Christmas is coming and I've decided that the house needs brightening up with some art. Posters and prints; music (Beatles, Beach Boys, Costello), film, food, travel - but all I can find online is the kind of thing that Athena sold in the 80's. Girl with a tennis ball is definitely not on the agenda.

So do you know a good source of posters and prints that are a bit different?

Minor irritation of recent years is people lamenting the death of the the B-side as a result of the rise of downloads.

The B-side was where artists got the chance to experiment: maybe an inspired cover version, or a hint of a new direction, or maybe something the drummer had written.

But think about it - it's just something they did with the other side of the disc, and decided it's the perfect way to get a little bonus track out there.

Impossible with downloads, surely? Wrong! Just sell the "A-side" track and give away the "B-side" track with it. Durr.

Haven't worn a suit for work for a while now - like many I've taken an increasingly casual approach to business in recent years, but now I have reached the point where I've not got much I can wear to work without turning up in the shabbiest of shabby. So I've decided to invest in a suit or two - but where should I go?

Any suggestions from the Massive would be welcome. I'm 48 by the way. London or Brighton outlets favoured. Don't mind paying a bit more for quality and durability.

Anyone been the beneficiary of a RAK?

I just have: as a result of asking for help (on this very website) navigating the back catalogue of My Morning Jacket, I have received through the post today a whole bunch of their music. Touched and humbled by the sense of community on here...

RAKs make the world a nicer place to live. Let's do more!

Having just invested in tickets for the MMJ gig in London in July on the basis of having seen a short set at the Hopfarm Festival a few years back, I now need to get to know their stuff.

So where would you start? Then where next?

They seem to have gone through a few style and personnel changes over the years so I'm guessing there are some 'difficult' albums.

I've started with It Still Moves - nice in a Neil Young-meets-Wilco way.

I don't have a Mac so don't have Garageband - any suggestions for good PC software to record demos? Built in drums, bass, keys etc needed.

So you buy 6 tickets for a gig on the basis that your mates will come. But one blows you out days before the gig for a perfectly justifiable reason. You just want to cover your costs and don't want to be branded a tout but how do you sell the darned thing? Any recommended sites?

This may not be news, but a back catalogue to die for, great songs, beautiful harmonies and they're still out their doing it. Got to see them finally last month on a business trip to Washington DC and they were brilliant. Admittedly, it was a gig I'd been waiting 20 years to see so there was a certain amount of pent up excitement, but boy they can play. I Don't Want Control Of You is my new favourite track ever.

The thought of going to see a tribute band depresses me - I'd just be wishing it was the real thing, and it wouldn't have the ring of authenticity. But what happens when the real thing is no longer willing to play, or dead? What will be the definitive live rendition of say, This Is It when the Strokes are unable to play their own songs? We'll have the recorded version to go back to of course, but that's only part of the experience - hearing it live is the other part.

Rewind a few years to Brian Wilson and the Wondermints staging Pet Sounds and SM!LE - not even the Beach Boys performed much of that material live, but now what amounts to a tribute band albeit fronted by the man himself is as good if not better than the original performers could muster.

And then take a look at the Fab Faux's affectionate and note-perfect rendition of side 2 of Abbey Road (http://vimeo.com/11237479) and I can find no fault in it - it's maybe even more enjoyable because you can see them playing every note.

So presumably the music that lasts will find itself being performed and interpreted in years to come. And those with integrity and authenticity will be considered definitive in their time, however different to the original they may be.

So, I might be tempted to see a Wondermints and Fab Faux double-header in 20 years' time, and just be able convince myself that Brian, John, Paul, George and Ringo would have approved. After all, I bet Vivaldi never imagined an Aston Villa-supporting punk violinist would record the definitive version of his Four Seasons hundreds of years after he wrote it (not least because football hadn't been invented yet).

Are BBs the most privileged generation there has been?

Is it me or does it seem like the world revolves around us? I got in at the tail end of it ('62) but as I've grown up space travel got exciting, the internet was invented, popular music mushroomed and just as I was feeling old 6 Music came along - just for me. And one day I'll be part of the largest number of retired people this country has ever seen - does that mean Teenage Fanclub will play lunchtime gigs at my rest home? I hope so...

Surely no other generation has felt they were born at a more exciting time?

Strange request, but I feel like I can trust the Massive's judgement on most matters, so what are the recommendations for staying and eating in Exeter? Taking my daughter down there this weekend to check out the university and the all-important nightlife.

Was faintly amused by this genuine blurb for a forthcoming J Tillman gig:

"The Fleet Foxes drummer returns for a solo show - his sound features mournful vocals, backed by sparse and doleful acoustic guitar with occasionally understated piano, bells and violins."

Much as I like the FFs, the aforesaid J Tillman lost the crowd about 15 minutes into his supporting set last October(?), and seemed underchuffed at their, our, growing impatience.

Could this start a trend for honest gig / album ads?

"Neil Young plays live - 50-50 chance of finding him either indulgent and wilful, or brilliant".

"New Rolling Stones album - not the return to form they'd have you believe".

Perhaps it's the ageing process but I just find it harder to digest new music these days. I used to devour albums - after a few plays I'd know the strong and weak tracks, would be able to anticipate the next track as the previous one finished.

For example - I bought 22 Demos last year and try as I might I couldn't get my arms around it, so to speak. Had the whole darned thing on repeat at work and still some of tracks sounded unfamiliar to me the next day. Then I hear one of the tracks on the radio and realise it's vaguely familiar.

Any tips? Maybe headphones, in a darkened room, reading the sleeve notes or lyrics track by track as if I had all the time in the world. Or perhaps delaying the gratification by a long process of seduction - candles, warm bath, that kind of thing - followed by the actual consummation of the relationship by playing the CD.

Maybe not, but I am still reeling from a recent encounter with 'Diddy' David Hamilton as he opened our village fete last weekend. DJ's were stars in their own right and all seem to have honed their craft on the pirate stations - and at some point, being into the music not just the career.

What I can't forgive though is judging our chocolate Labrador Meg to be only the 5th prettiest bitch in Upper Beeding.

Any other venerable DJ's doing the rounds?

Fair enough?