In the Closet

The label "alt-folk" makes me throw up, but recently that's all I've been listening to. I put the blame squarely on Suzanne Vega's "Beauty & Crime" disc. I had ignored Suzanne Vega after her 1987 "Solitude Standing," but I picked up her new disc because it is a paean to New York City post 9/11. I got hooked big time. I'm the type of person who likes to burn things out fast; that is, I listen to the same album five times a day for two weeks straight. I started to snuff the life out of the poor CD, so I went searching for more. At my library, I found "99.9 F. degrees" and "Songs in Red and Gray." Those CDs are now on continuous rotation. But, soon, I'll need more. It's hard to admit that I'm a Suzanne Vega fan. I guess I'm in denial. Perhaps it's all because of that cringe-worthy "alt-folk" label.