Oh no! A meme on my blog? It’s all downhill from here. But really, did you expect me to pass up a music-themed post, especially when I’m not feeling my best and have a hard time finding inspiration?

Think of 25 albums that had such a profound effect on you they changed your life or the way you looked at it. They sucked you in and took you over for days, weeks, months, years. These are the albums that you can use to identify time, places, people, emotions. These are the albums that no matter what they were thought of musically shaped your world.

I couldn’t even begin to put these in order of preference. They’ve all been number one in my heart at some point or another. So, in true Rob Gordon fashion, I put them in autobiographical order, all the way from high school up to now.

I won’t even begin to try and explain each album or even the general progression of my music habits. If you are curious, that’s kind of what comments are for.

1. Jimi Hendrix – Woodstock
2. Project 86 – Drawing Black Lines
3. Incubus – Make Yourself
4. Radiohead – OK Computer
5. Tool – Aenema
6. A Perfect Circle – Thirteenth Step
7. Sigur Rós – Ágætis byrjun
8. Extol – Undeceived
9. Sufjan Stevens – Michigan
10. The Dillinger Escape Plan – Miss Machine
11. The Mars Volta – De-loused in the Comatorium
12. Godspeed You! Black Emperor – Lift Yr Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven
13. Radiohead – Amnesiac
14. He Is Legend – I Am Hollywood
15. Killswitch Engage – The End of Heartache
16. The Dillinger Escape Plan – Irony is a Dead Scene
17. Explosions in the Sky – The Earth is Not a Cold, Dead Place
18. mewithoutYou – Catch for Us the Foxes
19. The Appleseed Cast – Low Level Owl: Volume 1
20. mewithoutYou – Brother, Sister
21. This Will Destroy You – Young Mountain
22. Neko Case – Fox Confessor Brings the Flood
23. Sigur Rós – Takk
24. Ryan Adams – Heartbreaker
25. This Will Destroy You – This Will Destroy You

June was an interesting month. Friends graduating college and moving away, a road trip to Colorado, Adele exploding on the scene and doing anything I could to take a chill pill due to a lot of stress. Little did I know what July would bring… dun dun DUNNNNN!

1. Black Sabbath – “Black Sabbath” (Black Sabbath)
2. Devin the Dude – “She Want That Money” (Waitin’ to Inhale)
3. Jakob – “Everything All of the Time” (Solace)
4. Adele – “Crazy For You” (19)
5. N.E.R.D. – “Spaz” (Seeing Sounds)
6. Coldplay – “Violet Hill” (Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends)
7. Sigur Rós – “Gobbledigook” (Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust)
8. Of Montreal – “Gronlandic Edit” (Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?)
9. Bob Marley – “No Woman No Cry (Live)” (Legend)
10. The Wombats – “Let’s Dance to Joy Division” (Let’s Dance to Joy Division)
11. Adele – “Daydreamer” (19)
12. Bob Marley – “Stir It Up” (Legend)
13. Dub Trio – “Awakening Dub (Live)” (Exploring the Dangers of)
14. The Snake the Cross the Crown – “Electronic Dream Plant” (Cotton Teeth)
15. Dave Matthews & Tim Reynolds – “Bartender” (Live at Radio City)
16. The Mountain Goats – “Love Love Love” (The Sunset Tree)

1. Bjork – “It’s Oh So Quiet” (Post)
2. Bjork – “Hyper-Ballad” (Post)
3. Godspeed You! Black Emperor – “Storm” (Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas To Heaven)
4. Akon – “I Wanna Love You” (Konvicted)
5. Calexico and Iron & Wine – “He Lays In The Reins” (In The Reins)
6. Plan B – “Sick 2 Def” (Time For Plan B)
7. Van Morrison – “Gloria” (At The Movies)
8. !!! – “Heart Of Hearts” (Myth Takes)
9. Brand New – “Jesus Christ” (The Devil And God Are Raging Inside Me)
10. Brett Dennen – “When I Go” (Brett Dennen)
11. Brett Dennen – “Ain’t No Reason” (So Much More)
12. Brett Dennen – “Darlin’ Do Not Fear” (So Much More)
13. Autechre – “Vletrmx21″ (Warp 10 Vol. 3: Remixes)
14. Hugh Grant and Drew Barrymore – “Way Back Into Love (Demo Version)” (Music & Lyrics Soundtrack)
15. The Sounds – “Tony The Beat” (Dying To Say This To You)
16. Explosions In The Sky – “What Do You Go Home To?” (All Of A Sudden I Miss Everyone)
17. Eluvium – “Taken” (Talk Amongst The Trees)
18. The Mountain Goats – “No Children” (Tallahassee)
19. Eluvium – “As I Drift Off” (When I Live By The Garden And The Sea)
20. Explosions In The Sky – “The Birth And Death Of The Day” (All Of A Sudden I Miss Everyone)
21. Johann Johannsson – “Part I” (IBM 1401 A User’s Manual)
22. Mika – “Grace Kelly” (Grace Kelly Single)
23. Rhymefest – “Fever (Dirty)” (Blue Collar)
24. Eluvium – “Prelude For Time Feelers” (Copia)

