Grumpyrocker

Yes after much waffling about it I've now started the project to rip all my CDs to my PC hard drive. I've a big box of disks in front of me and I reckon ripping them all is going to take two or three days while I work.

Yes it all seems rather mad but as I'm ripping them to WMA Lossless at least I won't ever have to do it again. But ten disks in I'm already completely fed up of disk swapping.

The first disk ripped was Paradise Lost's rather excellent Draconian Times.

Update on Saturday afternoon: Well I completed the project yesterday evening. I had to do a few re-rips due to errors, but only for three tracks. It was a very dull task but one I'll never have to do again.

A big thanks go to Bill Door for his invaluable advice regarding the subject of mp3 player capacity and file sizes.

You see I've been labouring under the misaprehension that the mp3 file format was any good. But it isn't. It's old, flaky and takes up way too much room. There are much better options around.

Both my mp3 players support Microsoft's WMA format. And while the sort of saddo who types M$ instead of MS may scoff, the fact is that it's an excellent format. I've just done a listening test and a 64kbps WMA file sounded just as good on my iRiver Clix 2 as a 192kbps mp3 file. That's the same sound with a file a third of a size.

You can see where I'm going with this can't you?

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I've been on a bit of a music kick for a while now. A new guitar and amp (thanks darling) mean I'm basting in creative juices. The side effect of this is that I'm listening to a lot of music now - often listening to an album before going to sleep rather than reading for a while.

And the result of this has left me in a pickle, albeit a small one. Or two small ones even.

The first is pretty simple. I've decided I want to rip my entire CD collection to hard disk. That's not a major problem. We have a fast desktop PC with plenty of room to spare. The major issue here is putting in the effort to do it. My solution is likely to be taking a small pile of CDs to the study every time I work in there and rip while I work.

The more pressing issue is that I've no room on my mp3 players for all the music I'd want to carry around. This isn't a problem I've come up against before, I've always said that no-one needs to take more than 4GB of music with them because you just don't have that many favourites.

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Crikey the new Coldplay album is bland. We've just sat through the whole thing and I've had to put on something with a bit of bite to cleans my ears afterwards.

It's the production that is most shocking. What on earth was Brian Eno thinking? The record sounds like a U2 off-day played down a very deep dark well.

And what's with all the mumbling Chris?

And the annoying thing is that it'll sell more than the new Whitesnake album - which is ridiculously (and frankly surprisingly) good.

As you may have read - I've picked up the guitar again, my excitement reignited thanks in part to the new guitar and mostly to the encouragement of my wonderful wifey.

Over the last year or so I haven't played that much. My technique is a bit sloppy now and my fingers rather slow. In some ways I actually think I'm a better player than I was in my uni days where I played regularly.

That's down to having a bit more taste, experience and having listened to a lot more music. Yet the truth is it was around the time I started uni that I stopped learning and practising technique.

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Radio One has decided to play a censored version of The Pogues and Kirsty MacColl's Fairytale of New York this year, editing out the words slut and faggot.

It seems totally ridiculous that the nation's pop music station is the most reactionary.

Radio 5Live has just spoken to Frankie Goes to Hollywood's Holly Johnson who said the editing of this "work of art" is totally "absurd" and although the words are offensive in many contexts, they are not in this case. As Johnson said, this is a song about two drunks arguing, you can't expect them to obey social niceties.

A spokesman for the Pogues said the band "found it amusing that a song that has been one of the best-loved Christmas tunes should suddenly have been deemed offensive".

Update: Seems all the furore over this today has caused Radio One to change its mind and play the track unedited in future.

I've just listened to 327 different drum patterns, auditioning them for a song I'm writing. I feel like I've been in a tumble dryer full of rocks.

Surely it would have been easier to just audition a drummer - but then, I'd have to get something to clean the dribble off the carpet.

I've got an absolutely gorgeous Aria 12-String semi-acoustic guitar. I tried to sell it last year to raise some money for the wedding, despite L saying I really shouldn't. She was delighted that it didn't sell.

It's a beautiful guitar, with a lovely tone. But I'm not great at playing it, it's my first 12-string experience and I haven't practised enough or know enough about 12-string technique to get the best out of it.

So for some time I've also wanted to pick up a 6-string acoustic. But the fact is I don't have the money to spend on a decent guitar, nor the inclination seeing as I own one already.

So I've gone and ordered one of these, a cheap China-made 6-string acoustic from ebuyer for £25. Yes £25. It's due tomorrow, so I shall report back on whether it just snaps in half when tuned up to concert pitch.

Okay, so soulful pop yokel Joss Stone looks hot in this new video (click through to view), but at the same time it highlights one of the things that really bugs me in music today.

What's that?

Well shoehorning some kind of hip-hop element into songs that don't need it. Clearly it's to make money, but it's infuriating and dumb as a box of rocks.

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The most punctual band in metal are back, film maker Marty DiBergi has managed to reunite Spinal Tap to play at the forthcoming Live Earth concert.

What have the band been up? Nigel's been working with animals, David is now reprezentin' and Derek is in rehab.

Marty has even made a short film of his efforts to get Nigel, David and Derek back together and you can watch it right here.