Prologue

"To begin at the beginning," as Dylan Thomas once said. What has at one point started as a music-sharing club between a group of university friends, gradually turned into exponentially obsessive monthly CD compilations, composed of ear-catching freshly-discovered tracks both old and new. When one of my best friends had moved away, I started sending out my favourite selections from these monthly compilations by email. The list of email recipients slowly grew until I started recognizing that the electronic mail was no longer the most efficient way of sharing music with distant friends. Starting a music blog seemed to be the only solution, and while I am still terribly intimidated by the many well-established and knowledgeable adversaries, I am also incredibly excited to try my hand at this new venture.

I have always been a fan of pop, in all of its manifold manifestations. The late 1990's were spent teenie-bopping to the likes of Robyn, Natalie Imbruglia, numerous one-hit wonders and definitely Backstreet Boys. It was not until Grade 12 that I was exposed to non-mainstream-radio music, and ever since then my musical horizons have broadened while my musical tastes have narrowed down. Included below are 4 of personally influential songs which have defined my indie music development. They may not even be the best or my most favourite tracks, but each one of them played a huge part in forming my musical identity. I hope you enjoy them as I get a little nostalgic.