and not very sensible either

Not a single day goes by when I don't walk around with some tune or other lodged in my head - an earworm that will work it's way around my subconscious all day, sometimes bursting out at odd moments. This doesn't even have to be a song that I like, but typically it's something that I have just been listening to; for instance, as I walk into work in the morning, I am invariably singing the last song that was on in the car, to such an extent that the guy who sits opposite me has become quite attuned to picking up which CD I have on in the car (although he wasn't familiar with any Tony Christie, he was suspiciously quick on the uptake with "Dancing on the Ceiling", although clearly this says as much about my in-car listening as it does about his music taste...) I think the most alarming earworm I have had was when I was a student, and I was humming a tune all day, and it wasn't until I finally burst into song as I walked back to my halls of residence that I realised it was "Heal the World" by Michael Jackson. I was mortified, and felt like trying to find every single person who had heard me humming it during the day to try to explain.... quickly ruling that out as impractical, I went home and scrubbed clean to try and remove the taint.

Anyway.

I've decided to institute a regular feature; a feature that I have only partially stolen from Mike at Troubled Diva. On a regular basis (I think probably weekly, but we'll see how it goes eh?) I will do a top 10 countdown of the songs that have been rocking my world this week. I will not be bound by such trivialities as whether the song has ever been released as a single, or is in the charts this week or anything like that.... no. Basically, my plan is to list out my earworms of the week, and then I want you to share what has been flying around your head.

Here's this week then:

10. 'One Hundred Days' - Mark Lanegan
Nearly as absurdly gravel-voiced as Tom Waits. I shudder to think how many fags and bourbon went into making that voice. Also features on the new Queens of the Stoneage album.

9. 'An Honest Mistake' - The Bravery
The beginning sounds a bit like Interpol, and they have a touch of Franz Ferdinand about them and a big chorus....nice.

8. 'Regret' - New Order
Ah. The summer of 1993. (Thanks again Mark)

7. 'Rock N Roll Lies' - Razorlight
I feel like I should hate Razorlight, but I don't. The CD has been sat in my car for months, and whilst at a traffic light the other day I popped it in. I like the lyrics on this one.

6. 'Bend & Break' - Keane
I've had this album out in the kitchen. Could have been any of the tracks really. They don't have a guitarist, you know....

5. 'Welcome to the Jungle' - Guns N'Roses
A combination of a post on the subject by retro-boy, me listening to "Appetite for Destruction" the other day, and the use of this song in an advert for Grand Theft Auto on the telly. Genius.

4. 'Meantime' - The Futureheads
The best post new-wave barbershop quartet in the land and the band I most want to see live at the moment. Last week it would have been "Hounds of Love", but this is my favourite track on the album.

3. 'Buffalo Soldier' - Bob Marley
We used C's car today, and she had a "teach yourself Korean" CD in. I rummaged around in the glovebox, and not being spoilt for choice (my car is overspilling with CDs) I picked out "Legend". Great album.

2. '(Is This The Way To) Amarillo' - Tony Christie
A great song even before its re-release. Makes me think of vans full of muslim gentlemen on their way to the mosque for some reason.

1. 'I Predict a Riot' - the Kaiser Chiefs
It's not big, and it's not clever, but it is absurdly catchy (and uses the word "thee" several times too, which is worth extra points, in my books). Named after a South African Football team in honour of Lucas Radebe, fact fans. I like a band that uses lots of "Na na nas" and "La la las" too, and this lot have a whole song called "na na na na naa" for heaven's sake (and yes, it does exactly what it says on the tin)

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Local newspapers make me laugh. You know those billboards that they use to advertise the contents of today's paper? You know, the little snippet of news that is supposed to grab your attention and make you buy the paper? In Nottingham today, this was:

"SQUARE REVAMP - TOILET HOPE"

Answers on a postcard....