Musical Years In A Metaphorical Hat

The Hives – Veni Vidi Vicious (Swedish garage rock) Green Day – Warning (American pop-punk/alternative rock) Radiohead – Kid A (British post-rock/electronic music) Deltron 3030 – Deltron 3030 (Sci-fi dystopian rap opera by American hip-hop trio of Del the Funky Homosapien, Dan The Automator and Kid Koala) Eels – Daisies Of The Galaxy (American indie rock) The White Stripes – De Stijl (American garage rock/ blues rock) Boards Of Canada – In A Beautiful Place Out In The Country (Scottish (not Canadian, confusingly) ambient electronic music) They Might Be Giants – Working Undercover For The Man (American alternative rock, their second “digital only” release) A Perfect Circle – Mer De Noms (American alternative metal super-group featuring members of Tool, Queens of the Stone Age and The Vandals) The Avalanches – Since I Left You (Australian electronic music/ plunderphonics) Modest Mouse – The Moon and Antarctica (Major label debut by American indie rock band) M...

Elvis Costello – Juliet Letters Phish – Rift Belly – Star Earth – 2 Jellyfish – Spilt Milk Quicksand – Slip Dinosaur Jr – Where You Been Superchunk – On The Mouth 2Pac – Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z. Radiohead – Pablo Honey Naughty By Nature – 19 Naughty III Auteurs – New Wave Firehose – Mr. Machinery Operator Cranberries – Everyone Else Is Doing It Frank Black – Frank Black Butthole Surfers – Independent Worm Saloon Onyx – Bacdafucup Suede – Suede Monster Magnet – Superjudge Tool – Undertow Polvo – Today’s Active Lifestyles Nirvana – In Utero Janet Jackson – Janet Del The Funkee Homosapien – No Need For Alarm Snoop Dogg – Doggystyle Wu Tang Clan - Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) Queen Latifah – Black Reign Tribe Called Quest – Midnight Mauraders Pearl Jam – Vs. Lemonheads – Come On Feel Mazzy Star – So Tonight That I Might See Afghan Whigs – Gentleman James – Laid Swervedriver – Mezcal Head Pet Shop Boys – Very Di...

Nirvana – Incesticide Alice In Chains – Sap Alice In Chains – Dirt R.E.M. – Automatic for the People Pavement – Slanted and Enchanted The Jesus Lizard – Liar Cannibal Corpse – Tomb of The Mutilated They Might Be Giants – Apollo 18 Beastie Boys – Check Your Head Green Day – Kerplunk Aphex Twin – Selected Ambient Works 85-92 Ministry – Psalm 69: The Way To Succeed And The Way To Suck Eggs White Zombie – La Sexorcisto: Devil Music Vol. 1 Nine Inch Nails – Broken The Lemonheads – It’s A Shame about Ray Moby – Moby Faith No More – Angel Dust Pantera – Vulgar Display Of Power Tori Amos – Little Earthquakes L7 – Bricks Are Heavy Tool – Opiate Stone Temple Pilots – Core Ween – Pure Guava The Pharcyde – Bizarre Ride 2 The Pharcyde Helmet – Meantime The Fall – Code: Selfish The Prodigy – Experience Front Line Assembly – Tactical Neural Implant Tom Waits – Bone Machine Los Lobos - Kiko Dead Milkmen – Soul Rotation “Weird Al” Yanko...

Judas Priest - British Steel X - Los Angeles Talking Heads - Remain In Light Devo - Freedom Of Choice Peter Gabriel - Peter Gabriel ("Melt") David Bowie - Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps) The Clash – Sandinista! Motorhead – Ace Of Spades XTC – Black Sea AC/DC – Back In Black Circle Jerks – Group Sex Squeeze – Argybargy Minutemen – Paranoid Time Ramones – End Of The Century Wipers – Is This Real? Iggy Pop – Soldier Blue Angel – Blue Angel Dead Kennedys – Fresh Fruit For Rotting Vegetables Iron Maiden – Iron Maiden Black Sabbath – Heaven And Hell Angel Witch – Angel Witch The Police – Zenyatta Mondatta Bruce Springsteen – The River Bob Marley & The Wailers – Uprising The Pretenders – The Pretenders Queen – The Game The Beat – I Just Can’t Stop It The Vapors – New Clear Days Elvis Costello – Get Happy!!! GG Allin & The Jabbers – Always Was, Is, And Always Shall Be The B-52s – Wild Planet The Fall – Grotesque...

