January, 2008: It was a cold, rainy, night in St. Louis, Missouri and my brain felt sufficiently depleted after hours of studying for my next mechanical engineering exam. News had just broke that the British band Radiohead had released their 7th studio album In Rainbows, and in a fit of excitement I downloaded the album to my iPod. Armed with those now ubiquitous white Apple earbuds, I lied down on my bed in my small college apartment and hit 'play'. Layers upon layers of sonic brilliance filled my eardrums, as lead singer Thom Yorke's haunting voice took me on a deep, somber journey.