It's September 11th, and I couldn't help but think back to the same day in 2001. And I realized, that my life has changed a great deal since then, and along with it my musical interests and the entire music scene.

So I'm wondering, now that we all seem to have very similar interests in music today, what were you listening to six to eight years ago? Can you remember any songs that you listen to on the day of September 11th?

For me, the day of September 11th was very silent, I don't remember much of anyone listening to music. But at that time I was really big on Aphex Twin, Pavement, Jimmy Eat World, Knapsack, Sneaker Pimps, Depeche Mode, Toadies, Remy Zero. I discovered a band called Starmarket around that time and I though they were the coolest thing ever. This was back in the days of AudioGalaxy, where I used to find most of my new music.

Any thoughts?

I believe I was in the midst of a Pink Floyd obsession.

Interesting thread.

I don't think my musical tastes were that different, but I did lean a bit more toward Americana/alt-country than I do now.

Some of the artists I was enjoying at the time:

The Strokes, the White Stripes, BRMC, Richard Buckner, Nick Cave, Tom Waits, Bob Dylan, Ryan Adams/Whiskeytown, Guided By Voices, Stephen Malkmus/Pavement, The Hives, Radiohead, Joe Henry, Frank Black/Pixies, Jeff Buckley, Belle and Sebastian, The Velvet Underground.

I still stand by pretty much all of that, so I guess my tastes haven't changed much in the past 6 years.

I'm pretty sure I was obsessing over Jimmy Eat World's Bleed American and also Kid A.

i listened to stuff like Rage against the machine, system of a down, red hot chili peppers.....really basic bands and tastes. Now i know like 100 times more artists and i'm enjoying music even more year after year.

I didn't listen to anything. I owned I think 3 or 4 CDs, and I never even listened to those.

Some context.

Well the day itself was (obviously) very weird. My soon-to-be wife and I were living with her parents having just graduating college in May. We were commuting an hour north to Ft. Collins (where we went to school) every day because I still worked up there and she was starting her new job at the university that very day. We came downstairs just moments after the first plane hit and thought it was just some sort of bizarre accident as we walked out the door. On the way up, instead of music, we turned on the news to see what had happened. Well, we then heard about the second plane and knew something was up. I dropped her off at her office and headed to the bookstore I worked at. It was very strange for me because I heard the whole thing happen on radio since we didn't have a TV or computer with internet at the store. I imagined it was how things must have sounded before there was live TV. Anyway, I don't think I'll ever forget the broadcast.

As far as music I can remember, I was loving Outkast, Grandaddy, Nick Cave, Flaming Lips, Magnetic Fields, Blur, Goldfrapp, and Emmylou Harris just to name some.

I guess that context really had nothing to do with the music, but it's always something I think of on this day.

I was in a big Radiohead phase at that time. More then likely I was listenting to a lot of OK Computer, Kid A, and Amnesiac. I don't remember specifically anything I listened to that day, but System of a Downs' Toxicity had just come out. I actually remember a couple of my good friends mentioning that they listened to Kid A on the way home from school (I was a senior in high school when it happened.) It was very bizarre because we were in the middle of some motivational speaker when he was interrupted and told what had happened. He was visibly and audibly upset when he announced it to the students. I've always thought it was odd that they had the motivational speaker tell us instead of having the principal do it.

Surf, Afro-funk and I recall listening to a buncha power pop comps at the time. Maybe the "Hit the Hay" series and other collections from Sweden of US power pop.

I remember listening to the Julie Ruin album that day, late in the day. I'd picked up a used copy over the weekend.

I was drooling over The Appleseed Cast's Low Level Owl Vol. 1 & 2 and Bjork's Vespertine. All three of those records I would still stand by. Low Level Owl is a truly underappreciated masterpiece in my personal opinion.

I vividly remember the day because I was working at a school for teenagers who had to be there (mostly for drugs, but sometimes it involved more than that). This "school" included their living facilities, cafeteria and an Adult area too. Everybody was legally assigned there as part of the sentence for whatever crime they had been convicted of.

We had a TV, and I basically just had it on all day and tried to tell them that this was the most significant date of their and my life. I still believe that. We didn't play any music at school, but I remember that even after what happened, on the way home, I cruised by Tower and snagged Dylan's Love and Theft since it was released that day. My other favorite albums at the time were Amnesiac and White Blood Cells, but the only album I played 9/11 was Love and Theft.

I was basically listening to the radio at that point. I remember "American Pie" was the first song I heard on the radio after they'd switched back from news, and I remember - well, not crying, but feeling incredibly sad.

And on a totally different note, I've been meaning to listen to Low Level Owl 1 and 2 for years now.

Low Level Owl was (and is) absolutely excellent. I was really into instrumental music back then. Explosions in the Sky come to mind, as "Those who Tell the Truth..." came out in 2001, and was strangely prophetic about the whole situation, and really captured the feeling in the air.

I can't find Volume 1 of my Low Level Owl album though. I'll have to do some digging to find it now that you reminded me.

Speaking of prophetic, I found it interesting at the time that Low Level Owl Vol. 1 ends with "View of a Burning City" and Low Level Owl Vol. 2 begins with it's reprise.

Bob Marley. I've come a long way.

Limp Bizkit. I have come a longer way.

Good point Jonathanbrisby. Also, Wilco's YHF was recorded but not yet released, and floating around in a leaked form, but they delayed it's release because of how closely some of the lyrics came to the whole situation.

Also, They Might be Giants released Mink Car that day. I was (and am) a big TMBG fan, but I wasn't in the mood for their music at the time, because it didn't seem right, so I have still never bought it. The Giants started to fade at that point too, and I've always wondered if it wasn't connected in some way.

I have to say this is one of the best new threads I have seen in a very long time, I commend you Shadrach.

Six years ago seems like forever to me, I was a junior in high school and I vaguely remember it. I just remember being in marching band and coming in after morning rehearsal and the TV in the band room was on. We all just sat there—still sweaty and dirty from marching earlier in the morning—watching what was happening in utter shock. I completely agree with mark that it is the most significant day of our time.

As for music, in that year I was probably listening to stuff by The Strokes, Radiohead, The White Stripes, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Roots, Outkast, Common, The Police, Tom Waits and Bob Dylan.

quote:

Bob Marley. I've come a long way.

Nothing wrong with a little Marley.