2000 i got my license.
2002 i graduated high school.
2005 i backpacked europe.
2006 i graduated college.
2007 i went to new zealand, australia, africa, and came home.
2008 i got my first real job.
2009 i got engaged.
2010 will top if off w/a wedding.
this last decade has been epic. sure, i lived through the 90s and occasionally still pine for a little angst and grunge and a tune by the Gin Blossoms, but i came into adulthood and grew into my shoe size in these last 10 years. what better way to earmark the ragged journey than some music? a personal soundtrack of sorts to hold the memories. here is a top 10 list on albums that nursed my broken heart, inflated my soul with bliss, injected my bones with rhythm, and forced me to sing at the top of my lungs.
in some order of effect:
1. The Anniversary: "Designing A Nervous Breakdown" released 2001: i'd never heard guy/girl harmony pop better than this. i loved the album cover with all its color and I loved the synthesizers and sentimental lyrics. it was catchy and dancy and deep at the same time. my sister and i shared this album, and she got it stolen off the school bus during one of her track meets. i immediately went out and bought it again.
2. Dashboard Confessional: "The Places You Have Come to Fear the Most" released 2000: the timing on this desolate, desperate album could not have been better for my crumbling 17-year-old heart. going through my first major break-up found me measuring my minutes "by a clock that's blinking eights" ... on repeat. the lyrics seemed to pour right out of my brain through Chris Carrabba's lips. and i loved him forever for it.
3. Taking Back Sunday: "Tell All Your Friends" released 2002: my sister Kaylynn momentarily dated a cocky musician, and the only good thing to come out of that relationship was this album. she borrowed it from him and popped it in our cd player one afternoon, telling me i'd probably like it. i did - and was completely unprepared for where that album would take me in years to come. the perfect combination of screaming and melody, of biting lyrics and clever comebacks, of backstabbing friends and cheated lovers, would end up being the go-to musical backdrop for endless roadtrips with friends, and the best live concert i've ever witnessed to date.
4. Modest Mouse: "The Moon and Antarctica" released 2000: this album single-handedly turned me on to the weirdness and quirky, artful beauty that is indie music. the first time i heard it i hated it. the second time i heard it, lying at home in bed with the flu, i was hypnotized. maybe it was just my fever, but i was swept away by the repeating loops, odd lyrics, and experimental, instrumental flare. isaac brock's voice is a force to be reckoned with.
5. Jimmy Eat World: "Futures" released 2004: any JEW album could (and should) make a list of mine. "Clarity" would've taken the cake, but it was released in 1999. so, for personal reasons, this one will certainly do. this album seemed to narrate my life at the time it was released. the rise and fall of relationships were already documented in the brooding sadness, in the empty observations, and in hard guitar-driven builds. nothing beat that moment on the train in europe when jimmy sang into my ears "as the train approaches Gare du Nord/as i'm sure your kiss remains employed/am i only dreaming?/you say that love goes anywhere..." le sigh.
6. Death Cab for Cutie: "Plans/Transatlanticism" released 2003/2005: how can i pick between these two? the musical and lyrical leaps and bounds that are made between these two albums are the greatest artistic achievements of any band i know. ben gibbard's sweet tenor could sing me to sleep every night. i know these guys have become cliche, but these 2 albums made the world around me more beautiful, just because they existed. these 2 albums hold all the memories of my college career in their songs.
7. Arcade Fire: "Funeral" released 2004: i don't know how those canadians do it. i still hear that tinkling piano intro in my dreams. it takes me back to the cold winter of my junior year, when i finally realized that i wasn't going to live a predictable life. i love all the instrumental variety interspersed throughout this album. i love how haunting, theatrical songs transform into rich, unbearably dancy conclusions. i think the "Rebellion (Lies)" music video sums it all up neatly. "sleeping is giving in/no matter what they tell you."
8. Mates of State: "Bring it Back" released 2006: kori and jason are the sort of indie darlings that could melt the heart of hitler. while i was a fan for years, i felt like this album really saw them come into their own as an artistic duo. they fill a room with just a drumset and a keyboard (or an organ, or a piano, synthesizer, etc.). maybe it was the fact that they had a baby, but everything seemed cemented and hopeful and boppy all at once. their love is infectious and their live shows are adorably, undeniably good.
9. Tegan and Sara: "The Con" released 2007: i remember walking around in circles in the arizona heat, trying to unearth all the layers this album had to offer. the reckless, poppy folk i'd come to expect from T&S seemed amplified by chris walla's behind-the-scenes production skills and the end result was the stuff of genius. the sisters' voices are so unique, but weave together seamlessly. "the con" and "nineteen" ended up being two of my favorite songs that year.
10. Los Campesinos!: "Hold on Now, Youngster" released 2008: where do i even begin? with LC!, i felt like i'd found something i never knew i'd lost. everything about this band seemed too good to be true. a band with a spanish name from wales and none of them are even welsh? fantastic. all band members changed their last name to campesinos! complete with exclamation mark? glorious. they release two amazing albums in one year? wild. and it doesn't hurt that their music is blissfully cheeky brit-pop-rock at its finest.
& Honorable Mentions:
- Ben Folds: "Rockin' the Suburbs" released 2001. because until this album, i never knew a white guy playing the piano could be so offensively funny.
- Bon Iver: "For Emma, Forever Ago" released 2007. oh why not. everyone else loves it.
- Passion Pit: "Manners" released 2009. might be too soon to tell on this one, but i like it. a lot.
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