Hoping to ignite some sort of musical discourse.

(1940-1949)
woody guthrie - dust bowl ballads
duke ellington - black, brown & beige
charlie parker - with strings
leadbelly - smithsonian folkways
billie holiday - billie holiday

(1950-1959)
hank williams - the complete recordings
elvis presley - sun sessions
chuck berry - the great 28
bud powell - the amazing bud powell
frank sinatra - songs for swinging lovers

(1960-1969)
bob dylan - bringing it all back home
the beatles - with the
john coltrane - giant steps
the kinks - are the village green preservation society
scott walker - 4

(1970-1979)
bob dylan & the band - the basement tapes
big star - #1 record / radio city
the rolling stones - sticky fingers
neil young - on the beach
nick drake - bryter layter

(1980-1989)
xtc - black sea
the replacements - let it be
the smiths - queen is dead
xtc - skylarking
the spongetones - beat music

(1990-1999)
son volt - trace
teenage fanclub - bandwagonesque
sparklehorse - vivadixiesubmarinetransmissionplot
guided by voices - bee thousand
richard buckner - since

(2000-2009)
jon brion - meaningless
joe henry - scar
reigning sound – time bomb high school
spoon - gimme fiction
amy winehouse - back to black

(2010----)
the silver seas - chateau revenge
john murry - the graceless age
the district attorneys - slowburner
daniel romano - sleep beneath the willow

[quote="mcaputo"]Hoping to ignite some sort of musical discourse.

(1940-1949)
won't pretend to have enough knowledge of the decade to list actual albums.

(1950-1959)
Charles Mingus - Mingus Ah Um
Miles Davis - Kind of Blue
Sun Ra - Super-Sonic Jazz
Elvis Presley - Elvis Presley
Hank Williams - 24 Greatest Hits

(1960-1969)
Beach Boys - Pet Sounds
The Beatles - Revolver
The Kinks - Something Else
Sam Cooke - The Man & His Music
Caetano Veloso - Tropicalia

(1970-1979)
Brian Eno - Another Green World
Brinsley Schwarz - Silver Pistol
Television - Marquee Moon
Big Star - Sister Lovers
Tom Zé - Estuando o Samba

(1980-1989)
The Replacements - Tim
Hüsker Dü - Flip Your Wig
Meat Puppets - Up On the Sun
Jonathan Richman - Jonathan Sings!
Judas Priest - British Steel

(1990-1999)
Neutral Milk Hotel - In the Aeroplane Over the Sea
Guided By Voices - Alien Lanes
Pulp - Different Class
Martin Newell - The Greatest Living Englishman
Shrimp Boat - Cavale

(2000-2009)
Joe Pisapia - Daydreams
Raphael Saadiq - The Way I See It
The Exploding Hearts - Guitar Romantic
Nick Cave - Abatoir blues/Lyre of Orpheus
Grant Hart - Hot Wax

(2010----)
Barry Adamson - I Will Set You Free
The Bangles - Sweethart of the Sun
Shugo Tokumaru - In Focus?
Cee-Lo Green - The Lady Killer
Foxygen - We Are the 21st Century Ambassadors...

This was hard. And the list(s) are not definitive.

great idea, m-cap...lemme give this one some thought

I limited myself to those decades in which I actually existed:

(1960-69)
The Rolling Stones - Let It Bleed
The Beatles - Abbey Road
The Band - Music from Big Pink
Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin II
Neil Young - Everybody Knows This is Nowhere
[Toughest Omission: The Doors - The Doors]

(1970-79)
The Who - Who's Next
Cheap Trick - Cheap Trick
Steely Dan - The Royal Scam
Willie Nelson - Shotgun Willie
Nilsson - Nilsson Schmilsson
[Toughest Omission: Devo - Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are DEVO!]

