Armed with my 25% discount voucher I raided Borders for a few New Year gifts of music for myself.

1) Amy Winehouse "Back to Black". I couldn't go on being the only person on the planet not to own this CD. Why do the great voices so often come with the shit life?

2) Guy Sebastian "The Memphis Album". OK, stop screaming! Bless me father for I have sinned: I voted for Guy to win Oz Idol. There! it's out in the open so let's get on with our lives. This is the music his voice is so well suited for and it's full of damned fine versions of some great classics. And Big Jay loves it too. Bonus.

3) Ben Lee "Ripe". Look it's taken some work to get over the mental hurdle of being a fan of someone my much younger sister went to school with but I loved (and continue to love) his last offering "Awake is the new sleep". It's on constant rotation in the car. This promises to be more of the same.

4) Soundtrack "Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man". Well, (this almost deserves it's own blog entry) almost exactly three years ago my life was changed forever when I sat alone (with a few thousand strangers) in the Opera House Concert Hall and had what can only be described as being as close to a spiritual experience as I'm ever going to have. Came So Far For Beauty was the most beautiful, amazing, life shattering concert I have ever been to and this is the CD of some selected songs from the Sydney and Brighton, UK performances of this show. Some favourites amongst the full sixteen magical moments:

* Song 2: "Tonight Will Be Fine" Teddy Thompson (who is this guy? and why does he make me want to cry?).

* Song 7: "If It Be Your Way" Antony (well my thoughts and feelings on this beautiful strange man-angel-creature are well documented). This song tears out my heart (but I still wish they had instead or as well as included his magical version of "The Guests").

* Song 9: "Famous Blue Raincoat" The Handsome Family (superb!)

* Song 10: "Bird on a Wire" Perla Batalla (Perla was one of Leonard's original back up singers and her love of his music is painful and exquisite - this song is magical).

* Song 11: "Everybody Knows" Rufus Wainwright (can this man possibly be any gayer? I love him and I love this wonderful song).

Some great music for my summer 2008 life soundtrack.