Step 1: Open up whatever you use to listen to music and add every song in your collection.
Step 2: Put it on random.
Step 3: Post the first line from the first 50 songs that play, no matter how embarrassing.
Step 4: Post and let everyone guess what song and artist the lines come from.
Step 5: Bold the songs that someone guesses correctly.
Step 6: Looking them up on Google or any other search engine is CHEATING!

01. "As the gringos block the roads inside your head."
02. "We find the teeth among the keys and turn them into traffic."
03. "Our step mom, we did everything to hate her."
04. "Look who's pulling up outside, with a trunk full of fun and a European ride."
05. "She looked me over and I guess she thought I was all right."
06. "If you need some fun, some good stereo gum."
07. "Knocky Parker told Bowlegged Sal they all know how to kick it in Cal."
08. "I've been to Nagasaki, Hiroshima too."
09. "I'm driving north to Cheyenne."
10. "Long ago, Daisy, remember we read your name by the fire's embers."
11. "Stockholm night was leaking light when your father died."
12. "Come on baby, take it easy. Stop following me around."
13. "Hey, Bobby Malone, it's good to have you home."
14. "I went up on the mountain and I looked down on my life."
15. "Whisper in the dark - she's from the other side."
16. "I fell through channels, I broke my heart."
17. "Shut your eyes across the uneven road."
18. "You're such a strange girl, I think you come from another world."
19. "My god, this town needs a shakedown."
20. "The vacuum created by the arrival of freedom and the possibilities it seems to offer."
21. "I had a date with a pretty ballerina."
22. "With your E's and your ease and I do one more."
22. "Alcohol on my hands, I got plans to ditch myself and get outside."
23. "It's true that all the men you knew were dealers who said they were through with dealing, every time you gave them shelter."
24. "No, I couldn't tell you how the house burned down."
25. "I ain't afraid of your laughin', nor afraid of your fist."
26. "Here in line, where stupid shit collides with dying shooting stars."
27. "Gonna take a chance on her, one bullet in the cylinder."
28. "How can it feel so nice? Why does it feel so right?"
29. "Nothing can change without your say, and life can go on, no matter what they all say."
30. "Onward! And onward! And onward I go, where no man before could be bothered to go."
31. "Well, mark out the name of the girl that I love."
32. "Gettin' out of the house, I'm gonna go for a ride."
33. "I remember the year I went to camp, I heard about some lady named Selma and some blacks."
34. "Met a little gypsy in a fortune-tellin' place."
35. "I picked you out of the crowd and talked to you."
36. "Sweetness, sweetness, I was only joking when I said I'd like to smash every tooth in your head."
37. "As I wait for sleep to drag me under, in the evening gloom, I sit and wonder."
38. "Pity, milky stone. Who knows such things about ghosts?"
39. "There once was a poodle who thought he was a cowboy."
40. "What the hell is wrong with you, tonight? I can't seem to say or do the right thing."
41. "Honey, I'm a roller concrete clover, Tadzio, Tadzio."
42. "Yes, I'm jealous, I'm jealous of everything that you've ever done."
43. "Who should I marry, daddy, who should I marry?"
44. "When I was just a little boy, I threw away all of my action toys."
45. "They asked me how I knew my true love was true."
46. "Way down in West Virginia, there's some people who are one of a kind."
47. "Bonfires burning bright, pumpkin faces in the night - I remember Halloween."
48. "I swear it was the wendigo that drove me to the axe."
49. "I paint the fields that your mouth sent."
50. "There's a little black spot on the sun, today."

