That Randy Brown

Reflections on 40 Years in Music

Recently, my brothers and I were talking about our top 10 albums. This led me down a road of reflection that is mostly recaptured here for posterity. I haven't yet found 10 albums, so this may (or may not) get updated later.

All Time Musicians #

There are four bands that I would listen to anything in their entire library and say it was good:

So for these four bands, it really comes down to the album most resonating to me at the time that the question was asked.

The Albums #

In Rainbows, Radiohead #

This is my candidate for greatest album of my lifetime. I only do not say of all time because A Night at the Opera exists--but it came out before I was born.

This is also the most controversial album on this list in our house. Steph is not a fan of Radiohead, and it's been the source of many jokes over the years. It's also interesting though that Steph was the one that got this album for me when it came out, and I think perhaps that's the essence of love and of the skill of Steph's gift giving that I didn't realize for many years.

A Ghost is Born, Wilco #

When Steph and I first met, I had just left the army, and Sky Blue Sky by Wilco released. I have a lot of fond memories of listening to it in those early days of our relationship. But I still remember walking into the office and seeing A Ghost is Born playing on her computer--maybe it was the album sitting on the desk, or the album cover on Pandora, and being very excited that she also liked Wilco. That summer carried to Fall, and Sky Blue Sky was one of the soundtracks of our early days together, but on reflection, I think, if I set aside all the connection I have to Sky Blue Sky, the album I'd recommend a person start with is probably A Ghost is Born.

The Carpenter, The Avett Brothers #

In 2009, Steph walked down to the Starbucks by the college to get a coffee and came back with I and Love and You cards from Starbucks pick of the week (a program I'm still sad to have seen go), and introduced what might be the most important music of my life, and when we got married, our first dance was choreographed to Swept Away.

In truth, my favorite albums by the Avett Brothers are the Gleams. A few years back, I was surprised when they released the third gleam, and this might be the last physical album I came to own--another gift from Steph, who had a keen eye for their releases and knew how much a new Gleam would mean to me.

But for my birthday, when I was teaching on year, Steph planned a trip to Austin, where we did a few things: first, we went to a LEGO store, which at the time San Antonio did not have. Steph bought her first LEGO set there, if I recall correctly, giving us yet another shared interest. And we ended the night by going to an Avett Brothers concert during the Carpenter tour. I listened to Carpenter for at least a year after, nonstop.

The Earth Is Not a Cold Dead Place, Explosions in the Sky #

This album serves two functions in this list--one is a memory of students and music, and the other is studycore.

When I was a teacher, I would put on Explosions in the Sky for the students while they were working--on tests, in groups, as a type of soundscaping. I played all their albums, and plenty of pop goes classical too, but at the start of the year, I always turned the music up and just had the kids listen to the first few bars of 'First Breath after a Coma'. For most of my students, it was a musical genre outside their general interest, and I wanted them to feel the constant crescendo of the song.

I always looked forward to the part of the year that would inevitably come, when the class would ask me to put on Explosions in the Sky. I felt like I'd accomplished something. These days, the boys will often ask to listen to Lo-Fi, which fills the space of Explosions in the Sky.

Tea for the Tillerman, Yusuf Islam / Cat Stevens #

When I was in the army, I was listening to lots of Bob Dylan and Simon and Garfunkel. I'd definitively entered my folk era (which arguably continues to this day). And then I was introduced to two movies: A coworker and fellow soldier introduced loaned me Harold and Maude, and a classmate at the local college invited me to watch Garden State with them (which I then borrowed and kept for a very long time). From that, I encountered, and began to consume, the entirety of Yusuf Islam's discography. These days, Father and Son is a strong play, but I still also love Where will the Children Play and Miles from Nowhere.

I debated also putting Mutemath on this list, even though I don't listen to them much anymore. I was introduced to Mutemath around the same time, and the amalgamated effect was a revolution in my taste and interest in music.

In the Aeroplane Over the Sea, Neutral Milk Hotel #

Anything the Decembrists have done, but especially Picaresque, could fill this spot. I was introduced to In the Aeroplane Over the Sea nearly a decade after its release, as I was leaving the army. I had a friend whose dad introduced us to Snow Patrol and Neutral Milk Hotel, and taught me that getting older doesn't have to mean no longer keeping up with music changes.

This album struck me for its narrative lyrics, but also its exploration of sorrow. And the story was compelling--an alt history of Anne Frank. This album was one of the last albums I wrote about in this period for a small music magazine, and no doubt holds some extra weight in my memory for that as well.