5-10-15-20-25

I realize that this is pretty lame, but I feel like doing it anyways. The fact that I am aware of how lame it is makes it OK in my book. This makes me think about people in general, and how I wonder all the time whether or not people realize that the lame things they do are lame. Like do people who go to Dave Matthews concerts realize how lame it is to attend such an event? I feel as though many people live in a dream world, one where they don't realize that some people hate the things they like. Or maybe they're just really secure.

I digress...

If you've read this little website called Pitchfork, you'll know that they do this wittle thing where they interview artists and have them talk about the music they enjoyed at different points in their lives. If you don't read Pitchfork, I applaud you and wish I wasn't an addict. Anyway, here's what I listened to at ages 5, 10, 15, 20, and, er, 24.33.

Age 5-My mom played lots of Raffi songs back in the day, and I can even remember seeing him live. "This Little Light Of Mine" was my favorite song by him. "Baby Beluga" was also pretty rad. I think the first real song I liked though was "Roll With It" by Steve Winwood. I still have the cassette single of that song. I remember the music video where he played the song in a bar or something. I can also remember me and my mom driving in the car and rocking out to "Crocodile Rock" by Elton John. Still like that one. That's about it, I think. I was probably watching TV or running around outside instead of listening to music.

Age 10-I have some pretty clear memories here. It was around this time when I discovered U2, a band I still enjoy today despite the fact that they're pretty lame. I recall rooting through my Dad's box of tapes and seeing a picture of these four fellas in the desert. Seemed interesting. Turned out it was, and I listened to it A LOT. My favorite songs on it were/still are the ones on the B-side. "Red Hill Mining Town," "In God's Country," "Trip Through Your Wires," and "One Tree Hill." I always stopped it after "One Tree Hill," because the last two songs scared the crap out of me. "Exit" is about killing yourself and "Mothers of the Disappeared" sounded creepy. It wasn't until I was about 16 or so that I actually listened to the full album. Weird. Soon after The Joshua Tree it was Achtung Baby and then War. Love those ones too. Aside from U2, I liked many of the songs that they played on the now defunct Y-100. They played stuff like The Offspring, ("Self-Esteem!") Green Day, The Presidents of the U.S.A. ("Lump!") and Nirvana. Nirvana was weird for me because I was brought up Catholic and they had that video where they had fetuses and priests and all of these scary images. I didn't and still don't like them, and I don't really like the Catholic Church that much anymore either. Lastly, I remember sitting upstairs with my Dad listening to his old records. People always thought it was strange that the Wawrzyniaks had a record player, and I can even recall a few people coming over to play their records on our player because they didn't have one. I guess this is why I think it's silly that many people my age are obsessed with vinyl. It was something I always had, and maybe they didn't. Or maybe they did and they just really like vinyl. Anywho, Pops had stuff by dudes like Frank Zappa, The Band, Dire Straits, and John Prine. My fav of these was John Prine, and I really liked his song "Christmas in Prison." Frank Zappa scared me and I have a very vivid memory of my family on a car trip and my mom was telling my dad to turn off "The Torture Never Stops" and my Dad wouldn't do it. LOL. We also listened to Neil Young on car trips, and I really liked Freedom and Ragged Glory, especially the song "Farmer John."

Wait, one more. I liked Hootie and the Blowfish. Cracked Rear View.

"OnlyWannaBWitchuuuuuooouuuuuu."

Age 15-This would be freshman/sophomore year of high school, about 2001 or so. I was listening to cassettes until this point, and I think it was around this time that I got my first CD Walkman. I was pretty behind in many, many ways. Back to music though. Moby. F*****g Moby. I loved/still love his album Play. Every song. I remember seeing the "South Side" vid on MTV and being like "Yeah, you go bro. Go and date Gwen Stefani." My favorite songs on that album were/still are "Bodyrock" and "My Weakness." "Bodyrock" is such a sweet song, and I couldn't get enough of the guitar riff. "My Weakness" is just some sample of people chanting, but it's still great. Later I would be disappointed by 18, which I think came out in 2002. After that I bought Everything is Wrong. That album's pretty good, but the facts about how much the world sucks are a little much. U2 was still big for me at this time. They came out with All That You Can't Leave Behind, and I straight ate that album up. "Beautiful Day." 'Nuff said. And "Walk On." God, I used to listen to that song when I got bullied at school. It made me feel better. "Whatcha got they can't steal it, no they can't even feel it." So fucking good. I'm not even gonna sensor myself. One last thing for age 15. Michael Jackson. Don't know why, but I became obsessed with MJ. Bad, Dangerous, and Invincible, which was incredibly underrated. I think that's my fav one by him. Later I would come to appreciate Off The Wall, but I must admit that I've never actually listened to Thriller. I think I'm gonna change that in the near future.