Featured artists:
16 Horsepower
Air
Andrew Bird
Beck
Beirut
Billy Bragg
Billy Joe Shaver
Blood or Whiskey
Bright Eyes
Casiotone for the Painfully Alone
Chris Letcher
Clairvoyants
Corb Lund
The Cure
Dan Sartain
David Bowie
DeVotchKa
Eels
Elliott Smith
Gorky's Zygotic Mynci
The Handsome Family
Hank Williams III
Imogen Heap
Joe Jackson
Josh Lederman y Los Diablos
Knife in the Water
Leonard Cohen
Lonesome Wyatt and the Holy Spooks
Micah P. Hinson
Misfits
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
Old 97's
Oh No! Oh My!
Paul Simon
Pine Hill Haints
The Platters
The Police
Ramones
Rufus Wainwright
Shivaree
Slim Cessna's Auto Club
The Smiths
Songs: Ohia
Sons of perdition
Sufjan Stevens
They Might Be Giants
Toadies
Tom Waits
Tori Amos
Wanda Jackson
The WIYOS

Canada's bicoastal musical marvel Allison Crowe is among those invited by mojo magazine to celebrate Leonard Cohen, master of song, on a soon-to-be-released tribute CD. Crowe contributes her cover of "Joan of Arc" - a favourite first heard on the 1971 Cohen album "Songs of Love and Hate".

It's been a wonderful year for appreciation of poet and songwriter+ Leonard Cohen - highlighted by all the live performances, and, the love that's flowed famously at the glastonbury festival and more concerts across North America and europe.

MOJO magazine, one of the world's great music publications, has put together a delightful tribute - one well-designed and timed to raise the banner high over a year that's been very special for lovers of Cohen, just turned 74. As they explain it: "The November 1 issue of MOJO (cover dated December) is celebrating deep and moving music, the kind of stuff we need in the run up to the holiday period. The accompanying MOJO cover mounted CD will be made up of 15 tired and emotional masterpieces from the pen of veteran songwriter Leonard Cohen."

Here be the final running order of the tracks on the upcoming tribute album:

1 Suzanne 3:42 - Ian McCulloch
2 In My Secret Life 4:23 - Katie Melua
3 Hey That's No Way To Say Goodbye 3:02 - Claudine Longet
4 Sisters Of Mercy 3:34 - Dion
5 Story Of Isaac 4:09 - Linda Thompson
6 Priests 4:01 - Eyeless in Gaza
7 Joan of Arc 4:55 - Allison Crowe
8 Hallelujah 5:46 - Susanna and the Magical Orchestra
9 Avalanche 5:13 - Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
10 Chelsea Hotel No.2 4:19 - Josh Ritter
11 Take This Longing 6:16 - Phil Campbell
12 Tower Of Song 3:46 - Martha Wainwright
13 Song For Bernadette 4:21 - Judy Collins
14 Famous Blue Raincoat 5:08 - The Handsome Family
15 Tonight Will Be Fine 2:45 - Mr David Viner

Alongside the MOJO cover-mount CD, there's expected to be plenty of love for Leonard Cohen reigning o'er the magazine's print and online editions, in q magazine, and on MOJO Radio next month.

Allison Crowe is currently at the mid-point in her third european tour of 2008. It's a visit that's seen her perform to passionate audiences in frankfurt, paris, siegen, vienna, and now prague, czech republic - after which she flies to the Highlands of Scotland for a concert in durness, a fundraiser for the John Lennon Memorial Garden. Following this weekend in the highlands, she performs in edinburgh, before returning to North America where she’ll ready her annual Tidings holiday concert series in support of a host of charities from the atlantic to the pacific coasts.

Yesterday, Sept 9th, we launched At Home Anywhere: a new podcast recording series. We are truly honored and excited to be kicking things off with three songs from Chicago's post-rock trio Dianogah. The tracks were recorded on June 24, 2008 on the band's U.S. tour in support of their new album qhnnnl (out now on Southern Records) and feature Stephanie Morris of The Pawner's Society on "Pinata" as well as on a fantastic cover of The Handsome Family's "Stalled." qhnnnl is Dianogah's first studio album since 2002's Millions of Brazillians.

At Home Anywhere is building and distributing a completely free catalog of live studio recordings and videos documenting the sounds of traveling musicians and bands. The series is recorded at The Fort, a 1200sq. ft. Bushwick, Brooklyn recording studio owned and run by engineer/producer Jim Bentley. Jim Bentley is the ears behind albums by Jennifer O'Connor, Catfish Haven, Mascott, LD Beghtol, The Black Tie Party and numerous records for The Cougar Label.

