#i had to carefully look at wikipedia page to do some of the 2000s ones

[skitskatdacat63]

I somehow just spent 4 straight hours making grid guides for myself, I think I have a problem

[esmerodo]

SAILOR MOON GEMSTONES & MINERALS: GARNET (FOR SAILOR PLUTO DAY) 

 By: ~ Mamoru Chiba 

A belated Happy Birthday to Setsuna! Born on Sunday, October 29th. What year? WHO REALLY KNOWS? ;-) This is a post I did Sunday for the FB Page Sailor Moon: The Mooniverse, where I am their Admin Mamoru Chiba 🎩🌹🌙🌏

I have a Birthstones & Horoscope Post for all of the Senshi plus Tuxedo Mask. Would you like to see them here on Tumblr? Let me know in the replies! --Esmerodo. 

=========================@ 

SCORPIO: Setsuna was born on October 29th, under the Zodiac sign of Scorpio. The Ruling Body for people born on this date is the Planet Pluto, representing desire, transformation and expansion. (Moonies, please note: anyone who remarks here that Pluto isn’t a planet anymore, gets bopped on the head with the Time Rod and sent to a time in history that you will NOT like! You have been warned!) 

NAOKO-SENSEI’S TRAINING IN MINERALS & GEMSTONES: The reason we do this feature is because Naoko Takeuchi named most of her villain characters after a gemstone or mineral and has each of the Senshi themed around certain symbolic gemstones. Where they are known I’ve also listed each Senshi’s Zodiac gemstone and Talismanic gemstone too. I have added the horoscope for the day each Senshi was born. Takeuchi-sensei was born in Kofu, Yamanashi Prefecture, the historically famous city of artisan gems carving and distributing in Japan. To this day, the Yamanashi Gem Museum displays gems, precious stones, and large quartz crystals collected from Japan and around the world. Naoko also pursued her interests by joining an earth sciences club in high school. 

 In university, Naoko Takeuchi studied chemistry in preparation to become a pharmacist and clinical research technician, which led to a by-the-book “mineral knowledge” being persistent throughout her work, and she got to know all the lore behind a large variety of minerals and gemstones. For instance, Mimete isn’t a gemstone; she is a mineral, mimetite, and her dress and tights are EXACTLY the same golden yellow colour of mimetite. Naoko coloured her illustrations VERY carefully! Naoko-sensei had promised her Dad, if this manga drawing idea didn’t work out, she could always fall back on working in a drug store! :-)And as you will see, the mineral/gemstone knowledge did NOT go to waste, when that Sailor Moon manga thing worked out in a big way! 

SECRETIVE, PASSIONATE & IMPULSIVE: People born on this date are passionate, secretive and impulsive, masking their strong willed, ambitious nature under a deceptive cool calm reserve. Because people born on this day like to keep others in the dark about their true thoughts and intentions, they call a person born on this date the "Chess Master." They are very attractive to everyone they meet. 

A WOMAN OF MYSTERY: We can easily imagine the Senshi of Time, with her knowledge of all the ages, keeping secret all the knowledge she has acquired about the past, present and future, quietly observing, making her plans and directing the other Senshi masterfully. You better let this Scorpio be in charge, or she will be annoyed! Independent and innovative, bursting with ideas and energy, the Scorpio woman is formidable and awe inspiring, but we never know what she’s thinking. Setsuna is an ageless woman of mystery. Well, maybe one thing we DO know: People born on this date are drawn to people born between July 23 and August 22, the sign of Leo. Hmmm. That’s Mamoru’s Zodiac sign and...AHEM, let’s not go there. :P 

SOLITARY SCORPIO: Sailor Pluto is ideally suited to her role as the eternally solitary Senshi, because people born on this date tend to give all their energy to achieving their professional goals while sometimes forgetting about their personal lives, favouring unusual careers and often ending up working for themselves. They spend money casually but aren’t interested in money for its own sake. We all have noticed that Setsuna is wise, gentle, affectionate and considerate, especially with the youngest Senshi, Chibi Moon/Small Lady, and Sailor Saturn/Hotaru. These admirable qualities will only get stronger as she gets older. 

