1. Death Cab for Cutie: Plans

Death Cab for Cutie's fifth album, from 2005, has a special place in our home. I forget when we became fans of DCfC, but it wasn't long after the release of this disc. The eleven songs on Plans flow together beautifully, and we immediately followed this purchase with the purchase of a box set from Barsuk Records including each of their previous eight discs and ep's...we were captured.

On February 20, 2006, our son, Sebastian Bex, was born. We went to the hospital around 5:30 in the morning and he was born at 10:40 PM.  In planning this day, we knew music would play an important role. Many, during this stressful/wonderful time, might choose the sounds of a rain forest...or some relaxing, new age, ethereal pan flute for hours...something that would just fade into the background.  Well I say this...always: What's the sense of broadcasting music if the goal is to not hear it? We played Plans over and over and over again that day. I kept offering to put something new on, but the truth is both Chelo and I enjoyed this disc, in its entirety, every single time it repeated.

The standout tracks on this disc include "Crooked Teeth" (which really stands out as the only typical, upbeat pop song), "I Will Follow You Into The Dark" (which received a Grammy nomination for Best Pop Performance in 2007), and Sebastian's absolute favorite song, "Soul Meets Body". Perhaps it's because he heard it 27 times on the day he was born, but to this day he asks me to sing it to him each and every night...and, I gotta say, I'm no Benjamin Gibbard, but I do a pretty good job. One of Sebastian's favorite moments came in June of 2008 when we took him to McMenamins Edgefield to see Death Cab for Cutie...on an expansive lawn with a blanket and picnic basket in tow. Ask him now and he'll say it was the ice cream and french fries, but it was memorable nonetheless. I've added the original video of "Soul Meets Body" for you to enjoy.