(1980-89)
The Replacements - Pleased to Meet Me
Treat Her Right - Treat Her Right
Jane's Addiction - Nothing's Shocking
Alice Cooper - Flush the Fashion
The Police - Zenyatta Mondatta
[Toughest Omission: Michael Penn - March]

(1990-99)
Spoon - A Series of Sneaks
Southern Culture on the Skids - Dirt Track Date
R.E.M. - New Adventures in Hi-Fi
Morphine - Cure for Pain
Pearl Jam - No Code
[Toughest Omission: Foo Fighters - Foo Fighters]

(2000-09)
Pedro The Lion - Control
Sun Kil Moon - Ghosts of the Great Highway
My Morning Jacket - It Still Moves
Jim White - Drill a Hole in that Substrate and Tell Me What You See
Ass Ponys - Lohio
[Toughest Omission: Ted Leo/Pharmacists – The Tyranny of Distance]

(2010-present)
The Black Keys - El Camino
Girl Talk - All Day
The Soft Pack - The Soft Pack
J. Roddy Walston and The Business - J. Roddy Walston and The Business
Stephen Malkmus and The Jicks - Mirror Traffic
[Toughest Omission: Gentleman Jesse - Leaving Atlanta]

Thanks, I needed something like this. (Not that I really have the time to spare.)

And since you said "define yourself", I'm not necessarily going to list the records I'd rate the highest, but the five that give the most complete picture.

1950s:
Miles Davis - Kind of Blue
Charles Mingus - Mingus Ah Um
Ravi Shankar - Music of India: Three Classical Rāgas
Mose Allison - Local Color
Little Richard - Here's Little Richard

1960s:
The Kinks - Are the Village Green Preservation Society
Fairport Convention - Unhalfbricking
Rahsaan Roland Kirk - Rip, Rig & Panic
The Velvet Underground - s/t
John Coltrane - Meditations

1970s:
The Stooges - Fun House
Neil Young - On the Beach
Can - Ege Bamyasi
Talking Heads - Fear of Music
Tim Buckley - Starsailor

1980s:
Kraftwerk - Computer World
Sonic Youth - Sister
This Heat - Deceit
Talk Talk - Spirit of Eden
The Fall - Grotesque (After the Gramme)

1990s:
Flaming Lips - Clouds Taste Metallic
U.S. Maple - Talker
Autechre - LP5
Boredoms - Super Ae
Nirvana - In Utero

2000s:
Songs: Ohia - Didn't It Rain
Low - Things We Lost in the Fire
Deerhoof - The Runners Four
Sightings - Arrived in Gold
Times New Viking - Rip It Off

2010s:
Women - Public Strain
Joanna Newsom - Have One on Me
The Psychic Paramount - II

Too early for more than 3, I think. Still kind of evaluating 2012.

Was this just supposed to be for decades during which we lived? In that case, pretend I started with the '70s. Narrowing down the '70s to only five gave me a headache.

Not bothering with the 40's since RYM claims that the only thing I own from then is Dust Bowl Ballads. I'm not sure that's right but maybe everything else I own from before 1950 is compilations.

1950's

Johnny Griffin - A Blowing Session
Sonny Rollins - Saxophone Colossus
Joe Williams - A Man Ain't Supposed to Cry
Marty Robbins - Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs
Hank Thompson - Songs for Rounders

1960's

Bob Dylan - Blonde on Blonde
Love - Forever Changes
Moby Grape - S/T
The Band - Music From Big Pink
Al Kooper - I Stand Alone

1970's

Kris Kristofferson - Kristofferson
Joni Mitchell - Blue
Rolling Stones - Exile on Main Street
Archie Shepp - Attica Blues
Gram Parsons - GP

1980's

Roxy Music - Avalon
Lloyd Cole & the Commotions - Rattlesnakes
The Smiths - Hatful of Hollow
English Beat - I Just Can't Stop It
Echo & The Bunnymen - Ocean Rain

1990's

Eno/Cale - Wrong Way Up
Alejandro Escovedo - Gravity
Jules Shear - The Great Puzzle
Morphine - Cure for Pain
Manu Chao - Clandestino

2000's

Joe Pisapia - Daydreams
Tribalistas - S/T
Joe Henry - Tiny Voices
Willie Nile - Streets of New York
Loudon Wainwright III - Strange Weirdos

2010+

Mary Gauthier - The Foundling
Daniel Romano - Sleep Beneath the Willow
John Murry - Graceless Age
Andrew Combs - Worried Man
Andrew Duhon - The Moorings

Surprisingly, the 00's were the hardest decade to cut down to five. That's not to say its close to my favorite decade of music, just hardest to pick.

