Aron
Well-Known Member
A couple of us were kicking around an idea in the Wilco thread about music that could essentially serve as the soundtrack for your 20's. That reminded me of the feature that Pitchfork runs from time to time called "5-10-15-20", where they have artists talk about song and/or album selections from the various stages in their life. They have them start at 5 years old, and then go in 5 year increments up to their present age. Thought it might be kind of a fun exercise for this forum. Again, I've seen people do songs, albums or a combination of both. Also, you don't have to write essays. I just happen to like to write little essays. It would be cool to see a little blurb at least for each entry. Feel free to do video clips if you want to.
5) "The Devil Went Down To Georgia" - The Charlie Daniels Band -- I grew up in Houston, TX, and in the late 70's and early 80's, country music was kind of the order of the day. The film "Urban Cowboy" had yet to see the light of day, but there were plenty of Urban Cowboys already out there in real life. I didn't really have any albums of my own, other than Disney and Star Wars type records. My parents had albums, and we would listen to them from time to time, but at this point they were rocking 8-Tracks. I liked the Charlie Daniels 8-Track because it was orange. "The Devil Went Down To Georgia" instantly caught my ears though. A cool song that I still like to this day. In my earlier years, I probably liked it because Daniels emphatically says "You son of a b*tch" in the song. I'm sure early on everyone was probably scrambling to keep me from hearing that part.
10) "Born In The U.S.A." - Bruce Springsteen -- 1984 was a huge year for music superstars. There are so many great songs and albums from that year, but, Bruce kind of owned 1984 with the "Born In The U.S.A." album. I was pretty naïve at the time, and I remember going into Sound Warehouse and asking for "the Bruce Springsteen cassette". The employee replied, "Which one?". I had no idea there was more than one. I had never heard of him until that album came out. I've since made up for that. The production may be a bit dated on certain tracks, but the songs themselves still hold up.
15) "Technique" - New Order -- This one was easy. In the late 80's I got really into New Wave groups, and New Order was far and away my favorite. I still hold them in very high regard. They managed to make melancholy sounding music that was synth based that you could dance to. I thought that was pretty cool. I saw them on this tour, and it was kind of my first concert on my own.
20) "Mighty Joe Moon" - Grant Lee Buffalo / "Unplugged In New York" - Nirvana -- Hard to pick one album or song from this era, as it was during my college years, and music was a huge part of my life at this point. I got into Grant Lee Buffalo because Michael Stipe declared their debut album "Fuzzy" his favorite for the year it was released. "Mighty Joe Moon" is even better, in my opinion. There were certainly bigger albums that came out that year that I liked too, but I'll always associate "Mighty Joe Moon" with that period in my life. I still love Grant Lee Phillips' voice. I had to tack on Nirvana's "Unplugged" album too. Nirvana had meant a lot to me in the previous 2 years or so, and when they abruptly came to an end, there was a bit of a void. The release of the "Unplugged" album helped provide a bit of closure, and it remains a special performance in my mind.
25) "Midnite Vultures" - Beck -- At this point, I'm officially a worker bee. A cog in the workforce machine. But I'm still young enough to stay up late at times, hang out with friends during the week, and enjoy the slow jam musings of a white dude named Beck, who clearly had a bigger Prince fixation than any of us ever knew. Not his best album, but maybe his most fun album. And that was kind what it was all about at this point.
30) "Funeral" - Arcade Fire -- The party's over a bit. Pressure is creeping in at work. People are getting more serious, and the music is too at times. Not much to say here. "Funeral" remains a classic album that I enjoy to this day. I saw them on an extremely hot day at the Austin City Limits Festival in support of this album, and they were incredible.
35) "Actor" - St. Vincent -- I was crushing hard on Annie Clark when this album came out, but it helped that the record was so good. I saw her play a small club here in Austin on this tour, and as I watched her play, I knew she was never going to play a venue that small in town again. I continue to be fascinated by her work and her collaborations. "Marrow" is still a jam too.
40) "They Want My Soul" - Spoon -- When I was in college, I had a friend tell me I needed to check out this local band called Spoon. She added, "They sound like the Pixies". I promptly bought "Telephono", and started my journey with Britt Daniel and company. So, in my 40th year on this big blue marble, Spoon released "They Want My Soul", and I'm still blown away by how consistently great that band is on record. I still don't think they ever really sounded all that much like the Pixies though.
45) "In Two" - Moving Panoramas -- Easily my favorite album from start to finish in years. A lot of growth from their first record, which is also excellent, but has a similar tone and feel throughout. This one has more sonic variety, and the songs just work perfectly for me. I've always been a sucker for shoegaze, and the MP take on the dream pop/shoegaze sound is right in my wheelhouse. They add in a little pedal steel here and there, which is a little different, but also ties it back to Texas in a way. I don't recall a time where my favorite song on a record has changed as often as it has with this release. And I don't recall an album that I have listened to all the way through as many times as I have "In Two". Even some of my all time favorite records have skippable tracks, or one that doesn't grab me. I have yet to tire of any song on this album, and the one tune that I wasn't quite as over the moon about after the first few listens I've done a total 180 on.
