#especially since noir city is rlly boring

[holdencaulflied]

a while ago (like two years!!) i was tagged in a “describe ur top 9 formative albums” and i’m supposed to be studying for psych but i’m bored so this is as good of a time as any to talk abt music i guess

these aren’t supposed to be my favorite albums altho a few of them could fit in that category as well- it’s more the albums that i grew with and that helped me define myself at various points throughout my life

don’t panic // all time low- this album bridged me from 5th to 6th grade, and also from elementary to middle school. it was the beginning of me moving past radio hits/what my parents played in the car to finding music that was solely my preference and while i look back at this phase with embarrassment now, listening to lots of punk rock probably helped me branch out and have varied taste in music like i do today. also backseat serenade still goes hard and it’s my guilty pleasure song

marry me // st.vincent- my first foray into alternative/indie music, and also to st.vincent, who still releases amazing albums to this day. but honestly this was the soundtrack to my 7th grade year, when i was moving past the fall out boy/atl/panic! at the disco stage. paris is burning is one of the first songs i remember crying about. i listened to this album so much it’s like almost sacred now like i don’t listen to it as much bc i don’t wanna ruin the opinions i have on it by finding flaws i just want it to be a defining part of my life

pure heroine // lorde- my comfort food of albums. this came out when i was in 8th grade and it perfectly encapsulated everything about growing up and being unsure of yourself yet feeling like you knew everything. i still play this album a lot because it has stayed consistently relatable and i can appreciate the lyrics so much more now. ribs, the love club, and buzzcut season are the holy trinity of lorde songs. also lorde was my first every live concert and that is smth rlly special that i will remember forever bc literally my favorite thing is experiencing music u love live. lyrics like “we’re slipping off the course we prepared” and “my heart jumps around when i’m alluded to” stuck with me SO MUCH and this whole album really raised my standards in that i began listening more to lyrics instead of just songs i thought sounded cool

modern vampires of the city // vampire weekend- 8th or 9th grade?? definitely at the beginning of high school, but super formative because this is when i really began digging deep into spotify and finding artists and music that people wouldn’t just recommend to me. i really started seeing music as more of just a hobby to smth constant. songs like unbelievers and step and obvious bicycle were stuff i would always tell ppl to listen to- especially this was before vampire weekend became super popular it felt like i had like my own little personal album. vampire weekend in general also led to my love for indie rock/pop which has consistently been my most listened to genre since 9th grade, and although i’ve definitely changed my overall music taste from vw, there’s a lot of forever good songs on this album.

transatlanticism // death cab for cutie- holy shit this album is one of the saddest things i’ve ever listened to, and that is including high violet by the national. i probably listened to this album of my own accord the first time in 9th grade because before that my dad used to play it in the car and i wouldn’t really pay attention. but then i listened to title and registration (which is one of the first songs i remember sobbing my eyes to) and was like dad holy fuck this song is incredible. and this album is so important to me because while my dad and i disagree on a lot death cab is a common love that i think just brought us closer together. its a whole ass masterpiece like expo’86 is SO SAD yet i smile every time it comes on, and most of the lyrics aren’t obscure and twisty like a lot of other bands i listen to, yet i feel like they always pack the hardest punch

bankrupt! // phoenix- this album isn’t as formative as it is an eye-opener. it was one of the first times i began to realize music could be just as political and make points just as effectively as any op-ed, sometimes even more so. i think i listened to it sometime in 10th grade, and the line “lost ur mind on a cruise ship, bartending crucial lies” made a bigger point abt capitalism and poverty than most article i’d read. also the songs are just fucking catchy and the production is pretty great. oblique city, sos in bel air, and chloroform are some of my all time favorite songs. also the transition from drakkar noir into chloroform is like incredible and i freak out every time i hear it. 

bury me at makeout creek // mitski- mitski is a force of nature in the form of guitars and words. her new album puberty 2 is amazing but i feel like this is the album that i really related to end of sophomore going into junior year. mitski is like a weird mix of straight up electric guitar and rock like remo drive and also soft-spoken indie like moses sumney and it’s great. last words of a shooting star is my favorite song off this album and the part where she is like “i’m glad my room is at least neat so when i’m gone i’ll be remembered kindly” is so!! like u don’t think abt life in terms like that but the fact that a lot of the time you’re only remembered by other’s perceptions of you is fucking sobering. 

i’m not your man // marika hackman- ok i’ve loved marika hackman ever since i heard her cover of i follow rivers by lykke li and this album!! holy shit!! it’s so versatile but also so honest and heartfelt and somehow brutally witty at parts. i listened to it probably when it first came out, which was like either end of junior year or summer before senior year and i’m definitely at a part of life where i need constant new music- like ppl are like manasa is my personal shazam bc i never can stick to one genre or artist and i can pick song recs out of thin air so the fact that i listened to this album for like three months straight is a sign of how incredibly good it is.on a more personal note i came to terms with my bisexuality around the end of junior year, and to hear marika hackman unapologetically refer to running away with girls/falling in love with girls was so relatable at the time. it still is. i love gina’s world, round we go, and violet with all my heart. yeah the lyrics are confusing and often obscure and it is often a hard album to listen to because there are virtually no catchy hooks or choruses that grab onto you but it’s incredibly written and means so much to me.

landmark // hippo campus- AND finally, the album that has been on repeat for the past few months. i’ve always loved hippo campus from the first EP they released back in like 2014, but this is the first full album that they put out and jesus christ did it deliver and give me everything i ever wanted! my two favorite songs by them (warm glow and the halocline) aren’t even on this album but it’s still so perfect! the first time i listened to it all the way through was transcendental. sun veins into way it goes is seamless and perfectly executed. and some of these songs are so so so meaningful and sad and others are just upbeat and fun but then you listen to the lyrics and it’s like oh shit wow there’s so much i didn’t catch. i love this album and this band with all my heart i’ve seen them live twice (50% of their concert funds go to planned parenthood) and it was incredible. the way jake luppen says “solipsistic overtones” in western kids is amazing. the whole of buttercup is great the first time i heard “holy hell i can tell that you hate me, dying moon keep me up keep me waiting” i died a little. way it goes i could talk about forever with lyrics like “degenerate, counter-culture crying socialist, hip-to-lazed crazed abstractionist” like oh my god the genius it took to rhyme that stuff. also the whole of poems and epitaph is amazing and makes me cry. i love this album the most 

#this is long #but i'm so bored and i rlly like music