The closer this little project comes to the present, the less my choices diverge. Not exactly a revelation, but it's nice to see that I can still be proud of the music I listened to in high school. I mean, sure, I thought Boyz II Men's "End of the Road" was a pretty good song at the time, but I also purchased everything The Smiths ever committed to disc and I wore out my cassette of Bad Religion's Suffer. So I can hold my head high, while writing off my enthusiasm for EMF and Jesus Jones as youthful folly.
The home stretch...
1995
Then: The Cardigans - Life
Now: Pulp - Different Class
Pavement gets stiffed again: Wowee Zowee comes in a tough second. 1995 was the year I rediscovered vinyl. It was also the year I stopped buying pot and started spending all of my money at Amoeba records in Berkeley. (And dropping the strict chronology for a moment, my actual favorite albums that year were Superchunk's Foolish and The Cramps' Bad Music for Bad People...neither of which was released in 1995.)
1996
Then and Now: Belle & Sebastian - If You're Feeling Sinister
Weezer's Pinkerton was a close second that year... I was in a solidly "twee as fuck" punk-meets-indie-pop phase. Oh wait. Still am.
1997
Then: TIE: Pavement - Brighten the Corners; Sleater Kinney - Dig Me Out
Now: Radiohead - OK Computer
Duh. (Special shout-outs to Yo La Tengo's I Can Hear the Heart Beating As One and Mogwai's Young Team.)
1998
Then and Now: Boards of Canada - Music Has the Right to Children
Apologies to the Beasties' Hello Nasty.
1999
Then: Blur - 13
Now: The Flaming Lips - The Soft Bulletin
2000
Then: Outkast - Stankonia
Now: Radiohead - Kid A
A new century, a boring choice. What can I say...Radiohead, she makes-a good records!
2001
Then: Fischerspooner - #1
Now: The Strokes - Is This It
What can I say? I was "working" as a music journalist and I totally drank the Kool-Aid on the whole Electroclash thing.
2002
Then and Now: Interpol - Turn On the Bright Lights
Not even their shitty last album can spoil me on the majesty of their debut.
2003
Then: The White Stripes - Elephant
Now: Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Fever to Tell
And it hurt me to have to leave out The Shins' Chutes Too Narrow.
2004
Then: The Walkmen - Bows + Arrows
Now: The Arcade Fire - Funeral
2005
Then and Now: LCD Soundsystem - LCD Soundsystem
2006
Then and Now: Band of Horses - Everything All the Time
2007
Then: Deerhunter - Cryptograms
Now: Radiohead - In Rainbows
In Rainbows pulled the ultimate "grower."
So there you have it. Thirty-three years of music. One life, feebly encapsulated.
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