Musicwhore.org Music and memory

A decade ago, I wrote a series of entries ranking my favorite albums from 1985 to 2004. My collection has expanded greatly since then, particularly in the last five years. So I wanted to see what has changed in 10 years.

Here’s my matrix of the most important years in music for the last 4 decades:

• 2010s: 2015 (so far)
• 2000s: 2002
• 1990s: 1998
• 1980: 1987

The years adjacent to the ones listed are also pretty pivotal, which is the case for 1999. The list doesn’t change much, but a lot of great music came out that year.

1. NUMBER GIRL, SCHOOL GIRL DISTORTIONAL ADDICT
2. Shiina Ringo, Muzai Moratorium
3. Utada Hikaru, First Love
4. ACO, absolute ego
5. Nina Hynes, Creation
6. SUPERCAR, Jump Up
7. The Flaming Lips, The Soft Bulletin
8. Port of Notes, Complain Too Much
9. Mandy Barnett, I’ve Got a Right to Cry
10. The Kiss Offs, Goodbye Private Life

Other favorites from the year:

• L’Arc~en~Ciel, ray
• Jordan Knight, Jordan Knight
• eX-Girl, Kero! Kero! Kero!
• NUMBER GIRL, DESTRUCTION BABY
• OBLIVION DUST, Reborn
• UA, turbo
• Moby, Play
• Maná, MTV Unplugged
• Dr.StrangeLove, Twin Suns
• The Roots, Things Fall Apart
• Fantastic Plastic Machine, Luxury
• Asylum Street Spankers, Hot Lunch
• Café Tacuba, Revés/Yo Soy

A retrospective addition of SUPERCAR bumps L’arc~en~Ciel to the extended list. Futurama was the first SUPERCAR album I owned, and I liked it so much, I was hesitant to explore the band’s early work, out of fear it wouldn’t live up.

As it turns out, Futurama was the last of SUPERCAR’s great albums. The first two albums are classics in their own right. I’ve yet to dig into Ookeah! and Ooyeah!

I’ve only added Moby, The Roots and Fantastic Plastic Machine to the extended list, but albums by Wilco, Rage Against the Machine, Built to Spill and Mos Def could have made it on there. I just wanted to avoid the kind of crowding we saw in 2002 and 2003.

Tags: aco, asylum street spankers, cafe tacuba, dr strangelove, ex-girl, fantastic plastic machine, favorite edition, jordan knight, l'arc-en-ciel, mana, mandy barnett, moby, nina hynes, number girl, oblivion dust, port of notes, rewind, shiina ringo, supercar, the flaming lips, the kiss offs, the roots, ua, utada hikaru