Exceptionally Uncaught

During my second year at uni, around the time my disposable income had hit record levels, I decided my CD collection was serverly lacking. Part of this was because my CD collection was actually very small, but the main reason was that my best friend had (and still has) a collection bigger than God.

So I came up with a cunning plan. I decided that each month I would purchase a CD. Of course, this didn't stop me from getting other CDs, but it would be at least one a month. I came up with a few rules for my idea. The CD couldn't be more than $25. Since part of the point was to take some "musical risks" rather than just buy the CDs I know I'll love every track on, I couldn't have heard more than a few of the tracks. The CD had to be an actual album - no "best of"s, no sound tracks, no compilations. And lastly, I couldn't already have an album by the artist.

My first purchase was Under the Pink by Tori Amos for $14.95. While I was initially disapointed with it, over the years it's grown on me, and I'd now rate it very highly. But this isn't meant to be a review of every CD I own. Maybe later...

My plan worked really well. Since I'd be in the CD shop (usually the sadly missed Impact Records) buying something at least once a month, I'd usually pick up one or two extras. And I'd always be seeing more stuff I was interested in listening to. By the end of the year my collection had gone from pathetic to reasonable.

CD of the Month has long since stopped - trips overseas, having to deal with real bills, a morgtage and getting married have all meant less money to throw around. But I still get to the CD store every few months or so. So why am I telling this story? I'm glad you asked.

Simon's CD of the Quarter
The Overture & the Undertow by Sarah Blasko
This is a great album. I picked it up a few weeks after my birthday last year. I'd heard All Coming Back and Don't U Eva (but I didn't actually realise Don't U Eva was Ms Blasko until I listen to the CD), and figured I'd give some new Australian music a listen. The first half of the album is probably stronger than the second, with both the tracks I mentioned being my favourites (particularly Don't U Eva). But it's certainly not an album you'd turn off after track 5. If you did, you'd miss Perfect Now and Counting Sheep, both of which are fantastic.
The Overture & the Undertow is also the one CD I've ever had trouble with copying songs onto a computer (so I can listen to them through Media Player or iTunes). I suspect this has more to do with a glitch on my CD rather than anything clever done by the record company, but I still thought it was interesting. Any computer I tried to play the last track on would crash, so I haven't given Remorse much of a listen to.
In one of those random "wow, the world really is a small place!" things, I discovered last month that one of my friends actually knows Sarah Blasko. He met her in Sydney and was telling me all about her album run. Apparently she's a really cool person in life, and I'm hoping that I'll get the chance to meet her at some point. It's just another thing that makes this album really great to me.

Just as a side note, anyone I work with can have a listen to any of the music I talk about here. It's all shared through iTunes. Hopefully you won't think my tastes suck too much...