I think I am going to write a series of posts describing the moments that have been preserved for me in music. Occasionally as I am listening to music I am struck by the fact that it brings me back to a very specific moment in time, generally not ones that I think of as significant in my life, but often which are somehow beautiful in their simplicity and insignificance. It is the striking detail and precision of these moments that I want to record in words, because I know that the more I play the music, the more these associations are likely to wear off. Any moment longer ago than breakfast that I remember with any amount of clarity is a lucky coincidence in itself, so as long as these memories have made it this far I feel like I should nurture them into language which may keep them just a little while longer.

For now I'm just going to try to lay out the music which has impressed itself on specific chunks of my life. I'll start doing specific song posts sometime soon.

Spring 2005 semester: Jethro Tull, Original Masters
Fall 2004 semester: Modest Mouse, Good News for People Who Love Bad News
Summer 2004: Peter Mulvey, The Trouble With Poets; John Vanderslice, Cellar Door
Spring 2004 semester: Ted Leo/Rx, The Tyranny of Distance
Fall 2003 semester: Ted Leo/Rx, Hearts of Oak; The Flaming Lips, Yoshimi
Summer 2003: Dismemberment Plan, Change
Spring 2003 semester: Laika, Lost in Space; The Postal Service, Give Up
Fall 2002 semester: Dismemberment Plan, Emergency and I; Bad Religion, Process of Belief; lots of John Vanderslice
Summer 2002: Mary Timony, The Golden Dove
Spring 2002 semester: probably similar to Fall 2001
Fall 2001 semester: Run Lola Run soundtrack; Cat Stevens, The Very Best Of...; various albums by the Whitlams

I can remember what music I was into for most of college, but for the most part the tangible associations only go back about a year. That's why I want to start keeping track now, before they all slip away.