I'm completely and unabashedly jaded about music. Especially music today. And most particularly (because it's closest), local music today. So, Sean Nicholas Savage's set at Friday's Fringe Pop stage caught me totally off-guard. Savage's voice is not current. When I tried to explain it to a friend, I invoked musical qualifiers like Cat Stevens, Tiny Tim, Simon & Garfunkel (on the "Picturebook" track off his "Spread Free Like a Butterfly" LP, Savage's repeated imploration "Even if you don't love me now / I love you / I love you" directly conjures Garfunkel's soaring, goosebump-inducing "I love you" from the closing of "For Emily, Wherever I May Find Her"), and Canada's original Lonely Boy, Paul Anka. More than anything, I explained to my friend, no one listening to one of Savage's recordings would guess that it had been made any later than 1970. "You mean, without any effects or pedals or anything he just sounds old timey?" she asked incredulously. Yes, gloriously, yes, his recipe is unique, compelling and exciting enough to re-insinuate Montreal onto the world's musical map. If he's a matinee idol in the making (and believe me, he is), I've been practicing my best smitten-teen fainting move, and I've got a free pair of hurl-ready knickers on standby. Look for another of Savage's free performances at 2PM on June 26, when he takes to the outdoor stage at St. Joseph and St. Laurent as part of the Popolo in the Park lineup.