About me

I couldn’t live without music – from the thrill of the new to the reevaluation of the old; from soundtracking a commute to the simple pleasure of sitting down with an album and a cup of tea; from the concert hall to the club to the basement to the bedroom – it goes with me everywhere.

On this blog, I write reviews of albums, singles, and gigs; the occasional retrospective of a band’s career; and other, more rambling pieces on what I think of as great songs, or personal reflections on a scene or a genre.  Pretty much all of my listening happens on the London Underground, to and from work.

For those wildly interested in techy bits, I use the 6th Gen iPod Classic, and a pair of Sennheiser MM30i in-ear headphones (so, nothing special or audiophile-ish).  Most music is ripped as MP3 at 320kbps, or Apple Lossless (or, occasionally, WAV at the highest possible bitrate, sometimes Ogg Vorbis for the sheer hell of it).  Bear in mind, though, that this is not going to be a headphone or audio gear blog – the community at Head-Fi have got that one completely covered.

A brief update – when I am channelling my inner audiophile I use a Fiio E06 via the iPod’s data port into a set of Shure SRH440s. The sound quality is astonishing, and I cannot wait for the day I can buy their indecently expensive in-ear monitors. But I digress.

Nothing here should ever be seen as definitive – and if (and when) I get my facts wrong, if you can prove it so, I’ll happily amend and update.  I’m grateful for tips and suggestions in the comments – from great new bands you’ve heard, to lost b-sides you recommend, to great gear to listen to it all on.  Shameless self-promotion will not be tolerated – unless you’re really, really good.