Michelle Shocked: The Dark Horse of 2005

2005 was a slow year in music for me because most of my favorite artists released new albums in 2004. That's probably why I had time to notice and care that Michelle Shocked put out three new albums this year. Normally I don't go out of my way to collect her stuff, although I did pick up her 2002 disc "Deep Natural" (but, I didn't even get into it that much.) Something just told me to go ahead and pick up all three of her new albums: "Don't Ask Don't Tell," "Mexican Standoff" and "Got No Strings." I picked them up in July, gave each disc a brief run-through in my car on a lunch break, and then quickly decided that I had definitely wasted my money and I would never listen to these discs again. I just wasn't that impressed. But, fast forward to now, the end of December and I suddenly remembered the Christmas about 12 years ago when I got Shocked's "Arkansas Traveler" CD. Something about this time of year made me want to listen to Michelle Shocked as a way to remember how much I enjoyed that album when I first got it. But, instead of merely throwing on my "Arkansas Traveler" CD, I decided to give her new CD's one more chance to impress me. I put all three in my carousel and just listened to most of the tracks at random. Slowly but surely, "Don't Ask Don't Tell" and "Mexican Standoff" started to really grow on me. I decided I can still hold off on "Got No Strings" since that disc is made up of Michelle's covers of Disney songs. I'd rather get to know her original songs. About a week after I first gave them a second chance, those two CD's are the only ones I even think about listening to. So, Michelle Shocked is definitely the dark horse of 2005 for me. In a year that was really slow in terms of new releases, I'm so excited to have these two Michelle Shocked albums. Thanks, Michelle!!!