Ramones – Ramones The Runaways – The Runaways Bob Dylan – Desire AC/DC – Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap Aerosmith - Rocks Steely Dan – The Royal Scam David Bowie – Station To Station The Residents – The Third Reich ‘n’ Roll Kiss – Destroyer Heart – Dreamboat Annie Tom Waits – Small Change Paul McCartney & Wings – At the Speed Of Sound Modern Lovers – Modern Lovers Blondie – Blondie Boston – Boston Thin Lizzy – Jailbreak Frank Zappa – Zoot Allures Judas Priest – Sad Wings of Destiny Peter Frampton – Frampton Comes Alive Parliament – The Clones Of Dr. Funkenstein Lynyrd Skynyrd – One More from the Road Motorhead – On Parole Electric Light Orchestra – A New World Record Stevie Wonder – Songs In The Key of Life Warren Zevon – Warren Zevon Queen – A Day At The Races ZZ Top – Tejas Rush – 2112 Peter Tosh – Legalize It Eagles – Hotel California Led Zeppelin – Presence Rainbow – Rising Abba – Arrival Bee Gees – Children...

Led Zeppelin – Led Zeppelin III Neil Young – After The Gold Rush Can – Soundtracks Velvet Underground – Loaded John Cale – Vintage Violence The Beatles – Hey Jude The Beatles – Let It Be Black Sabbath – Black Sabbath Black Sabbath – Paranoid MC 5 – Back In The USA Temptations – Psychedelic Shack Syd Barrett – The Madcap Laughs Syd Barrett – Barrett David Bowie – The Man Who Sold The World The Stooges – Fun House The Doors – Morrison Hotel Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young – Déjà vu Miles Davis – Bitches Brew (Jazz fusion) Funkadelic – Free Your Mind And Your Ass Will Follow (Funk/Psychedelic rock) The Mothers of Invention – Weasels Ripped My Flesh (Jazz fusion/Experimental rock by band led by Frank Zappa) The Free Design – Sings for Very Important People (Children’s album by Sunshine Pop group) Bob Dylan – Self-Portrait (Folk rock) Simon And Garfunkel – Bridge over Troubled Water (Folk rock) Kris Kristofferson – Kristofferson (Country) ...

John Coltrane – A Love Supreme The Kinks – Kinda Kinks The Kinks - Kink Kontroversy The Zombies – Begin Here The Byrds – Mr. Tambourine Man The Byrds - Turn Turn Turn Bob Dylan – Highway 61 Revisited Bob Dylan - Bringing It All Back Home Otis Redding – Otis Sings Blue Smokey Robinson – Going To A Go-Go The Who – Sings My Generation Yardbirds – For Your Love The Sonics – Here Are The Sonics The Beatles – Help! The Beatles - Rubber Soul The Beau Brummels – Introducing The Beau Brummels Martha And The Vandellas – Dance Party Rolling Stones – Out Of Our Heads Herb Alpert – Whipped Cream And Other Delights The Fugs – First Album Sun Ra – The Heliocentric Worlds Of Sun Ra Junior Wells – Hoodoo Man Blues Nina Simone – Pastel Blues Barbra Streisand – My Name Is Barbra Peter Paul And Mary – A Song Will Rise Peter Paul And Mary - See What Tomorrow Brings The Beach Boys – Today! The Beach Boys – Summer Days (And Summer Nights!!!) Note...