PLUTO’S SCORPIO BIRTHSTONE, THE GARNET: The Garnet, the talisman in Sailor Pluto’s Time Rod, is most closely associated with our most mysterious of the Senshi. Garnet is the Planetary Gemstone associated with Pluto, the ruling planet of Scorpio, and is hence the planetary stone for Scorpio. 

SCORPIO'S LUCKY COLOURS: Deep red, the colour of garnet is Scorpio’s lucky colour, along with violet, scarlet and carmine. Perhaps this is why Setsuna usually wears a violet suit with a red bow in the 90’s anime! Garnet, the Scorpio birthstone occurs mostly in deep red, a passionate sensual Scorpio colour. The Scorpio gemstone is believed to enhance healing and relieve depression. [REFERENCES: http://birthdaypersonality.org/october-29-zodiac-birthday-horoscope/ http://www.zodiac-signs.co/months/october-29-zodiac-sign-scorpio.html http://kamayojewelry.com/zodiac-signs-birthstones/scorpio-birth-stone/ http://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/horoscopes-astrology/october-29-birthday-astrology.htm http://www.thehoroscope.co/zodiac-signs/october-29-zodiac-scorpio.html ] 

GARNET ROD: According to wikimoon.org, the Garnet Rod was an item carried by Sailor Pluto. She primarily used the Garnet Rod to perform the attack Dead Scream, but it also functioned as a key of sorts to the Space-Time Door. Her talisman, the Garnet Orb, sat atop this Rod. Sailor Pluto still had access to the Garnet Rod even in her civilian form. In the manga, it protected her from the Tellun she was analyzing, and in the anime, she used it to show the Inner Senshi a vision of the Silence. 

GARNET, THE OLDEST GEMSTONE OF ALL: So why did Naoko Takeuchi choose a Garnet for the Time Rod? Sailor Moon Fans, she chose it because garnets have a history the world over, as old as Time itself. Sailor Moon’s creator really, really knows her gemstones and minerals and has done her homework on what they mean to the Sailor Moon story. Garnets have as long a history as both a gemstone and a talisman as there were humans on Earth, from what we can determine. According to crystalvaults.com, not only was Garnet prized as an ornamental jewel, but its strong curative powers and protective energies made it invaluable. 

GARNET=POMEGRANATE: Garnet comes from the Latin name “Granatum”, meaning pomegranate, because granular varieties of Garnet look a lot like pomegranate seeds. Wonder if Setsuna likes drinking POM Wonderful pomegranate juice for its antioxidant qualities, to keep her ageless? If so, she could, in theory, drink a pint of pomegranate juice from an ancient Roman hollowed out cup made from garnet! The Roman historian Pliny wrote that the large dull-colored "Carbunculus of India" (a type of Garnet) used to be hollowed out into vessels, which would hold as much as a pint. 

THE HISTORY OF GARNETS: Not only were Garnets popular in ancient Greek and Roman civilizations, but Garnets were used in Egypt more than 5000 years ago, in Sumeria around 2100 B.C., in Sweden between 1000 and 2000 B.C. and in the former Czechoslovakia as far back as the Bronze Age. 

GARNETS AS A TALISMAN: As a talisman, Garnet was used as a sacred stone by the Native American Indians, the South American Indians, the Aztecs, the African tribal elders, and the Mayans. Garnet acts with speed to expand one's awareness, due to the flash of lightning contained within, and enhances one's internal fire to bring creative powers to implementation. As a Warrior's Stone, Garnet served as a talisman in the Crusades for both the Christians and their Muslim enemies. Garnets also had religious significance in Biblical times: According to the Talmud, the only light on Noah's ark was provided by a large Garnet. 

GARNETS AS A BLOOD RED WEAPON: The red Garnet, which used to be called a carbuncle, is the colour of blood. So some Asiatic tribes believed that this blood red stone would not only protect you from being wounded, but it would be more deadly as a weapon in a slingshot or as a bullet. In 1892 on the Kashmir frontier, the rebellious Hanzas used Garnet bullets to fire on British troops. No, I don’t know whether Garnet bullets are more effective than lead bullets! But they certainly would be more expensive ammunition! 