The Cougar Label is a record label started in 2007 by the members of the band Up The Empire. It is currently home to Up the Empire, Shade, Clair, Ford & Fitzroy and Doug Keith.

More on upcoming At Home Anywhere recordings and Cougar Label artists coming soon.

Subscribe to the Podcast in iTunes:
http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=290559455

Subscribe using another player. Copy this into your 'subscribe' field:
http://athomeanywhere.cougarlabel.com/podcasts/podcastgen1.1/feed.xml

Shortly before I began writing last.fm journals in 2006, I put together this alt-country mix. I could probably update it with newer bands like Glossary and The Dexateens or create a second volume of all the artists I missed like Neko Case, Slobberbone, etc., but at least for the moment I’m going to post it as is. At some point I’ll look to see if there’s enough artists who started up after 2000 to warrant a second mix of more contemporary artists. Well, most of these artists are still going strong, but at this point they’re classics, not upstarts. This post came as a prompt by a comment on my country music journal. Alt-country is a great stepping stone into pure country; if you’ve been listening to rock all your life, the pure stuff can be overwhelming. This doesn’t have a lot of deep cuts, so if you’re a long-time fan of alt-country you probably have most of this. Here’s the tracklisting:

Alt-Country Mix
1. Uncle Tupelo - Graveyard Shift 4:43
2. Bottle Rockets - Smoking 100's Alone 3:15
3. Peter Bruntnell - Murder In The Afternoon 3:51
4. Grey DeLisle - The Hole 3:04
5. Naked Omaha - A Year 3:35
6. Richard Buckner - Blue And Wonder 3:47
7. The Walkabouts - Buffalo Ballet (John Cale) 3:27
8. The Handsome Family - So Much Wine 3:48
9. Fred Eaglesmith - Water In The Fuel 5:20
10. Jon Langford - Over The Cliff 1:57
11. Bobby Bare Jr. - Flat-Chested Girl From Maynardville 3:59
12. Kelly Hogan - Sugarbowl 3:25
13. Otis Gibbs - Small Town Saturday Night 3:35
14. Slim Cessna's Auto Club - Last Song About Satan 3:10
15. Steve Earle - Fearless Heart 4:06
16. Anna Fermin's Trigger Gospel - Blame Me 3:00
17. Son Volt - Tear Stained Eye 4:21
18. Frog Holler - Spiders And Planes 4:10
19. Red Star Belgrade - Highway To Hell (AC/DC) 3:24
20. Waco Brothers - The Death of Country Music 3:02

My 25,000 track was....
Matt Pond PA - Canadian Song

As of 08.17.08:
Top ten artists
01. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
02. The Decemberists
03. Rufus Wainwright
04. They Might Be Giants
05. Tom Waits
06. The Handsome Family
07. Sufjan Stevens
08. Neko Case
09. Elliott Brood
10. Johnny Cash

Top ten tracks
01. Elliott Brood - President (35)
02. The Handsome Family - The Woman Downstairs
03. The Decemberists - On the Bus Mall
04. ALEX FULLER - Mr. Handsome Shapes
05. Southern Culture on the Skids - Big Bear
06. Antony and the Johnsons - River of Sorrow
07. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Black Betty
08. Imogen Heap - Hide and Seek
09. Sufjan Stevens - John Wayne Gacy, Jr.
10. Beirut - Postcards from Italy

Top ten albums
01. Elliott Brood - Ambassador
02. Neko Case - Fox Confessor Brings the Flood
03. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Kicking Against the Pricks
04. The Decemberists - Picaresque
05. The Handsome Family - Last Days of Wonder
06. The Decemberists - Her Majesty
07. Toadies - Rubberneck
08. M. Ward - Transfiguration of Vincent
09. Silver Jews - Tanglewood Numbers
10. 16 Horsepower - Folklore

