Venerdì 10 Nov 2006, 19:52

I went out and visited my locally owned CD shop today. As usual, I bought a serious amount of things but not much new. I think I decided to go back in time and pick up some things that were missing in the collection.

All You Can Eat - For a time, I wanted to be my college roommate. Kate was older than me. She had been going to Harvard for poetry before Berklee. She aspired to be on the stage next to Ani diFranco. She shaved her head within the first few hours of meeting me. She spent a month on an Alaskan glacier. She had this album and many, many others that were very new to my very closeted, Midwestern ears. I guess I still, like Ben Folds said, wanna be Kate.

Afterglow - At last, the monster is complete! Oh, except for that new Tim Finn album that I totally missed. D'oh.

Falling Farther In - I think I like the first album better, but we'll see. I first heard them on the now defunct WorldClassRock.com. Ok, it's still around but they fired all the DJs, who I had grown to know and love. Because I was probably their only listener, I managed to win tickets to see Richard Thompson twice (!) and Five for Fighting (it was an unknown artist showcase - he was somewhat less whiny then) plus a Family Feud handheld game (…yeah, I don't know…), a mousepad, and a Phish girlie t-shirt.

Hell's Ditch - Once upon a high school sophomore year, I had a partially long-distance relationship with a significantly older guy from Minnesota. He would buy me things like The Dark Crystal on Beta (Beta?!?!) from Goodwill and make me mix tapes. This album was the B-side to Fisherman's Blues. What perfect companion albums. Thank you, Rob….wherever you are.

Kiko - Ok, so I used to watch Sesame Street in college. Yeah, I don't know why, either. I was so blown away when Los Lobos showed up and did a live version of Kiko as "Elmo & the Lavender Moon" that I threw a tape in ye olde VCR and accidentally taped over a homework assignment. I'm a sucker for the accordion, but I remember really loving the whole little video they put together with Elmo dancing on rooftops.

I Can Hear The Heart Beating As One - Another college album I missed out on buying because I was too busy listening to Schoenberg, jazz, and film music to get to it. I remember it coming out, though, and knowing that I'd have to have it one day.

Born in the U.K. - I never bought his other stuff but I always watch About A Boy when it's on and cry like a baby. Then I sing that jangly little song for days. So I decided it was time.

And I'm studying up for my new career as Poorly Rendered Girl.