I could just as easily have gone with any of these. Well, you know, almost.

I found this pretty impossible to do. Tried to 'splain my taste, rather than merely list the favorites - although that still doesn't account for the absence of the Ramones, Cheap Trick, Otis Redding, Lennon, and tens of others. I blame Caputo.

1960 - 69

Velvet Underground - White Light, White Heat
Flamin Groovies - Supersnazz
Beatles - (White Album)
Bob Dylan - Blonde on Blonde
Aretha Franklin - I've Never Loved a Man The Way I Love You

1970 - 79

Rolling Stones - Exile on Main Street
Mott the Hoople - Mott
New York Dolls - New York Dolls
The Saints - (I'm) Stranded
Alice Cooper - Love It To Death

1980 - 89

Artful Dodger - Rave On
Dream Syndicate - Days of Wine and Roses
The Cramps - Psychedelic Jungle
The Replacements - Let It Be
The Jesus and Mary Chain - Darklands

1990 - 99

Copyright - Circle C
Frank Black - Teenager of the Year
Macy Gray - On How Life Is
Morphine - Cure for Pain
Marah - Let's Cut the Crap and Hook Up Later Tonight

2000 - 09

Ike Reilly - Salesmen & Racists
Spoon - Gimme Fiction
Tsar - Tsar
Jim Jones Revue - Jim Jones Revue
Little Jackie - The Stoop

2010 - present

Locksley - Be In Love
Nick Curran & the Low Lifes - Reform School Girl
Bamboo Kids - Safe City Blues
Dum Dum Girls - Only in Dreams
The Breakdowns - The Kids Don't Wanna Bop Anymore

60s

The Velvet Underground - White Light / White Heat
Townes Van Zandt - Townes Van Zandt
Lee Morgan - The Sidewinder
Albert Ayler - Spiritual Unity
Love - Forever Changes

70s

Can - Tago Mago
Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Live Rust
Sun Ra - Lanquidity
Keith Hudson - Pick a Dub
Human Instinct - Stoned Guitar

80s

Dead Moon - In the Graveyard
Flipper - Generic
The Gibson Bros. - Big Pine Boogie
Wipers - Is This Real?
Flying Saucer Attack - Flying Saucer Attack

90s

Les Rallizes Dénudés - '77 Live
Bassholes - When My Blue Moon Turns Red Again
Ego Summit - The Room Isn't Big Enough
Thomas Jefferson Slave Apartments - Bait and Switch
Mike Rep and the Quotas - Stupor Hiatus, Vol. 2

00s

Earth - Hex; or Printing in the Infernal Method
Ron House - Obsessed
The Hunches - Exit Dreams
Clockcleaner - Nevermind
Brightblack Morning Light - Brightblack Morning Light


10s

Tape - Revelationes
The Men - Immaculada

It's easy to list your favorites, but harder to place a definition or label on who or what we are based on a few selections. I found this to be a tough exercise.

Any of the following would've worked for me :











BINGO

It's pretty hard to pick favorites too. About half my favorites probably come from the five year span of '68 to '73. I didn't pay too much attention to the idea of picking albums that define me but if I did I probably would have actually done a worse job at it. I imagine that I would have forced more diversity for the sake of diversity and range, but the albums I included probably do define me more than a list that also had a few token World Music, Soul, Funk, Punk and Reggae picks. I maybe should have put a Frank Sinatra in the 50's rather than Johnny Griffin as my Dad was a huge Sinatra fan and he is a more important artist to me that Griffin. That said, even though its been 5 years since my father passed, Sinatra still isn't an easy listen for me anymore as it always reminds me how much I miss him.



I love the hell of this album. The ones I picked for the 70's probably do define me better but I'm really surprised I didn't even consider this. Guess I was just really focused on early 70's.

There's no way I can do this. I'm terrible at lists. I forget things, and change my mind too much. But it's fascinating reading.

I agree with both.
Just remember that it's not life or death and then...
GIVE US YER GODDAMN LIST!!!!

This was extremely difficult... but here we go.

