1. I am otherwise unemployable but always wanted to work in the music "Biz"
2. I go to 33 gigs a night, more on Saturdays
3. I discovered Pink Floyd, Fairport Convention, the Sex Pistols, Coldplay and Elbow
4. I also discovered Nina and the Neurons, who I thought would be really big but only sold 5 copies of their debut album. Still think they are really good/vastly underrated though
5. We all have jolly good larks out on the road, getting pissed, inventing bands to send the others off to, outbidding each other for the next Nina and the Neurons
6. It's not like it used to be, the internet has spoiled it all. Myspace? Don't talk to me about Myspace!

Repeat over 8 pages of the latest edition of the Word...

Loved the Ginger Baker interview though!

Got a shock in the post on Saturday morning; a magazine arrived without a bearded man on the cover and without the words "Special Subscriber edition". Thankfully there was an article on The Wire so I knew that, despite the disguise, it was the latest edition of The Word.

Only problem is that, as I was on early morning duty with the little 'un yesterday, I've now read the magazine from cover to cover. Any chance of one of these deluxe editions you mention coming out in say 10 days time, perhaps with 2 or 3 extra articles, an Editor's commentary and an expanded review section?

PS I'm no photoshop expert, but I can't imagine that it would take more than 10 minutes to have added a beard to Leonard Cohen. Perhaps that could be one of the extra features too?

at least not that I'm aware of. However, the point of posting this is not to show my ignorance but to raise the question of how people get to hear music these days. I rarely listen to music radio, 99.9% being Radio 4, so my introduction to new bands comes from the Word CD (where I've discovered quite a few new favourites and re-acquainted myself with the current offerings from artists I haven't listened to in years), music forums, recommendations from friends etc.

So I don't feel deprived because I've never heard anything by Elbow, or The Killers, or Snow Patrol for that matter. But it does beg the question - am I just unusual or is this how the music world is going?

It's a music fan cliche that buying a "Best Of" or "Greatest Hits" album is a bit of a cop-out and that what we should do to fully appreciate the artist is buy their "seminal" album.

But in some cases, a compilation is simply the best way to start and even can be all you need of a particular artist. For example, unless you want to be an obsessive collector of everything, I'd say that

The Fall - 50000 Fall Fans can't be Wrong, and
Frank Zappa - Strictly Commercial

are all you need to gain a good overview and appreciation of their respective work. And I'd also probably suggest that

The Buzzcocks - Singles Going Steady

is the only album you need to appreciate punk's finest.

So are there any other "Best Ofs" that fall into category? Or have I just committed muso suicide by suggesting they should even darken anyone's music collection?

While I like to think that I have a fairly open mind when it comes to music, and the tone of postings on here seems to suggest that most Word readers are similar, I do have some completely negative reactions to

a) Folk Music - drugged up hippies with mandolins and girl singers with long hair, warbling along drearily and "meaningfully" about frogs on lily ponds, maidens being abandoned and mediaeval outlaws being hanged.

b) Radio 2 - when I was a teen, Terry Wogan was the epitome of uncool, and the dreadful MOR musical choices (Carpenters, Neil Diamond, those ones who sang "Afternoon Delight") were awful - after all I could have been listening to DLT on Radio 1 playing the Boomtown Rats. 30 years later Wogan is still there and the station is now a repository for the worst of 80s era DJing (yes, I do mean Steve Wright). I have to pretend to myself that Radcliffe and Maconie are really broadcasting on 6Music. The irony that I would sooner listen today to Karen Carpenter or Neil Diamond than the Boomtown Rats is not lost on me - though just not on Radio 2.

c) Factory Records - Although my view of Tony Wilson changed over time, my instinctive reaction to Joy Division (post-punk one hit wonders only remembered because their singer topped himself), New Order (plodding synth based disco music) and the Happy Mondays (as groundbreaking and relevant as Sigue Sigue Sputnik) is to hit the off button. A Certain Ratio were pretty good though.

Anyone else care to share their musical blindspots? And before anyone berates me too much, please remember the first word in the title is "irrational"

It struck me the other day that the singers I really like all tend to have the same "type" of voice - quite deep (normally baritone in men) and what is frequently described in the music press as "pure".

Examples on the male side are Scott Walker, Neil Hannon, Rick Danko, James Grant, while for women it's people like Karen Carpenter, Ute Lemper, kd lang, Sylvie Lewis.

At the same time there are voices I really dislike, for example the sort of rough and screamy style most commonly associated with heavy metal (Robert Plant/Ian Gillan etc). It's not that I don't like the music style per se (I love Thin Lizzy, perhaps because Phil Lynott falls into my preferred vocal style)

So - am I just odd? Do other people have favourite voice styles? And has the style of the singer got you into a band, or even put you off one you would otherwise have liked?

Although this is "yet another" music recommendation thread, it's an opportunity for you to share with Word readers the millions of bands who float about on myspace, gig endlessly round your area or who've put out their own self funded CD and who you think are deserving of a wider audience.

Links and a brief description of the band would be good, since it's unlikely (and indeed the point of this discussion) that many others will have heard of them.

3 to kick you off:

The Gresham Flyers - punky pop from this London based quintet would have sounded very commonplace in 1978 but 30 years later is quite refreshing; think Plastic Letters era Blondie, This Year's Model era Costello with a dash of Jarvis Cocker and it will give you a bit of a flavour. Debut album "Sex with Strangers" available on amazon/emusic and perhaps even your local record shop: www.thegreshamflyers.com

Citizen Helene - if the phrase "60s influenced girl singer from London" makes you think of Adele Duffy/Kate Allen/Amy Nash then think again. Helene appears to have spent her entire life listening to the Beach Boys/Brian Wilson and has a gorgeous deep voice that is not dissimilar to kd lang. No commercially released stuff yet but you can hear some songs at http://www.last.fm/music/Citizen+Helene

Rinaldi Sings - possibly one some of you will have heard of, just released a second album of mod influenced pop. Great fun, good musicianship and a cracking live act. www.Rinaldisings.com

Lots of excellent stuff as always in the August edition, and especially liked the article on the "5 music websites that will change your life". Apart from forgetting to mention that there is a Word readers group on last.fm (http://www.last.fm/group/The+Word+Magazine) I was fascinated by muxtape (www.muxtape.com) and immediately signed up.

And it seemed a good/work avoidance idea to set up a place to post Word readers mixes, so here it is.

My muxtape is here: http://humphreyplugg.muxtape.com/

Fee free to comment or post your own