Avril Lavigne: gateway drug
It could be a coincidence, sure. At about the time that I snagged my first Avril album (Wait. Have there even been others? That answers your query, Clare.) I started to realize that there was a whole lot of music out there. I assume some part of me already knew that fact, seeing as I had multiple friends with CD case upon CD case, but I had always managed quite nicely on less than 25 CDs. Suddenly, it occurred to me that the world was more than SK8r boi and what the radio was feeding me.

Fast forward to today where I now consume what the Listening rack at the local independent bookstore is feeding me. (Still with quite a bit of restraint compared to some.) Today's entrees are a fun bluegrassy, folksy, female-driven The Ditty Bops and Petra Hayden sings the Who Sell Out. I'm not much of a The Who fan. The Who? Exactly. has often been my motto, although I suppose I did name a snowboard after a rock opera that I'd never seen, but that is neither... Right. So this Petra character sings the whole album, a live album from what I'm told. When I say the whole album, I mean everything. This is an acapella version of The Who Sell Out , all the drums, the guitars, the-one-can only-imagines-what-The Who-plays all sung by Petra. When I first heard it, I found out that I did know one song, "I can see for Miles and Miles," but basically through the whole unfamiliar album I didn't know whether I was supposed to laugh or be moved. I kind of like that in a CD and I couldn't get it out of my head, so today I bought it. I can't decide whether to laugh or praise it for being beautiful. Maybe I should ask Avril.