GARNETS AS GEMSTONES & ITS PROPERTIES: Garnet is a powerful energizing and regenerative stone. It balances, strengthens and protects. According to crystalcure.com, Garnet is known as the stone for a successful business. Maybe this is why Setsuna never seems to lack for funds and when she moved in with Haruka, Michiru, and Hotaru, they seemed to live in great prosperity! Not to mention, her timeless Garnet talisman Rod was the key to the Time Gates, which allowed Sailor Pluto to go back in time and collect priceless items that she could bring back to the modern world to sell. Some day I hope to see Setsuna’s outstanding awesome collection on the Antiques Roadshow! 

SUCCESS IN BUSINESS & PROTECTION ON JOURNEYS: If your business is not as good as it should be, just put 3 or more garnets on your desk. It is believed that if a garnet is put under a pillow it will cure depression. Garnets can be used to make a person popular and have self-esteem when worn as jewellery. It helps protect one on trips (any trips, not just through Sailor Pluto’s Time Gates!). Garnets bring constancy to friendships.

BLOOD RED, BURNING COAL: Garnets help aid circulation and all blood related issues. Garnet does come in colours other than blood red, but in its most common form, it is called Almandine, formerly known as a “carbuncle” (though originally, almost any red gemstone was known by this name). The term "carbuncle" is derived from the Latin meaning "live coal" or burning charcoal. Almandine is a corruption of Alabanda, a region in Asia Minor where these stones were cut in ancient times. 

ANCIENT JEWELLERY (WIKIPEDIA): Red garnets were the most commonly used gemstones in the Late Antique Roman world, and the Migration Period art of the "barbarian" peoples who took over the territory of the Western Roman Empire. They were especially used inlaid in gold cells in the cloisonné technique, a style often just called garnet cloisonné, found from Anglo-Saxon England, as at Sutton Hoo, to the Black Sea. Pure crystals of garnet are still used as gemstones. 

THE COLOURS OF GARNET: Garnet gemstone varieties occur in shades of green, red, yellow, and orange. The next most common colour after red is emerald green, the colour of Sailor Pluto’s hair. There are two well known varieties of emerald green Garnets: Tsavorite and Demantoid, which is the most valuable Garnet of them all. So is Setsuna’s hair supposed to resemble Tsavorite or Demantoid? We’ll have to ask Naoko-sensei that question! Garnet is also the birthstone for the month of January and the State Gemstone for New York State. The Star Garnet (Garnet with rutile asterisms) is the State Gemstone of Idaho. 

OTHER BIRTHSTONES: PLANETARY GEMSTONE FOR SCORPIO: Ruby Ruby is the other Planetary Gemstone associated with Pluto and Scorpio. For more information on Rubies, please see Sailor Mars’ Gemstone Page. Other Scorpio Zodiac Gemstones are Apache Tear, Aquamarine, Beryl, Coral, and Obsidian. Before Pluto was discovered, Mars was considered to be the ruling planet for the Zodiac sign of Scorpio. The red gemstones of Mars such as Ruby, Red Coral and Poppy Jasper are still considered to be the most auspicious colours for Scorpios to wear. 

TALISMANIC GEMSTONE: Amethyst FOR GRIEF, LOSS & DISPELLING NEGATIVE EMOTIONS: The Talismanic Birthstone associated with Scorpio is the Amethyst. Amethyst imparts soberness, spiritual insight, calm, balance, peace and inner strength to the wearer, helping him or her to deal with personal losses and grief. Apache Tear and Obsidian, like other black gemstones are best for dispelling negative emotions and grief. Given Sailor Pluto’s extremely long life through the ages as the daughter of Chronos and Guardian of the Time Gates, she has experienced and will experience the grief of losing those she loves many times. Setsuna will need whatever strength Amethyst, Apache Tear and Obsidian can give her to move on and be the wise, spiritual and calm Senshi who so many rely on. [http://kamayojewelry.com/zodiac-signs-birthstones/scorpio-birth-stone/] 

FAN ART: Eternal Sailor Pluto by nuxi-chan with her green garnet hair, holding aloft her blood red Garnet rod with its talisman gemstone, eternal as time itself! 

