I have several promises I have not fulfilled as of the moment, and for anybody whose even seen it and is waiting... sorry. My bad.

This comes first, though...

If this is a blog for a record store, shouldn't I say something about the music I'm listening to? I'd say it sounds about right. So for the heck of it, why not do a post about the albums and artists that have popped into my CD player over the last few months. It's not my personal all-time favs, just recent.

10. Coheed & Cambria- In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3 (2003)

When this album debuted, I was 12 going on 13, and immersing myself in music that I wanted to hear. It was pretty much me crawling out of the ocean and growing legs. Coheed & Cambria were on the MTV (anybody remember that?), but I was not a fan of the music. Claudio's voice got on my nerves. The music videos were entertaining, and during that summer as I switched back and forth between MTV, MTV2, VH1, VH1-Classic, and the then new and up-and-coming Fuse, I didn't change the channel. As time went on I realized it was a band I could learn to like, but didn't have time to at those moments. Some six years later, the most recent album is released, and a friend of mine had bought the deluxe package which came with the novelization. I read the inside cover, knowing only that the albums were tied together in a story arc, and fell in love with the concept. I wanted to read that book, but it would be wrong to do so without understanding the music. Thus, I began purchasing the albums, In Keeping Secrets was the third I purchased, and it really stuck-- probably because of the affiliation to my primordial origins. As a result, since about April it's been in the background of my activities fairely often.

9. Arctic Monkeys- Favourite Worst Nightmare (2007)

Another friend of mine introduced me to the Arctic Monkeys around the time this one came out. I fell in love with the straightforward sound, but back then, I was but a 15 year old pre-teen with no source of income, and great music like this doesn't exactly show up used. About two-three months ago, I jumped at the sight of it once a customer brought it in, and dug my teeth in deeper with each listen. It was one of those albums I could play and not get anybody PO'd about it. These are the kind of guys I could see myself paying large amounts of money to see live.

8. Depeche Mode- Songs of Faith and Devotion (1993)

While I'm not compiling an all-time favs list, this is in fact on that list. It was the most rock-oriented of any Depeche Mode album released. So much so, that the live touring required the hiring of a backing band on drums, bass, and keys so that Dave Gahan, Martin Gore, and the others could play legitimate instruments. To most people, it's not a rock album. And they're right. But for me, to see that they made an effort (and I don't care what haters say, they did a fine job on it) and pull it off quite well, defining what all future shows would look and sound like. There was a need for them to have an album that you didn't dance to, but one you could jam to. I bought this back in 2007, and it's uncommon at this point for me to go long periods of time without plugging it in. The blasphemy and the questioning of higher power and the static and legitimate use of guitars for the first time in their career just make me shiver.

7. Muse- Origin of Symmetry (2001)

One thing that disgusts me is the influx of teenage girls who believe Muse got their start with the Twilight series. It may as well be the equivalent of saying the Holocaust never happened-- though denying the Holocaust makes you look bad whereas saying that Muse's success stems 100% from Twilight is just lack of education and ignorance because pop music culture isn't taught in our schools (and to this moment, I don't know if that's good or bad...). To sum up what I'm saying, this was the second release by them, and the last before their breakthrough with Absolution (and to any Twilight fans learning something new, one album before Blackholes and Revelations, which featured your favorite Muse song, probably, "Supermassive Blackhole"). It took a while for me to warm up to it. Muse was still a very new experience for me even if it was their second album I had purchased. A few years later I'm finding it's something I can plug in and tune out the world with for any reason I want. My mood doesn't have to dictate the reason why.

6. Pink Floyd- Wish You Were Here (1975)

I've loved Pink Floyd since I was in diapers, yet I had never owned a CD until about four weeks ago. Not counting the records I had already owned, this was my first Pink Floyd album. As a tribute to Syd Barrett, it's great in itself, but the flexibility it has relating to people in my own life gives it the spark that made it special to me. There are a lot people who I wish were here as I type. On the plus side, most of them aren't dead. It's always hit me as the last album they released with any hint at the stylings of Mr. Barrett, with the title track and "Have a Cigar" containing blue-rock-y elements that pay homage to the extremely early works. I look for any excuse I can find to put this one on.

5. At the Drive-In- Relationship of Command (2000)

The last At the Drive-In album is the only one I'm familiar with. I'd been a Mars Volta fan for quite a long time, so naturally I should want to know the origins. The colossal force that was At the Drive-In is another one of those albums for me that can just go on at any moment for any reason. Mood doesn't need to dictate reason. Hearing the organized chaos of the pre- Mars Volta period made me appreciate TMV a lot more, too. Even though it was at the height of their career, I find it's probably better that way. I mean-- would we really want a treasure like this to start sounding like Sparta, the band formed by the other members of ATDI? I certainly wouldn't.

4. Mew- And the Glass-Handed Kites (2005)

I gave these guys a try just for the heck of it when their newest album No More Stories... came out. It was a pretty bad case of "I like you guys, but you're too busy and I don't have the time or patience at the moment to dedicate finding out why I like you, so let's just put this off for a bit and when I get a moment to catch my breath, we can give it a shot." So that's what I did. I came back periodically to dig out the parts I like, and I was sold. Shortly after I picked up the predecessor release, which was Glass-Handed Kites, and found it much more accessible to my pleasure. The immature lyrics and dream pop synths and riffs coaxed the ever-loving hell out of the hopeless romantic inside me, which was not a bad thing in private; but everyone I work with would make fun of me if they were to bear witness. It's a really moving album, and seamless almost. You wouldn't know the tracks were changing unless you checked the readout. The segue's into each other are probably my favorite part.

3. Nine Inch Nails- The Fragile (1999)

Anybody who knows me would ask what was wrong with me if I didn't put an NIN up here. The fact that it's not first like most people would think I would do, is only going to amount to the damage of a few raised eyebrows (and that's IF anybody sees this). The Fragile was and still is the colossally underrated and largely unknown NIN album. For the most part, it is forever trapped in the shadow of The Downward Spiral. I can't honestly think of anything wrong with this album. On a personal level, it's the one I would take with me on a desert island. My life isn't all crying and whining, but there are definitely moments here when I feel like it's a part of me; and without a doubt the one I relate most closely, to. There's enough topical matter on here to span the bridge of happy, sad, pissed for a reason, pissed for no reason, or nothing mattters anymore. And the length...oh god the length. Almost two hours over two discs, exhausting for most, not enough for me. The various stringed instruments strum the backdrop to my dreams. Yes, I know that's corny and stupid. Deal with it. This would definitely be on my all time favs list.

2. Deftones- Any of their albums (1995-2010)

Every Deftones album has frequented my ears regularly. Rather than put seven releases up here and squeeze out the others, I opted just say it: I can't decide. They've never made a bad album. The closest they've been to making a bad one was that self-titled release, which sounded mostly like White Pony B-sides and leftovers, and even that was good.

1. The Mars Volta- The Bedlam in Goliath (2008)

Concept albums are among my favorite kind to listen to, especially when written in fragmented synonyms. The duo that is Cedric and Omar create the kind of sonic storm I want to jump into head first and blindfolded and never walk away from. Largely written about the Soothsayer, the name they had given to an Ouija board Cedric had purchased in the middleeast; lyrics are mostly taken from messages written on it. They had used it so often, that they felt they had been cursed by whatever was on the other side; what I believe they had called Goliath (three people will visit through one). The problems surrounding the recording of the album lead to Cedirc breaking it in two, and then the mutual agreement to bury it in a location they would never tell the whereabouts of to anybody. Any time Ifind myself on a long drive, more often than not it will be accompanied by this album.