Top ten tracks demonstrating increasing popularity amongst Jessichaoses, aged 26 to 26
01. The Handsome Family - The Giant of Illinois
02. Songs: Ohia - The Old Black Hen
03. Jens Lekman - F-Word
04. The Handsome Family - Amelia Earhart vs. The Dancing Bear
05. The Handsome Family - My Sister's Tiny Hands
06. The Handsome Family - Weightless Again
07. Teddy Thompson - Psycho
08. 16 Horsepower - Alone and Forsaken
09. Teddy Thompson - Sally Brown
10. Iron & Wine - Jesus the Mexican Boy

SHOWS

June 12 @ Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium, One Yellow Rabbit 25th Anniversary (OYR Ensemble + guests) including the Rembetika Hipsters and Rheostatics (!!)
June 21 @ Park 96, Parkland Solstice Festival: Lord Beaverbrook Jazz I, Jack Semple, Lindsay Ell, Jim Cuddy, Skavenjah
July 6 @ Tequila, Sloan
July 12 @ Pengrowth Saddledome, Matt Mays & El Torpedo

July 24-27 @ Prince's Island Park (Folk Festival):
A hawk & a hacksaw
Abigail Washburn & the Sparrow Quartet
Aimee Mann
Andrew Bird
Basia Bulat
The Be Good Tanyas
Bedouin Soundclash
Bill Callahan
Blue Rodeo
Calexico
Carolina Chocolate Drops
The Consonant C
Diana Jones
The Duhks
Düvö
Great Lake Swimmers
The Handsome Family
James Blood Ulmer
Joel Fafard
John Wort Hannam
Josh Ritter
Julie Doiron
Maryem Tollar and the Toronto Cairo Collective
Master Musicians of Jajouka
matt masters
The Men They Couldn't Hang
Sam Baker
Sam Parton
Sam Roberts
Sonny Landreth
torngat
Trish Klein
The Weakerthans
Wendy McNeill
Woodpigeon

RECORDS
Sam Roberts, Love At The End Of The World (CD)
Blue Rodeo, Small Miracles (CD)
The Futureheads, This Is Not the World (CD)
George Harrison, Dark Horse (LP)
George Harrison, Somewhere in England (LP)
Sloan, Navy Blues (cassette)

Sloan, Parallel Play (CD)
Sloan, Parallel Play (LP)
Carolina Chocolate Drops, Dona Got a Ramblin' Mind (CD)
Basia Bulat, Oh, My Darling (CD)
Blue Rodeo, Five Days In July (CD)
Neil Young, Comes a Time (LP)
Squeeze, Frank (LP)
Ken Tobias, Dream #2 (LP)

This list is mainly for me. A record of over 20 years of gig and festival going. First ever gig was The Cult at Wembley Arena in 1987. Bit of an improvement with the second when I saw Cardiacs.

These are the ones I can remember. I haven't included support artists unlesss I specifically wanted to see them. I am sure there are more but my memory isn't what it once was...



22-20s

Alabama 3 x3
All About Eve
Arcade Fire
Ash x2
The Automatic

Balaam and the Angel
Barenaked Ladies x2
Beastie Boys
The Beat x2
The Beautiful South
Belly
The Pete Best Band
Björk
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
The Blockheads
Blondie
Luka Bloom
The Blue Aeroplanes
Blur
Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band
The Bootleg Beatles x2
David Bowie
Billy Bragg x5
The Breeders
Bright Eyes
Brilliant Corners
British Sea Power x2
The Broken Family Band
James Brown
Buddy Guy
Buzzcocks

Cardiacs x3
Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine
Carus
Johnny Cash x2
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds x3
The Chesterfields
Cocteau Twins
Leonard Cohen
Cold War Kids
Coldcut
Coldplay
Julian Cope x3
The Creatures
The Cult
The Cure x2
Curve

The Damned
The Darling Buds
De La Soul
Dead Kids
Neil Diamond
The Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy
Doves

Steve Earle
Echo and The Bunneymen
Echobelly
Eels x2
Elastica

Marianne Faithfull x2
The Fall x13
The Family Cat
Fields of the Nephilim
The Flaming Lips x2
Franz Ferdinand