1960-1969
Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin II
The Beatles - Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
The Velvet Underground - The Velvet Underground & Nico
Jimi Hendrix - Are You Experienced?
The Beach Boys - Pet Sounds
[Hardest to Leave Off] - Johnny Cash - At Folsom Prison

1970-1979
The Clash - London Calling
Led Zeppelin - Physical Graffiti
The Sex Pistols - Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols
Big Star - #1 Record
Television - Marquee Moon
[Hardest to Leave Off] - Elvis Costello - This Year's Model

1980-1989
Beastie Boys - Paul's Boutique
Michael Jackson - Thriller
Prince - Purple Rain
Run-DMC - Raising Hell
The Pixies - Doolittle
[Hardest to Leave Off] - Public Enemy - It Takes a Nation of Millions...

1990-1999
Digital Underground - Sex Packets
A Tribe Called Quest - The Low End Theory
Nirvana - Nevermind
Radiohead - OK Computer
Weezer - Pinkerton
[Hardest to Leave Off] - Pearl Jam - Ten

2000-2009
Pedro the Lion - Control
Spoon - Kill the Moonlight
Queens of the Stone Age - Songs for the Deaf
The Black Keys - Rubber Factory
Ted Leo & the Pharmacists - Hearts of Oak
[Hardest to Leave Off] - The White Stripes - White Blood Cells

2010-Present
Arcade Fire - The Suburbs
Swans - My Father Will Guide Me Up a Rope to the Sky
Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
The Roots - Undun
Fucked Up - David Comes to Life

It's pretty much impossible to do this "right". I already want to change mine.

Like I feel like I should have picked WL/WH over VU's self-titled, but I think I picked the latter because it was my standard answer for "best VU album" for so long. Nowadays I probably like WL/WH better, and I feel like it more accurately represents my tastes.

Also hard to reconcile the absence of Captain Beefheart (should probably be there instead of Tim Buckley), Wire, Mouse on Mars, The Minutemen, Fugazi, The Meat Puppets, Swell Maps, Sly and the Family Stone, King Crimson, Townes Van Zandt, and probably some others I'll think of later. Eh, whatever.

Something like this is really hard to do when you are actively trying to obliterate your sense of self with wine and pills.

I'll suffice with the 1970's....

Can - Tago Mago
Kraftwerk - Trans Europe Express
The Upsetters - Super Ape
The Clash - The Clash
Wire - Pink Flag

Pre-60s:
Probably something from Ravel, Chopin, Beethoven, Coltrane, and maybe that Mozart fella. Sinatra wasn't too shabby. I dunno, I've never really developed much of an affinity for jazz nor the old blues masters though I always admire the heck out of anything I've heard from the above the lists.

Revolver
Highway 61 Revisited
The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan
Pet Sounds
Beggars Banquet
…
Toughest Omission is probably some grand mix of Beach Boys songs


Just as I Am
On the Beach
Rumours
Pink Flag
Off the Wall
…
TO: Sticky Fingers


Doolittle
Disintegration
The Stone Roses
It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back
Violator
…
TO: Fugazi - 13 Songs


Homework
The Soft Bulletin
Endtroducing
Whatfunlifewas
Nowhere
…
TO: Achtung Baby


Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
Kid A
From Here We Go to Sublime
It's Never Been Like That
45:33
…
TO: Drum's Not Dead


Good Kid/M.a.a.d City
LSF - Root for Ruin
B. Hamilton - Everything I Own is Broken
CFCF - Do U Like Nightbus mix
Jon Hopkins - Immunity
…
TO: Undun

I guess I have to hand my Wilco fan card back in now.

This came pretty close to being on mine. I've only been listening to Bedhead for the last couple of years, though.

I thought this was hard in terms of thinking of something in general. Not so much in terms of making a choice. I gotta get some database shit going of everything I own.

I think my 60s choices do a good job defining a large chunk of music I'm into. I'll do the other decades later!

60s
Everly Brothers - A Date With The Everly Brothers
Beach Boys - Pet Sounds
Simon & Garfunkel - The Sounds of Silence
Mamas & The Papas - If You Can Believe Your Eyes And Ears
The Bee Gees - 1st

I'd've said Transaction back in the CMJ days, but I've been feeling Whatfun a lot more lately. Pretty much equals for me.

