and the album where he sings his own songs wit Piano and sparse arrangements, both pointed to by people here.

Pete Molinari.
Thank you, Steve Turner!
New album due soon.

Two that spring to mind are Jenny Lewis and The Wire. That's enough for now, surely?

and a re-installation of my faith in the basic decency of people.

The Roll-off characteristics of history in the making by Cornershop which was on, I think, last August's cd...and don't forget the meet-ups; they're brilliant.

Season 1 still in its shrink wrapper, but I'm absolutely certain it will make my life better eventually.

Haven't been here long, but every time I visit something makes me think or smile or both

It was mentioned in glowing terms by Prunesquallor, a contributor who seems to have dropped off the Word radar after a few posts. But his recommendation sent me scuttling to Spotify and I've subsequently purchased this magnificent CD: it's an absolute delight. If the words "jazz" and "Mexican folk" would normally having you running for cover, think again. The melodies, rhythms and musical interplay here are all fantastic. Thanks Prunesquallor!

Mumford & sons, Austerity Britain by David Kynaston, New Zealand pinot noir, Justin Currie (thanks Dave A), The Wire, the North Korean Mass Games and many, many more...
Wordworld is a wonderful place.

The Wire, Fleet Foxes.

Epic45 definately

John Grant, Duckworth Lewis Method and assorted tracks on the monthly CD that stop me in my tracks.

A big mention for the Manchester Massive Mingles for giving me stories I could never have invented and drinking chums of all shapes and sizes with a common thread linking us together.

No, not a love of The Fall...

The books of Richard Price
Some Grateful Dead
Randy Newman

RSI from trying to record on excel the results from a thread - ABCDEFGH iPod - which I still haven't completed. Sorry to those who expressed a genuine interest all that time ago though I haven't given up.

After reading about him in The Word I decided to check him out on Spotify.
Listened to the first couple of Bars of Stoned Part 1, wondered what all the fuss was about and then it suddenly opened up into this amazing, sophisticated sound of creamy vocals, lovely chords and funky guitar. That was it for me, I was hooked! I grew up on my older brothers prog rock records and then got heavily into Jazz, Funk and Soul so I really love what he does. I'm a composer and I love sophisticated chords and arrangements and I've never heard anyone else come close to doing what he can do. The Guy is a Genius. Without the Word I may never of have discovered him.
Thanks Guys!

The CD usually results in my buying at least two or three new records a month. I wouldn't have got into Nick Lowe, Drive-By Truckers, John Grant and a good few more if it weren't for that CD.

At the moment, I'm thanking the Massive for reminding me about my two favourite live albums: "Live at Budokan" by Cheap Trick and "Full House" by the J. Geils Band. The latter, especially, is fucking thrilling and has been soundtracking my commute for a couple of days, thereby annoying the Victoria Line at large with incessant toe-tapping and knee drums.

Randy Newman
David Peace
The Wire
Recent rediscovery of Kingsley Amis
Samurai Jack (remember that little booklet with the second issue?)
Life On Mars (Australia was at least a year behind)
Antony Beevor
Duckworth Lewis Method and The Divine Comedy (bought the new album off the back of the last podcast - joy!)
Confirmation of my antipathy towards Ayn Rand
Proof that there are places on the net where discussion roams free without being dominated/ruined by arseholes, and that you can disagree nicely and enjoyably with people and then talk about something else.
Reasons to buy a MacBook.

Still not sure about Midlake and Joanna Newsom, but am happy to take suggestions.
I experience occasional wishes that I lived in London.

I started reading The Word when I was 16 and my favourite bands were Incubus (still under-rated in my opinion), Nirvana, Muse and Blink 182.

Thus, The Word has pointed me in the direction of so many things that I don't think I could list them all. Off the top of my head: Rilo Kiley, The Wire, Arcade Fire, Lewis Taylor and Sideways, but I'm sure there are plenty more.

It's also instilled in me a great appreciation of the written word and a love of journalism. I read music magazines as a nipper (originally Smash Hits, then graduated to Q), but the quality of writing is so much better in The Word that I re-read articles numerous times, and find phrases that are an absolute joy (Eamonn Forde's description of a bootleg Def Leppard live album sounding like "a dying crow playing the xylophone recorded onto tracing paper" being a current favourite).

Furthermore, The Word has made me want to pursue writing as a career, and be a music journalist. This would have been inconceivable at 16, as I didn't take English as an A-Level and my academic strengths lie more in the field of science.

