A Decade of Living: Listening Essentials for the 200X’s.
It’s hard to believe seven days from this very minute would mark the end of a decade. It’s been quite a decade; ten years ago, I was twelve. The past ten years has seen love, lust, sex, faith, tragedy, despair, hope, fear, alcohol, contentment and an exquisite array of undefined being, marked by thousands of encounters with optimism, invincibility and cynicism. I’ve met thousands upon thousands of people – some of whom I will never ever meet again, some of whom that I will forever cherish. Many of them, I don’t even remember, but they all had a supporting role in the past ten years, roles I am grateful for.
This decade has seen quite an exponential growth like no other. Granted, this is the first real decade where I am conscious of my surroundings and myself. We may not be driving flying cars, but the world has seen a vast development in social, economical and cultural advances with the digital age being a central figure to a large amount of our progress. We are almost accessible to anything at an arm’s reach, a trait that is becoming a necessity in the rapid being of our lives.
Music has seen drastic changes in the past decade. The emergences of Napster and millions of P2P replicas have resulted in bands and labels developing new business models. Apple’s dominance has been remarkable; iTunes and iPods (and now iPhones) are hitting record-breaking numbers in their markets. Music sales though have seen a decline. We aren’t seeing the weeks in which artists sold a million records (exception: Lil’ Wayne) that we saw in the early 2000’s.
Coming into the year 2000, Lou Pearlman and his elite group of stars under Jive Records were breaking records. It was almost like a game, first week numbers were explosive; *Nsync hitting 2.4 million in their first week, Backstreet was hitting 1.9 million, and Britney Spears hit 1.3 million. Along with these numbers, Eminem was hitting 1.76 million as well. These were bright days for the industry. In comparison, there are a handful of records have hit a million in the first week towards the end of the decade.
The landscape of music has shifted as well, though some things have not changed that much. Music saw the mainstream arrival of pop-punk in the early/mid 200X’s, Kanye and Jay-Z became the forerunners of respectable rap, auto-tune becoming the new pop, and the close of the decade saw the indie culture becoming the darlings of the media. It’s been quite a decade. In light of that topic, I’ve selected some of my favourite records released in the past decade. Granted, I may have left out a few, but these were some of my favourite. 80 to be exact.
80. Damien Rice – “O”
79. Plainsunset – “The Gift”
78. American Analog Set – “Set Free”
77. Funeral for a Friend – “Casually Dressed & Deep In Conversation”
76. The Streets – “Original Pirate Material”
75. Say Anything – “In Defense of the Genre”
74. Relient K – “Five Score And Seven Years Ago”
73. Deftones – “White Pony”
72. Hey Mercedes – “Everynight Fireworks”
71. Eminem – “Marshall Mathers LP”
70. Circa Survive – “Juturna”
69. Andy Shauf – “Darker Days”
68. Pedro the Lion – “Achilles Heel”
67. Sherwood – “Sing, But Keep Going”
66. Eisley – “Combination”
65. Wilco – “Sky Blue Sky”
64. Midlake – “The Trials Of Van Occupanther”
63. The National – “Boxer”
62. Craig David – “Born To Do It”
61. Furniture – “Twilight Chases The Sun”
60. Jack’s Mannequin – “Everything in Transit”
59. Finch – “What It Is To Burn”
58. Acceptance – “Phantoms”
57. Blindside – “Silence”
56. The Shins – “Wincing the Night”
55. Pheonix – “Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix”
54. Nada Surf – “The Weight Is A Gift”
53. Straylight Run – “Straylight Run”
52. Panic at the Disco – “Pretty. Odd.”
52. Lifehouse – “No Name Face”
51. Mogwai – “Mr. Beast”
50. Biffy Clyro – “Only Revolutions”
49. Athlete – “Tourist”
48. Delta Spirit – “Ode To Sunshine”
47. A New Found Glory – “Coming Home”
46. Underoath – “They’re Only Chasing Safety”
45. The Early November – “The Room’s Too Cold”
44. Mumford & Sons – “Sigh No More”
43. Bon Iver – “For Emma, Forever Ago”
42. Midtown – “Living Well is the Best Revenge”
41. Kayne West – “Graduation”
40. Taking Back Sunday – “Tell All Your Friends”
39. Rosie Thomas – “When we were Small”
38. The Ataris – “So Long Astoria”
37. Dashboard Confessional – “Places you’ve Come to Fear the Most”
36. A New Found Glory – “New Found Glory”
35. Travis – “The Invisible Band”
34. The Promise Ring – “Wood/Water”
33. Blink-182 – “Untitled”
32. Green Day – “American Idiot”
31. Emery – “The Weak’s End”
30. The Postal Service – “Give Up”
29. Brandton – “SendUSASignal”
28. U2 – “All That You Can Leave Behind”
27. Thursday – “War All The Time”
26. Motion City Soundtrack – “Commit This to Memory”
25. Limbeck – “Hi, Everything’s Great”
24. Something Corporate – “North”
23. Mew – “Frengers”
22. Taylor Swift – “Fearless”
21. Kings of Convience – “Riot On An Empty Street”
20. Copeland – “In Motion”
19. The Format – “Dog Problems”
18. Coldplay – “Parachutes”
17.Justin Timberlake – “Future Sex/Love Sounds”
16. Stars – “Heart”
15. Blink-182 – “Enema of the State”
14. Death Cab for Cutie – “Photo Album”
13. Margot & The Nuclear So and So’s – “The Dust of Retreat”
12. Sigur Ros – “Takk…”
11. The New Frontiers – “The Mending”
10. Denison Witmer – “Are You a Dreamer”?
9. Explosions in the Sky – “The Earth Is Not a Cold Dead Place“
8. Ryan Adams “Gold”
7. Sufjan Stevens – “Come On Feel The Illinoise!”
6. Sigur Ros – “( )”
5. Stars – “Set Yourself on Fire”
4. Brand New – “Deja Entendu”
3. Saves The Day – “Stay What You Are”
2. The Gloria Record – “Start Here”
1. Death Cab for Cutie – “Transatlanticsm”
I find my refuge.
Proverbs 20
27 The lamp of the LORD searches the spirit of a man;
it searches out his inmost being.28 Love and faithfulness keep a king safe;
through love his throne is made secure.
Love is the strongest emotion we can feel. This world is capable of so much. My generation will be that change.
Proverbs 20
24 A man’s steps are directed by the LORD.
How then can anyone understand his own way?25 It is a trap for a man to dedicate something rashly
and only later to consider his vows.
Again, I can just smile and stand in awe of you.
and you love me the same.
Proverbs 20
9 Who can say, “I have kept my heart pure;
I am clean and without sin”?10 Differing weights and differing measures—
the LORD detests them both.11 Even a child is known by his actions,
by whether his conduct is pure and right.12 Ears that hear and eyes that see—
the LORD has made them both.
You know the depths of our heart yet you still love us and talk to us – even though you know how we feel at times. Why?
Proverbs 20
5 The purposes of a man’s heart are deep waters,
but a man of understanding draws them out.
I look up without realizing i’m standing in the palm of your hand.
I can’t explain or understand. I just love you.
Proverbs 22
6 Train a child in the way he should go,
and when he is old he will not turn from it.
I would really appreciate that a lot. I know I can never do it alone.
Regards,
PS. You have some sense of humour. How else did my laptop just HAPPEN to fall off my bed after I wrote this?
