A coworker of mine is making a mix CD for his 30th birthday that includes one song from every year he’s been alive (no duplicate artists allowed). This got me thinking about what such a mix would look like for me. I decided to do two songs per year and just go up to my 25th birthday. There are so many damn epics in the following list that if I ever actually burned this to CD it would have to be a box set, but anyway, it was kind of a fun and interesting exercise. This was all very much off the top of my head, and if I did it again tomorrow I’m sure it would look pretty considerably different. (Well, maybe not the early 80s - pretty slim pickings for me there.)

So without further ado:

1981. Los Jaivas - “La Poderosa Muerte” (from Alturas de Macchu Picchu)
      King Crimson - “Discipline” (from Discipline)
1982. Dire Straits - “Telegraph Road” (from Love Over Gold)
      Begnagrad - “Cosa Nostra/Waltz” (from Begnagrad)
1983. Etron Fou Leloublan - “Phare Plafond” (from Les Sillons de la Terre)
      Solaris - “Marsbéli Krónikák IV-VI” (from Marsbéli Krónikák)
1984. Univers Zero - “Presage” (from Uzed)
      David Gilmour - “Murder” (from About Face)
1985. Shub Niggurath - “Entresol” (from Shub Niggurath)
      Rush - “Mystic Rhythms” (from Power Windows)
1986. Metallica - “Master of Puppets” (from Master of Puppets)
      Pat Metheny & Ornette Coleman - “Endangered Species” (from Song X)
1987. Pink Floyd - “Learning to Fly” (from A Momentary Lapse of Reason)
      David Sylvian - “Orpheus” (from Secrets of the Beehive)
1988. Cowboy Junkies - “Misguided Angel” (from The Trinity Session)
      Queensrÿche - “Revolution Calling” (from Operation: Mindcrime)
1989. John Zorn - “Latin Quarter” (from Naked City)
      The Cure - “Pictures of You” (from Disintegration)
1990. U Totem - “One Nail Draws Another” (from U Totem)
      Ozric Tentacles - “Sunscape” (from Erpland)
1991. Massive Attack - “Safe From Harm” (from Blue Lines)
      My Bloody Valentine - “Only Shallow” (from Loveless)
1992. After Crying - “A gadarai megszállott” (from Megalázottak és megszomorítottak)
      Quaterna Requiem - “Madrugada” (from Velha gravura)
1993. Autechre - “Basscadet” (from Incunabula)
      Anekdoten - “Karelia” (from Vemod)
1994. Änglagård - “Sista somrar” (from Epilog)
      Portishead - “Wandering Star” (from Dummy)
1995. October Project - “Deep As You Go” (from Falling Farther In)
      Bob Ostertag - “Positive” (from Fear No Love.)
1996. Tim Berne/Bloodcount - “Bro’ball” (from Unwound)
      Tortoise - “Djed” (from Millions Now Living Will Never Die)
1997. Mogwai - “Mogwai Fear Satan” (from Young Team)
      Grey Eye Glances - “Chills” (from Eventide)
1998. Mos Def & Talib Kweli - “Thieves in the Night” (from Black Star)
      Thinking Plague - “Dead Silence” (from In Extremis)
1999. The Dismemberment Plan - “A Life of Possibilities” (from Emergency & I)
      Opeth - “Godheads Lament” (from Still Life)
2000. Sigur Rós - “Dánarfregnir og jarðarfarir” (from Englar alheimsins)
      Radiohead - “National Anthem” (from Kid A)
2001. Sleepytime Gorilla Museum - “Ambugaton” (from Grand Opening and Closing)
      Cannibal Ox - “Iron Galaxy” (from The Cold Vein)
2002. Paatos - “Quits” (from Timeloss)
      NeBeLNeST - “Nova Express” (from Nova Express)
2003. Spring Heel Jack - “Part II” (from Live)
      Pelican - “The Woods” (from Untitled EP)
2004. Magma - “K.A II” (from K.A)
      5uu’s - “Resolve” (from Tel Aviv Construction Events)
2005. Bar Kokhba Sextet - “Khebar” (from 50th Birthday Celebration Volume 11)
      Iron & Wine and Calexico - “In the Reins” (from In the Reins)
2006. Joanna Newsom - “Emily” (from Ys)
      Nelly Furtado - “All Good Things” (from Loose)