GEMSTONE PHOTOS: Top Left: Teardrop shaped African Demantoid, from swalagemtraders. Top Centre: Rough mineral Garnet fromprettyrock.com Top Right: Russian Demantoid Diamond Ring Bottom Left: TMC Pakistan Tsavorite Bottom Centre: From jewelocean uk: garnet gemstone engagement ring on silver Bottom Right: Heart shaped Tsavorite from uppergems.com 

 Many happy returns, Setsuna, from admin ~ Mamoru Chiba

[sending-the-message]

I Just Witnessed Reality Breaking by mindfulaide

Something has happened, and I know it sounds insane. In fact I am sure I am insane, either that or… or I have proof that reality is breaking. Maybe my mind is just bending this way because the truth is too great to bare. I’m not sure, but I must put it down for others to help me figure out what’s going on. If I do need treatment, if I am insane, I’d rather people tell me something is off so I can get the help, but if others are experiencing this and there is confirmation I have not completely lost my mind -- perhaps then I can sleep a little easier. The best place to start is at the beginning.

I first came across the idea of the Mandela Effect a few years ago. It came up because my partner, a frequenter of 4chan, had read about this happening to other people. It started innocuously enough, he asked me what happened to Mandela:

“Do you remember what happened to Mandela?” he asked casually, not looking up from his laptop one Saturday afternoon.

“Ya, why?” I asked not looking up from the novel I was reading.

“What happened to him?” he asked bending his computer screen down from his line of sight.

“Huh…” I paused in thought, “It was so long ago, why don’t you look it up on Wikipedia? I don’t think I remember all the details.”

“Could you tell me? Just humour me…” he said, with slightly wide eyes. A look I had come to associate with his anxiety disorder, and I knew it was best to just humour him to avoid it spiraling out of control away from him.

“Okay,” I thought carefully trying to scrape my memory of these world events, “Well, he was put in jail. There was a lot of rioting and protests… And he died. He died in jail, and there was a huge funeral all over the news.” His eyes got bigger, “I mean, I don’t remember everything that happened, I was so little, but I know that it pushed the country to end apartheid.” We sat in silence looking at each other, his eyes still a little wide. “Why did I get it wrong?” I chuckled, now curious myself I sat up and put my novel on my lap.

“No, I think you said exactly what a lot of people remember.” He answered, brow furrowing. He lifted his computer screen and his eyes scanned what he had been reading again, “It’s just that it never happened.” He said with a very serious voice.

“What do you mean it never happened?” I asked with an incredulous smirk, “If people remember it, then it happened.”

“You don’t remember him being released from jail, or eventually becoming president?” He asked, looking back at me. Now it was my turn to feel confused and anxious.

“No. what do you mean?” I jumped up and went to my desktop to search for the Wikipedia article on Mandela. Everything seemed to read fine in the synopsis, until the early nineties. I felt an overwhelming feeling of something being wrong. “What the hell is this? He didn’t die in the 2010s…. This is a massive correctional error.” I mumbled to myself trying to reconcile feeling duped somehow with my memory.

“It’s called the Mandela Effect,” my boyfriend explained, “It is apparently the case for a number of people: some remember what you said just now, a lot actually. Some remember it how it actually played out according to that Wikipedia article you’re reading.”

I sat staring at the screen, and I felt his hand touch my shoulder. “Fuck off…” I said shaking my head figuring he was just pulling my leg. This must have been some 4chan prank, someone edited the page and they were all in on it messing with a bunch of us, “This is just some kind of weird 4chan raid isn’t it?” I said looking back at him, almost proud I had finally figured it out, but when I met his eyes I could tell he was anxious and worried. “Okay… or not…” I sighed and turned back to the computer article, scrolling down, “well I mean, maybe we just remember it wrong. It happens. It’s not that weird a thing to misremember I was so little back then.”

“Is it Berenstein Bears…. Or Berenstain Bears?” He asked me, as I stood up from the computer decidedly going back to my book.

“Berenstein of course,” I said without skipping a beat, “I even remember the father wearing a yamaka for that holiday special… remember that?” I asked looking back at my partner who was still standing in front of my computer, his arms now crossed in front of his chest.

“It’s Berenstain now.” He said coolly, but with a tinge of worry. “I remember it being Barenstein, and you remember it that way… so why is it Berenstain on all the books and all the pictures online? It’s really freaking me out!” He said, obviously beyond concerned.

