I see the NME have named These New Puritans album `Hidden' as their album of the year. This is the first time in my adult life (I'm now 41) that I haven't owned or heard their No 1 album. A sign of age...?

In teens/early 20s I used to place great stock in NME's albums of the year and would eagerly await the arrival of the Christmas issue. Today I noticed it in passing on the web while looking for something else.

In more heartening news, John Grant album of the year in Mojo. So, sense still reigns in some quarters.

Prompted by a quiet Friday afternoon, and seeing Tiger Woods constantly referred to over the past week as the `second most famous black person in the world', the question sprang to mind - who are the ten most famous people in the world?

A quick brainstorm around the office threw up the following as suggestions... (rules were the people must be alive)

1. Barack Obama
2. Osama Bin Laden
3. David Beckham
4. Britney Spears
5. The Pope
6. Tiger Woods
7. Tom Cruise
8. The Queen
9. Eminem
10. Paul McCartney

Any challengers? We considered Eminem, 50 Cent, Will Smith, various footballers and the thought that there's probably someone in China or India known to billions but missed by four of us perched on the east coast of Scotland...

Just wanted to say that Springsteen and the E Street Band were fantastic in Glasgow last night. If anyone is still wanting to know where the `roll' in `rock'n'roll' has gone, then a 15-minute closer of Twist & Shout/La Bamba in front a whole stadium on its feet showed that Springsteen still knows where to find it, even if no one else does.

Wonder what genius at Sony decided that one extra disc of Dylan out-takes was worth almost £80 (£13 on amazon for two-disc version, £90 for the three-disc + book)?

At a time when record companies keep trying to tell us us that downloads are killing them, isn't this one of the clearest incentives yet to download illegally?

Watched Later Live last night, thought Elbow were good and Imelda May was fantastic, while Katy Perry was even more annoying than the video suggests.

The thing that really stood out though was during Roots Manuva's performance - why is it that on Later whenever a hip-hop act is on the cameramen or editor seem to develop a sudden violent burst of epilepsy?

Honestly, the first minute or so of Roots' performance was like trying to watch a gig while being spun around on a rollercoaster.

I would post a link to let you see this, but I'm still dizzy (not to mention technologically challenged...)

I heard the estimable Dan Le Sac & Scroobius Pip on Lamacq's Radio 1 show last night talking about which song they like to hear first thing in the morning. One of them replied that he has been waking up every day for the past four weeks to the sounds of Radiohead's `15 Steps', which he finds strangely comforting.

Just wondered if any of the Word massive have a regular wake-up record? Unfortunately with a two-year-old in full rampage, mine tends to be the theme song to Dora The Explorer...

Went to see Bruce Springsteen at Old Trafford last night. No surprise that he was fantastic, had the place eating out of his hand within the space of the first 30 seconds and then went on to do 2 hrs 45 mins. No messing about, no support, just turned up, played the gig and even after that time still left us wanting more.

And he didn't manage to fit in at least a dozen of the songs I really wanted him to play and was still utterly fantastic (the setlist from the last night in Dublin looked like the stuff of dreams...)

The best big stage performer I've ever seen.

But the question I'm hoping some wise Word reader can answer is this - why does Springsteen never come to Scotland? Think he's only played one solo show here in the past 28 years or so.

There's a two-week gap between the Emirates gigs and Cardiff - anyone want to book him for Hampden?