Random Music Stories

The Decade:

In a way, the progression of music throughout the decade was perfectly timed as a soundtrack to my wonderful years of adolescence. In 2000 I began my PIZZA FACE! years as a freshman in high school. Graduated in 2004 and enjoyed the next 4 years at Ohio University. Graduated in 2008. Dangled a little bit then began work as an English teacher in 2009 in Japan, not too different from school.

 

To be honest though, the first few years of musical interest were spent rummaging through 90s punk. Mostly influenced by the Vans Warped Tour.

At first, the staples of adolescent misunderstandings;

Rancid, Nofx, Bad Religion, The Offspring,

 

Then a bit more historically relevant;

Black Flag, Descendents, Devo, Agent Orange, and Fear.  

 

And somewhere around 2002, 2003, I associated the punk rock ideology to liking other kinds of music. Music was also going through an enormous change as the influence of FM radio stations were being bought out, primarily by Clear Channel and Viacom, and the internet took over. Outside of that, two huge breakthroughs in discovering music quickly led me down a very different path. I had just gotten my driver’s license and before long began renting the shit out of CDs from the local library. The other being the slightly fuzzy signal of the Miami, Ohio based 97.7FM Woxy, one of the last independently owned radio stations.

 

Early introductions;

The Rapture -Echoes- particularly the track “House of Jealous Lovers”.  I first heard this on the radio, the signal was much clearer at night, driving in the ‘92 Mercury Topaz. Before the Subaru. The bass line really bumped in that little shitter.

Bjork- Vespertine. Insane landscaping electronics with an alien  

Ween- Quebec.

How I feel victim to being a Ween fan;

I first heard “It’s gonna be a long night” on 97.7woxy. Since it sounded exactly like Motorhead, I was blown away and perhaps bought the album from Best Buy (alright! Anderson Township=no record store) the same day. Immediately thrown off guard and shocked that this song was not representative of their sound. Nonetheless impressed by the weird track “Hey there Fancy Pants” and enlightened by “Chocolate town”.  Some time later, Alex, my brother got a copy of “Chocolate and Cheese”, through a guy named Kyle Forstrum, (Sp?). At some point got really high and almost crashed my car laughing so hard to “candy”. After that I torrented a copy of Pure Guava and for some reason really wanted to go to a coin laundry mat.

 

So that brings me to my list. But again, to be fair, the first 2 years are basically false and I had little knowledge of what would later be labeled for better or worse as “indie” music. Also, it just wasn't that good.

 

10 songs you (as a HS/college student in my generation) were forced to listen to.

 

2000- Dandy Warhols. “Bohemian Like You” from “Thirteen Tales from Urban Bohemia”

 

Didn't hear the song till around 2002. The entire album was great. Lots of overlapping well organized progressions that link the entire thing up. Each song unique enough to keep it interesting.

 

The album doesn't seem that old and I hold the opinion that it was the backbone of generic “indie” rock circa 2005. Radiohead’s “kid-A” was actually released the same year but for some reason felt so late 90s-ish.

 

2001- Gorillaz – “Clint Eastwood”  from “Gorillaz”

No one really hated the genre hopping mega hit, at least when it was first released. When I actually listened to the entire album, songs like “5/4” and “Double Bass” were reasons to hype up the next. No great stories though. Still listen to it. 

 

2002 - The strokes- “Last Night” from “This is it”

Along with the White Stripes, The Strokes were part of the rebirth of rock and a staple of the increasingly popular “indie” rock. The late 70s electro designed band logo was a cool t-shirt and bumper sticker. I think The Strokes may be the most responsible for kids my age at the time, 16-17, starting a band. Learning to play Strokes songs was the equivalent of today’s Guitar Hero. 

 

2003- Postal Service- “The District Sleeps Alone Tonight” from “Give Up”

My junior year of high school I traded a cardigan for an actual postal service sweatshirt. Had the sweet logo on the left chest pocket and was perfectly worn out. This was actually a bit before the album. Anyway. In 2008 at a party in a warehouse in Over the Rhine, I got retarded and made the decision to trade it for a plain, itchy, brown cardigan that I haven’t worn since. Brown happens.

I choose this album because I happened to be listening to it during my orientation at Ohio University. I remember walking with my mom through hoards of students feeling so young. Funny.

 

So if the “indie” boat was built in 2002, it was commissioned in 2003. Just check out this list;

 

The Black Keys – thick freakness

Grandaddy- Sumday

Ween- Quebec

Radiohead- Hail to the Thief  -(Some rich/prestigious TCOM student actually got a tattoo of the album art on his back.)

Blur- Think Tank

Electric Six- Fire

Jurassic Five- Power in Numbers

Badly Drawn Boy- Have you Fed the Fish

Queens of the Stone Age- Songs for the Deaf

Outkast- Speakerboxx/The Love below

The Libertines – Up the Bracket

The Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Fever to Tell

The Rapture- Echoes

The Shins – Chutes Too Narrow  - The song “So says I” is perhaps the most representative of college rock 2003/2004. Extreme college-y.

 

2004- Franz Ferdinand “Take me Out” from “Franz Ferdinand”

Good, but overplayed songs.  My goal is to trigger the reaction of  “Oh god, not ______”. This one takes the cake. The slowing tempo change at 1:00 is equal to using a large ham as a bowling bowl and nailing a strike. Just unbelievable.

 

2005-  Beck- “E-Pro” from “Guero”

Returning to Dust Brother production, this song is “devil’s haircut” in 2005. The entire album wasn’t quite as rewarding as “odelay”, but damn near it. Good stuff. (I don’t actually listen to Franz Ferdinand)

 

Don't Forget;

New Pornographers- twin cinema – drumming that’ll blow your socks

 2006- Gnarls Barkley “Crazy” from “St. Elsewhere”

2006 was full of descent music. I’m not sure how this one will play out. At this point I was devoted to anything Guided By Voices/Robert Pollard and Deerhoof.  By 2006, “indie” music had popularized to the point that no single genre stood out. As the internet became the primary source of information, everyone had a opinion, changing the way music evolves.

 2007- Deerhoof  “+81” from “Friend Opportunity

 What I didn’t feel like listening to this year but probably received more hype;

M.I.A. -Kala

Arcade Fire – Neon Bible

Spoon Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga

The National- Boxer

 Actually, It took me a long time to listen to Friend Opportunity as well. Deerhoof had been slowly gaining popularity year by year. This album polishes off everything they’ve done in the past in a  more approachable form. My opinion; the next one, Offend Maggie, is a bit better. 

2008- MGMT- “Electric Feel” from “Oracular Spectacular”

This one fits the list best because a friend actually told me, "you gotta hear this”. 

 

Equally cool: Crystal Castles

 

2009 – Neon Indian “Deadbeat Summer” from “Psychic Chasms”

An entire album of great songs that missed the Vice City soundtrack because they were slightly too underground in production quality and 27 years too late. 

So that's the decade in a nutshell. My real goal of this post was to began posting more about the thing I like most, music. Next up are the discoveries of 2009.