I got back up and went to hug him, telling him I’d make up some tea, and we spent the next hour looking for proof of Barenstein online, feeling confused, and then waxing philosophical about reality. Maybe we were just confused. Maybe this is just an example of little children not having fully formed hippocampuses yet. We drank our tea, and went down that rabbit hole, and both brushed off our anxieties with greater metaphysical concerns and existential angst… because that’s what you do when you’re confronted with something that goes against the grain of your reality, I suppose. It’s what we do anyway.

Over the next few years we would occasionally joke about the Mandela Effect. We would bring it up with others, test the waters to figure out which universe they belonged to and where everyone’s paths diverge or meet. It was strange to note that many didn’t remember what I remembered with Mandela, but most couldn’t reconcile the different spelling of a children’s book. As time went on we just used it as an interesting jump off point for philosophical conversation with friends. Eventually, we didn’t bring it up as much anymore.

Now I’m going to talk about what happened last night.

Last night before bed my boyfriend called me to tell me that Stella and Barley were in the same dog obedience class. My mom got Stella on the same day my partner’s mom got Barley. They are different breeds, but are about the same size, and apparently my mom and my boyfriend’s mom just randomly signed up for the same class. Just out of pure chance. They apparently love one another and spent most of the class playing with one another. It was a funny coincidence, and my mom is wanting to teach Stella how to ring a bell when she has to go to the bathroom instead of bark, which is adorable and funny, and very much my mom to want to do this. We had a chuckle about it, and I thought it was so undeniably cute, it was a nice end note to my evening. I got off the phone, and got ready for bed, curled up with some pulp, and eventually turned out the light while listening to a relaxation meditation.

I had nightmares all night. A man in a taxi was driving me from my grandmother’s apartment, where I used to live in high school in the early 2000s, to my apartment now. It’s an easy drive, a straight shot down the main road, into the city limits, to my place. This taxi driver refused to take the normal route. He went down, past my place, to the highway, and then up an off ramp with me yelling at him, “Stop! STOP! You’re going the wrong way!!” Barely missing oncoming traffic, swerving in a daring u-turn, to move with traffic. The highway was south of where I live and looped around back the way we had come. The cost for the taxi was astronomical because it was more than double what it should be, and the whole time the taxi driver kept saying he was going to take me to my home, but something in his eyes said he was planning to kill me. Driving well past where my grandma lived and I knew if I stayed in the cab much longer I would blink out of existence. I wouldn’t just be killed I would never exist. I was terrified. As traffic began to pile, and the car slowed, I jumped out of the back onto the highway’s curb and I ran into some bushes, searching for a knife in my purse in case this mad man came up onto the bank to find me. I hid for what felt like forever, peeked out and saw he was gone, so I meandered back to the highway’s side, and started to walk the way he had come. Eventually I was joined by a crowd of people walking on the highway, we were all walking back towards the city and none of us were happy. We all seemed confused, and upset, and we all needed to get back. Some people were crying because they were also worried about not existing anymore, and the sun was coming…

I woke up. I did what I do when I have nightmares, which is take off my CPAP machine mask, and go to the bathroom to splash my face with cold water, and drink something. I stumbled back toward my bedroom, and saw it was about 4 am. There was a flash of blue white light that filled the room for an instant. It was less than a second, like a flash on a camera went off. All the dogs started to bark. My neighbour’s dogs, the one down the hall, the dog park across the street was going nuts… howling, barking, and my cat? He was crying something awful, hissing and meowing at invisible ghosts. Running around my apartment jumping from chair to cat climber to couch. Needless to say it woke me right up, the noise was almost overwhelming, and I felt dizzy.

Then it happened. I had the memory from last night… talking with my partner about the dog obedience class. And I had a memory, a distinct memory, of the exact same thing happening over a month ago. I talked about it with my mom, we discussed the bell, and Barley, and both had happened. It happened as it did, most certainly, last night. Barley and Stella were in the same dog obedience class, mom wants to teach Stella to ring a bell, isn’t that cute? And then it happened as it hadn’t, most certainly, my mom had told me Stella and Barley were in the same obedience class… a month ago. We had a conversation about how adorable but silly a bell would be, and don’t feel bad it’s your dog you can teach her what you want, I think it’s cute… a month ago? Yesterday? How in the hell can they be starting the same class last month and yesterday?