Lastly, but by no means least, the meet-ups. I've never before met a collection of people that I instantly get on with to such an extent. I've made friends from this board, and look forward to the outings more than is probably healthy. I've also got the opportunity to meet the majority of the staff too and, happily, they're all the thoroughly decent sorts you'd expect.

So, I've a lot to thank The Word for. Long may it continue.

(I hereby claim the OBN award for the month of May)

Without The Word I doubt I would have encountered The Decemberists and for that I am forever in their debt. It was years since a band took over all my listening, reminding me why music is so fundamental to existence and that, even as one approaches middle age, you can still get that youthful rush when you hear something new and thrilling.

Oh, and the latest podcast with Neil Hannon.

my appreciation of grammar, the correct use of an apostrophe, the joy of a nicely turned phrase has increased massively. I'm no better at using any of them mind, just I appreciate them.

I wouldn't have bothered with the Wire without this place - I'm too impatient and would have given up.

I now own loads of music and dozens of books through reviews in the magazine and recommendations from this site.

I have the Ottolenghi cookbook, I believe, thanks to Fraser mentioning it here.

I have an iMac probably due in part to James Blast's unbridled joy about his.

I think Justin Currie is a fabulous songwriter thanks to some encouragement from a Mr Amitri of this parish.

I'm also happy to wake up at 5am if I have a new Word podcast to listen to.

The meet ups are great - I will summon up the courage to say hello and thanks to Mr Hepworth next time (am I the only one slightly frightened of him???)

"...and there's the sound of young Islington".

Beirut.

Thanks fellas...

A fair few books and the odd band and artist but my biggest Blog gain has been Splittsville, who I now love. I can't remember who was responsible for the heads-up, but it was a right good 'un.

for a greater appreciation of the fall back catalogue

Stanley Brinks & The Wave Pictures featured on Word CD 85, and I shall be eternally grateful. I investigated The Wave Pictures own stuff and am now not playing much else - my new most valuable possession is their new LP Susan Rode The Cyclone. Just in time to see them tour next month. Cheers Word.

...is my only financial adviser. If the Massive says; put your money in John Grant inc; I invest and get richly rewarded for it.
It is my only therapist. When nobody else understands me, I know someone in the Massive will.
It is my only drugdealer. I'm fast getting hooked on those arrows...man, getting one of those gets me high as a kite...I need my daily fix!

Recently, Keith Jarrett ( props to duc001), 70s Miles Davis (props to Declan), less recently Fairport Convention (props to Retropath2) and the Grateful Dead (props to Stimpy). I had ignored all of them, but the enthusiasm of the Massive was infectious enough for me to give them a go.

The Wire, Rilo Kiley, and a general sense of fellowship.

The meetups are great fun too

On a personal note: I have met so many wonderful people through the Word blogs: some in person through the London meet-ups, some remain virtual friends (whom hopefully I'll meet in person one day).

My mate and I did a marathon the other weekend, for breast cancer research. When I was totting up the total we'd raised (just over £2000), I realised that my lovely Word chums had together donated around £150 of that amount. Quite overwhelming. I can't imagine that sort of camaraderie on any other website.

I just love kicking about here and nattering... with two little kids I don't get out as much as I'd like, so the Word blog's an important part of still making me feel connected to the outside world, and keeping me interested in other stuff than nappies and baby mush...

Crikey, I even went through labour with daughter number 2 here... I should have been doing my breathing exercises and visualising forests. Instead I was typing random nonsense about music. Much more fun.

As for the music, everyone above's already covered all mine....

nice atmos, fine people: well read and 'listened', made some new buddys in the Glasgow area, tolerance of my Goth (Trad variety, natch) and MacObsessed ways... eh, I think that's guid enuff

I still do not get The Beatles and Beach Boys or this new David Grant fella but that's life... Cyril....

Topfield 5800 PVR (Rob Fitzpatrick ta beaucoup), podcasts, the iPod, the Decemberists, Maps, The Shins, Vulpes Vulpes, meet ups, i even tried to get excited about the Beatles (failed...), blogging (no other blogs remotely interest me)

than you could possibly imagine.

I got good guidance when buying both an MP3 player and a new DSLR camera.

Going back to the beginning it hooked my interest at a time when I was unsure what to buy. It seems odd to recall now, but the mp3 player really did change my listening habits - from a little to an awful lot.

Purchasing has got up in response. As part of that, also the joys of emusic - another word recommendation.

