Everything has to start somewhere. From the assassination of
Archduke Franz Ferdinand to a small tax on tea for colonials, most
major events and societies have a definitive impetus that brings
about unforeseen changes. My love of new music, as well as my
career as a music snob, can be traced back to one album: Ben Lee’s
“Breathing Tornadoes.” Whether this was the start of something good
or bad is still under debate, but it is certainly something that
has influenced my life tremendously.

Flashback to freshman year of high school: I was your typical
music listener, relying on local radio to supply most of my music.
I was by that time a die-hard U2 fan, and their albums occupied a
strong majority of my meager record collection. In fact, it was all
I really listened to, and I was starting to get tired of it. I
needed something new to tickle my musical palate. Radio was of no
help, as I really didn’t love anything being played on the Top 40
stations, or even the alternative radio stations. MTV didn’t help
either, as it was around then that they started moving away from
music and into more pop-cultural pursuits.

It must also be noted at this time that I was, and still am for
the most part, a very thrifty person. I would often take months
between buying CDs, doing extensive research to make sure that my
purchase would be worth giving up my allowance money. I must have
thought about buying “The Joshua Tree” for about three months
before buying it, and then waited another six before buying further
U2 albums. The only reason I even got into U2 was because they had
such a huge pop-culture thumbprint that I was assured again and
again that this was a good band. As I figured back then, any decent
band has had a hit single and big-selling album. Any band without
such credentials was probably no good, and unworthy of my money.
How na�ve I was.

Ironically, MTV proved to be my salvation from such thinking. I
was watching the channel one day when it showed a “You Hear it
First” short on Lee and “Breathing Tornadoes.” The way they made it
sound, Lee was destined to go huge with the album, and that we, the
viewers, should get in on the ground floor. These were the days
before Napster, so I had to go with just the snippets I heard
during the short, but I kind of liked what I heard. In one of my
few “Oh, what the hell” moments back then, I went out to the record
store and bought it. (I’m happy to report my “Oh, what the hell”
moments have increased over the years, as my friends can attest
to.)

I certainly got my money’s worth. Between glittering pop tunes
and plaintive ballads, “Breathing Tornadoes” was just what I needed
at the time. Even my brother, who was a few years ahead in age and
musical taste, liked the album enough to play it for some
co-workers, who in turn liked the album.

I felt like I had found some precious stone while walking around
the neighborhood, and now everyone wanted to have a look. It is a
rush that at this point has grown to be something of an addiction,
as I am now almost constantly trying to find new music and share it
with others–thus my tenure as a music critic for this
newspaper.

I am also now much more of a risk-taker when I go to the record
store, sometimes buying albums after only reading a good review
from a trusted source. Sometimes I buy a dud, but this happens
about once every 20 CDs I buy.

Even to this day, whenever I’m on the fence about buying an
album from an up-and-coming group I haven’t heard a lot about, I
think back to Ben Lee and the gamble that paid off. I usually end
up buying the album.

Ben Lee will open for Ben Folds this Friday as a part of SLU’s
homecoming celebration.

Drew Ewing is a senior studying aerospace
engineering.