When day broke this morning I spoke to my partner about it. It never happened yesterday. That conversation never took place. There’s no texts about it, no back and forth, no phone call log in my phone from having that conversation last night. Barley is in the class with mom's dog, but the class started weeks ago? It makes no sense, what about last night? It hadn't happened until last night, I swear it.

I have a distinct memory that it had happened one way. It has stayed with me, but now? Now there’s a very strong feeling that something is changed, and a memory of this conversation with my mother a month ago. The class started weeks ago. It started yesterday. It is both, but definitely also not both.

I know that this sounds like a ramble of an insane person, maybe I’m just losing my God damned mind. I feel out of place, like something is very wrong and I haven’t been able to bring myself to go about my day. I’m just in shock. Did I witness Mandela Effect happening last night??

What I do know for certain is that the CERN hadron collider started up again after a few years being on hiatus. I checked the news with my morning coffee. The tests are going again. New breakthroughs in press released this week. I think… and I feel… like somehow this is all connected. Reality is breaking, in small ways that don’t really add up, and maybe bigger ways I don’t even realize.

[swimintothesound]

Gateway Indie

On May 20th of 2008, my musical taste changed forever. We (or at least I) tend to discover things in waves. Specifically waves of increasingly-tiered obsession that escalate until I can focus on one thing and one thing only. I’ll find a song I really like, devour the album that it came from, read everything on the band’s Wikipedia page, explore their discography, listen to side projects, see them live, spend exorbitant amounts of money on limited edition vinyl, then (apparently) write about my experience years later.

One of the most important steps in my particular brand of hyper-obsessive fandom is delving deeper into the genre of the band who I’ve recently discovered. Whether it’s simply to contextualize their sound, see if I recognize any of their contemporaries, or just to get a better understanding of the world’s musical history. When one artist’s discography isn’t enough, sometimes the next logical step is to start absorbing everything in their immediate vicinity. It’s a beautiful notion that one album can open the door to a whole new world of music that was previously hidden. It’s how you diversify as a music listener and as a person.

Up until high school, I’d really only explored the genres of classic rock, grunge, and some metal. All pretty standard stuff, especially for a white suburban teen, but it was all music that came out before I was born. In 2008 I discovered a group of albums that opened my eyes to the ever-cool world of indie and, more importantly, paved the way for my interest in both the genre and the contemporary music scene as a whole. As each of these albums near their 10th anniversary I realized that not only have many of them achieved “classic” status within the genre, they were also part of a larger movement for my generation.

Universality

Now that the internet has paved the way for services like iTunes, Spotify, Soundcloud, and Bandcamp, music has become more insular than ever. In 2017 there are entire sects of fans who can be hyper-devoted to one artist or scene that may never intersect with anyone else. Additionally, with the rise of social platforms like forums, Twitter, and reddit fans can live in a bubble… and while it’s great to connect with other fans, it also means the vocal obsessives are more walled-off.

We have fewer “universals” than ever before. Ed Sheeran is one of the best-selling artists in the world right now, but I don’t think I’ve heard a single song of his. Drake is breaking records every week, but if you don’t care about hip-hop, he’s pretty easy to avoid listening to. It’s a byproduct of the ever-splintering media landscape that we’re living in.

So there are positives and negatives, but this splintering is relevant because those “universals” will become fewer and far between as we move forward. Looking beyond music, you have shows like Game of Thrones which is one of the most technically popular and most-talked about shows currently on TV. It consistently shatters its own self-set viewership records, numbers which are worth screaming about in 2017, yet would have gotten a show canceled even 20 years ago. There’s just more to watch, more to do, and more to care about in 2017, so if you don’t want to watch Game of Thrones, you truly don’t have to. This isn’t the 20’s where everyone gathers around the radio for the day’s episode of Little Orphan Annie. I feel like I’m getting off track, but music is this phenomenon multiplied by thousands. Not only are there dozens of alternatives mediums vying for your attention, practically anyone can create music in 2017. There are more alternatives (and therefore fewer commonalities) than ever before.

I feel like we will reach (or perhaps have already hit) a point where there are simply no more universal artists. There’s never going to be another Beatles. Obviously. But looking purely at The Beatles on a scale purely based on audience and cultural impact, there will never be another musical group in the history of the world that reaches the omniscient presence that the Beatles achieved. There were fewer artists to listen to then, fewer ways to create music, and even fewer avenues to discover new music.

