the projection room above the auditorium

This is a stolen concept from one pitchfork dot com – since I’m in no way profiting from this, I hope it isn’t infringing on any creative copyrights or anything. I don’t understand how any of that actually works.

Regardless, I thought it could be fun to look at important albums (to me) at “landmark” ages. If you’ve perused my other entries, you’ll know that my musical education was not always great. With that in mind, I will be selecting my offerings judiciously and they will also be good, hopefully. There are any number of albums that could be considered for this reflection — my family was noted for our classical interest in music; my siblings loved movies & soundtracks; and my eldest sister was early on the music torrenting thing back in the 90s.

I’m not certain how pitchfork does it, and also, I don’t care, so for this project, I’m going to use every 5 years for my timeline. This week’s iteration will include ages 5 and 10.

Age 5 –

The world is pretty small at 5 years old. Any meaningful exposure to music that I had was largely contingent on what my brother and sisters were listening to. I have some vague memories of my mom playing Gloria Estefan and Paul Simon, but nothing as identifiable or meaningful as what I’ve noted below. I’m thinking, as I type this, that this was largely due to the busyness of my parents; I was often in the care of my siblings.

1. Almost Famous OST – Various Artists
   • I suppose this is technically a compilation, not entirely sure if that is meaningful in the greater world of musical language. What I will say is that this album exposed me to a lot of “classic rock” that would influence both my taste and my anti-taste later in life. Both Simon & Garfunkel and Elton John continue to grace my playlists.
   • The musical era portrayed in this film was. the time of my father’s youth, and likely the greatest period of music in history, if you ask him. The Beatles had rescued us from disco; guitars could live again. It’s wild, but that was the education I was getting. The insistence of its greatness is probably exactly why I don’t really entertain much else from this era. For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction – someone said that one time.
2. The Blue Album – Weezer
   • The replay value this copy of a copy of a burned CD we got off Kazaa in 1998 went crazy. I remember sometime later in life, following a routine listen, my brother commented something along the lines of “I don’t know that I know all of the lyrics to any album that came out before I was born.” Looking back, I thought it was a credit to how worldly and musically educated I was back then; now I just wonder how limited my brother’s musical education has been (pop culturally; he has a literal music degree lol).
3. Fly – The Chicks
   • Notable for its additions to early Emery memories like “Emery’s Whack Mix” – a 90 minute odyssey of tracks I’d garnered from siblings and top 20 radio shows – Fly by The Chicks showed up in many ways. Goodbye, Earl continues to hold presence in my mind, 26 years later. If I ever get to it, I’ll hammer out my television pilot about Mary Ann and Wanda (they were the best of friends), played by Rose Byrne and Michaela Coel.
   • Something interesting that I would note – we were notorious for hating country music in our home; like, loathing country music. I don’t know what made The Chicks an exception (this wasn’t during Bush era when my sisters would have loved anything my dad hated), but I remain grateful. Confused, but grateful.

Age 10 –

2005 – 2006 was a weird time. I started piano lessons, YouTube (which would inflict irreparable damage during critical periods of my adolescence) was just getting started, and I began getting called homophobic slurs on the playground. What a time. Pop culturally, a few musical moments come to mind for this period of development.

1. From Under the Cork Tree – Fall Out Boy
   • From Under the Cork Tree was, I would say, my first individual foray into music I thought made me more manly. Sugar We’re Goin’ Down had hit the charts, and I was tuning in to the 9 at 9 radio show to make sure I heard it. I brought this CD and my portable player to school for our free hour in 5th grade, and I remember feeling like I was finally cool when a popular boy in class commended my taste. It was like, 3 years later that I realized I had had a crush on that boy… I just didn’t know that was an option at the time, lmao
2. Now That’s What I Call Music 21 – Various Artists
   • I imagine they still make these compilations, but I have not seen, heard, or thought about one outside of retro reminiscing in years. I do not know who gave this particular iteration to my sister closest in age to me, but I remember the handwritten, abbreviated NOW 21 and accompanying doodled floral embellishments/whatever else 14-15 year-olds drew back then on the disc face.
   • This CD had many notable tracks, but some of the most musically influential and childhood significant of them include: Unwritten, Natasha Bedingfield; Dirty Little Secret, The All-American Rejects; Dance, Dance, Fall Out Boy (see above); DARE, Gorillaz; and Everytime We Touch, Cascada.
3. Hannah Montana (Songs from and Inspired by the Hit TV Series) – Hannah Montana
   • Hannah Montana was revolutionary in many ways; I do think that this being a point of reference for me as a preteen did give me unrealistic expectations for what I hoped my life would be like. She was so glamorous; she made absolute hits! She could balance the weight of pop stardom and middle school at the same time. I thought, “if she can do it, I can do it.” I don’t know why – I was a chubby, effeminate, choir kid with a superiority complex and performance anxiety, but I sure did.
   • In hindsight, the many, almost aggressively overt mentions to Hannah’s “other side,” probably felt validating to a young, queer me. I would have never known that back then; it’s amazing how insightful I am now. (This is a joke; I certainly have more insight but hot damn am I still clueless.

And this was just the beginning. Stick around for future iterations, including teenage years and my 20s!

xo, fat emery ❤️