If I was sent away to the mountains for some interderminate time, and I was only allowed twenty albums, I think these would be the ones I'd take. As of today, anyway.

Most of these are perennials - albums that are intertwined with my history, burned into my neural pathways in some way, or chained to particular times or emotions. It's a tough decision, and many favourites have been left behind. I worry there's not enough diversity here - because actually my music collection is very diverse. But from this I was formed, and that's the way it is.

Most of my favourite music comes from the era I was born rather than the era I grew up in (though I have a lot of favourite music from that period too). Here is a record cover grid of most of the albums I own from the year I was born. I'll let you work out what they are and when it was!

Went up to London last night (it's been a while) to meet up with Ellie as she had complimentary tickets to the Music For Youth Schools Prom 2006 (in fact we were in one of the Music For Youth boxes). This was my first visit to the Albert Hall, a magnificent building but not the greatest acoustics, I have to say, certainly for the rockier acts. The evening was compered by Richard Stilgoe, Howard Goodall and Lisa Duncombe, and was hugely enjoyable with a wide varierty of music on show.

Highlights included the taiko drummers (a form that swept me off my feet at the Japan Expo in L.A in 1985), the vacuum-tube bass sounds provided by Mixed Up (a troupe who bashed kitchen sinks and shopping trolleys), Sur-Taal (sitar, and I love the sound of a drone), and the City of Belfast Youth Orchestra who really stood out. The evening ended with Land of Hope and Glory and flag-waving, not my strong-point, but I joined in, of course.

In early 1992 Steerpike were still building up a set of original material, so we played a number of covers. In an attempt to be a bit different from the many local blues-rock bands, these covers included four songs by The Cure - In Between Days, Love Cats, Boys Don't Cry and A Forest. Besides that, quite a few of our friends and fans liked The Cure, and they had been a local band too (we were from East Grinstead, they had originated in Crawley).

I have put up a page that features tape recordings from a gig we played at The Ravenswood Inn, Sharpethorne, in May 1992 - those days were really enjoyable and happy times. Hope you enjoy the recordings.

I bought the Wolfmother album off iTunes as someone told me they were reminiscent of Overtoad - the first band I was in. More than one review mentions Black Sabbath and Deep Purple, and while I think they do have that vibe about them, they more strongly resemble bands like Grand Funk (c.1969) and Blue Cheer, and are not too dissimilar to the White Stripes, or even Supergrass. Though I agree with Pete about it wearing off quite quickly, I do like it, and it's perfect to hide amongst the iTunes playlist to pop up randomly every now and then. It's good stuff (with variable lyrics).

They come complete with a Frank Frazetta cover (what could be more apt?) and it's nice to hear that the E-minor pentatonic scale is in pretty good hands and still doing what it does best.