Charles Mingus – Mingus Ah Um Chuck Berry – Chuck Berry Is On Top Howlin’ Wolf – Moanin’ In The Moonlight Ritchie Valens – Ritchie Valens Nina Simone – The Amazing Nina Simone Miles Davis – Kind Of Blue Duane Eddy – Especially For You Dave Brubeck Quartet – Time Out Tom Lehrer – An Evening Wasted With Tom Lehrer Ornette Coleman – The Shape Of Jazz To Come Bo Diddley – Go Bo Diddley The Louvin Brothers – Satan Is Real James Brown And His Blue Flames – Please Please Please George Jones – White Lightning Tom Glazer And Dotti Evans – Space Songs John Lee Hooker – I’m John Lee Hooker Serge Gainsbourg – No. 2 Lightnin’ Hopkins – Lightnin’ Hopkins Johnny Cash – Songs Of Our Soil The Kingston Trio – At Large Ella Fitzgerald – Sings The George And Ira Gershwin Songbook Ray Charles – The Genius Of Ray Charles Mose Allison – Autumn Song Count Basie – One More Time Notes: I'm posting these older listening sessions in chronological order by y...

Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie – Bird and Diz (collaboration between the jazz saxophonist and trumpeter) Various – Anthology Of American Folk Music   (Compilation of 1920s-1930s American folk, blues, and country songs taken from Harry Smith’s personal collection of 78 rpm singles) Howlin’ Wolf – Cadillac Daddy: 1952 Sessions (blues, recorded in 1952 but released in 1989) Peggy Lee – Rendezvous With Peggy Lee (jazz pop, her first full album) Nat King Cole – Penthouse Serenade (instrumental piano jazz) Oscar Brand – Bawdy Sea Shanties (Exactly what it sounds like) Billie Holiday – Billie Holiday Sings (Vocal jazz, first album of previously unreleased material) Jean Ritchie – Singing The Traditional Songs Of Her Kentucky Mountain Family (Traditional folk) Les Baxter – Ritual Of The Savage (Exotica) Hank Williams – Moanin’ The Blues (Country) Various – Blowing The Fuse: 29 R & B Classics That Rocked The Jukebox In 1952 (R & B/ Blues compilation rele...

Kanye West – The College Dropout (American hip-hop, debut album) Franz Ferdinand – Franz Ferdinand (Scottish indie rock/dance rock, debut album) Modest Mouse – Good News for People Who like Bad News (American indie rock) Arcade Fire – Funeral (Canadian indie rock, debut) Green Day – American Idiot (American pop punk rock opera) Mastodon – Leviathan (American heavy metal, loose concept album based on Moby Dick) Bjork – Medúlla (Icelandic (mostly) acapella experimental pop, featuring appearances by Rahzel, Mike Patton, Robert Wyatt and others) They Might Be Giants – The Else (American alternative rock) Dillinger Escape Plan – Miss Machine (American math-metal, first album to feature Greg Puciatio on vocals) Pig Destroyer – Terrifyer (American grindcore) Ratatat – Ratatat (American electronic rock, debut album) Nightwish – Once (Finnish symphonic metal) The Killers – Hot Fuss (American dance rock, debut) Feist – Let It Die (Canadian b...

In 2016, I wrote years from 1950 to 2000 on scraps of paper, put them in a bag, and started pulling them out when the occasion struck me - Once I picked a year, I would listen to nothing but albums from that year, stopping whenever I felt I had enough, at which point I'd either pull out another year or take a break from the process for a while. It's an entertaining way to discover new music you might not have tried otherwise, and allows you to get more of a cultural context towards whatever albums you already love from that year. I could use this basic idea for other fields of art and entertainment (books, movies, etc), but for now I'm sticking with music as it's the easiest for me to pursue. This blog is largely going to be dedicated to lists of albums I've listened to, but might also contain my thoughts on individual albums or musical trends I notice. Some additional rules I've given myself for this project, which I may or may not break in the future: Gre...