Waiting for My Okkervil River CD to Arrive

I recently ordered a couple of albums from Amazon Marketplace. They were Loves Comes Close by Cold Cave and Down the River of Golden Dreams by Okkervil River.

The Cold Cave album arrived very promptly indeed, and while it's nowhere near as satisfying as the more recent Cherish the Light Years, it is a pretty cool slice of Joy Division-imitating electrogoth.

As of this morning, however, I'm still waiting for that Okkervil River album.

Sure, the cover is horrifying, but I bet the music is awesome!

My order was placed almost two weeks ago now, and I've had the email telling me that it's been dispatched, so what gives? Is the seller just trying to heighten my anticipation? Because as I've mentioned previously, that's a double-edged sword; if the album is as good as I'm hoping it is, happy days, but if it's a disappointment, its delayed arrival will only compound that disappointment.

And, just to be clear, I have some SERIOUSLY high hopes for this album. You may remember that Down Down the Deep River was my favourite song of 2013, and given the nominal similarities, I'm expecting Down the River of Golden Dreams to be an entire album of Down Down the Deep Rivers. A shaky assumption to make, I know, but I'm counting on Okkervil River to pull it off.

This is also the first time I've gone backwards in my exploration of the Okkervil River catalogue (the first OR album I bought was The Stage Names, followed by I Am Very Far and then The Silver Gymnasium). If this record is a let-down, it may well put me off venturing any further; I may choose to assume that Okkervil River only recently became a band worth listening to, and other early releases like Black Sheep Boy and Don't Fall in Love with Everyone You See may never get a chance to prove me wrong.

So the onus is on you, Down the River of Golden Dreams, and on you, the mail courier who is hopefully posting said album through my letterbox right now. The longer it takes, the higher the stakes get.

Footnote: I realise that the time spent writing this blog may have been better spent messaging the Amazon seller who has thus far failed to endow me with an Okkervil River CD, but then you guys wouldn't get to join in on the fun, would you?