Post College Years (Blind man looking for a light switch)

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.

Animal Collective- Merriweather Post Pavilion

I have never thought much about this band. I have changed my mind and now I like them...or at least this album. Here is my favorite song off of the album called Merriweather Post Pavilion.

Animal Collective [mp3] Summertime Clothes

Pitchfork gives rediculously high ratings when they can't understand how a certain band produces the noise/music on that album. So if you can come up with a collection of noise that is hard to decipher, congratulations, you have a 9.6.
I say this in the same breath as my enthusiasm for most of this record.

A Couple I Forgot...Insane in the membrane, Insane in the brain

There were a couple notable albums that I left off of my comprehensive list.
I would have to say that Cypress Hill-Black Sunday made a big impression on me during my Sophomore year of high school. I seem to remember playing alot of Madden on Super Nintendo while listening to this album.
I can't believe I forgot Predator and Lethal Injection by Ice Cube. Amazing albums...amazing. Also during this time...maybe a little after was Tom Petty-Wildflowers. I still love that cd and find it a bit underrated.
Last Dance With Mary Jane- That song reminds me of being too drunk to function. Ah the sweet memories of high school. Sadly, it took me a while to figure out that drinking Southern Comfort out of the bottle is not the same as drinking beer out of the bottle.

Next: Post College Music-How Did I Miss So Much Great Music

The Anthology of Notable Music In My Life (Age 3 through College)

Going back home always brings up a lot of great nostalgic moments in my brain. The drive back goes quickly and I am always entertained by the obvious and subtle details I remember. The drive down Highway 64 got me thinking about a topic I wanted to write about. You have people talk about "the soundtrack to my life" and I feel as uncomfortable thinking about that statement as watching Tiki Barber interview Blair Underwood at the Golden Globes. Surely, at some point in my life I thought it was a great idea, but I am going to pretend like I have always thought of it as arrogant. What I thought would be great to do was come up with the albums I have loved, chronologically (not necessarily the year they came out, but the year I was introduced to it). Each year, or chunk of my life seems to be best remembered by a song or an album...

Age 3-5

Abba- Abba is my first memory of music that was not Muppets or The Count singing his numbers on Sesame Street. I used to dance like mad to Dancing Queen, which I am sure worried my parent to some extent. I would later in life make fun of anyone who went and saw Mama Mia multiple times in the theater.

Age 8-11

The Beatles, The Beach Boys, Buddy Holly, Simon and Garfunkel
Trips to Florida were ruled by these mixed tapes my dad made. I always associate these four with that trip to Sanibel Island, Florida. It always seemed like we hit Simon and Garfunkel in Tennessee and it was always rainy as hell in Tennessee. Simon and Garfunkel always has that bit of rainy day depression that goes along with it. Good rainy day depression. Music from your past is great for two reasons. 1) it is, factually, great music (ie. artists above) 2) They are tied together with good memories.
Reo Speedwagon was a band I liked a lot when I was 10 and 11. "...and I can't fight this feeling anymore. I've forgotten what I started fighting for..." loved it.

Age 12, 13

--Another Bad Creation/Public Enemy/Rob Base and DJ EZ Rock/ Young MC
Seventh grade, Eighth grade. Ben introduced me to rap in seventh grade. I first remember him putting Cool Moe Dee in the tape deck of the Schutte van only to have it ejected for objectionable materials. I loved Public Enemy. I remember washing dishes in my kitchen with my walkman fastened to my shorts listening to Bring the Noise over and over on those uncomfortable foam headphones. The words meant a lot less to me than the voice of Chuck D.
If I ever ran across the video of my friends and I lip syncing to Iesha-Another Bad Creation I will put it on a disc and send it to everyone I know, because that kind of humor can not be kept to oneself. It is selfish.
Rob Base and DJ EZ Rock and Young MC were soon to follow. Rob Base was great and I wish I could dance, but I couldn't. Young MC's Stone Cold Rhymin'...unbelievable. Prinipals office. The first song any of us could relate to. In my case, being as scared of authority as I was, it was the confidence I wish I could have...