Seems like I had pretty poor taste, something I'll attribute to several factors.
1. I didn't have any older sibs or any other cool older kids to introduce me to anything different.
2. Most of the kids in my high school were into Limp Bizkit, teen pop, or mainstream rap. I didn't like any of that stuff.
3. We didn't have the internet, and, once we got it, I'd use it to read stuff about U2 or Moby.
4. I was in the little dream world I described earlier. Nobody told me my music sucked, and if they did it was someone who liked Limp Bizkit so I simply ignored them.

Age 20-This was sophomore/junior year of college. By this time I was listening to what I would consider to be "pretty good music." When I was 18 and came to college all I really knew was U2, Moby, Coldplay, and Neil Young, a guy I had known about for years from my Dad but didn't get into until my last year of high school. My freshman year roomate was the one and only Andy Blaufarb, a dude who was really into metal and thought my music sucked. This was the first time someone other than a Limp Bizkit fan told me my music sucked, and, as a result, I started to really go on the interwebz and find new bands to like. I'd log onto the 'book and see what the cool kids (at least I thought they were cool kids) were listening to. Turns out most of them listened to crappy hardcore. This was also when my perception of a "cool kid" changed dramatically. My favorite way to find good bands to listen to was to simply type in something like "best albums of _____" on Google and go from there. Naturally this led me to Radiohead, the fav band of any music critic. The Bends was the first album by them that I heard. I guess this was like November of soph. year. I remember going into convulsions while listening to the title track. Soooo good. Then I got OK Computer and it was true love. I felt like I was ten and listening to The Joshua Tree. It was also then that I discovered the genius of Weezer's debut album for the first time. I would later learn that many people were obsessed with this one when they were fifteen, but that was OK. Better late than never. It was also around 20 when I began to comprehend the meaning of "indie rock," and I started to pay attention to record labels and what they stood for. I guess the first "indie rock" band (although I wouldn't call them that anymore) I got into was Spoon. I came across Gimme Fiction after I Googled "Best Albums of 2005" and clicked on Amazon's list. Also on that list were Z by My Morning Jacket and I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning by Bright Eyes. I loved both of those albums. From there, I developed a good sense of what was good vs. what was bad, and started listening to bands like Wilco, Built to Spill, The New Pornographers, Bloc Party et. al. I would also go back and listen to some older albums. I'd go to CD Warehouse and buy a newer CD and an older one each time I went. Liz Phair's Exile in Guyville was one I was really into at age 20. I thought she was pretty badass, and enjoyed hearing her perspective on dudes. And I can't forget about Pixies. I was rocking Doolittle a lot. "Debaser" is still one of my fav jams.

Age 24.33-I like to think I'm a pretty well-informed music fan these days. I read Pitchfork, Stereogum, Gorilla Vs. Bear, and other blogz. I watch all of the MTV networks and listen to the pop station on the radio sometimes to keep up on the mainstream tunes. I'll even listen to WXPN to see if there's any cool new Dad music. They also have a great show on Saturdays at 5 p.m., "The Many Moods of Ben Vaughn." Dude really knows his stuff and plays some nice old jauns.

I won't talk about what I've been listening to lately because it's all on my last.fm. Check that for up to the minute stats. I'm pretty deep into music, but not that deep. I know what Krautrock is, but I've only listened to Can and Neu!. Not a fan of either. I've only smoked weed once, so I'm pretty sure I'll never "get" noisy bands like Boredoms or any Post-Rock . That said, I do love the Explosions in the Sky album Those Who Tell The Truth Shall Die, Those Who Tell The Truth Shall Live Forever. I like The Modern Lovers, but I've never listened to any of Jonathan Richman's solo stuff. I've only listened to one Sonic Youth album, Daydream Nation, and I didn't really "get" it because I was only 20. I always hear about how great Nick Cave is, but I've never listened to him. Joy Division goes waaaay over my head and I'm intimidated by people who "get" them. I think there might be something wrong with me because I don't "get" them. Wire as well. Tried listening to Pink Flag. Didn't "get it." I guess I'm just not a punk. Or even a post-punk. Daft Punk. I love Homework. I guess that's what I am.

A Daft Punk.

Pce, this has been fun. I'll update when I'm 30.