Bob Geldof
Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly
Glasvegas x2
God Damn Whores
The Godfathers
Gogol Bordello
Goldfrapp
Al Green
Pete Greenwood

The Handsome Family x2
Rolf Harris
Hawkwind
Hayseed Dixie
Hole
The Holloways
The House of Love x4

Ima
Neil Innes

James x2
Jayne County
Jay-Z
The Jesus and Mary Chain
Jesus Jones
Jim Bob
Tom Jones

Kaiser Chiefs x2
Kings of Leon

Ladysmith Black Mambazo
Seth Lakeman x5
The Lemonheads
Levellers
Levitation
Nick Lowe
Luna
Lush

Shane MacGowan and the Popes
The Magic Numbers
Manic Street Preachers x2
The Marley Brothers
Paul McCartney x2
Ian McNabb With Crazy Horse
Meat Loaf
Menswear
Mercury Rev x2
Freddie Mercury
The Mighty Lemon Drops
The Mission
Christy Moore x2
Morrissey
Motörhead
Mungo Jerry
My Bloody Valentine

The National

Naz Nomad and the Nightmares
New Model Army
New Order
The New Pornographers

Oasis x2
Sinéad O'Connor x2
Yoko Ono
John Otway
Oysterband
Ozric Tentacles

Page & Plant
Pavement
Pixies
PJ Harvey x3
Robert Plant
The Pogues x2
Pop Will Eat Itself
Primal Sceam
The Primitives
Pulp

The Quarrymen

The Raconteurs
Rage Against the Machine
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Lou Reed
Rilo Kiley
The Rose of Avalanche x2

The Saw Doctors
Scissor Sisters
Seasick Steve x3
Sex Pistols
Shakespear's Sister
The Sisters of Mercy
Skunk Anansie
Patti Smith
Sonic Youth
The Soup Dragons
Soweto Gospel Choir
Sparkadia
Spearhead x3
The Specials
Stackridge
Neville Staple
Starsailor
Stiff Little Fingers
The Stooges
Joe Strummer and The Mescaleros
Rod Stewart
Suede
The Sundays
Supergrass

Television
That Petrol Emotion
Therapy?
These Animal Men
Throwing Muses
Tinariwen x2

The Ukrainians
The Undertones

Vampire Weekend
The Velvet Underground
The View

Martha Wainwright
Rufus Wainwright
The Waterboys x2
Roger Waters
Waterson:Carthy
Patrick Watson
The Wedding Present x2
Paul Weller
The White Stripes
The Who
Wombats
The Wonder Stuff

Yeah Yeah Yeahs
The Young Knives
Neil Young

Zodiac Mindwarp and The Love Reaction


And still counting...

All the bands I saw. Those marked with a * I did not catch the entire set.

Thursday
Pete Greenwood (Queen's Head)
Touted as a new UK folk hero with aching soul and pastoral melodies. Pleasant enough but poor sound balance meant it was very hard to hear the lyrics which just left the melodies which were good.

Sparkadia* (Queen's Head)
Bouncy pop/rock. Good for a lazy Thursday afternoon drinking cider!

Dead Kids* (Queen's Head)
Only caught the last couple of songs. Electro rock with a lead singer who seems to believe he is already a rock star. That is not necessarily a bad thing.

Glasvegas (Queen's Head)
First highlight. Tight rock n roll in a packed venue with sing along choruses. Nothing original but very good.

Friday
Patrick Watson (John Peel Stage)
I had never seen this artist before or heard any material. In parts folky pop but with some really good psychedelic guitar bursts. An artist/band I will be checking out more from.

Glasvegas (John Peel Stage)
Second gig of the festival but to me not as good as the previous. Maybe the larger venue went against the band but they didn't seem to connect with the audience as well as at the Queen's Head. Daddy's Gone and Go Square Go are great songs, and I am really looking forward to the album.

Vampire Weekend (The Other Stage)
Loved their debut album and was really looking forward to this set. Unfortunately we were towards the back of the crowd and so lost some of the impact of the music. Still very good but will look out for them playing in a smaller venue in future.