First Aid Kit
Glasvegas
Kevin Coyne
Lady Gaga
reminders of the majesty of
James King and the Lone Wolves
Kevin Rowland
Adam and the Ants

from the mag
The Decemberists are the biggie
Fleet Foxes, I suppose
The Crimson Petal and the White (poor ending, but good novel)

Yasmin Levy, Ane Brun, Jaymay, The Felice Brothers, James McMurtry and many others.

then discovered this brilliant site and the podcast a while back. Both have given me a truly IMMENSE amount of pleasure, particularly during a happy, drunken honeymoon period when I listened to (I think) eighty five podcasts in four weeks. They still can't come often enough and they're still as good as ever. Thanks, guys.

...this side of New Orleans. "Louisiana Spice: 25 Years of Louisiana Music on Rounder Records" 34 tracks of perfection!

I bought an iPod

http://www.wordmagazine.co.uk/content/youtube-itunes#comments

The youtube to itunes blog. Thanks folks it's brilliant!

Other than that various acts and films. I know I would never have bothered with Drag Me To Hell unless someone here had recommended it and I borrowed it off someone and thought it was great.

Also the best sports book blog of some time ago led me to two outstanding non-fiction books I would never have read in a million years due to the dodgy (to me) subject matter American Football and mountaineering, namely Friday Night Lights and Into Thin Air.

a long time ago from the blog associated with another monthly magazine, you know the one that currently has Tom Waits editing it's 200th issue. This place was a breath of fresh air after the abuse and general bad manners evident in the other place, and it has remained so. I even subscribed for the first time in my life and, despite the fact that your "couriers" still seem to have trouble finding Ireland (it's the big island to the left of Britain as you're looking at it), I'm glad I did. Got hip to some great books/TV shows/records/movies here and always enjoy the banter, couldn't ask for more really, all for the bargain price of 0 cent. Thanks to one and all.

Epic 45 and Nada Surf from the magazine (both Rob Fitzpatrick I believe)
Richard Skelton is the latest from the blog (I suspect duc01 may be single handedly responsible for quite a deal of expenditure of this site's readers). My long-lost interest in John Martyn and XTC has been revived (have been playing my tape, yes tape of Nonesuch in the car recently). I also got that £3 Beach Boys collection download, ta.
The meet-ups have been enjoyable, thanks Hannah and Twang for the organisation-long may they continue-David H doesn't bite Lee!
And the TLC the massive has demonstrated to one or two of the bloggers who have suffered long nights of the soul. Perhaps we even stopped someone who was down doing something silly, which is much bigger than all of this froth.

is that however vituperately a thread may start off, sooner or later it turns into "...no, but you might like *this*". The long-running one about badly-behaved celebrities is a case in point -it pretty soon it turned into "...but so-and-so is delightful in true life", and I like that.
Oh, and Willie Nile. Thanks David.

My naturally cynical side wants to post a sarky remark about how The Word cured cancer, or abolished child poverty, but that would seem out of place in such a cultured and civilised place as this - so that's a big plus in itself.

Other than that there've been quite a few bands - too many to write down here, but mainly the pleasure of a well-written oasis from the shallowness and shrillness of much modern media arriving regularly in my letter box each month ...

if I have a criticism it;s that Word keeps making me buy interesting books and there's now so many of them littering my bedside table I'm going to have to either save up and buy a bigger house to accommodate them, or quit my job so I have time to read them ...

is almost equal to the amount I have spent on new cd's, books etc since I have been reading (from first issue) so I guess we are quits!!!
Seriously, I have made friends with other bloggers, have exchanged cd's and recommendations. Not sure if the Louisiana spice 25 year compilation was my suggestion but certainly mentioned it on here. In a Silent way is one that was spoken about on here that I cannot believe I missed over the last God knows how many years. The IPOD was introduced to me on this very site - previously a technophobe I was taken with the randomiser section in your early issues. I remember vividly the Fray Bentos post. Also my own deliberately provocative 'were the Beatles really that good?' post which provided lively debate. I remember the outpouring of genuine sadness when John Martyn passed away and a different type of sadness at the passing of Michael Jackson. I remember some plonkers who came and went but mostly I remember the kindness and genuine affection of fellow contributors to the site. I also remember winning the DJ competition and going to the studios to record my one hour programme and then getting to hear it on the radio (and get a copy of it on cd for posterity). That was possibly the most fun I have had with my clothes on!! I also remember Retropath 2 and wish he still contributed as his posts were invariably amusing.

