The songwriters who have shaped my musical taste

I've thought a lot about the music that has shaped my being. It's difficult to do things like this, but here is where I attempt to list the songwriters whose words have meant more to me than all the others. These are the ten guys that I can turn on and immediately I'm immersed into a world separate from reality. They take me away, even if it's for a few minutes here and there, and allow me to appreciate life in a different way. These are the guys I grew up listening to and appreciating. These are the guys who helped mold my musical taste. These are simply...the guys.

10. Bjork

I often can't understand what Bjork is even saying, and she may not be a guy, but I do know one thing: her music is always beautiful. I started listening to Bjork about four years ago. I remember hearing so much about her music and her style. She is unique in every outlandish sense of the word. Her Icelandic roots are part of her mystique, her odd dress behavior, and her unique vocal ability. I consider her one of the most peacefully beautiful artists that has ever existed. There is just something special about closing your eyes and listening to a song like "Jóga" where a million different emotions flood your mind. The violins, the sound effects, the echoes, it is all part of something unmatched in music. Homogenic is simply one of the greatest albums that has ever been made in the genre of electronic music.

9. Dallas Green (Alexisonfire, City & Colour)

Forget the fact that he's got the voice of an angel and the tattoo collection of a hardcore biker. Dallas Green writes some of the most beautiful sounding acoustic music I have ever heard. He is one of the few artists who can give me chills when I listen to him. The irony is he was one of the frontmen and vocalists of post-hardcore band Alexisonfire, which I would argue is anything but 'beautiful.' While I enjoy the music of Alexisonfire, I've been more in love with the acoustic side of Dallas Green for awhile now. I can remember the first time I heard "Casey's Song," and even though there weren't many lyrics, the song still had an impact on me. There aren't many artists who can pull of songs with two short verses and make a statement with it. Dallas Green is one of those artists. In a similar situation, "...Off By Heart" was one of those same songs. Even though he didn't tell a story or explain much, you could still understand the mood of the song and why he was writing it. He can even make Alexisonfire songs sound incredible with his own touch, like he did with "Happiness by the Kilowat." All in all, Dallas Green a strong musical love of mine. His voice is incredibly unique and he stands out amongst in a time where distinct voices are few and far between.

8. Tim Kasher (Cursive, The Good Life)

I think what Tim Kasher does is pretty different from a lot of other musicians. His sound is a bit funky, and at times a little obscure. Not just his writing style, but in his vocal technique. Part of what makes a musician great to me is when they are able to stand out and not over do it. Cursive's discography is ridiculously extensive, and I don't pretend to be an expert on each and every song, but to me, The Ugly Organ is one of the greatest indie albums of our generation. I feel like if anyone on this list would be good to listen to while tripped out on acid, it's probably Tim Kasher. His melodies are very trippy. I've found my mind wandering to the oddest places while I listen to Cursive or The Good Life. Some of my favorite Kasher songs include "Lovers Need Lawyers" and "Driftwood: A Fairy Tale."

7. Nick Torres (Northstar, Cassino)

If I were writing this list a couple of years ago, Nick Torres would probably be number one. I can’t think of another band that has shaped my musical tastes in the way that Northstar has. I remember being 14 years old and sitting in my room, listening to Pollyanna. It was new to me, something really fresh and exciting. It was one of the very first stepping stones leading me toward the music I would one day fall in love with and what I ultimately listen to today. Torres’ writing style isn’t unique or different, but it works. It’s the type of music that just makes you nod your head up and down with the beat. It can make you happy, it can make you sad. But in the end, whatever the emotion, I can never forget what Nick Torres’ songs did for me and what they led me to.

6. Jesse Lacey (Brand New)

Brand New was a band I began to enjoy very late in their career. The first album of theirs I listened to and really enjoyed was Your Favorite Weapon, but that was way after its initial release. I was a fan that entered during The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me era, where fans were split between loving it and hating it. Brand New is one of the very few bands that has evolved into a different style of music with each of their albums, but I am definitely not one of the fans who hates on any one particular album. I love them all for different reasons. Jesse Lacey’s writing style has been both revered and mocked by many people, but personally I think Jesse is a solid songwriter. Songs like “You Won’t Know” and “Limousine” are the ones which had me instantly hooked. The melodies, the riffs, the vocals, the actual lyrics themselves were all wonderful to my ears. There is no way I would ever forget to put Jesse Lacey into my list of favorite songwriters.

