18 June 2008

Mix to my 17 year-old self

Six years ago the number of albums I owned barely cracked the double digits. However, those few precious CDs were totally ingrained in me. In light of a few recent events I've been thinking a lot about who I was, who I've become and how a handful of songs were responsible for getting me there. Enjoy these tunes in my moment of solipsism:

Green Eyes - Coldplay
Long before their misguided attempts at becoming the Biggest Band in the World(TM), they were MY band. To this day, I will even brush aside hipster impulses and defend, rather then condemn, the almost unbearable earnestness that sustained my senior year of high school. Besides when you're seventeen this kind of shit, the cliche black and white binaries in the lyricism, the kindergarten rhyme schemes, sounds utterly profound, ok? Especially when it comes from a dreamy Brit. YOUR dreamy Brit to be exact.

There There - Radiohead
Hail to the Thief was the first Radiohead album I ever bought. I was at that age where I wanted to cultivate that elusive thing known as "taste" and I'm pretty sure Radiohead were one of those bands I was "supposed" to like. I know, I know, that's a dumb reason for buying any album, but hey it's turns out I actually liked it. So there.

Girl You Have No Faith in Medicine - The White Stripes
This was also the year I was prescribed some hardcore anti-depressants. Um they didn't exactly work. I'm glad Jack White realized this.

Lost Cause - Beck
Sea Change is a break-up album. When I was 17, I considered break-ups a luxury. Because break-ups imply that you were at one point um, with someone. I would have killed for one. And thus I was jealous of Beck.

Untitled 4 - Sigur Ros
Ok, so this song barely makes the cut. I got () for my 18th birthday. It was the ONLY thing I asked for. I read about in USA Today (of all unhip places!) and thought "Whoa a band that sings in a made up language and names their albums after punctuation. I must have it!" Also I worked at nursing home and dealt with death on a near daily basis and I would listen to this song on my lunch breaks when in need of an calming, ethereal respite. That would usually be often.

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