This resolution thing is really cramping my style.
About a month ago I went on vacation, back to Maryland. I had to stop by The Soundgarden, my very own personal Mecca. I spent hours there scouring the racks and just reminiscing and soaking in how great it was to be back in the greatest store in the world.
Of course I couldn’t leave empty handed, so I picked up a few CDs:
Peter Bjorn and John – Writer’s Block
Noisettes – What’s the Time Mr. Wolf?
Damien Rice – 0
Damien Rice – 9
Snow Patrol – Eyes Open
The Decemberists – The Crane Wife
I basically copped Writer’s Block and What’s the Time Mr. Wolf? because of seeing the groups perform on TV and/or write-ups in Paste.
My first encounter with Damien Rice, back in ’03, almost drove me to suicide, and I wasn’t even listening to it; my roommate was. Still, 0 was a real downer. However I’d grown to appreciate Rice’s stylings in subsequent years and felt it was due time to add him to the collection.
I picked up Eyes Open because my friend had “You Could Be Happy” as her ringback for me, and I honestly just wanted to hear how the song ended up.
And The Crane Wife made it because Paste said it was the best album of last year. Plus my mom’s even curious about the group.
Sadly, with the exception of the first two albums, nothing else has really gotten any burn. And it’s all because of that blasted New Year’s resolution. Ok, not all, but at least 50% of the blame can be assigned there.
I’ve pretty much been stuck listening to resolution albums and stuff that’s eligible for my inevitable “Best of 2007” list including the three albums I’ve picked up in last couple of weeks:
Fabolous – From Nothin’ to Somethin’
Queens of the Stone Age – Era Vulgaris
The White Stripes – Icky Thump
And as great as Paste said The Crane Wife was, it came out last year which means it’s getting relegated away from the front. And given that nearly every Tuesday for the next month has at least one new album being released that I’m going to buy, “away from the front” keeps getting farther and farther away.
Would it really be that wrong to bail on my resolution? I mean, I made it a third of the way there—that’s an accomplishment. It might not be the greatest achievement, but it should count for something, right?
I guess only time will tell if I’m going to stick this thing out.
