Apologies if this has been posted before, but I have to share this with the Massive. Why bother with The Word when you can read the Daily Express?

http://www.express.co.uk/entertainment/view/228361/Review:+PJ+Harvey:+Le...

I love the way the video is for a song which isn't even on the album in question.....

I have just read on Twitter and Wikipedia that the Lonely Boy hitmaker has died. However, Google News does not mention this, even if you search his name. Is this because there has been no official confirmation, or is it an Internet prank?
Either way, this is one of the best pop songs ever recorded, IMHO.
http://youtu.be/iCOS2vOxuXE

I thought the Massive would be interested in a bottle of wine served to us at a local restaurant this weekend. A lovely dry and crisp bottle of Provence rosé, also distinguished by being a good deal more expensive than any other rosé on the list.

Click on the link below. I don't know how to embed the photo, I'm afraid.
http://yfrog.com/ngy2vj

I can’t believe that such a wine would be using the Pink Floyd name without their permission. One wonders whether the vineyard owner is a rock fan who also markets King Crimson red and White Stripes, er, white?

Or is the vineyard owned by one of the band? Does anyone know?

This is from a certain political blog:

"The hunt is on by parliament staffers for an old 1980s record produced by Stock, Aitken and Waterman. The notoriously hard to track down Morning After the Night Before album was the solo work of Rick Astley’s guitarist in the band FBI, non-other than.. err… David Morris, the newly elected Conservative MP for Morecambe and Lunesdale. Funnily enough he omitted his less than successful flirtation with rock and roll from his CV."

Whatever your political persuasion, I'm sure there is a consensus amongst the Massive about Stock Aitken and Waterman and their evil works. Any ideas?

I've just returned from a trip to the US. On the flight back, I listened to Midlake's two most recent albums (Van Occupanther better, but both very nice) and John Grant's wonderful Queen of Denmark.

I also read the Word review of the Graham Nash tribute album on the flight home. I intend to purchase his "Songs for Beginners", and would also like to buy my first CSNY or CSN release.

Which album(s) would the Massive recommend?

This year we have been blessed with wonderful albums from Joanna Newsom, Midlake, John Grant, Laura Veirs and Laura Marling. Last year we had superb albums from The Decemberists, The Unthanks, and A Camp.

Many of these sound like classic albums to me, to be listened to on a frequent basis for many years to come. Although it is only May, It seems to me that 2010 is another high water mark for music, although you wouldn’t know it from most radio stations.

Or have I just been lucky with my purchases this year?

I appreciate that I should have posted this last week, but I don’t get much time to blog these days. However, on 11 May, Mrs Steel and I took a trip to London to see the Sawdust and Diamonds hitmaker at the Royal Festival Hall; a birthday present for me, no less.

What a concert! Roy Harper opened for her, and did not disappoint, playing half a dozen songs including ‘One Man Rock and Roll Band” from Stormcock. I was half hoping that Jimmy Page would appear to accompany him on “The Same Old Rock”. But you can’t have everything I suppose.

Joanna and her band were incredibly good. Having been fortunate enough to get front row seats, it was like they were playing in our front room. However mysterious and mystical her music and lyrics are, her stage presence is warm and friendly, establishing a down to earth rapport with the audience and even a question and answer session in the middle of the gig while she tuned her harp.

The only downside to the gig was that the music seemed somewhat quiet. I appreciate that virtually all the instruments used were acoustic, but I listen to louder music in our kitchen! Mind you, I find the same can be said of all gigs I’ve seen in the last five years.

It all got too much for Mrs Steel, who found Joanna’s marmite vocals too much to take after a while. She decamped to the bar just before the end of the gig, but this allowed me to do something I would never have done in my wife’s presence, which was to shout “You’re a genius, Joanna!” (copyright Fraser Lewry). She smiled, and said “no, Roy Harper is a genius. He’s a national treasure”. A sentiment that most of the Massive can agree with, I’m sure. She's still a genius though; whatever your opinion, there has never been an artist quite like her.

Sorry to be so boring on Christmas Eve but I've just encountered a problem with my iPod. I've just synched it with iTunes and it took an unusually long time, but all the cover art has now been deleted from the iPod. I can't get it back by just synching it again.

Otherwise, I wish a Merry Christmas everyone in the Massive and especially those at The Word who have provided, or have pointed me in the right direction of, all my entertainment needs this year. Well, nearly all of them.

