#1: ‘Going To Georgia’ – The Mountain Goats

For many people, there's a crystallising moment in which they can recall discovering their favourite band. Maybe they saw them support another band? Maybe they saw their latest single on MTV? Or maybe, in my case, they saw a movie that had nothing to do with the band. Yes, back in the mid-'00s, I found …

#2: ‘Shitty Future’ – The Bronx

I would have been just fresh out of high school when The Bronx came my way. While I knew they'd been around for a while, and while I knew of their Mariachi El Bronx alter egos, I had never managed to actually hear their music. Like most musical discoveries, The Bronx came to me thanks to …

#3: ‘My Girls’ – Animal Collective

If you gave music even a casual glance back in 2009, it would've been impossible to avoid to hear the name Animal Collective. An experimental group from Baltimore, the group had been around under their current name since 2003, though they'd dropped a few records prior to that time under different guises. While their seventh …

#4: ‘Lateralus’ – Tool

It was my first year of high school that I got into Tool, however, I couldn't tell you how I got into them precisely. What I remember is asking a friend of mine who was in the know if a band called Tool had a song I had heard of called 'Stinkfist', or if it was …

#5: ‘Web In Front’ – Archers Of Loaf

There's a famous story about Archers Of Loaf in the Australian music industry. It's not for the band's music or live performances, but rather the fact that they became somewhat well-known due to their constant appearances on the ABC's late-night music show Rage. For the life of me, I can't confirm where I heard the story, …

#6: ‘The Great Beyond’ – R.E.M.

2003 was the year I really got into R.E.M. Sure, I'd heard numerous songs of their's over the years, but despite never really knowing who they were at the time, it was the release of their compilation album In Time that really stuck with me. Following a teacher of mine playing 'Everybody Hurts' in class, I …

#7: ‘A Letter From Janelle (Acoustic)’ – Chiodos

I recall hearing about Chiodos back in about 2006, not too long after the release of their debut album. By this point, they already had a reputation as one of those classic emo bands of the era, whose music was perfectly suited for the Myspace generation. Needless to say, it resonated with me so much …

#8: ‘Pachuca Sunrise’ – Minus The Bear

When I first came across Minus The Bear, they struck me as one of those indie math-rock outfits whose emotional limitations were as obvious of their fondness for complex time signatures and intricate guitarwork. Of course, this was a generalisation that lasted as long as it took me to press play on a second song, …

#9: ‘Alive With The Glory Of Love’ – Say Anything

I'm well aware by this point how strange and esoteric my love of music can be. In fact, I've seen myself write about numerous songs composed from various points of view that feature strange verse and chorus structures, and some of the most unexpected lyrics imaginable. When it comes to the latter, none appear more …

#10: ‘Pinstripe (Acoustic)’ – Something For Kate

When I first got into Something For Kate many years ago, I had a lot of catching up to do. In fact, a mixture of being too young to see them, a number of years off, and a litany of other reasons meant I didn't see them until early 2014 – many, many years after …