Wails of despair

You should thank your lord that you weren't in Streatham last night since the banshees were out in full force. I mentioned a while ago that my laptop was playing up, switching on but the screen staying black every now and then. Well, it happened again last night and nothing I did eased the problem. So I gave up. I'm back on tonight but I'm wondering whether to sacrifice a holiday for a new poota...

Luckily I had some new music to listen to last night to take my mind off the poota problem. I *had* to go to HMV to pick up the new Maximo Park single, 'Our Velocity'. Fans have responsibilities, y'know. One of the 'B' sides is excellent, 'Mary O'Brien'. Not an obvious Maximo track by any means, but excellent.

I also picked up a truly fab 'new wave' compilation of late '70s/early '80s songs, all of which I know and most of which I like but very few of which I actually have on CD for some reason. How has that happened? It's a 3-CD set and for a mere 8 quid, not bad at all. Take a look at the track listing on 'Greatest Ever! New Wave Hits'.

I also got The Kink's 'Village Green Preservation Society' album from 1968 for a fiver. Another good buy. I've always loved The Kinks but I've never heard this album all the way through before. There are some excellent songs on this album, very English and very Kinks. My first ever record was 'Lola' in 1970.