post-work, pre-sleep

A couple of times a year I go through my record collection and listen to the albums that meant a lot to me in the past. I do this because I feel that it is important to know how I've progressed as a fan and creator of music. So today I picked two albums that I feel have defined me in various ways.

The first album is Year of Meteors by Laura Veirs. I know there are going to be a lot of people that either think "really?" or have a general distaste for Miss Veirs, but I love this album. The main reason behind my adoration is that I didn't really like this album for the first year I owned it. I had read a lot about it, but after a few listens I decided that it wasn't my cup of tea and tucked it away at the bottom of the pile.

I don't know what drew me back to this record, but I think it has something to do with time and place. For some reason this album just seemed to echo a lot of the feelings I was having in 2006, and that's when I fell in love with it. Every track is superb, and the lyrics are absolutely breathtaking.

When I listen to YoM today I remember all the shit that was bringing me down. It's nostalgia, baby.



The other album is Novena on a Nocturn by The Good Life. I've been a huge Cursive fan since I bought Domestica way back when, and love Tim Kasher's voice and everything it touches.

I remember the summer when I first purchased this album. I had a job mowing a family friends lawn once a week, and would listen to this album exclusively. Thinking about it now is a little strange because it reminds me of how I used to be and, in some ways, still am. I would sit atop their riding mower wearing basketball shorts, a white undershirt, and a black vest with a broken zipper that housed my disc-man. It would take me almost three hours to cut the grass and in that time I was able to memorize every line of every song. I don't think I've ever been as happy as I was riding around that immense lawn. I still have that vest somewhere, and when I'm back home and my mother asks me to mow the lawn I'll throw it on because it just doesn't feel right to mow without it.