Pitchfork has this running feature called "5-10-15-20" where people
write a little blurb about what music they were in to at 5 year
intervals in their lives. I figured it would be an interesting exercise
to try and do this myself. So here goes:
Age 5:
Vivaldi - The Four Seasons
I can't say I remember much about being five. I mean, I'm sure some of those scattered memories I have from my earlier childhood were from when I was five, but it's been so long now that they're all jumbled together. Anyways, it's not like I listened to much music as a kid. In a stunning display of restraint, my mom had yet to make me a part of the great Asian tradition of classical music education, and my parents were hardly the most musical of people. I can't remember the last time I heard my dad listening to music, and my mom's musical knowledge barely extends past what shows up in the Yahoo! homepage.
However, for as long as I can remember my dad has had a modest stereo system that includes a 5-disc CD player and, more importantly, dozens of meaningless but highly pressable buttons. This was accompanied by a few dozen CD's worth of classical music. I have no real idea why it was ever bought, though I do recall my mom mentioning in passing that it was to keep up with his friends back in the day when they all went through some sort of audiophile phase. Anyways, one of my few vivid childhood memories was my dad playing Vivaldi's Four Seasons on this stereo system and the two of us rushing to build a pillow fort before the "storm" hit in the last summer movement. I remember being genuinely terrified that, if I didn't finish the fort, I would be struck by musical lightning, or something absurd like that.
Age 10:
Yanni - Live at the Acropolis
Outside of the classical music I was playing on the piano and a few children's CD's, Yanni was the only artist I ever listened to before I discovered music for myself in 8th grade. My parents taped the original airing on PBS, and I watched it religiously. As a pianist myself, it was awesome to see another pianist taking center stage and playing music that was actually enjoyable. (Out of the hundreds pieces I must have played in my twelve years of taking piano lessons, there might have been a dozen or so that I genuinely liked.) If you could've tracked all those views on last.fm, Yanni would probably have more scrobbles than anyone. I am still constantly reminded by my mom of how I used to stand in front TV, waving a chopstick trying to mimic the conductor.
Age 15:
Eminem - The Eminem Show
I never bought a CD for myself until I was 15. I still remember the first time. It was at Best Buy, and I bought two CD's: Usher's Confessions and Eminem's The Eminem Show. I bought Confessions because Usher was the biggest artist out at the time. I still love Yeah!, Burn, and a couple other songs, but I'm really embarrassed by the accompanying booklet, which contained nothing but enhanced images of Usher's six pack. Sort of like the musical version of a Twilight poster. The Eminem Show is a whole different story. Sure, there were the stupid skits and a couple duds (Drips immediately comes to mind), but the good songs on that album are some of the greatest rap songs of all time.
More than that, The Eminem show was my introduction to rap. It was the album that convinced me that rap was a form of music, and a very good one at that. Sing for the Moment is one of only two rap songs that I know all the words to (the other being the Black Eyed Peas' Where Is the Love?). Without that album, I might've missed out on an entire genre of amazing music.
Age 20:
Drake - Thank Me Later
Thank Me Later is an extremely flawed album. The rapping is spotty, the production is monotonous, the singing is a work in progress, and the songwriting is mediocre. Honestly, if I wasn't a Drake fan, I wouldn't like a single song on that album. It's nothing close to the tour de force that Take Care was. However, it was the one album that me and my roommates could agree on. The man's got a way with words. He tells his own story with great detail and stunning honesty. He makes life at the top compelling and relatable. In particular, his central narrative, of a man trying to find happiness and his place in the world, struck a chord with a couple college students also searching for the same things.
Age 5:
Vivaldi - The Four Seasons
I can't say I remember much about being five. I mean, I'm sure some of those scattered memories I have from my earlier childhood were from when I was five, but it's been so long now that they're all jumbled together. Anyways, it's not like I listened to much music as a kid. In a stunning display of restraint, my mom had yet to make me a part of the great Asian tradition of classical music education, and my parents were hardly the most musical of people. I can't remember the last time I heard my dad listening to music, and my mom's musical knowledge barely extends past what shows up in the Yahoo! homepage.
However, for as long as I can remember my dad has had a modest stereo system that includes a 5-disc CD player and, more importantly, dozens of meaningless but highly pressable buttons. This was accompanied by a few dozen CD's worth of classical music. I have no real idea why it was ever bought, though I do recall my mom mentioning in passing that it was to keep up with his friends back in the day when they all went through some sort of audiophile phase. Anyways, one of my few vivid childhood memories was my dad playing Vivaldi's Four Seasons on this stereo system and the two of us rushing to build a pillow fort before the "storm" hit in the last summer movement. I remember being genuinely terrified that, if I didn't finish the fort, I would be struck by musical lightning, or something absurd like that.
Age 10:
Yanni - Live at the Acropolis
Outside of the classical music I was playing on the piano and a few children's CD's, Yanni was the only artist I ever listened to before I discovered music for myself in 8th grade. My parents taped the original airing on PBS, and I watched it religiously. As a pianist myself, it was awesome to see another pianist taking center stage and playing music that was actually enjoyable. (Out of the hundreds pieces I must have played in my twelve years of taking piano lessons, there might have been a dozen or so that I genuinely liked.) If you could've tracked all those views on last.fm, Yanni would probably have more scrobbles than anyone. I am still constantly reminded by my mom of how I used to stand in front TV, waving a chopstick trying to mimic the conductor.
Age 15:
Eminem - The Eminem Show
I never bought a CD for myself until I was 15. I still remember the first time. It was at Best Buy, and I bought two CD's: Usher's Confessions and Eminem's The Eminem Show. I bought Confessions because Usher was the biggest artist out at the time. I still love Yeah!, Burn, and a couple other songs, but I'm really embarrassed by the accompanying booklet, which contained nothing but enhanced images of Usher's six pack. Sort of like the musical version of a Twilight poster. The Eminem Show is a whole different story. Sure, there were the stupid skits and a couple duds (Drips immediately comes to mind), but the good songs on that album are some of the greatest rap songs of all time.
More than that, The Eminem show was my introduction to rap. It was the album that convinced me that rap was a form of music, and a very good one at that. Sing for the Moment is one of only two rap songs that I know all the words to (the other being the Black Eyed Peas' Where Is the Love?). Without that album, I might've missed out on an entire genre of amazing music.
Age 20:
Drake - Thank Me Later
Thank Me Later is an extremely flawed album. The rapping is spotty, the production is monotonous, the singing is a work in progress, and the songwriting is mediocre. Honestly, if I wasn't a Drake fan, I wouldn't like a single song on that album. It's nothing close to the tour de force that Take Care was. However, it was the one album that me and my roommates could agree on. The man's got a way with words. He tells his own story with great detail and stunning honesty. He makes life at the top compelling and relatable. In particular, his central narrative, of a man trying to find happiness and his place in the world, struck a chord with a couple college students also searching for the same things.
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