Myself in Music

Hello, wonderful Blue Devil Beat Readers! Spring is upon us! And only slightly less exciting than that, March 20th is also my seventeenth birthday. In light of this, I decided that this month I would selfishly deliver you a collection of albums for no other reason than that I happen to feel very passionately about them. Each one of these albums, I believe, has had some effect on shaping who I am, either as a music listener, as a person, or both. I did my best to sort them chronologically, but at a certain point, they blur together. I hope you enjoy listening to these ten wonderful records as much as I enjoyed discovering them! 

1. Gillian Welch- Time (The Revelator)

Gillian Welch was my first favorite musician, my first favorite song was a Gillian Welch song, and when I was six years old, my first concert was a Gillian Welch concert. Every single track on this record is engraved in my soul in a way nothing else is. I feel like it's truly a part of me. When I think back on my early childhood, Gillian Welch is one of the few things that I really remember listening to. All of the songs on this album have been my favorites at some point or another, but “Red Clay Halo” and “Dear Someone” are the most special to me (although right now I think April The 14th Part 1 is my favorite.) I had the privilege of seeing her perform again last fall, and it was such an incredible experience. Listening to Gillian Welch feels like going home.  

2. First Aid Kit- Lion’s Roar

This record is so incredibly special to me because I like to think of it as the first time I discovered music on my own. Somewhere between the ages of nine and eleven, I got a CD player for Christmas, and with it came the ability to play whatever music I wanted in my room, and in a stack of my dad's CDs (which I chose because they had cool-sounding titles) was “The Lion’s Roar.” From the first time I played it, I was completely obsessed. I replayed the first two songs (the title track and “Emmylou”) over and over and over again for probably a year and a half. This album instantly takes me back to such a specific time in my life, and holds such a special place in my heart for that reason. The jangle-y indie folk sounds like my first experience with musical independence, and carries with it nothing but pre-teen joy, like rays of sunlight. 

3. David Bowie- Low

There is a significant time jump between Lion’s Roar and Low. David Bowie was (and is) an artist played consistently in my house, but I dived deep into his catalogue when I was fourteen. I had just pulled away from friends who weren’t good for me, and up until this point, most of my identity was tied to these friends. As I stood in the doorway of my teenagehood, I discovered David Bowie. His music brought me closer to myself and truly kick-started the love I have for good music. David Bowie is the most obsessed I’ve ever been with anything in my entire life (thus far). I only listened to his music for months; I’ve listened to every album, watched every movie he’s been in, read books, watched documentaries, and consumed probably everything on the internet about him. Every part of my existence when I was fourteen revolved around David Bowie. While I’ve had moments with almost all of his albums, Low is my favorite. It has such an interesting and explorative sound, with a completely instrumental second half. I think it’s perfect. 

4. Pavement- Brighten the Corners 

Pavement came directly after David Bowie in my journey of teenage music discovery, and while they didn't consume my whole life in the way that Bowie did, I think they informed my current music taste just as much. I was beginning to like good music on my own, discovering what that meant and what sounds I liked. I was standing on music’s precipice, and Pavement launched me over the edge at a million miles an hour (which is to say, launched me directly back into my parents' incredible music taste, thank you, parents!) 

5. Elliott Smith- Either/Or

This is probably the most important album on this list for me. Elliott Smith came into my life exactly when I needed him. It was winter, and I had just watched the movie “Good Will Hunting.” Immediately, the soundtrack captivated me like nothing else in the world. These songs had something inside of them that clicked with me. Elliott Smith made me feel so seen and so understood, drawing me into songwriting that was as painful as it was beautiful. The more I listened, the more everything he wrote seemed to fit into the parts of me that didn't seem to fit anywhere. Every single song of his is perfect, but when I found Either/Or, it felt like finding something written just for me. I have never felt more connected to an artist than I do with Elliott Smith; no one has even come close. It’s hard to imagine anything being more important to me than Elliott Smith. 

6. Neutral Milk Hotel- In the Aeroplane Over the Sea 

Discovering this album was such a staggering experience, and very few of my musical endeavors have felt the way listening to this album felt. I think a lot that can be attributed to Neutral Milk Hotel’s incredibly unique sound; nothing else in the world sounds like them. I remember feeling my eyes widen like saucers when Jeff Mangum started singing. It sounded like what I imagine listening to a prophet or someone with a direct connection to some sort of divine being would sound like. It consumed me. I thought everyone in the world should listen to this album and experience this songwriting; it was some of the greatest I had ever (and have ever) heard. While Neutral Milk Hotel certainly isn't for everyone, they are absolutely for me. Every time I listen to it, I still find it so incredible. There have been times when I think this is my favorite album ever; this usually happens every time I listen to it again after a hiatus. “In the Aeroplane Over the Sea” was so incredibly formative for me; to say it changed the way I listen to music would be an incredible understatement.

7. Bob Dylan- Highway 61 Revisited 

Bob Dylan is another artist who has been with me since the day I was born, but I wasn’t truly able to listen to what he was saying until a few years ago. In my opinion, Bob Dylan is the greatest lyricist, maybe even the greatest songwriter, of all time. Highway 61 Revisited is a perfect example of his brilliance. I often find myself caught between this album and Blood on the Tracks, and honestly, I don’t think I’ll ever be able to truly choose one over the other. But every time I come back to Highway 61 Revisited, I think that it’s the greatest album ever made. Every single song is perfection. In addition to the course of folk music, this album also changed the course of my life forever. 

8. Slint- Spiderland 

Similarly to Neutral Milk Hotel, Spiderland was an incredibly eye-opening album for me. I already loved Sonic Youth when I first started listening to Slint, so I was familiar and quite fond of the noisier, more droning elements of their music, but the way Slint’s sound is layered was so different from anything I had heard before. It feels like a wave of sound, covering you from head to toe, with the fuzziness of the guitars and the steadiness of the drums, and just below the surface floats these incredible lyrics, spoken like poetry. Spiderland could not be any more sonically perfect if it tried. When I listened to this record for the first time, I remember saying “wow” out loud as the doors to post-rock, noise, and math rock all opened in front of me.  

9. Hum- You’d Prefer an Astronaut

I first listened to You’d Prefer an Astronaut around the same time as Spiderland, and while I found them very similar at first, they’ve grown into two very different things. Every time I listen to this album, I notice something new, and I like it even more. It’s the kind of thing that once it clicks, you want to listen to it forever.  You’d Prefer an Astronaut is the album I put on when I don’t know what to listen to, and then after I put it on, I can’t stop listening to it for a month. I love the way the songs on this album are structured; the continuous reference to birds and stars is a wonderful through line that connects each song together. You’d Prefer an Astronaut is an album I truly don’t think I could live without. 

10. Cameron Winter- Heavy Metal

The last album on this list is barely a year old, released in December of 2024. But it has easily been one of the most life-changing records on this list, even in the short time that I have known it. Cameron Winter is one of the best songwriters I have had the honor of listening to in my life. This album contains some of the best lyrics and most interesting compositions  I have ever heard. Since I first heard it this summer, it has not left my mind for a second. I am on the edge of my seat to see what Cameron Winter does next. 

Thank you so much for indulging me in this list of albums that have altered the course of my music listening! If you’d like to listen to them yourself (which I highly recommend you do), here is the link to the playlist!: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0p6SIQLu48XRJnfwAksSXv