Made In England

status check - Decent
background ambiance - The Charlatans, "Impossible"

I rediscovered the Charlatans recently, after I found my copy of the Arcadia soundtrack.

My college theater department decided to produce the play during my senior year - after experiencing most of the backstage roles for several years, I was able to experience the process onstage. I played Chloe, the 18-year-old "old enough to vote on her back." British accent and all.

During the rehearsal process, my director asked the cast to make a list of music we listened to or thought of while getting into our characters and learning our lines. Ultimately, we each submitted a song or two for a compliation that became the house music and our soundtrack.

I'd started listening to the Charlatans right around the same time, and I'd become hooked on "The Blonde Waltz." I came to associate it with the character and, thus, added it to the soundtrack.

But I'd never been able to actually find the album on which it appeared.

Sometime between now and then, I forgot about it. Didn't even think about it until I popped in the Arcadia disc to rock out to "Shameless." The song came on and I was in disbelief about having let such a good song slip my mind.

Thanks to the wonders of Ebay (and my flatmate, who uses Ebay like it's her job), a small parcel from California arrived last night. I tore open the envelope and gleefully trilled over the "Made in England" sticker on back. "Us and Us Only"! It arrived!

And it's been worth the wait. The Charlatans have this quasi-Elliott Smith, quasi-Bob Dylan, quasi-Travis sound that just makes me happy.

In that British alternarock mellow and melancholy bittersweet way.

The whole world is like a postcard / Easy lost and easy to reach / And if this is where you're going / I will surely leave