Musical Milestones
Published on July 11, 2026.
Last updated on July 11, 2026.
Written by Chad Timblin.
Some songs and albums are permanently fused to a moment, a place, or a person in my memory. This page is a chronological timeline of some of the musical moments that left notable impressions on me. It's not a list of my favorite music (though there's some overlap); it's a record of specific music that left a mark emotionally.
Early 2000s · Elementary School
"Macho Man" – Village People
Sometime between 1st and 4th grade, I won a limo ride to the beach with the principal and a few other students, a prize from my elementary school's Jog-A-Thon. "Macho Man" came on in the limo, and I thought it was the catchiest, most memorable thing I'd ever heard. It's one of the earliest moments I can remember a song imprinting itself on me.
Mid-2000s · Pre-Teen
Mmhmm – Relient K
My older cousin Tyler introduced me to Relient K (I think he gave me some of their CDs), and they became one of the first bands I ever really got into. I remember lying on the couch in my parents' living room, listening to Mmhmm on my CD player, and feeling a twinge of embarrassment at the thought of my mom seeing me, as if I'd unconsciously absorbed the idea that being a teenager was somehow shameful, and listening to an album on the couch was an unmistakably teenage thing to do. I still don't fully understand that feeling, but it's permanently fused to this album.
c. 2007 · 6th Grade
"We Will Rock You" – Queen
In 6th grade I heard "We Will Rock You" somewhere and became mildly obsessed with it. That year, at a youth group summer camp, I performed it at the camp's talent show, which was actually called the "gong show," because a staff member would strike a gong in the middle of a performance to signal that it was over. My friends played air instruments while I sang over the recorded track with a live mic, so my voice could be heard above Freddie Mercury's. I probably sounded horrible. We got gonged.
c. 2007 · Junior High
"Smells Like Teen Spirit" – Nirvana
I was homeschooled from 5th through 8th grade, and my best friend during those years was Max. When we heard "Smells Like Teen Spirit," we agreed it was one of the coolest-sounding songs ever recorded.
c. 2008 · Junior High
"Let It Be" – The Beatles
Sometime in junior high, at a childhood friend's house, I saw the official "Let It Be" music video on YouTube. Paul McCartney's voice and image stuck out to me (in a good way), and the song struck me immediately on an emotional level. It might be my first memory of getting really into a Beatles song. That same friend later gave me a bunch of Beatles music on a hard drive (this was the iPod era, before streaming was the norm), and in high school I went deep: all of their albums and rarer recordings, live videos, interviews, documentaries, and The Beatles Anthology. I also learned some Beatles songs on guitar (e.g. "Blackbird" on acoustic and "Octopus's Garden" on electric). The Beatles are still one of my favorite bands.
2010–11 · Sophomore Year
Without a Net – Grateful Dead
My neighbor across the street, Reese, was a former Deadhead. During my sophomore year of high school, he lent me some of his Grateful Dead live CDs. Without a Net is the one that sticks with me most, and I think it's the first one I listened to. It blew my mind; I had never heard music like that before. I have a strong memory of sitting in my sophomore English class, listening to Without a Net through wired headphones (we were allowed to listen to music, maybe during study time), and being amazed at how incredible the songs sounded, especially "Looks Like Rain." It was fun to be immersed in my own universe with the Dead while sitting in a pretty blah external place (high school). I love every song on Without a Net, and it will always mean a lot to me.
Early 2010s · High School
Pink Moon – Nick Drake
Tommy and I were friends as toddlers (we were babysat together), then fell out of touch until high school. He's an incredible musician, and he introduced me to Nick Drake. I forget exactly how; it may have been somewhere in a batch of music files he gave me in the iPod days. Nick Drake is my favorite musician of all time, and Pink Moon is my favorite album of all time. It's so poignant that I don't listen to it often, but when I do, it touches me deeply.
Early 2010s · High School
Either/Or – Elliott Smith
My friend Ben (my Halicalf bandmate and the other half of our ambient project Penda) introduced me to Elliott Smith's music, starting with Either/Or. I think he mentioned it in passing at an Emperor X show in Long Beach, CA, while we were in high school. As soon as I listened to it, I knew the album was a gem. Elliott Smith is one of my favorite musicians. He was also a huge fan of The Beatles and comes from their musical family tree in my mind.
Early 2010s · High School
"My Name Is Mud" & "Wynona's Big Brown Beaver" – Primus
I first heard Primus in junior high through a friend's dad, but it was in high school that these two songs really stuck out to me (both initially and in retrospect). Les Claypool's bass riffs sounded super unique and cool to me; there's almost nothing else quite like them.
Listen on YouTube: "My Name Is Mud" · "Wynona's Big Brown Beaver"
Early 2010s · High School
"Thela Hun Ginjeet" – Les Claypool's Frog Brigade
Sometime in high school I heard the Frog Brigade's live cover of this King Crimson song (from Live Frogs: Set 1). The main repeating bass riff caught my attention immediately; it sounded almost entrancing.
Early 2010s · High School
Burzum – Burzum
In high school, Max (the same Max from the "Smells Like Teen Spirit" days) and I got into black metal, and Burzum was one of the first black metal artists I listened to, the self-titled 1992 album most of all. It's very intense, powerful, and cathartic. The documentary Until the Light Takes Us (2008) later made me more aware of how problematic Varg Vikernes is. I don't condone his actions or beliefs, but some of his black metal music is really good.
Early 2010s · High School
Under Blackpool Lights – The White Stripes
The White Stripes were my favorite band in high school, and this is still the most powerful live White Stripes set in my opinion. Jack White was on fire, and his nearly telepathic synchrony with Meg White is incredible. Raw, powerful, punk, blues. I listened to the live album and watched the DVD a lot.
Early 2010s · High School
"Chasing Pavements" – Adele
Sometime in high school I heard "Chasing Pavements" playing at a Barnes & Noble in Long Beach, CA, and liked it immediately, but I had no idea what it was called. This was before I had Shazam, so I couldn't identify it on the spot. The song stuck with me, and it took a while before I finally figured out what it was (I don't remember how). At one point I even tried to find it by tapping the rhythm of its melody into Musipedia, which didn't work.
2014
"Homecoming Queen" – Sparklehorse
My musician friend Danny Hasboun introduced me to Sparklehorse by playing me "Homecoming Queen" and "Rainmaker," both from Vivadixiesubmarinetransmissionplot. They caught my attention immediately, and I got deep into Sparklehorse's music; it touches me on an emotional level that few artists reach.
Early 2020s
Untourable Album – Men I Trust
A more recent band that stuck out to me immediately the first time I heard them. Untourable Album has such a unique, ethereal, almost otherworldly vibe. Absolutely incredible music.
