Today’s Life Is Like A Box Of Records is scribed by Kyle Wood a.k.a Lovers Turn To Monsters. We have been a longterm fan of his music and he has even been the subject of our podcast artwork at one point.
You can listen to his beautiful music here: loversturntomonsters.bandcamp.com
Bob Dylan- I shall be Free no10
http://www.zapkolik.com/video/bob-dylan-i-shall-be-free-no-10-558307
Of course, like everyone my first musical memories root from my parents. Although they weren’t watching french new wave cinema or spinning Brian Eno B-sides they were passionate about pop culture and truly loved what they loved (there were only two framed pictures in my hall- David Bowie and Rod Stewart) In my Dad’s car he had a pretty basic cassette rotation that I remember to this day. A Springsteen Born to Run/Asbury Park mix, Queens – It’s a kind of Magic, a Best of the 60’s collection and a copy of Another Side of Bob Dylan. Nothing entertained baby Kyle more than Bob Dylan’s nonsensical polticial ramblings. Especially the part about his dog.
The Strokes- Last Nite
I’d been getting hand outs of new and interesting music for years when I first heard the Strokes, classic rock and folk from my Dad, Brit-pop and new wave NME bands from my big cousin. I’d even gathered a likeness for Pixies and Dinosaur Jr after my uncle handed me down some vinyl. It all made sense but I couldn’t help but feel slightly distant from everything I heard. It wasn’t until ‘Last Nite’ that I felt truly excited about the music scene. I saw a preview of the video one morning before school on The Big Breakfast (glory days) and my jaw dropped. As soon as I met my pal Barry to walk down to school it’s all we could talk about! Their new york hipster sensibilities introduced me to some of my favourite bands as well – Adam Green, Jonathan Richman, Guided By Voices and many more.
Jesse Malin- Almost Grown
Thanks to my Dad and cousin’s lust to get me involved in live music and a clash with Richard Ashcroft my second gig ever (4th if you count One Big Weekends/5ive) was Ryan Adams at the Usher Hall. 14 years old and kicking about the Usher Hall on my own was petrifying but If I had to nail down the moment I decided I wanted to be a solo act it’d be that night. Jesse Malin was the support act and I feel like he taught me an awful lot about how to win over an audience and have fun with live music. One man and a guitar, chatting for ten minutes between songs. I personally can’t imagine anything better when it comes to live performances. I left that night feeling like I had two new best friends. (the other being Ryan Adams of course)
My Chemical Romance- Helena
There’s always a lot of forks on the road of life and I feel like the one I came to at 16 was soundtracked by this. I was slowly sneaking into ‘indie disco’ territory when I met two young ladies I decided I wanted to impress. I vividly recall to this day a discussion I had about our favourite bands, theirs were The Used and Taking Back Sunday (respectively) I headed straight to HMV to try and get my head around this new emo discovery. I sat with my CD Walkman and listened to both albums back to back playing PlayStation. I liked them, they weren’t great- I liked some of the more quiet elements of TBS but it didn’t click. But then I heard My Chemical Romance and something definitely clicked- cue montage of ever expanding fringes, striped t-shirts & MySpace selfies. ‘Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge’ is an ultimate throwback album for me, But it really opened me up and made me realise some heaviness is always welcome.
