on influence

if you didn't already figure it out, music defines me. or maybe i define myself by music. one or the other. i always go through phases, in and out, up and down, never knowing where my taste will lead me next. there are some albums, however, that have been better friends, better outlets than any real person in my life has ever been. the more i think about it, the more i realize that every state of mind, every period of my life, every transition...there is a soundtrack for that moment. though there are dozens more that have their moment, that left their mark, these are twenty five albums that have changed my life, saved my life, or opened my mind. most of these don't exactly boost my ~cred, but they all mean a lot to me in some regard. note: these are not in any kind of order...if anything, the last album pictured here has arguably been the most influential.

the postal service, "give up"

waking ashland, "composure"

panic at the disco, "a fever you can't sweat out"

circa survive, "juturna"

band of horses, "cease to begin"

neutral milk hotel, "in the aeroplane over the sea"


the mars volta, "de-loused in the comatorium"

cartel, "chroma"

manchester orchestra, "i'm like a virgin losing a child"

be your own pet, "be your own pet"

brand new, "the devil and god are raging inside me"

dashboard confessional, "the places you have come to fear the most"

weezer, "weezer"/the blue album

the rocket summer, "do you feel"
this providence, "our world's divorce"

the starting line, "direction"

something corporate, "north"

the hush sound, "so sudden"

fall out boy, "take this to your grave"

mae, "the everglow"

panic at the disco, "pretty. odd."

death cab for cutie, "plans"

all-american rejects, "when the world comes down"

the format, "interventions and lullabies"

jack's mannequin, "everything in transit"