Fellowship with the Massive is, in all seriousness, an amazing thing. You come on here and instantly find people who are interesting (and interested), amusing, enthusiastic and kind.

And for me personally - who writes for a living but it's all corporate stuff - things like 'My Night In/Out' give me an outlet to just share recommendations and obsessions with like-minded folk. It's a benefit. It's counselling. Balm for the soul.

What you giving him a balm for? It might bite him!

The sense of community that this site provides is a rare and special thing.

Thanks, Specs_Beard, I'm copying your Subject line :)

And I don't think I can put it much better than Specs_Beard did, especially the bit about "kind people", which is such a rarity on the internet these days (or ever).

I've posted on several sites over the last 10 years or so, and have always ended up being insulted by morons - "You like Oasis? You're a f***ing t*at", "P*ss off, craphead, that's the most stupidest question anyone's ever asked", etc. -, patronised by all-powerful webmasters - "Please check previous threads before posting", "Please remember I am God and will decide whether your comments are worth reading or not", etc. - or quite simply ignored and/or not made to feel welcome - "No", "?", "", etc.

Finding this forum has been a breath of fresh air for me. I immediately put my foot in it with my first post by lifting something directly from my own blog and pasting it here. Later, I read the guidelines, which said we should not do this. Too late! But not a single moron, all-powerful webmaster or self-elected ringleader jumped in to tell me "You're a f***ing t*at", "Please read the guidelines before posting, you ignoramus", etc.

It's quite wonderful to find a bully-free environment like this.

That comment deserved a separate paragraph.

I'm not sure whether that one did, however.

Later, I spent two days looking for the "Create topic" or "Create new thread" option only to realise eventually that my blog entry *is* my new thread! And the rest, as they say, is history. I can't believe the response I got to my "Any live albums worth buying?" question - 99% of them useful, helpful, *respectful* answers. Extraordinary.

I discovered the Word podcast through iTunes, and was delighted to have something worth listening to while I slaved away in the kitchen. As a bonus, I discovered that the wonderful Word people aren't only interested in music.

I have five passions in life: music (that's number one!), reading (anything but Pride and Prejudice), the English language (that's what I teach), writing (no luck to date, but we'll get there) and humour (in any format). I've been lucky enough to find a space where ALL those passions are addressed to varying degrees.

And I'll finish with a confession: I have never read the Word Magazine in my life. But I intend to buy my first ever copy when I visit England in the summer. (I live in Spain).

Please tick this space if you made it to here :) -> __

I have made an arse of myself, bored people rigid with a particular obsession but ultimately settled into a Word groove that suits me just fine. I just like it here and feel comfortable here and for a hundred reasons that is more than I could possibly hope for. It's not often that the answer is Martin Gore but for now he is.

...in all sorts of ways. Finding people who like the same music as I do. And although my FPO may consider me to be a musical anorak, I am a mere lightweight compared to many of The Massive!

For proving that there is intelligent life on Planet Rock.

The Word is to cultural life as When Saturday Comes is to football - I always think it's written with humor, intelligence, and love of the subject matter.

The podcast. Essential Sunday listening.

What has it introduced me to? Much. But right now, my cd player is on endless repeat with Drever McCusker and Woomble, and therefore with Idlewild.

The blog, about which my feelings have been covered above.

And "wrongity wrong".

I had the then-quite-new podcast to listen to while I spent a year on chemo. As I emailed Messrs Hepworth and Ellen recently, and was thrilled to find quoted on a podcast a couple of weeks later, that really helped me through a pretty rough time. Nurses liked it when they came into my room to see why I was laughing out loud.

As if I wasn't already eternally grateful, I've also discovered The Decemberists and The Wire, so have even more to say "Thanks!" for.

I seem to have something in my eye, good heavens those onions are strong, please excuse me a wee second...

I seem to remember, round about Christmas time, some handy hints on how to cook goose.
And, obviously, there's all the other stuff that make this such an agreeable drop-in centre.
Bit stingy with the biscuits though.

Decemberists, John Grant, Midlake, The Crimson Petal and the White, Rilo Kiley, Ipods, The Wire, the regular treat that is the Word Podcast, persuading me to get round to reading Lucky Jim at last, realising that despite my beloved's reservations I am not alone in my passion for Mr Thompson, rediscovering the joys of vinyl.....just a small selection of the countless ways The Word has enriched my life.

