Already Dead - Beck - Sea Change - 2002

I've never been that big of a Beck fan, preferring the moody Mutations to the goofy, sample happy Beck that so many are quick to praise. But in the winter of 2002-2003, Sea Change simply blew my mind. It helped in part that the album was produced by long time Radiohead producer and unofficial sixth member Nigel Godrich. It also helped that it was Beck at his moodiest, without even a whiff of the "get crazy with the cheese whiz" dude.

But mostly I loved this album, cause I, like Mr. Hansen, was going through the most painful break up of my life at the time. And this album is one of the key reasons that I did not drink myself to death during that time (I also had some very wonderful friends and family to help me out, but you know...Beck helped too). The downside to that is that while I think this album is amazing, I rarely want to listen to it.