Two can play this game...

It would seem that Sarah's iPod and mine contain at least a few of the same indie rock faves, although I must confess that I don't keep much in the way of classical music on mine. In any case, I love comparing music collections, so I'm shuffling my iPod, and I'll throw out the first five tracks that come up...

Restless - Alison Krauss & Union Station. I don't think music gets any better than AKUS, especially in the years since dobro master Jerry Douglas joined the band. All country music should sound like this.

Number Six Driver - Eddie From Ohio. A wistful road song from an occasionally silly but endearing band I've loved since college. They're actually from Virginia, not Ohio, but they do at least have a drummer named Eddie. They show up in Minneapolis about once a year, usually at the Cedar, and put on one of the best live shows out there.

The Laws Have Changed - The New Pornographers. I have mixed feelings about this. On the one hand, I love this band like no other, and I've always thought that the album this song comes from is their most underrated. On the other hand, I've been trying to see them live for about three years, and every time they show up at First Ave, I buy the tickets, find friends to go with, and then am forced to cancel at the last minute because of some family emergency. Honestly. It's happened three times. I'm actually scared even to plan to see them now.

Two Lights - Five For Fighting. Yes, I have Five For Fighting on my iPod. A lot of it, actually. Does this somehow destroy any indie cred I've built up with EFO and the Pornographers? Don't care. John Ondrasik's voice is one of the most soothing things I know, and any band named after a hockey penalty is fine by me.

Wings - Josh Ritter. I actually went to college with Josh, back when he was starting to realize he might have some serious songwriting skills, and I was the entertainment manager of the local coffeehouse. Any time I had an open night on our schedule, he'd show up and sing, even if it was for only four or five people. I lost track of him after graduation, until the day my old friend Ellen Stanley (now of KFAI radio) handed me his second album, "Hello Starling," and said, "Remember Josh? You've gotta hear this." If there are still such things as the voice of a generation, Josh Ritter should be one. (They already know this in Ireland and the UK, where he's a bona fide star.)

Well, that was an enjoyable way to kill ten minutes on a snowy Sunday morning. Maybe we should make a regular thing of this iPod sharing business. In fact, I believe I'll create a tag for it, just in case. And if anyone wants to share their own list in the comments, fire away...