(via MetaFilter)

Recently rewatched The Darjeeling Limited.

See also: ‘Waltzinblack’; The Gospel According to the Meninblack.

Klippa — ‘Space Dog’

Eric Xodik — ‘Ix’

Refused — ‘New Noise’ (The Shape of Punk to Come)

Refused — ‘Rather be Dead’ (Songs to Fan the Flames of Discontent)

Paul Simon — ‘You Can Call Me Al’ (Graceland)

Christina Aguilera — ‘Ain’t No Other Man’ (Back to Basics)

Iron & Wine — ‘Boy with a Coin’ (The Shepherd’s Dog)

M. Ward — ‘Requiem’ (Post-War)

Zola Jesus — ‘Night’ (Stridulum EP)

How to Destroy Angels — ‘The Space Between’ (How to Destroy Angels)

Yellow Magic Orchestra — ‘Rydeen’ (Solid State Survivor)

Yellow Magic Orchestra — ‘Technopolis’ (Solid State Survivor)

The Cars — ‘Shake It Up’ (Shake It Up)

Depeche Mode — ‘Enjoy the Silence’ (Violator)

INXS — ‘Need You Tonight’ (Kick)

James Brown — ‘Gravity’ (Gravity)

The Runaways — ‘Cherry Bomb’ (live) (The Runaways)

New Kids on the Block — ‘Step by Step’ (Step by Step)

소녀시대 [Girls’ Generation/SNSD] — ‘Gee’ (Gee EP)

Tally Hall — ‘Ruler of Everything’ (Marvin’s Marvelous Mechanical Museum)

Tally Hall — ‘Two Wuv’ (Marvin’s Marvelous Mechanical Museum)

Guy — ‘Groove Me’ (Guy)

The Newbeats — ‘Bread and Butter’

The Kills — ‘Cheap and Cheerful’ (Midnight Boom)

Apes & Androids — ‘Golden Prize’ (Blood Moon)

Césaria Évora — ‘Cabo Verde’ (Mar Azul)

Ruff Sqwad — ‘Xtra’ (Guns & Roses Vol. 2)

Four years ago when I was in college I’d regularly play the radio while driving to and from campus, primarily listening to oldies (which had already shifted to mean ’70s and ’80s rock) or the local NPR affiliate. When I liked a song that had played, I’d make a note of the defining lyrics, a necessity as DJs seldom report track titles and my memory is rather poor. Note-taking was accomplished by creating a new SMS message on my phone, then saving it in the sent box — something I really doubt the programmers had intended, but it worked. Admittedly, working a T9 keyboard while trying to pay attention to the radio and the road is not an especially safe thing to do, but it worked out pretty well for my needs.

One of the notes-to-self that I made was for Phil Ayoub’s Schoolbus Window Paper Heart; I must have encountered it in a review by George Graham. Like all such notes, this ended up in a text file that collected the music I didn’t have but wanted. This file has gradually shrunk in the years since (as I’ve remembered to update it), but despite an occasional look, I was never able to track down a copy of Ayoub’s album. Over time I largely gave up hope, but a few months ago I suddenly found a copy. There was some difficulty in getting it, but today I finally played it, and —

Why was this album so compelling to the person I was? It could have been released ten years earlier and fit right in with all the boring alternative stuff that was popular at the time. The only track I’d care to hear again is the final track, ‘4th District Court of Bristol Country’, which has the kind of keyboard hook I’m such a sucker for (eg my love for Grandaddy’s The Sophtware Slump). I struggle to see what could have made me care enough to make it one of my notes.

Was I really such a different person that I found this sort of thing enjoyable? I know I’ve changed in the past four years, and my tastes have shifted a good deal, but it seems like a rather more severe change than I’d been aware of.

I’ve loved chiptunes and tracker tunes since I stumbled across scene.org in 02003 and went on a download spree. This paper summarizes the culture’s history.