1950 - 1959
Ray Price - Sings Heart Songs
Doris Day - Hooray For Hollywood
Duke Ellington - Ellington Uptown
Bob Brookmeyer - Kansas City Revisited
Bernard Hermann - North By Northwest OST

1960-1969
Almendra - Almendra
Boz Scaggs - S/T
The Byrds - Sweetheart of the Rodeo
Darrell Banks - Darrell Banks Is Here
Miles Davis - In A Silent Way

1970-1979
John Martyn - Solid Air
Kris Kristofferson - The Silver Tongued Devil And I
Lucio Battisti - Anima Latina
Motorhead - Overkill
Neil Young - Time Fades Away

1980-1989
Wipers - Over The Edge
Prince - 1999
Nanci Griffith - The Last Of The True Believers
Mission of Burma - Signals, Calls & Marches
Marley Marl - In Control Vol. 1

1990-1999
Erykah Badu - Baduizm
Freestyle Fellowship - Innercity Griots
Gillian Welch - Revival
Julieta Venegas - Aqui
Kenny Larkin - Azimuth

2000-2009
Cam'Ron - Purple Haze
Ely Guerra - Lotofire
The Exploding Hearts - Guitar Romantic
Isis - Celestial
Marissa Nadler - The Saga of Mayflower May

2010s
Sturgill Simpson - High Top Mountain
Rick Ross - Teflon Don
John Roberts - Glass Eights
Jessie Ware - Devotion
Felix y Los Clavos - La Continuara

Interesting exercise. I did try to pick something that represented some part of my brain, not what I thought was "best" music or what was "cool" to like. As a result I find I am much more of a wimp than I thought.

1950s
Miles Davis – Kind of Blue
Hank Williams – Hank the Drifter
Patsy Cline – Patsy Cline
Milt Jackson and John Coltrane – Bags and Trane
Pepper Adams– The Cool Sound of Pepper Adams

1960s
Van Morrison – Astral Weeks
Kinks – Something Else
Supremes – Where Did Our Love Go
Fairport Convention – Liege and Leaf
Dylan – Blonde on Blonde

1970s
Charles Wright and the Watts 103rd St Rhythm Band – Express Yourself
Laura Nyro – Gonna Take a Miracle
Neil Young – On the Beach
Eno – Another Green World
Popul Vuh - Einsjäger und Siebenjäger

1980s
Roxy Music – Avalon
Tom Verlaine - Cover
Clash – London Calling
The Cure – Disintegration
Replacements – Let it Be


1990s
Prefab Sprout – Jordan: the Comeback
Son Volt - Trace
Luna- Penthouse
Neil Young – Sleeps With Angels
Nils Petter Molvaer – Khmer

2000s
John Hassel – Last Night the Moon Came Dropping Its Clothes in the Street
Wilco – Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
Ali Farka Touré & Toumani Diabaté - In the Heart of the Moon
Sonic Youth – Murray Street
Mogwai – Happy Songs for Happy People

2010s
Explosions in the Sky – Take Care, Take Care, Take Care
Nik Bartsch’s Ronin – Lyria
Johann Johannsson – Copenhagen Dreams
John Murry – This Graceless Age
Mathew Dear – Black City

60s

Hendrix Experience--Electric Ladyland
Jefferson Airplane--Surrealistic Pillow
Al Grey--Snap Your Fingers
Beefheart--Safe As Milk
Bo Diddley--Gunslinger

70s

Neil Young--Harvest
Yes--Close to the Edge
Wailers--Catch a Fire
Henry Franklin--Tribal Dance
Led Zeppelin--Physical Graffiti

80s

Bad Brains--Bad Brains
Rush--Moving Pictures
Sonic Youth--Sister
Tracy Chapman--Tracy Chapman
My Bloody Valentine--Isn't Anything

90s

Guided By Voices--Alien Lanes
Smashing Pumpkins--Siamese Dream
The Breeders--Last Splash
Juliana Hatfield--Only Everything
Dressy Bessy--Pink Hearts Yellow Moons

00s

Fiery Furnaces--Gallowsbird's Bark
Saturday Looks Good to Me--All Your Summer Songs
Broadcast--Tender Buttons
Animal Collective--Sung Tongs
Don Caballero--American Don

10s

Women--Public Strain
Best Coast--Crazy For You
Cornershop--Double O Groove Of
Boston Spaceships--Let It Beard
Sleigh Bells--Treats