Young Knives (John Peel Stage)
Another set I was really looking forward to and was not disappointed. Excellent jagged indie pop with a nice line in Cardiacs esque stage banter from Henry.

The Gossip* (Pyramid Stage)
Caught the second half of this set as we were walking back to the tent and decided to stop and listen. Never paid this band too much attention before but Beth Ditto has a really good voice and although the band was fairly generic indie rock, it was a good listen. Final track, Standing in the Way of Control was excellent.

Luka Bloom* (The Acoustic Stage)
One of the pleasant surprises that Glastonbury throws up. As we were wandering past the Accoustic stage we heard Luka and decided to investigate furthar. Luka is Christy Moore's younger brother which should give you some idea of what to expect, but Luka's music had a more rock/pop edge compared to his brother. Acoustic Motorbike (about the pleasures of cycling) really stood out for me.

The Blockheads (The Acoustic Stage)
One of the highlights of the weekend. I was a bit dubious about seeing the band without Ian Dury but needed to have no such fears. The band was on top form with special mention going to Chaz Jankel and Norman Watt-Roy, one of the best bass players I have seen. On vocals were Derek the Draw and Phil Jupitus and both were excellent. Their set was a non-stop party, and while the band will never be the same without Ian, I strongly recommend you catch them if at all possible. Reasons to Be Cheerful indeed.

Sinéad O'Connor* (The Acoustic Stage)
I have always loved Sinead's voice and music so this was another must see. The half of the set that I saw was all taken from her most recent album Theology and was superb. A great artist. The only downside was after the exuberance of The Blockheads' set, I didn't think Sinead was the most suitable artist to follow, a fact Sinead herself acknowledged when pointing out the problem of following the Blockheads at the start of her set. In search of more upbeat music, I left and headed for

Neville Staple* (The Left Field Stage)
and got just what I needed. Really lively set from Neville featuring all the Specials classics you would expect. Excellent stuff.

The Holloways (The Left Field Stage)
After Neville Staple I hung around to listen to the Holloways and was pleasantly surpised. I only knew the track Generator before which I liked, but the rest of their set was in the same vein. Lively indie pop played by guys who were obviously enjoying what they were doing.

Alabama 3 (The Left Field Stage).
Another must see band and a great set although too short. The usual Alabama 3 mix of sweet country acid house rock and roll complete with a belly dancer in a native american feather head-dress. Why aren't all shows like Alabama 3 shows?

Saturday
Martha Wainwright (Pyramid Stage)
I really like Martha's voice and this set was a great way to start the day. Tracks from both albums and a guest appearance from human beatbox Shlomo.

Seasick Steve (Pyramid Stage)
I saw Seasick Steve at the Left Field during Glastonbury 2007 so wasn't going to miss this set. Seasick Steve can wring more invention and passion from his battered 3 string guitar (and indeed his 1 string diddley bow!) than many bands manage with a full band. Honest hobo blues with great stories and fantastic songs. New album due later this year - buy it.

British Sea Power (John Peel Stage)
I have seen BSP twice now and am in danger of damning them with faint praise. I really like their music but it seems to lack that added extra which would really make them stand out. Another band that would probably be better in a smaller venue - I would have loved to have been at their recent gig at the Natural History Museum in London.

The Wombats* (The Other Stage)
Caught this band as we were wandering across the site. Had heard the name before but not the music. Seemed fairly generic indie rock to me - OK but nothing stood out. I cannot remember a single track now so that probably sums it up.

The Raconteurs (Pyramid Stage)
Brought some good old fashioned rock and roll to the main stage. Jack White seemed to get all the cheers but Brendan Benson in my view is a much under-rated singer and guitarist. Together the two of them make for a very good band, and I was so pleased they played Rich Kid's Blues from the latest album. Is it just me who thinks Freddie Mercury would have done a fantastic version of that track?