Part two of four of my evil list-making scheme.

1. Sufjan Stevens
2. Explosions in the Sky
3. mewithoutYou
4. Radiohead
5. The Appleseed Cast
6. Nickel Creek
7. The Dillinger Escape Plan
8. Godspeed You! Black Emperor
9. The Mars Volta
10. A Perfect Circle
11. Andrew Bird
12. MxPx
13. AFI
14. Alison Krauss
15. Project 86
16. Tom Waits
17. Sigur Rós
18. The Faint
19. Chris Thile
20. This Will Destroy You
21. Mew
22. Iron & Wine
23. Coldplay
24. Cloud Cult
25. John Mayer
26. Opeth
27. Joshua Radin
28. Killswitch Engage
29. Incubus
30. Ryan Adams
31. Norma Jean
32. Robert Johnson
33. The Black Keys

Once again, thanks to Last.fm for making this list possible.

Occasionally it’s nice to go through my music collection and highlight the new stuff I’ve discovered that I can’t stop listening to:

• Jeremy Enigk
  Enigk is best known as the front man for Sunny Day Real Estate, but his solo releases, especially his newest, World Waits, are phenomenal. I think I’ve listened to the track Been Here Before a thousand times in the last few weeks (you can download it here).
• …And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead
  They’re not a new name to most, but their new album goes above and beyond all their previous work, in my opinion. This is probably why I’ll never work for Pitchfork, considering the somewhat negative review they gave So Divided. Check out Wasted State Of Mind on their PureVolume page.
• Dragonforce
  It’s embarrassing to admit how good these guys are, because they are definitely marketing on the irony of being serious about a long-deserted genre of wankeriffic metal rife with dual guitar solos (think The Darkness, but five years later). But those solos… they’re so good…
• Malajube
  This is one band I’m proud to admit I discovered before they were a twinkle in Pitchfork’s eye, thanks to a friend in Canada who gave me a heads-up. It’s almost syrupy sweet at times, and I can’t understand a word of French so I have no clue what they’re singing about, but they’re inexplicably irresistible.
• Mew
  They’re definitely a buzz band right now, but for good reason. Beautiful falsetto vocals with a satisfyingly complex rhythm section. And The Glass Handed Kites is one of my most-played albums of the last few months.
• Tom Waits
  I’ve just recently realized the value of his work. I picked up a copy of Nighthawks At The Diner at Amoeba Music a while back, which has been great for putting me in a happy and relaxed mood. His newest release, Orphans, is impressive, even in its excessive length.
• The Knife
  Dark, dramatic electronica with haunting vocals. I would almost say it borders on goth, but it’s not quite as pessimistic. Apparently their live show is a theatrical jaw-dropper.
• Oh, Sleeper
  I had to throw in some hardcore somewhere, right? The Armored March is a solid Norma Jean-esque metalcore release, and something about the overall sound keeps it from getting boring like so many bands in their genre.
• Ray LaMontagne
  If you like Damien Rice, LaMontagne will be your best friend. ‘Nuff said.
• Sparrows Swarm and Sing
  Mostly instrumental post rock in the vein of Godspeed You! Black Emperor. I actually just heard them for the first time today, but they’re definitely worth a mention.

And here’s a few older favorites that are still topping the charts:

• Explosions In The Sky
• This Will Destroy You
• Godspeed You! Black Emperor
• mewithoutYou
• Cloud Cult
• Sherwood
• P.O.S.
• Damien Rice