5. Ace Enders (The Early November, I Can Make a Mess Like Nobody's Business)

The Early November is another one of those bands who I unfortunately was introduced to incredibly late. The Room’s Too Cold was released in 2003, but I hadn’t heard it in its entirety until around 2005 or 2006. That album has had a profound impact on me in many ways. It’s one of those pieces of music where every song sounds so depressing, and yet you can’t stop listening. I remember the first time I heard “Everything’s Too Cold...But You’re So Hot,” specifically the part at the end where Ace is screaming. It was like an incredible feeling of empathy came over me, because I have had many situations in my own life where I felt like just screaming and getting it out of my system. The screaming for Ace always came across to me as a release of emotion, a way to get it all out and feel better. His lyrics are some of the most beautiful I have ever read, and his voice is both calming and soothing. I have also had an opportunity to see Ace Enders play in person, and it amazed me how wonderful his voice was live. I felt like if I closed my eyes, I was listening to a recording. It’s that type of genuineness that is so hard to find in many musicians today. In my opinion, the best song he has ever written is “1000 Times a Day.”

4. Anthony Green (Circa Survive)

Like I've mentioned before, a lot of the musicians on this list have some of the most unique voices you will ever hear. Anthony Green might be number one or two if we were going to make a list of most distinguishable voices. He straight up sounds like a girl sometimes, and I won't even say that's a bad thing. What I love most about Anthony Green is that he can make a song sound wonderful on an album, and then sing the same song acoustically and give it a whole other life, as if it is a completely different song. For example, "Dyed In the Wool" is a song on his most recent work with Circa Survive, Blue Sky Noise. The acoustic version of the song has a fundamentally different feel to it. Each song breaths life in a different way, and therein lies the genius of Anthony Green. I find his voice and his lyrics to be enticing to the point where I can't just listen to one Circa Survive song: I have to listen to the entire album from start to finish. It's the type of music that gets into your brain and takes control. There aren't many musicians who make me feel the way Anthony Green does.

3. Ben Folds (Ben Folds Five)

There is a subtlety about the way Ben Folds makes his music. He is never too overbearing or too loud or too obnoxious. He is perfectly quaint in the way you would expect a pianist with thick rimmed glasses to be. He sings because he has stories to tell, not just because he wants to sugarcoat deeper meanings with metaphors. If he has something to say, he says it, and that is why I love Ben Folds. Some of my favorite Ben Folds songs include "Don't Change Your Plans" and "Carrying Cathy," However, Ben may never write a more beautiful song than "The Luckiest." It's just one of those songs that is inexplicable. It can't be described. It has to be felt. After listening to it for the first time, I remember I had a tear in my eye. The beauty of Ben Folds' style is that he isn't singing about sad things, nor is he singing to make us sad. He sings from the heart, and sometimes it is more than we can handle. Ben Folds is quite simply one of the best musicians of our generation.

2. Andrew McMahon (Something Corporate, Jack's Mannequin)

I've been lucky enough to see Andrew McMahon perform three times in person, and each time was more of a treat than the last. His music is the closest I can think of to crack. It's catchy, it's fun, sometimes it's sad, but mostly it's beautiful. Whether he's singing a cute ballad about love like in "MFEO: Part 1 - Made For Each Other, Part 2 - You Can Breathe," or trying to depress us with his woes like in "Walking By," Andrew McMahon is guaranteed to get your emotions going. He has some of the most emotionally driven songs I've ever heard. There was something special about the way he performs on stage, writhing from left to write while never letting his fingers leave the keys of his beloved piano; and the way he closes his eyes as he sings, feeling every word that comes out of his mouth and into his own ears; and the way he still tours despite being a victim (and a conquerer) of Leukemia. His words inspire me. His words touch me. His words have been there for me on a lot of nights where I felt nothing else would suffice. And if I could pick one happy moment in my own life that I could never forget, it would be Andrew McMahon belting out the final words of "Me and the Moon" on a rainy night in New York City, before standing on top of his piano and thanking the fans for being so great; and if I could have, I would have thanked him for the same reason.

1. Kevin Devine (Kevin Devine and the Goddamn Band, Miracle of 86)

Trying to explain why I have come to love this man so much over the past few years is difficult to do. Maybe I'm biased, considering we were both born and raised in Brooklyn, and we both moved to Staten Island as twelve year olds, and we both went to the same high school, and we are both kind of Irish. It's none of that though. It's some inexplicable feeling that I get when I hear his music. He's a real human being, with real issues, and real problems. And he sings about them. I think the special part of Kevin Devine is he lived through personal turmoil for a good portion of his life, and not only did he conquer it, but he found a way to overcome it through music. I saw Kevin Devine perform in Brooklyn two summers ago, and to say it was a wonderful experience does not do it justice. That man stood on stage and performed 24 songs to a crowd of people who were simply in awe. I will never forget the way he stepped out of the shadows on stage right before his first song, “Ballgame” (you can see the actual performance I saw here), with his acoustic guitar in hand. As he sang, the crowd watched with an intense awe that I had never seen in any crowd before. As I stood there, whispering the words to myself, I realized that all musicians sing about their life and their problems, but not many can do it the way that Kevin Devine does it.