Music has always been an important part of my life though I’ve never really learned to play a proper instrument. Growing up, I noticed that it was something that was pervasive, immersive and relevant to the time. I can’t remember the exact age but at some point, I ended up with my dad’s old beat up records, a turntable with cassette recording capabilities and blank cassettes in my room (at times, not so blank). Thinking back, this was my first personal access to the world at large. I literally had control of the content that I wished to consume simply by turning a dial to another radio station. Music, TV, film, and books were available but I was 5 or 6 years old at the time and it was all curated for me at that point and largely of the specific tastes and social mores of those doing the curation. As a child growing up in a largely homogeneous area, there weren’t many opportunities to experience cultures outside of one’s own (this was before the internet) and when these experiences transpired they made a real impact and created moments of reflection.
The latter elementary school years would be when I would get copies of bootlegs of NWA, Tupac, Green Day and a few others that didn’t even have labels anymore or the labels were no longer reliable. You see, there was a bit of a primary school black market where I grew up because the kids knew what they weren’t supposed to have and some of us knew how to get and reproduce what everyone else wanted. The old cast off stereo would come in handy after all. After fooling with the controls for what seemed like years, I was able to record accurately other tapes, records or even call into radio shows to request certain songs. If requesting songs wasn’t possible, I would take notes of when stations played a certain song the most and then be at the ready with my finger on the button like I imagined Nixon and Khrushchev were for the bomb.
I was ravenous for any new music I could get my hands on. Some of my cousins and friends had older siblings or we all knew the kid whose parents weren’t around or simply didn’t care to censor their behavior so, they became our go to suppliers that would get a cut of what was produced for the other kids. It was always so awkward to attend a school dance where they would only play old disco tunes because they were approved and sterile while at home and with friends on the bus or after school, we’d all be listening to gangsta rap, punk or grunge. Candidly, I think kids are searchers of truth and reliability. We were looking for something that spoke to us. Something that was a sigil of our youthful rebellion from our parents and their boring pop country music or whatever Tipper Gore and her Stepford Wives club the Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC) wanted us to hear. The blank cassette tape became the canvas for our DIY auditory revolution.
Ultimately, I’ve found that we are a product of our environment and the culture we are in and create for ourselves all while exposure to other cultures can have a profound impact and allow for better understanding of others. The way music represents and permeates societies throughout the world by mixing sensuality; sense of place and time help through immersion. The familiarity principle essentially states that the things we’re exposed to at an early age end up being what we’re drawn to and comfortable with going forward. This principle can be seen as a bit of a double-edged sword. So, it makes sense that the media we consume is indelible. Our brains are wired to create emotional memories for our own survival based on these unique and prominent sense driven experiences. Being both rational and emotional beings is what complicates our current condition as humans. We seek to reconcile these halves and often end up relying too heavily on one side. I find music helps to bring these things together for me and always has.
My desire over the past few years since my first child was born was to leave them with a diverse set of experiences, influences and positive cultural ties. The reason for writing all of this is to outline a sort of “project” for a lack of a better term at this point. It is intended as a bit of a musical and emotional road trip. I’ve kept up with albums as they’ve come out through the years and they remind me of people and places that I’d like to catalogue. I wanted to leave this as a guide to explain why certain songs/albums have meaning to me, the times they were released and illustrate their cultural impact while uncovering a tapestry of artists’ influences and evolution through the years I’ve been alive. I find myself drawn to the artists, which no matter the genre are willing to sacrifice themselves lyrically, emotionally and physically to reach some essential truths.
The idea is this; I’m going to journey back through the years of my life to the year 1985 beginning with 2015, the first complete year worth of releases and assess them, the events around them, the music itself and what they remind me of. Since vinyl records are physical objects, have high fidelity according to what the artists intended and they come with the artwork and support the artists, I’m going to purchase and show the actual records. Three releases per year will be the minimum, one that is my pick for the year (the emotional pick), one that is a recording that is “of the times” (representation of the year) and finally, a wild card (something of note and influential.) I’m sticking to a minimum of three because top three is a great way to focus and because I have three kids and that’s just how things are done so there aren’t conflicts. ☺
Steemit seems like the current most perfect medium for this record because it is on the blockchain and feedback from others will be important to offer suggestions on anything that I could have overlooked over the years before reviewing the top ten for each year and acquiring the final three vinyl albums representing each year. I’m not an expert critic and don’t intend to be. Just someone that enjoys what these albums can mean for people and interested in the stories that they can bring up for others. Maybe I’m in search of understanding in this world that is getting both better and worse in so many regards. Perhaps this will be a soundtrack to the end of the world or just a snapshot of the times. No idea how long this will take.
Here is a list of the equipment being used to take this journey:
Apple Music – To screen the top ten list of contenders.
Spotify - To use if Apple Music is missing anything.
Discogs App – To keep track of the current wish list and actual collection.
Reference sites include:
Steemit users, Pitchfork, Rolling Stone, Stereogum, Daytrotter, Paste Magazine, Billboard, Reddit, Wikipedia & a few random others.
Sony Receiver STR-DH740
Pioneer Turntable PL-570
Master & Dynamic Headphones MH40
What are your top album picks for 2015?
Am I crazy for doing this?