As technology has improved, we’ve seen a direct impact on the music industry as an entity. At the same time, we’ve also seen artists effectively harness this power. Groups like Odd Future were pervasive and forward-thinking enough that I (a high school-aged non-hip-hop listener) knew who they were and knew at least a few of their songs. While everyone’s musical journey is a unique story filled with personal discoveries that have influenced their taste, this is really a story about the first universal that I was a part of as it was happening.

I Miss the Old iTunes

Back when iTunes was still relatively new, it was my only source of current music. I would almost instantaneously drain any gift card I was given, using it to cross several songs off my carefully-curated iTunes wish list. I was also fortunate enough to have my Dad’s massive collection of nearly one thousand CD’s at my disposal, but as you could imagine, most of those albums were a decade old at least. That’s why I was a rock fan first: ease of access.

But I always found ways to satiate my hunger for new music. From VH1 to renting CDs one by one from the local library, there were only so many ways to hear new music, even in the mid-2000’s. One of the most unexpected avenues that I took advantage of was the (now sadly-defunct) iTunes Single of the Week Program, which offered exposure to countless contemporary acts one song at a time. It may not have been much, but this program turned me onto dozens of artists and sounds that I wouldn’t have heard otherwise. Through this mishmash of mid-2000’s media, I was able to satiate my budding hunger for new music as a penniless 14-year-old.

That brings us back to the first sentence of this post.

Unbeknownst to me, indie folk was blowing up In 2008. Bon Iver’s For Emma, Forever Ago was gaining serious traction a year after its release thanks to the album’s breakout hit “Skinny Love” and in May “Skinny Love” was put up as iTunes’ free song. As with most songs in the program, I’d never heard of the artist, nor had any experience with the genre, but I downloaded it anyway because that’s how hungry I was for new music.

I downloaded the track (no doubt on my family’s bulky oversized 2005 laptop) and synced it onto my iPod immediately. I was floored. I’d never heard anything so delicate. It was catchy (especially for a folk song) but it also had a soft warmth and reserved delivery that was a revelation to me at the time. “Skinny Love” evoked a feeling that was unlike any other music I’d ever heard. I had to have more.

Part of the beauty of the Single of the Week program was how random it was. One week it’d be an electropop song, the next it would be something folky like Bon Iver, and then it would be a latin song. I didn’t necessarily like it all (quite the opposite, in fact) but I listened to it all for the sake of discovery. The fact that these songs were free was just the icing on top of the cake. I had nothing to lose.

I had no idea at the time, but indie folk saw a massive explosion in popularity in 2008 with the rise of acts like Bon Iver and Fleet Foxes, who both released stunning debuts around this time. I didn’t realize that this era of indie had been such a widespread phenomenon until I saw people discussing Bon Iver’s For Emma, Forever Ago on its tenth anniversary calling it their “Gateway Indie” album. I liked that phrase, but I didn’t think much of it until I heard the ineffable deep_cuts youtube channel cite both For Emma and Fleet Foxes as “dominating adolescent MP3 players the world over” at this time. Maybe it was just his worldly UK accent, but something clicked for me. I realized this was not only a formative album, era, and sound for myself, but for everyone my age.

Beyond Folk

Later that year I met some of the coolest people in my high school. And by that I don’t mean cool in the traditional sense, they were dork-ass nerds like me, but they were dork-ass nerds with impeccable musical taste. At this point, the edgiest thing I had ever listened to was Nine Inch Nails, but these guys opened my mind to the larger world of indie music. Genres I didn’t even know existed. Sounds I could barely conceive of. This was 10th grade and the albums they showed me would go on to become some of my favorite and most formative of all time.

The first song I remember them playing for me was the opening track to Portugal. The Man’s first album Waiter: "You Vultures!" which was titled “How the Leopard Got Its Spots.” I’m going to stop there for a second just to point out this band/album/song combo was (before hearing the first note) already more experimental and out-there than anything else I’d ever heard up to that point.

