My post college years have been from 2000-2008 and in those 8 years I have listened to 20 times the number of different musical artists than in my previous 22. Most of this is due to my ability to make money and then spend it on records and cds.
(To list all of the music I have listened to in these years would be rediculous. I will list the bands that stick out in my mind; the ones where my feelings at first listen are far from indifferent)
2000-2002 (Graduate School)--I may or may not be embarrassed that the music I listened to could have been classified as 'emo'.
If the first year of high school wasn't the most confusing moment of my life then my first year out of college definitely was. I was a mess and was in a new city and surviving solely on peanut butter and saltines and spaghetti. This is not an exaggeration. I used to figure out per dollar how much each meal I made cost (2 dollars a meal). I had no money and therefore downloaded music for free on Kazaa and other places like Napster. It was amazing, but I rarely ever had full albums; instead just handpicked songs from all over the place. I periodically run across some old mixed cds I made and they are litered with bands like Alkaline Trio and New Found Glory and Guster and Wheatus-(Teenage Dirtbag) and Dashboard Confessional and on and on. Lots of stuff that has no musical longevity, but at the time I liked it a lot and will remind me of living by myself and eating Spaghetti and marinara sauce in front of the television. It wasn't as sad of a time as I am making it out to be...I just had to make sure all of the toasters and hairdryers I owned were out of the house...I am only 4/7ths joking.
If I remember listening to one album it was probably Bright Eyes-Lifted.
Honorable Mention- Modest Mouse, Evan Dando and Acoustic versions of rock songs.
Late 2002-2004--The Mountain Goats, Neutral Milk Hotel, The Weakerthans
This is when I figured out that I had missed out on a ton of amazing music. You ask yourself how you missed it, but I asked how the hell I was supposed to know about it.
The list is immense.
I started listening to the Mountain Goats after Mitch played No Children to me through the telephone. My life has never been the same...not necessarily because of the Mountain Goats...
Neutral Milk Hotel- In The Aeroplane Over The Sea was a cd I picked up and couldn't believe I had not heard it before. With no college radio around you just have to 'dance with who brung you', as a friend of mine would say.
The Weakerthans- This band was exactly what I would be if I had musical talent and was in a band. Their lyrics don't make complete sense all the time but they make enough sense to make it interesting...
Honorable Mention-Rilo Kiley
2005-2008-Pavement
I missed out on Pavement. I missed the whole thing. The positive out of this is that everything they did was new to me and I loved it. Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain-Brighten The Corners-Slanted Enchanted-Wowee Zowee. I recommend to buy them in this order. Stephen Malkmus writes songs made of gibberish that end up being something that is amazing and unlike anything anyone does. I love songs that at first listen sound far from pop, but as you listen more and more you catch some lines that give the song a nice catchyness. That is how I would describe anything Stephen Malkmus does.
How did I miss them?? How would I have heard them! 96 STO did not play Pavement.
There were and are many, many bands that I listen to. And maybe, in a couple years, when I look back, bands like The Hold Steady, My Morning Jacket, Okkervil River, Iron and Wine, and Band of Horses will be the ones I will talk about. Until then, we will stick with these.
**As I looked up the picture to the Fischer Price Record player I had a flashback of listening to two 45's when I was probably 10. One was Glory of Love (Peter Cetara) from Karate Kid and the other was Wildest Dreams by the Moody Blues. I would listen to these songs 10-15 times in a row. I still play them any time I see them on a juke box.
This picture is amazing.
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