I tried to play some songs from each album before posting this list to try and get that perspective…except on Built to Spill I didn’t bother with the Doug Martsch guitars…just barre chords.

1. Built To Spill- Perfect From Now On- This choice did not take a lot of thought. Although when I listened to it again I just thought “fuck you Doug”…he’s too good. My absolute guitar hero without compare. 

3. Velvet Underground-Loaded- Sweet Jane brings back great memories of the “90′s when I was living in a teepee. I had my cd collection and my amp plugged in from a plug that popped up from under the ground right through the dirt floor. 

2. Bright Eyes-I’m Wide Awake It’s Morning- I’m feeling somewhat apologetic about this because I did not listen to it for at least a decade, but the guy is a phenomenal poet. Once, ok maybe a lot of people can do that, but three or four albums later he seems to be getting no less profound. And his hat at Coachella was evil, in a good way.

1. Pavement-Brighten The Corners- As I stated previously, using the word “Korea” and “career” interchangeably  is ridiculous. Malkmus has been untouchable for a long time. The album was all I listened to in 1998 along with some personal pain, two packs of reds per day and a great World Cup soccer tournament.  

2. Paul Simon-Paul Simon- This album has been on my list the longest. Paul is such a great writer and he can play the guitar like he was from the Delta…He is at the top of his incredible game here in 1972. 

1. Tom Waits-Small Change- Mr. Waits is so playful, witty, and badass here with such a huge piano and gravel in his throat. It reminds me of seedy, smoky piano bars in the 1950′s and I was born in 1974. Some old guy in a music shop in San Francisco came up to me and said, “Do you have Small Change?”. I said “no”. He looked at me sadly and said “Get it”. I did as I was told. When God speaks one must listen. 

3. Dinosaur Jr.-Where You Been- This album is so great for so many reasons. It’s sad, cathartic, and still crunchy. Even his cover art is brilliant. This album taught me how to be sad and violent at the same time. 

2. Modest Mouse-The Lonesome Crowded West- I love where this album takes me. It’s funny because of the cowboy named Dan, the cockroaches, the pornographer cinematographer, etc. If I see a kid in a music shop I will ask him if he has this album. It has it all, for all seasons. 

1. Pixies-Surfer Rosa- If I see the girl in the photo on the cover of this album I will make out with her then start a band. She’s so beautiful that I would introduce her to my mother even though she has no shirt. (I’m not talking about my mother). Whatever. This album made me cool when I was young and ignorant and knew nothing of politics. It still makes me feel dirty, like I’m in the basement in the daytime with nothing to do. 

2.Lucinda Williams-Car Wheels On A Gravel Road- This is one of the best albums of the ’90′s. If I were a poor white girl growing up in the ’60′s in the Mississippi Delta I would be Lucinda Williams. This is about as close to country as I get these days, but I could listen to her voice ’til the cows come home. She sings about guitars, barbed wire, eggs, bacon, and Macon. Are you kidding me? Her subsequent albums have not entered the same mesosphere as this one. Yes, she really does “talk like that. It’s real”.

There Captain, I put them in order. You’re welcome. I’m sorry, but numbers 4 through 10 didn’t make the list. Which one of these is my favorite changes depending on if my kids are sick then it’s a sad one, or if I get in a fight with my bride then it’s another and so forth. 

-Idwind

This entry was posted on Friday, May 1st, 2009 at 9:29 pm and is filed under Lists, Top Ten Lists. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.