I tend to organize my life by the albums I listen to – I think of it as assembling a soundtrack to my life 🙂

During the last few months of my senior year of high school, I was all about Andrew Bird’s “Armchair Apocrypha” – a totally mind-blowing indie rock album that sent me on a love affair with his music, which still continues today. (Not gonna lie: I shed a tear when I saw him live last April.) I still remember being wrapped up in end-of-senior-year projects – you know, final portfolios and “What I Want to Be When I Grow Up” writing assignments – and how his music carried me through.

Once I started getting more heavily into .mp3 downloading, I assembled playlists to accompany my life events. When I commuted to Gannon during my freshman year of school (read more about my commuting experiences here!), I made this epic playlist of driving to school songs: “You Only Live Once” by The Strokes; “Small Stakes” by Spoon; even a throwback to the ‘80s with “Stand by Me (Train in Vain)” by The Clash. No matter how many times I hear those songs – and no matter where I am – my mind still rockets back to my morning commute during the first few weeks of college.

I started off 2010 with an epic collection of new music – a good friend just introduced me to the alt-country wonder that is Neko Case. (I’m a total sucker for gutsy, powerful female singer-songwriters.) When I first checked out this live performance of her song “This Tornado Loves You,” it blew my mind a little bit.

Most notably, though, I’ve associated this new decade with Vampire Weekend’s newest album, “Contra,” which was released in January. (Check out this review I wrote about it in our student newspaper, The Gannon Knight.) And though I still love them – and, of course, my latest obsession with Neko Case – I wouldn’t mind adding some new jams to add to my upcoming March musical rotation…

Have any suggestions for me, fellow rockers? Comment below. 🙂

Into music? Click here for related content.

Questions? Email edge@gannon.edu.