Asleep in the Back - Elbow
First impressions can color a CD forever, and that happened with this one. I put it in my CD player one night before I went to sleep, too eager to hear it to wait until the morning. I ended up starting to drift off and turning it off. Usually this is one of my favorite ways to first listen to an album- putting it into my computer to hear the first time often means that I start paying attention to work (which I probably should be doing anyway...) or web surfing, and the CD plays through without my really hearing it. Putting it on late at night, instead, forces my attention onto it. Unless it's an album like this one... really, it's quite pretty, and tracks like Powder Blue brush up against beautiful. Unfortunately, it's very quiet- not in itself a bad thing- but then there isn't quite enough of something there to bring me back. I tried breaking the dark-room-at-night connotation by playing it in my car for a few sunny morning drives, but the connection stuck. It feels gloomy and contemplative and like it should be played under a roof with raining smacking against it.

And presuming that you make it to Presuming Ed (Rest Easy)... dear lord.