Distractions, Big and Small

A few folks who know me well asked why I’ve not posted anything in a while. It’s not for lack of interesting topics but more due to work, kitchen renos, the start of summer, etc.

And as summer starts up I’m hoping to get out on the links but the weather, work, and the kitchen have conspired against any such plans. Bit of a bummer, but what can one do.

And with so many distractions I’ve needed other distractions to make the lack of a kitchen less onerous, and so I’ve turned to music.

Music, I always say, is infinitely listenable. You can listen to the same song over and over again and not be bored. You can listen to something you’ve not heard in years and it not only brightens your day but also brings back memories. Sure, sometimes the memories are bittersweet, or younger days when life was simpler, but even those reminisces are worth it. I have few regrets, so even a not so happy memory can still brighten my day since where I am today is a good place and to get here required me to pass through all the trials and tribulations that were my life up till now.

Music is also an integral part of my life and that of my family. Our house is always full of music. The kids have their bands, though whether they’ll go anywhere is anyone’s guess. But we try to ensure they keep an open mind to music. When you hear them talk about music you’ll hear them mention Radiohead and the Beach Boys in the same breath, classic 60s rock with Jesse Cook, or Alice Cooper along with Brian Wilson. They’ve learned to appreciate music from classical to heavy metal. It’s something that will give them joy forever.

As a person in deep need of distractions of late, I’ve fallen back onto music, as I indicated. That’s got me thinking about what I like. It was only reinforced by a recent posting by Nicholas Carr on his favourite albums for each year of his life.

That seems to be a large undertaking, something I’m simply not into. However, it is interesting to see his list. Not much like mine, especially as I’d never put anything ahead of Pet Sounds, especially not in 1965. I’d also be hard pressed to find many albums I liked in the 90s and 2000s. I’ve just not found many I like. It only becomes harder with the restriction you can only use an artist once. However, for 2005 I’d be able to use Brian Wilson’s SMiLE as the Beach Boys never released it.

A colleague at work claims you can tell a lot about a person from the music they like. Of course, she finds me odd so she claims she’s gleaned nothing from my favourite artists except that I’m rather eccentric. I can live with that, though it does mean that, depending on my mood, what I like one day is not reflected even a day later. Much as my tastes in what I enjoy cooking any given month changes, so too does what I tend to listen to.

I think my other problem is that I don’t really have that many favourite albums. The ones I do have, following the one per year motif, follow. I decided to start on an even decade for no other reason that it looks cool to start with my favourites as of the 60s.

• 1960: Bo Duddley, Have Guitar Will Travel
• 1962: Chuck Berry, Chuck Berry Twist
• 1963: Roy Orbison, In Dreams
• 1964: The Animals, The Animals
• 1965: Bob Dylan, Highway 60 Revisited
• 1966: The Beach Boys, Pet Sounds
• 1967: The Doors, The Doors
• 1968: The Zombies, Odyssey and Oracle
• 1969, Neil Young, Everybody Knows This is Nowhere
• 1970: The Guess Who, American Woman
• 1971: Led Zeppelin, Led Zeppelin IV
• 1972: David Bowie, The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars
• 1973: Elvis Presley, Aloha from Hawaii
• 1974: Supertramp, Crime of the Century
• 1975: Heart, Dreamboat Annie
• 1976: Boston, Boston
• 1977: The Sex Pistols, Never Mind the Bollocks, Here’s the Sex Pistols
• 1978: Blondie, Parallel Lines
• 1979: The Ramones, End of the Century
• 1980: U2, Boy
• 1981: Rush, Moving Pictures
• 1982: Roxy Music, Avalon
• 1983: Big Country, The Crossing
• 1984: Bruce Springsteen, Born in the USA
• 1985: New Order, Low-Life
• 1986: Eurythmics, Revenge
• 1987: Echo and the Bunnymen, Echo and the Bunnymen
• 1988: The Church, Starfish
• 1989: The Stone Roses, The Stone Roses
• 1990: Midnight Oil, Blue Sky Mining
• 1991: Simple Minds, Real Life
• 1992: The Cure, Wish
• 1993: Duran Duran, Duran Duran (The Wedding Album)
• 1994: REM, Monster
• 1995: Mylène Farmer, Anamorphosée
• 1996: Sandbox, Bionic
• 1997: Third Eye Blind, Third Eye Blind
• 1998: Neutral Milk Hotel, In the Aeroplane Over the Sea
• 1999:
• 2000: Jesse Cook, Free Fall
• 2001: The Strokes, Is This It
• 2002: Johnny Cash, American IV: The Man Comes Around
• 2003: Hawksley Workman, Lover/Fighter
• 2004: Brian Wilson, SMiLE | Outkast, The Love Below *
• 2005: Coldplay, X&Y
• 2006:
• 2007:
• 2008:

If I have time I’ll revisit the list to fill in the blanks — assuming I can find an album for those years I’d actually listen to. I’ve also stayed away from “Best ofs” as I figured those unfair in such a list, except for Elvis’s Aloha from Hawaii as it brings back fond memories and you have to include The King! Otherwise, for albums like the Best of the Byrds, I’ve not included them even though, for 1967, it would easily be on my list as the best album of 1967, what without SMiLE. And it sucks to have a list such as this without the Byrds or the Hollies, though I have no regrets not including the Beatles.

* SMiLE is actually an artifact of the 60s finally finished in 2004. However, to not include what is one of the greatest albums ever would be wrong, especially as it’s a Brian Wilson album and not a Beach Boys album, thus not ruining the “only one artist per list” requirement. However, for those that may be picky I’ve included what I consider one of the best albums ever, The Love Below by Outkast — or more accurately Andre Benjamin (Andre 3000), which I’d put up in the rarefied atmosphere of Pet Sounds, Rubber Soul, SMiLE, In the Aeroplane Over the Sea, Highway 61 Revisited, and Revolver. Yeah, two Beatles albums but they pale in comparison with Wilson’s work.