembered that Valentine's Day is right around the corner, so we included some appropriate songs. Ten years ago, Boston's The Magnetic Fields released their 69 Love Songs box set -- we included "The Book of Love" from that impressive three-disk feat. England's Guillemots offers a "Made Up Lovesong #43." Of course, no one can sing an effed-up love song like Morrissey, which he does again with "All You Need Is Me." Finally, what would a Valentine's Day be without some Bon Jovi? Don't answer that.

A reminder on how our iMix works: Houstonist contributors submitted a favorite song or two. Then, we threw our tracks together and created our own iMix on iTunes. So, if you have iTunes on your computer, you can now download our iMix, or, if you’re afraid of commitment, you can download the tracks individually.