5) "The Devil Went Down To Georgia" - The Charlie Daniels Band -- I grew up in Houston, TX, and in the late 70's and early 80's, country music was kind of the order of the day. The film "Urban Cowboy" had yet to see the light of day, but there were plenty of Urban Cowboys already out there in real life. I didn't really have any albums of my own, other than Disney and Star Wars type records. My parents had albums, and we would listen to them from time to time, but at this point they were rocking 8-Tracks. I liked the Charlie Daniels 8-Track because it was orange. "The Devil Went Down To Georgia" instantly caught my ears though. A cool song that I still like to this day. In my earlier years, I probably liked it because Daniels emphatically says "You son of a b*tch" in the song. I'm sure early on everyone was probably scrambling to keep me from hearing that part.
10) "Born In The U.S.A." - Bruce Springsteen -- 1984 was a huge year for music superstars. There are so many great songs and albums from that year, but, Bruce kind of owned 1984 with the "Born In The U.S.A." album. I was pretty naïve at the time, and I remember going into Sound Warehouse and asking for "the Bruce Springsteen cassette". The employee replied, "Which one?". I had no idea there was more than one. I had never heard of him until that album came out. I've since made up for that. The production may be a bit dated on certain tracks, but the songs themselves still hold up.
15) "Technique" - New Order -- This one was easy. In the late 80's I got really into New Wave groups, and New Order was far and away my favorite. I still hold them in very high regard. They managed to make melancholy sounding music that was synth based that you could dance to. I thought that was pretty cool. I saw them on this tour, and it was kind of my first concert on my own.
20) "Mighty Joe Moon" - Grant Lee Buffalo / "Unplugged In New York" - Nirvana -- Hard to pick one album or song from this era, as it was during my college years, and music was a huge part of my life at this point. I got into Grant Lee Buffalo because Michael Stipe declared their debut album "Fuzzy" his favorite for the year it was released. "Mighty Joe Moon" is even better, in my opinion. There were certainly bigger albums that came out that year that I liked too, but I'll always associate "Mighty Joe Moon" with that period in my life. I still love Grant Lee Phillips' voice. I had to tack on Nirvana's "Unplugged" album too. Nirvana had meant a lot to me in the previous 2 years or so, and when they abruptly came to an end, there was a bit of a void. The release of the "Unplugged" album helped provide a bit of closure, and it remains a special performance in my mind.
25) "Midnite Vultures" - Beck -- At this point, I'm officially a worker bee. A cog in the workforce machine. But I'm still young enough to stay up late at times, hang out with friends during the week, and enjoy the slow jam musings of a white dude named Beck, who clearly had a bigger Prince fixation than any of us ever knew. Not his best album, but maybe his most fun album. And that was kind what it was all about at this point.
30) "Funeral" - Arcade Fire -- The party's over a bit. Pressure is creeping in at work. People are getting more serious, and the music is too at times. Not much to say here. "Funeral" remains a classic album that I enjoy to this day. I saw them on an extremely hot day at the Austin City Limits Festival in support of this album, and they were incredible.
35) "Actor" - St. Vincent -- I was crushing hard on Annie Clark when this album came out, but it helped that the record was so good. I saw her play a small club here in Austin on this tour, and as I watched her play, I knew she was never going to play a venue that small in town again. I continue to be fascinated by her work and her collaborations. "Marrow" is still a jam too.
40) "They Want My Soul" - Spoon -- When I was in college, I had a friend tell me I needed to check out this local band called Spoon. She added, "They sound like the Pixies". I promptly bought "Telephono", and started my journey with Britt Daniel and company. So, in my 40th year on this big blue marble, Spoon released "They Want My Soul", and I'm still blown away by how consistently great that band is on record. I still don't think they ever really sounded all that much like the Pixies though.
45) "In Two" - Moving Panoramas -- Easily my favorite album from start to finish in years. A lot of growth from their first record, which is also excellent, but has a similar tone and feel throughout. This one has more sonic variety, and the songs just work perfectly for me. I've always been a sucker for shoegaze, and the MP take on the dream pop/shoegaze sound is right in my wheelhouse. They add in a little pedal steel here and there, which is a little different, but also ties it back to Texas in a way. I don't recall a time where my favorite song on a record has changed as often as it has with this release. And I don't recall an album that I have listened to all the way through as many times as I have "In Two". Even some of my all time favorite records have skippable tracks, or one that doesn't grab me. I have yet to tire of any song on this album, and the one tune that I wasn't quite as over the moon about after the first few listens I've done a total 180 on.
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