Arctic Monkeys- I Bet you Look Good on the Dancefloor
That ‘indie disco’ phase I mentioned was caused by the 2nd band I ever joined. Me and my BFF Barry were the rhythm section for our two Pete and Carl obsessed friends Michael and Gav. I enjoyed jamming along to Libertines songs on bass, but they had never really excited me as much as they seemed to excite my band mates. I heard Arctic Monkeys on Zane Lowe, they were his demo of the week. It was ‘Fake Tales of San Fransisco’… my 16 year old head near imploded. I’d recently been kicked out of higher art, and didn’t have internet access at home, so the following day at school when everyone was… painting? I went straight online and downloaded everything I could find and threw them on a CD-r- I handed them out to my band, next practice. We covered ‘Bet you look good…’ at our first gig. It’ll forever remind me of that time in my life. I’ll also fight Alex Turners corner til the day I die…
Bright Eyes – June on the West Coast
I first heard Conor Oberst’s musics way in the typical fashion of the time, ‘First Day of my Life’ was on constant rotation on MTV2, there were articles in NME labelling him ‘The new Dylan’ and so on. The weekend they were released I purchased ‘I’m Wide Awake…’ and ‘Digital Ash…’ I’d be lying if I said I got ‘Digital Ash..’ at the time but there was enough excitement in those two albums for me to purchase more. I can remember putting on ‘Letting Off The Happiness’ when I was switching rooms with my big brother- dragging things from room to room, the odd country folk trotted along in the background. By the time track seven rolled around I stopped. I’m not sure at exactly what moment, but I definitely stopped. Sat on my bed and appreciated what was coming from my CD player. Conor Oberst is and will probably always be the most important person in my musical development. He sings about feelings of self loathing, vanity and uncertainty in a way no one else ever has… or at least in a way that really communicates with my own feelings. Conor will forever be the musical voice in my head.
Sebadoh – Spoiled
Dinosaur Jr’s ‘You’re living all over me’ had been one of my favourite albums for years, but for some reason I had never investigated the story or history of Dinosaur. I think I’d tried to get into some more of their stuff but failed. When the original line up reunion tour came to Glasgow I was there with bells on. It was an amazing show, but what was even more amazing was that I had never pieced together for some odd reason that LOSE/POLEDO were sung by someone other than J Mascis. This Lou Barlow character. Those songs had always interested me the most! I walked out of the ABC ready to investigate. Lou Barlow is a world of discovery in his own, a million different projects, with a million different songs. I think the first that really spoke to me was ‘Spoiled’ the out of tune guitar, stumbled vocal delivery, room noise, dodgy synth it all sparked something in my brain. A song where the mistakes were as vital as the song itself. It wasn’t what It sounded like, it was what it felt like! My 20’s have been built on tape hiss and first takes…
Loudon Wainwright III – Heaven
My dad taught me an awful lot, we got along greatly and had a hell of a lot in common. So when he died suddenly when I was 19 I had a really tough time. The last thing me and my dad really bonded over was the work of Lw3, he’s a writer who can make you laugh, cry and really think in one song. When it came to picking music to play at my Dad’s funeral I felt a lot of responsibility, a Loudon track was a must. Death plays a big part in Loudon’s songs. I mulled over a few. A song called ‘Homeless’, a song called ‘Sometimes I forget’. I could already see family members breaking down in tears. My dad was never a fan of tears (he turned off What Dreams May Come, ten minutes in) So I opted for ‘Heaven’ Loudon at his most fun… I’m pretty sure everybody thought I’d lost the plot. Loudon is my Dad now haha.
American Football- Never Meant
I’d heard the name American Football being thrown around in a lot of musical conversations with my friends for about a year before I actually listened to them. They usually showed up when folk talked about handsome alternative friend of a friend Shaun ‘Findlay’ Hamilton. When I finally got around to listen to them I was overwhelmed with emotions, their music, the lyrics, every note seemed needed, It was close to perfect. After a few listens I messaged Findlay and started chatting in depth. He sent me towards Mike Kinsella’s other projects and towards decades worth of alternative emo. A world I’m still obsessed with to this day. ‘Never Meant’ is my ‘Wonderwall’ and soundtracked the years I spent with the band that spawned from me and Findlays conversations- Boygirlanimalcolour. There’s been an emo resurgence as well. Cue the BGAC reunion. Hash tag reunion buzz…
Red House Painters- Have You Forgotten
Art and people are pretty much the only things I’m interested in and they’re pretty much the only things that get me through the day. The summer of 2010 was probably one of the hardest I’ve had. Relationships falling apart, drinking becoming an escape, a lot of stuff I won’t go into. The music of Mark Kozelek was what got me through it and out on the other side. Whenever things weren’t making sense I would throw on ‘Songs for a Blue Guitar’ and everything would be fine. Finding happiness and confidence again also led me to finding love again. So Kozelek will forever remind me of the girl I have in my life and how much she helped me. So aye, music is love and all that- thanks guyz. Slowcore 4evz.
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