Idols

Idol #1

There are thirteen seats in the front row of the Capitol Theatre in Sydney, where Dwight Yoakam is playing in October. I have one of them. Woot! My feat was especially impressive given tickets for The Boy from Oz went on sale at the same time and I had to outplay, outwit and outlast dozens of rabid Hugh Jackman fans.

Idol #2

Jason Collett
Idols of Exile
Arts and Crafts

My rule of thumb is this: if you can imagine it being used on the soundtrack of "Felicity", it is not alt.country. So neither is this album, despite what you might read. But that's OK. This bloke is the lead singer of the band Broken Social Scene who are some kind of indie big deal. As you see from my Felicity reference, the pulse of current culture has passed me by so I can't tell you about them. I will tell you that this is a very fine record of shiny rootsy folky stuff. Ron Sexsmith or Paul Westerberg sort of territory with a voice which has the pleading quality of a Bobby Bare, Jr. Yeah, a little Ryan Adams too. There is a banjo and lovely fiddle on "We All Lose Another", my stand out, but the album is strong right through. Sometimes this lush early '70s folk-pop sound really hits the spot, mostly the spot that used to regularly be on the verge of tears by the end of a Felicity episode.

Released sometime earlier this year, acquired on a speculative whim via eBay.