I have an iTunes technical question which I hope the Massive can help me with.

I am one of these people who likes to listen to an album with the tracks in the order the artist meant me to hear it.

I have a small number of albums downloaded from iTunes which do not play in the correct order. For instance, iTunes seems to think that on Elbow’s Cast of Thousands, the song Fallen Angel should appear as the album’s final track, not the second (even though it is shown in the “track number” field as being track no. 2). Anyone who loves that album will know just how wrong that is!

I know that I can create playlists in whichever order I want, but whatever I try, iTunes reverts to its (incorrect) default track listing. I know it’s a small matter but it’s very annoying! I suspect that there’s a bug in the downloaded music file, but any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

I understand that the new Robbie Williams album is produced by Trevor Horn. Trevor has produced some of the best pop records of the last 30 years and this is obviously make or break for Robbie.

But who would have imagined that a former member of Take That would team up with a former member of Yes? You really couldn't make it up!

So my question is: Can you think of any equally unlikely musical partnerships? And, did they work, or were they a disaster?

As I'm getting older I feel as if I'm turning into Victor Meldrew.

I rarely listen to Radio 1, but occasionally Mrs C and I will listen to Radio 1 on a Friday night, as we like a bit of dance music every now and again, and R1 usually has Pete Tong on, normally live from Ibiza at this time of year.

However, it seems that Mister Vernon Kay is now Radio 1's choice of dance music presenter on a Friday night. This seems to be an incredible transformation for Mr Landfill Indie, n'est pas?

I know that as a 45 year old R1 isn't aimed at me, but I just think it's very odd, and I felt the need to share it with the Massive. Comments please.

Is anyone else a massive fan of The Roches, like me? This folk trio from New York came to my attention as a student when they appeared on OGWT performing songs from their Keep On Doing album. What was particularly interesting about the performance was Robert Fripp doing his thing with them. That album has been a favourite ever since. I'd post a You Tube link if they hadn't all been removed...

I like their other stuff from the 80s and 90s, and saw them blow the Dominion Theatre away in 1990 - they were stupendously good. However, the latest release I have of theirs, aside from the Christmas album championed by Mr Wogan, is Can We Go Home Now in 1994.

Does anyone know whether they've done anything recently, and is it any good?

Thanks to everyone for their tips. Unfortunately this business trip allowed very little time for shopping. Tokyo is possibly the most exciting city in the world, but if you're only there for a week (as I was) you never really recover from jetlag, and the last thing I wanted to do with what little spare time I had was shopping.

I had a wonderful trip, but just half an hour in HMW Shibuya, where I only bought English Rock, I'm afraid, 3 much missed King Crimson albums, Larks Tongue in Aspic, Starless and Bible Black, and USA; KC's output being sadly missing from iTunes, as is Fripp's solo work.

Couldn't find any Roy Harper I don't have already, and sought out Oliver Nelson's Jazzhattan on CD, to no avail. Rather off-message I know, but any pointers in the direction of where this might be available on CD or downloadable would be greatly appreciated.

Here's a serious query for the Massive which hopefully won't cause any arguments.

I'm visiting Japan in a week's time. It will be my sixth visit and my first in three years. One of the joys of visiting Tokyo is finding a large Virgin Megastore and buying lots of music no-one has heard of here. However, unless you listen before buying - which you can do in Japan, but I hardly ever have time - your purchases can be a hit and miss affair.

Can anyone recommend any good Japanese artists? I loved YMO when they first came out, and want to know what Mr Sakamoto is doing these days. Otherwise my interests encompass prog, dance music of the likes of Massive Attack and Chemical Brothers, jazz of the Miles Davis/Pat Metheny varieties, Joni Mitchell, inventive rock music such as Elbow, and modern African music. Hardly narrows it down, I suppose, but I don't like metal, country, rap or modern R&B.

Any suggestions will be very welcome, and I promise to keep you posted.

Is it too early to discuss the best albums of the decade? Surely not!

Here are some for starters:

Elbow - The Seldom Seen Kid
Elbow - Cast of Thousands
Sigur Ros - Takk
Fleet Foxes- Fleet Foxes
Joanna Newsom - Ys
Radiohead - In Rainbows
St Germain - Tourist

Go on, Massive go on, you know you want to!