Seth Lakeman* (The Acoustic Stage)
Another happy 'wandering Glastonbury' accident. We had tickets to see Seth Lakeman in July so had not paid attention to when he was playing. However we caught him as we were walking past the Accoustic tent and heard the title track from his new album Poor Man's Heaven and Kitty Jay. Both sounded excellent.

The Handsome Family (Avalon Stage)
Dubbed as alternative country, the Handsome Family sing dark gothic tales of death and the darker side of life. Very few people were there so we could get right up to the stage and enjoy this gig and Rennie's between song commentary. Another highlight.

Buddy Guy* (Jazz World Stage)
Wish I could have seen more but my wife wanted to see Jay-Z. Caught about 3 songs and Buddy sounded fantastic. If you dont want to hear the blues you've come to the wrong stage he said at one point. There was a banner at the front which stated 'Buddy Guy is God'. Speaking as an athiest I am perhaps not well qualified to comment on this, but from what I heard, Buddy has more claim to that title than Eric Clapton ever had. Buddy is after all the man who influenced Jimi Hendrix.

Jay-Z* (Pyramid Stage)
Well this is where all the hype had been focussed and I was kinda curious to hear what the fuss was about. My only previous exposure to Jay-Z was via the Grey Album mash-up between his Black Album and the Beatles' White Album. A good opening with the clips of Noel Gallagher talking out of his arse and various other media clips before Jay-Z came on. His cover of Wonderwall went into 99 Problems and it sounded good. Unfortunately I got bored very quickly. The bits I enjoyed were some of the samples rather than Jay-Z himself. We left after about 40 minutes. Should Jay-Z have been headlining? Absolutely. He is seemingly one of the biggest stars on the planet and so justified his headline slot. It just wasn't for me. Fortunately at Glastonbury there is always great music to find.

The Automatic* (The Left Field Stage)
Didn't know who this band was as we walked in halfway through their set, but really enjoyed it. It was only when they played Monster (one of their weaker tunes judging by what I heard) that I realised who they were. I had previosuly dismissed them on the basis on Monster but may have to investigate further. I think this highlights another benefit of Glastonbury (and music in general), namely being able to enjoy music based purely on the music rather than getting hung up on pre-conceived notions about the artist or how cool or otherwise they are perceived to be.

Jim Bob (The Left Field Stage)
Both my wife and I were big Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine fans in our youth (her more than me) so this set was a real joy. Jim Bob played mainly old Carter classics interspersed with tracks from his more recent solo albums. The whole crowd sang along to every word and it was one of those concerts which was a pleasure to attend and be part of. For me, lyrically, give me Jim Bob over Jay-Z every single time. Fantastic stuff.

Sunday
Neil Diamond (Pyramid Stage)
Despite sound problems early on (vocals were too quiet) and the sound cutting completely at one point, this was a very good set. A shame about the slightly cheesy Las Vegas style backing (Neil's last two stripped back albums produced by Rick Rubin are very good) but enough classics to keep the crowd happy finishing with the mass sing-along to Sweet Caroline. This is another thing I love about Glastonbury - I would never pay to see Neil Diamond in concert, but he is an under-rated artist in the history of music with some great songs, and I am very glad to have seen him.

Goldfrapp* (Pyramid Stage)
Caught the second half of this set - I enjoyed the glitter stomp of the later tracks but the rest didn't really do much for me.

Stackridge* (The Acoustic Stage)
The first band ever to play at Glastonbury so we had to see them. The tracks we saw were a pleasing mix of late 60s early 70s psychedia with some Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band style humour. Good stuff.

Leonard Cohen (Pyramid Stage)
Highlight of the festival for me. A true legend delivered a set that held the crowd spellbound for the best part of two hours. There is something quite hypnotic about Leonard Cohen's voice and he seemed to be dragging every word from the depths of his body, but at the same time seemingly effortlessly. The double whammy of Tower of Song and Hallelujah was a killer but the entire set was amazing. A privilege to see.

The National (John Peel Stage)
To finish my festival, a great set from this Canadian band.

Musical Highlight: Leonard Cohen singing Tower of Song and Hallelujah.