As others have said, though, surely the finest is the discovery of this website and a community that is respectful, enthusiastic, funny, and just so gosh darn nice. A web forum that genuinely makes you feel better about the human race. Who'd a thunk?

Oh, and that Danny Thompson interview was one of the most moving things I've ever read.

...for starters; the majority of which are worth replaying.

It's the only mag that I read from cover to cover every time it comes out, and have done since I first saw Nick Cave beckoning me from the front cover of issue 1 in WH Smiths, Buxton.

The podcasts keep me company on long journeys and always get repeat listening.

I don't post a huge amounton the forum, mainly because I am still in awe of the extraordinary depth of music knowledge of the Massive; but also because I enjoy reading what is written here so much there just aren't enough hours left in the day to actually write something.

And finally, I can discuss my love of Krautrock without fear of ridicule.

All this for less than 40 quid a year! Bargain of the century.

John Grant, The Wire, Magic Numbers, the podcast, the website. The magazine is superb.

Oh, and for turning me on to the Archers omnibus podcast. Superb stuff.

The Word joins chocolate and Jane’s Addiction as one of the irrepressible forces for good in my life: Despite the fact that the magazine is often left lying on my bedroom floor, I have yet to slip over on it, or receive a single paper cut while turning the pages. Its contents have for many years been a reliable source of intelligent entertainment. There’s a moment towards the end of the month when I leaf through the latest issue for any article that might have slipped my attention. This is usually followed by a feeling of mute disappointment when I realise that I’ve read all that there is to read and that it will be a while until the next edition arrives.

The word CDs have been a subtle and persuasive influence on my listening habits. Most recently they turned me on to John Grant. In recognition of this, the ever-expanding Now Here This! series is stored alongside my regular CDs and their details entered into the spreadsheet that catalogues my record collection. This is in contrast to the fate that ordinarily awaits compact discs that come glued to the front of magazines, which are stripped of any extraneous packaging and then cast into a large cardboard box.

I’ve bought a fair number of books on the recommendation of Word writers; among them Leviathan - Philip Hoare’s mediation on whales, which was reviewed by Mark Ellen. On Saturday I picked up a pair of Gil Scott Heron novels that received a good write-up from Joe Muggs a couple of issues back.

A lot of the music reviews result in further investigation on Spotify or youtube and subsequent wallet-slimming visits to Fopp.

The face to face meetings in London revealed my fellow Word readers as interesting, decent people who have no desire to beat me up, pick my pockets, or press-gang me into joining The Fall.

It was through The Word website that learned how to speak Fraserese and came to know more of the culinary traditions of those who dwell in north-ish London: The philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein famously argued against the concept of a private language, however I have long suspected that the CAPTCHA on the blog (ostensibly there to make sure that all contributions come from human beings as opposed to spambots peddling soviet-era golfing equipment) is Fraser Lewry’s own attempt at creating such a thing. No doubt he developed it during idle moments in-between shovelling coal into The Word magazine server, making marzipan-glazed edible wasp kebabs, and travelling by airship to North Korea to source organic llama steaks.

Working on the assumption that this language would document Fraser’s enduring love of food and that the key ingredient would always be the first word in the sentence, my breakthrough came when I realised that “ramoc” (used in the sentence “ramoc upaj icocor uqesi ucub”)meant Eider Duck breast. In this small fragment of what I believe to be a 6000 verse saga dating back to November 2007, Fraser describes how he brutally tenderised the meat by taking it to a My Bloody Valentine gig and holding it 6 inches from Kevin Shield’s guitar amp.

The sentence “ilewuc mez tupinu alizu uyot” translates literally as “the sauce is blended from the succulent tail meat of five different species of lobster”. Note the silent U in the word “Ilewuc” - used to describe a quantity of between five and six lobsters (By a simple process of logic we can deduce that the singular for lobster is - “zawacek”). Pronounced correctly with the right amount of emphasis on the ‘l’, the word takes on a transcendent onomatopoeic quality, so that to speak it is to conceive a mental image of a quintet of lobsters.

to beany and ganglesprocket and for the 15 up arrows. All of which I've just seen several weeks later.

I was inspired to look into them by a few mentions on the blog, in particular Joe Muggs' description of them as "the Levellers + a bath + a haircut + a stern talking to from their dads".

I might have described them instead as Fleet Foxes after a big night out with the Pogues, but either way they are bloody good.