Freshman year of High School-

Naughty By Nature, MC Ren-Kizz My Black Azz, House of Pain
Quite possibly the most confusing point in my life. A bunch of Catholic schools coming together in one bigger Catholic school. We were all trying to figure out where we belonged and who our friends were. At least I was. Trying to figure out what group of people you are going to hang around with is a bigger deal then you think. It might be the difference between getting caught smoking pot or getting caught drinking Boone's Farm.
Naught By Nature kind of straddles the summer before freshman year. Everything's Gonna Be Alright. Maybe the feel good song of 1992 (came out in '91). I still remember Billy going into the bathroom at Indianapolis Cathedral (Football game) and some guys coming up to him and saying "you down with OPP?" He hesitated and they asked him again. He then followed up with the only appropriate response "Yeah you know me"...it was a simpler time.
MC Ren was quite possibley the crudest rapper of all time. I got grounded for really the only time in my life because I had this album in my possession.
House of Pain- A white man you could be scared of singing the greatest dance song ever. Finally a song I could dance to. Jumping up and down was always something I was comfortable doing in a public setting. It wasn't until that summer when I would be introduced to Pearl Jam.

Sophomore-Senior Year of High School

- Pearl Jam, Stone Temple Pilots, Radiohead, Eazy-E, Tracy Chapman, Nirvana.
I remember each time a new Pearl Jam album came out. Ben Voigt was the first person I knew that had Vs. I almost stole this cd from a party. I never stole anything in my life other than a beef jerky. There was not a better song ever written than Elderly Woman...except for maybe Daughter. Vitology I got for Christmas and it was playing when my transmission dropped in my 81 Blazer, it was also playing every other minute in every other car I was in. No Code I picked up on the hottest day of all time, right before college...and on and on. Core was great even though it sounded like Eddie Vedder, which was really the reason we started listening to it in the first place. I threw my Stone Temple Pilots- Purple tape out the window of my car because I couldn't stop listening to it...and I knew I had to stop. Flies in the Vaseline haunted my dreams.
Fast Car by Tracy Chapman and Authority Song by John Mellencamp will always remind of of a specific moment in my life. 16 years old driving the 1986 two toned red/black Blazer.
When Nirvana Unplugged came out I used to drive around listening to this album while trying to dip. Skoal Wintergreen that sat in the middle console of my car. Cold in the winter. I would dip and then have to come home because of dizziness and the sweats. Good memories.
The first time I heard Thinking About You by Radiohead was Warren Hayes playing it on his guitar. It was the greatest thing I have ever heard and really the main reason I learned how to play the guitar myself.
I was given the cd Tiny Music and Sweet Relief, the disc that had Crazy Mary and Summer of Drugs-Soul Asylum on it when I broke my leg. Great music that I always associate with agonizing pain.

Other Noteable Albums- Murder Was the Case (Murder was the Case and Natural Born Killaz), Dr. Dre- The Chronic, Snoop Dogg-Doggystyle

College

- Pearl Jam (No Code, Yield, when Live on Two Legs came out I think my exact quote was "I don't know why anyone else tries to make music), Radiohead-OK Computer, The Doors, Bob Dylan.
The first time I started listening to Bob Dylan was that first bootleg series. I also remember Blonde on Blonde and Blood on The Tracks specifically. I remember receiving those cd's as gifts. Lily, Rosemary, and the Jack of Heart was an epic story for a lack of a better term...Idiot Wind was played on repeat. I used to laugh out loud at how good those lyrics were on some of those songs.
I went through the obvious and predictable Doors phase. I can hardly stomach the fucking keyboard sound in those songs now (the same nausea as Santana's guitar). But as an 18 year old Jim Morrison was a genius. That sentence makes me blush in embarrassment. This is the end...my only friend, the end. The fucking melodrama of that song can only be challenged by one person and that person is Morrisey.

A side note- 1997-1999 might be one of the lowest points in music history. IE Matchbox 20, 3rd Eye Blind...

Other Notable band in this era (that I enjoyed)- The Why Store ( I can't believe I just mentioned this band, they were great though)

Its fun to think about. Leave comments about music that you remember. I am sure I missed something.

The Extreme Chocolate Milk

The Band, The Myth, The Legend

Its January and Its Cold and If I Close My Eyes March Will Be Here When I Open Them

We are getting ready to enter the absolute worst time of the year. The months of January and February can be brutal. So you have to enter this with some sort of strategy. If it was up to me I would set up camp in my basement and would see you in March, but since this is not practical and in fact would probably end up destroying me I have to have another plan.
1. Shave beard- already done and is already working
2. Exercise and eat healthier- Not a diet, rather a lifestyle change
3. Limit drinking- Although I truly hate to say this, it is necessary (after 16 straight days it is almost welcome)
4. Have something to look forward to (I am looking forward to the first day of Spring Training)

Hope that the three of you reading this had a good Christmas and if we stick together we will make it to March.

Here is one of my favorite gifts from this year.
Chaz, Richie, and Margot