Ben Folds Five, Whatever And Ever Amen

By Jesse Roth

The end of every school year is always filled with a mix of emotions. There’s the excitement of finally being done with another grueling, possibly boring 180 days of state-sanctioned education. There’s a tinge of sadness that you may not see your friends for a whole three months, or possibly forever. And for some of us, there’s that mix of bitterness and angst that you feel in regards to your not-so-beloved alma mater and its denizens, briefly interrupted by daydreams of busting out and becoming someone other than some unknown dork hanging out in the hallways.

How does a person properly sum up these various feelings regarding the newly completed school year, other than trite yearbook quotes or lame pranks? For this awkward teen, it involved the passenger seat of mom’s car, my middle finger, and Ben Folds Five.
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Stereolab, Mars Audiac Quintet

By Jemiah Jefferson

“Listen to this,” my friend Ben said to me on a happily semi-spontaneous trip to my fortress of solitude in San Francisco. “This is the most static music I’ve ever heard.”

Ben had spent the entire evening turning me onto bands that I would go on to love—Soul Coughing among them, but that’s another story—and I was starved for new sounds to get into, having listened to a steady diet of Brian Eno for some years.

It was a dark and grim time in my life, when I found the city of my hopes and aspirations to be merely a vast wasteland of things I couldn’t afford and people I couldn’t be. There was a lot of banked, formless anger I couldn’t voice, and a lot of beauty all around me that I observed which nobody else seemed to notice.
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Me Unchained: Beat Happening, The US Navy, And Me

By Emily Carney

Some personal history: at the age of 19, I joined the United States Navy. The reason why I joined the military was ostensibly to get money for college. After many struggles (too many to mention, or else this article would be at least 100 pages long), I went to my first (and only) ship, the USS George Washington, CVN 73, in January 1999. I was one of the only women in my department at the time, and certain higher-ups (chiefs and officers) made it abundantly clear that my 100-pound frame would not make it in the US Navy. I was terrified.
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Before They Were Big: Gwar, Pop Will Eat Itself, Oingo Boingo

By Christian Lipski

“Before They Were Big” could also be seen as “Before They Sold Out,” or “Before They Got Good,” depending on your point of view. What I really mean is that these albums are from the artists’ earlier days, before what would become their more popular period. In my own personal opinion, these particular records are some of my favorites from the artists. While I don’t begrudge any band the opportunity to become successful and evolve one’s style, I do like having their earlier stuff around.
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After They Split: Limahl, Don’t Suppose and Kaja, Extra Play

By Less Lee Moore

I received Kajagoogoo’s White Feathers at my 13th birthday party. I’d asked for it on cassette because my family and I were going to Disneyworld the next day and I wanted to be able to listen to it on my Walkman. (Ah, the pre-digital age when you had to have blank tapes handy and couldn’t just rip a CD to your hard drive and then transfer it to your MP3 player.)
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The Cramps, Smell Of Female

By Christian Lipski

“Ladies and Gentlemen, live from the Peppermint Lounge, The Cramps”
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Albums In Decline: T.Rex, Iggy Pop, The Ramones

By Christian Lipski

There comes a time in every band’s life when they release the album that represents their commercial and/or critical peak. And then there are the albums that come out after that. Perhaps on their own, the later albums would be popular and appreciated in their own right, but when compared to the more well-known works, they tend to fall short in most fans’ minds. They get passed up in retrospectives if not mocked outright, and they’re rarely on the list to be re-released. But there’s always something to love about them, especially if you bought them new.
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Adam Ant, Strip

By Less Lee Moore

In 1983, having just experienced Adam Ant performing live to support Friend Or Foe (my very first concert!), I was a certified fan. I loved the videos for “Strip” and “Puss’n Boots” and was psyched for the upcoming Strip album.
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There’s A First Time For Everything: David Bowie, Stryper, Siouxsie & The Banshees, Robyn Hitchcock

By Christian Lipski

Beginnings are a very delicate time. No matter how rabid or deep your fandom may be now, at some point there was a first experience, an introduction at a time when you weren’t sure that you were going to like whatever it was. If you do end up loving that artist, the first work always holds a special place in your heart, even if it’s not the “best” effort from that artist. I think it’s interesting to know how a fan was introduced to the object of his or her obsession, to see the foundation of a lifelong love. Interesting, too, to see the introduction to a failed obsession, when that first work didn’t blossom into more, but still remains important. Here is a selection of albums that were my first from the artists, some of which became the first in a long line of acquisitions, and some which did not.
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Japan, Quiet Life

By Less Lee Moore

Duran Duran have often been accused of shamelessly plagiarizing from Japan, via their sound as well as Nick Rhodes’ makeup sensibilities. Both accusations are true; however, the Fab Five at least had the good sense and manners to acknowledge the influence of Japan on their own music.
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