Inspired by the Pitchfork interview model (in which people discuss “the music they loved at five-year interval points in their lives” with the goal of getting “a detailed roadmap of how their tastes and passions helped make them who they are” or learning something odd and obscure) and prodded by [ dan ], I hereby submit my list.

Like any exercise, this task reveals some trends but leaves out hugely significant ones.  I need a separate entry explaining the absence of pop culture influence through the typically formative years.  My family’s odd relationship with music (and most other consumer goods) as well as my inability to take a critical stance on this documentary will play into that entry.  Until then..exchange your grandma’s dollar for tokens…I’ve got a fever that’s driving me crazy!!

Age 5 | “Pac Man Fever” (Buckner & Garcia)

I don’t remember the presence of too many records in our house growing up, but I can vividly recall this album’s iconic cover and the giddy feelings conjured by hearing the sounds associated with Aladdin’s Castle in the Carbondale mall coming out of our huge record player/stereo console.

Clear evidence that I experienced this musical masterwork on vinyl: the first four songs are burned in my memory, while the last four are totally unfamiliar.

Age 10 | ”Rock Me Amadeus” (Falco)

Regarded by some as the “the single worst pop song recorded in the entire decade of the 1980s,” I must have liked something about this mess of a synth-pop-chant tribute to Wolfgang.

My brother got me the cassette of Falco 3 as a present, and I gave it back to him when the other songs “weren’t as good” as “Rock Me Amadeus.”  Classic.

Age 15 | “Recipe for Love” (Harry Connick, Jr.)

While others were in the throes of adolescent angst and smelling teen spirit, I was happily swingin’ to the big band sounds of Harry Connick, Jr.  Sarah introduced me to this disc, and I eventually came to appreciate Harry as a piano player more than a singer.  He doesn’t play much on this album, and the tracks alternate “happy”/”sad” a bit too drastically and predictably, but I can trace my interest in jazz piano to recordings such as this one from high school.

Age 20 | “Do Nothin’ til You Hear from Me” (Ann Hampton Callaway)

As if there’s need for further evidence that my musical tastes were out of the mainstream and out of the alt-stream, I listened to this album quite a bit the year it was released.  Ann Hampton Callaway, a smart and strong jazz singer, came recommended by a friend.  This track represents an exceptional balance between her voice and  the fantastic instrumentalists with whom she surrounds herself.

Age 25 | Is This It (The Strokes)

A lot happened between 20 and 25.  I definitely can’t pick a favorite track on this album.   I also cannot separate it from memories of much Honey Brown at Jupiter’s during extended happy hours on Thursday afternoon-evening-nights.  While I like nearly every track, my response to this album is much more about the sound of the band than any particular song. It’s as if I was getting the chance to experience in 2001 some key sounds and styles that had passed me by earlier.

Age 30 | “Star Witness” (Neko Case)

By this time, I think I’d caught up with the world and developed an informed sense of musical taste (better late than never).  I came to know Neko both through a recommendation and her collaboration with the New Pornographers, but this album sealed the deal for me.  That voice … and original tunes that are a perfect blend of folk, country, and “indie-rock.”  Any lyricist who can pen a line like  ”Hey, pretty baby, get high with me / We can go to my sister’s if we say we’ll watch the baby” without inducing cringes is doing something very right.