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.

Local musician 'Mr Bonx' has written a short piece on East Grinstead's 101 Club in his usual unique style over at his website. The photo of the stage shows the typical Steerpike set up (they're the band I played bass in), and the story of the ceiling bowing from the dancing and jumping was at one of our gigs. When I was involved with the local entertainments guide '5D', we worked closely with the two chaps who were setting up the 101... it was all rather exciting. You can see from the gig list below (and here) how often we played there.

Embarrassing moment no.327: while working as a porter at a Gatwick hotel, I asked one of the chambermaids if she wanted a pass to this new venue called the 101 Club (I was in promotion mode, not flirting - at least I don't think I was). It was quite noisy in the canteen and she was horrified to (mis)hear I was asking her to go to something called the One-on-one club! I don't think she ever looked me in the eye again.

And a little story about Bonx and his old band, Pump. When 5D organised a birthday bash at Clair Hall in Haywards Heath in 1992, we had 5 or 6 bands play. Someone had to go on first, and the band we felt were the least well-known of the bunch (and they were all top local bands) was chosen. Upon hearing this, the band refused to participate, as they felt it was too early in the evening and the crowd would not be large enough yet. So we had to get a new band in quickly, and asked Pump. They were professional to the hilt - it is true the crowd was small that early, and mostly round the corner in the bar, but Bonx didn't even mention it and played one of the best and tightest sets of the night.

I just wanted to give a little plug to a great new Garageband site that I find very interesting and useful. It's well written, informative, and simple. And my brother writes it. One of the latest articles is a review of the new GarageBand 3.

Here's the link: Getting More Out Of GarageBand.

You can tell I haven't been practising as much as I should have... but anyway, here is Silent Night on the theremin. Stick your fingers in your ears for the first few notes, it settles into key after that. No effects added, pure theremin into Garageband via my M-Audio Audiophile.

On RadioPod 5 I previewed Murray's new album, Spacewreck. He has now made a small website where you can read more about it, and grab yourself a copy! Highly recommended.

"Spacewreck is a musical story, somewhere between a soundscape and a dreamscape, the soundtrack to a film you'll only find in your imagination, describing the journey the astronaut takes into the depths of this enigmatic dead craft."

Last night I went to the Super Furry Animals gig at Somerset House. I had a meeting in Bromley for the previous part of the day, and then Ellie and I caught the train into Victoria and met friends at Charing Cross. For a Friday evening, the city was quiet, peaceful in fact (well, apart from the occasional siren and helicopter). There were lots of side-ways glances between fellow underground passengers... not suspicious looks, more trying-to-search-peoples'-feelings looks. There was no tacky flag-waving, no loud conversations, just the old let's get on with things. Well what else is there? Going down into the underground for the first time at Victoria, I did actually get a bit of a lump in my throat at the sight of people just carrying on, or maybe it was at the thought of what people had been through in these tunnels. Silly really, and it quickly passed.

The gig was very good, and Somerset House is a fantastic venue for it. A video screen showed live drawing from Pete Fowler before the band came on. Gruff thanked everyone for coming to the gig despite the previous day's events. "This is what happens when, instead of declaring peace of terrorism, you declare war on terrorism", he said. Then the screens showed stills of Bush and Blair put to the words of Bill Hicks, looping the line "all governments are liars and murderers". There was lots of new material and some old favourites, and they ended on the defiant 'The Man Don't Give a F**k'. The illuminated hooded boiler suits were good, but not as impressive as perhaps they were intended.

Despite this being a very enjoyable show, I'm afraid I have to be an old crock and say, generally, I don't enjoy the gig-going experience. Sound is often poor (bass guitars are amplified to be felt and not heard - this is okay, but it can get too distorted), and large crowds are not my favourite. But then again, when you work from home all day self-employed, it's nice (and important) to get out like this when you can! This was far better than many I've been too - the open-air was good.

There was various music being piped through the sound system before the gig, and one artist I particularly liked, but have no idea who it was. I'm looking into it... could be Baris Manco... but it could have been Japanese.