“How the Leopard Got Its Spots” is a pokey unpredictable song that almost borders on prog. While Portugal. The Man changes up their sound every album, their debut is easily the most experimental of their discography, still retaining many characteristics of the band’s post-hard predecessor Anatomy of a Ghost. But I didn’t know any of that at the time. I just listened to the song, enraptured by the track’s grungy guitars that paired perfectly with Gourley’s shrill high-pitched singing. The lyrics were obtuse in a Relationship of Command-type way and the final glitched-out chorus haunted me for days after the fact, becoming an immovable earworm. I remember at the time Grand Theft Auto IV had just been released (God, take me back) and I’d spend hours tooling around the game’s gray city listening to this song on repeat for hours.

Sometime later, Eric (the one of the group who I was closest to) and I found ourselves sitting next to each other during a weirdly-placed mid-day homeroom period. I asked him what he was listening to and he said “I’ll show you” he handed me his headphones and hit play on his 3rd generation iPod Nano. What I heard were the first shimmering notes of Minus The Bear’s “Pachuca Sunrise.” The song’s carefully-times guitar taps and intensely-technical drumming provide the crunchy background for Jake Snyder’s laid-back sensual lyrics and Cory Murchy’s smooth flowing bassline. It gelled into a transformative experience that made my body feel warm with sunlight and love. There’s a reason it’s still one of the band’s most-played live songs even a decade later. It turns out “Pachuca Sunrise” was many people’s first Minus The Bear song and led countless fans to the group’s second album Menos El Oso.

At this point, I already had enough “material” to go off on my own and endlessly devour these two records from these two very different bands. And I did, but I was also hungry for more. I came back to this group of guys in our shared AV class and begged for more in the coolest way I could without discounting my own cred.

From there Eric, Oliver, and Max threw me into the deep end. They showed me “Death Rides a Horse” by instrumental band Russian Circles. I dug it. Ratcheting up the intensity, they moved onto “Laser Life” by the post-hardcore band Blood Brothers. I dug it. They then threw the hyperchaotic cybergrind “Chapels” by Genghis Tron at me. I didn’t dig it, but I warmed up to it pretty quickly.

While there were dozens of other acts and songs that these guys turned me onto over the course of the next year, this crop stands out in my mind both for its breadth and what they’ve gone on to represent for me personally.

Portugal. The Man would go onto become one of my favorite bands. I’ve often proselytized online that they have one of the best discographies in indie rock. I would also go on to expose this band to my two younger brothers, and for one of them, Portugal. The Man has become their favorite band of all time. They currently sit at my 8th most played band on Last.fm with just over 3,000 plays.

Minus the Bear was my favorite band for years. At 6 concerts they’re also far-and-away the band I’ve seen live the most, and two years ago I saw them play Menos El Oso in full for the album’s 10th-anniversary tour. The album’s closing track “This Ain't a Surfin’ Movie” has been my favorite song of all time since I first heard it. The band is currently my 6th most-listened band on Last.fm, and three of the band's albums are have made it onto my list of all-time favorites.

Russian Circles would eventually lead me to the world of post-rock and instrumental metal. Bands like Explosions in the Sky, Mogwai, and Earth, all of whom have served as my reading and studying music throughout high school and college. Russian Circles also have a nearly-perfect discography, and they currently sit at #15 on my Last.fm.

Meanwhile, Fleet Foxes were always a bit boring to me… until this year. Maybe I have more patience at 24 than I did at 15, but I’ve had their discography on repeat for this entire summer and I’ve been loving it.

Most importantly, Bon Iver served as my gateway to all of this. It’s weird that a slow quiet folk album could pave the way for something as discordant and brutal as Genghis Tron, but I guess it’s a snowball effect type of thing. For Emma, Forever Ago also became somewhat of a soundtrack for my first real relationship, and despite that relationship’s rocky conclusion a year later, I can still listen to the album today and enjoy it as much as I did the first time hearing it.

I can’t thank these three dudes (and the creators of these albums) enough. I can safely say that my life would be unequivocally and vastly different without having gone through this period of exploration when I did. I would be a different person with different tastes and interests entirely. Full stop. So for that, I can only say “thank you” and hope that I returned the favor with someone else somewhere down the line. Sometimes discoveries come from the most unexpected places. Sometimes a random song can lead you down a path you never could have blazed yourself. Sometimes a single song can change everything.