Music that Mattered to KillerB

I think X-tian did an impressive and concise walk down his memory lane with the music of the aughts.

Rather than trying to think about artists - I'm going to think about places - specifically, places I lived, and what I remember about the music I was listening to. Just as the Counting Crows and Snoop Dogg will forever be associated with my freshman dormroom, many artist of the 00's will always remind me of places.
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Place: Nashville - my first solo apartment at 2108 Hayes Street, right next to the legendary Exit-Inn. My 00's began in October 1999 when I saw Ryan Adams play a solo gig there. Then, when Heartbreaker was released in September 2000, the decade was on! When Gold was released 1 year later, New York, New York was a Friday night anthem of sorts. I remember coming home from a Super-T show one night, New York, New York blaring, car full of the happiest people ever. Super-T was also a big part of my Nashville years. Aging gym teacher by day - Superman costumed soul/funk/punk explosion by night.

In 2002 I moved to New Haven CT. When I wasn't watching the Paris Hilton sex tape I spent a lot of my time pulling White Stripes songs off of Napster. Seven Nation Army still gets me amped up. Then, in 2003 I went to the Austin City Music Festival. Kings of Leon weren't anybody yet - as evidenced by their Friday morning, 11Am slot on a side stage. They admitted not being awake yet - and then went apeshit berzerk for 45 minutes. I would wager that of the ~200 people there to see it, ~199 haven't seen anything like it since.

Johnny Cash had died a few days earlier. Roseanne Cash was supposed to play ACL, so instead the Drive-By-Truckers hosted a Johnny Cash tribute during her slot. For me, their 2003 Decoration Day was one of the best song-by-song albums of the decade. To kick off the tribute, they played video for Hurt, which is one of the most remarkable videos ever aired.



At that same festival, Conor Oberst fronted Bright Eyes played a respectible set from "Lifted or the Story is in the Soil, Keep your Ear to the Ground", but it was their 2005 "I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning" that was their best contribution to the decade. I still put this CD on when I cook on Sunday nights. Too bad they diluted it with the simultaneously released "Digital Ash for a Digital Urn".

KillerB2 and I went to the Newport Folk Festival in 2005 and saw Conor Oberst play a really cool set with M Ward, who has also had some great contributions in the second half of the decade, both as a solo artist, as the Him to Zooey Deschanel's She, and in the Monsters of Folk with Oberst and Jim James (Yim Yames).

Lastly, I'll throw in someone I've been listening to for the last month - Somali born K'naan. He did a killer Tiny Desk Concert on NPR's all songs considered:





I kinda lost track of my "places" theme - but I'm not going to re-write this. I'm sloppy.